Thread: 34 Chevy wood to metal

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I have a 34 Chevy Master 2 door sedan that I am wanting to buildup. The first issue I must address is the wood framing of the body. It is completely rotted and missing a lot of pieces. The floor is made almost completely of wood and the wood is what actually bolts to the frame. That wood is totally rotted and withered almost to nothing. The body is loose at the bottom behind the doors, I can move the body panels behind the doors in and out, and I can lift the body off the frame with ease.

I am going to replace all the wood with metal. The most obvious place to start is to make a new subframe for the floor of the body.

I need the measurements for the bottom of the body. I'm not sure where the measurements need to be taken. The mounting brakets that are on the body and screw to the original wood floor frame are there and solidly mounted to the body. That seems to be a good place to measure side to side.

When I build the metal framing for the doors and body, what is the best way to attatch the body and door skins to it? Should I use round tubing?

I know I have a long, hard project ahead of me, but I am confident that I can do it. I just need some good advise and measurements for replacing the wooden floor structure with metal. It wouldn't be so bad if the original wood was still there for me to copy, but it is mostly gone.

Any advise is greatly appriciated!!!!!!!!

I wish I could lie to you and tell you this is an easy job, but it isn't. My Son is building a Fordor Model A sedan, and the Fordors had all wood inner structures like yours. He cut it all out and replaced it with steel tubing, mostly square and rectangular. Just tonight at dinner he was saying this was the worst job he has tackled, and he wishes he had started with a 2 door, because they have all metal inner structures. But his Fordor will be cool when done. Here is what he did:

1) To maintain body alignment during the replacement phase, he first built a wooden platform out of a 2 X 4 frame and topped with a piece of 5/8 plywood. This gave him a stable base to work from. He marked it in exact squares every couple of inches, and drew a centerline down the center.

2) He then screwed the body to the wooden platform, and made it completely square to the platform, so the body was in total alignment. He cut out all of the wood, and first built the subframe stucture, and then filled in the uprights with hand formed tubing to exactly fit into the contours of the body. In essence, he built a skeleton of steel tubing that held the skin of the body.

3) After the tubing was in, the skin is welded to the framework, and he now has a very strong Fordor body.

You will use hundreds of feet of tubing, and use miles of mig wire. He became a very proficient welder when he was done, because he laid down miles of welds.

He still has to form the top bows, which will be bent to conform to the curvature of the body.

To bend the square tubing he cut tons of slices, bent it, then welded up each slit.

I wouldn't have had the energy to tackle this project, but he has done a good job on it. I'm not trying to discourage you, and this is what needs to be done to your Chevy, because of it's wood structure.

I am posting some pix of the platform and the subframe as it was being built. Hope these help you, and good luck.

Don

one more

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Thanks for the reply!!! Your info and pictures will be VERY helpful.

I have gone thrugh this MANY tines your best bet is find a manual that shows the frame details. Try Ebay or some book stores. With out somthing to go from its going to be a long prosses. Good luck
Charlie

You are welcome, glad to offer some help. If you get further along in it and have any questions, just let me know, and I'll get with him and post any more shots you need.

Good luck, Don

Could you possibly put the body back on the frame and get your measurements then??? I like to have the body bolted on the frame before I add any reinforcement or structure. Don's son has a very good plan, too. Maybe a combination of both would be workable for you.l....

Wow, tell your son that is a very nice job.



DennyW : Thank you, I will. I hate working with him, he's a perfectionist, and I'm not. Plus he knows more than me.

Don

I am building a 35 Buick 40 series sedan. It is alsmost identical to a chevy master. My body was as you described yours. The structural wood was gone. The posts between my doors were dangling by the roof. I took a different approach. I built the structural part of my body before removing it from the frame including the doors and door alignment. I started by building two beams from 1 1/2 X 3 rect. tube that emulated the wood beams that tie the cowl to the rear arches. Before tieing together I installed the doors and jacked up the roof to ensure door alignment. Once that car is tied together it will be a nightmare if the doors do not close correctly. I then buit cross sections to support the floors and installed floors and rocker panels. Once all was welded up I removed the body.

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in process

finished