33 Chevy Cabriolet Wood Replacement

[TFoch]

When I bought my car it was all the body panels with some of the wood left in them.  The wood that was left was not in good shape.  I knew I'd have to replace it and thought about buying a wood kit but the price wasn't in my budget.  I decided to use a combination of sheet metal, and steel tubing.  This was my first try at building a car so there was a lot of trial and error.
I'll start with the foundation.  The sills were in bad shape so I made some templates out of plywood.  I attached them to the frame and mounted the body to see if it would work.  Everything fit well.  To be continued.

[TFoch]

After the plywood sills fit well I made some new ones out of 1 1/2 X 3 inch steel tubing.  They are the same basic shape as the wood sills were as best as I can tell.  They made a good foundation for the rest of the wood replacement.

[EDNY]

Tom

Sure looks like you know what you're doing.  That metal base looks very strong...the plywood mock-up looked like a laminated header beam at first...which is both strong and expensive.

What material are you going to use between the frame mounts? I'm using some old conveyor belt material.

[themoose]

Tom

You did a great job.... in fact the whole frame is outstanding. Its obvious that you pay great attention to detail right down to the "33" and "Chevy" cut into  the exhaust hangers .I like it!!!!

Moose

[TFoch]

Thanks guys. I'll post some more tonight.  I bought a couple feet of body webbing from The Filling Station to go between the sill and the body mount.  Old conveyer belt is a great idea though.  Wish I'd thought of that.

[TFoch]

I used what was left of the A pillar wood to trace on some sheet metal and make the new ones.  Here's the results.

[TFoch]

Here are a couple pics of it assembled in the car.

[TFoch]

I used the same method to make the door latch post.  Traced the wood for a pattern on sheet steel.  Then mig welded it together.  At first I was trying to use the original lower bracket but it made it too difficult to fit the floor around it.

[themoose]

Looks good Tom....What are the hinge and body mount screws threaded into?

[TFoch]

For the hinge bolts I welded in some 1/2 inch thick steel.  The holes for the hinge bolts are oversize.  On the backside are some threaded plates so when I bolt the doors on I can move them around a bit for adjustment.  For the lower mounts to the sills, I welded in some nuts on the inside of the post.

[TFoch]

For the structure that runs along the side of the rumble seat lid I used 1" X 1" square tubing.  We rolled it to match the radius of the original wood.  The ends of the wood had no radius so we cut the tubing and welded straight pieces on.  At the base below the rumble seat and above the gas tank apron, we used the original wood as a template and fabricated a piece from sheet steel.

[TFoch]

To attach the sills to the rear panel I again used the old wood as a template and used some rectangular tubing. I cut it and made pieces out of sheet metal to close it in.

[EDNY]

Tom

First class job right down to those flathead and torx head screws ($$$).

Ed

[themoose]

Tom ...Your doing a great job as usual. Did you have the rear springs specially made or they a stock items?

[TFoch]

Thanks Moose, I bought a rear spring kit from Posie's.  It's a Super Slide Kit #8021 that fits 1933-35 Chevy.