GMONIZ,

Your Canopy Express looks great. How did you find it? How long have you had it? What kind of restoration do you plan to do?

" Jim Carter Antique Truck Parts Has a Technical Article about Panel Truck (and a little about Suburban) floor boards. His descriptions might also pertain to Canopy Express and explain why some people have posted that they have a plywood floor, while others have posted that they have planks (for 1952 and later). It does not seem possible to link to JC's Tech Articles, so I'll post it here:

Wood Floor Change: 1947-55 Panel Truck (misnamed "Suburban Wood Floor Changes"}

The very practical panel truck produced from the early 1920’s through 1970 was an excellent cargo vehicle. Merchandise was protected from the weather and equally important from easy theft. Being a freight hauler, its cargo floor is like the pickup truck. Hard yellow pine and cross sills support the weight and merchandise slides on the metal strips.

Though not obvious, a major floor design occurred in the ½ ton panel truck about midway into the Advance Design years. Prior to this, the floor consisted of about six wood panels, each separated by ¼”. Covering this gap was the necessary 1½” wide metal bed strips. Probably to save time during assembly, GM changed the bed to a single piece of ¾” marine plywood about 1952. It appears this was the same size that was used with the flat floor board Suburban. However, with the panel truck the plywood was grooved for the bed strips. Once installed in the truck it looked like strips between the earlier individual planks.

With the change in the bed floor, the length of the strips were reduced from 82” to 79½” at least thee of the punched holes in the early and late strips are in a different position.

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