The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Rear plywood floor woes

Tackled the removal of the plywood floor in the sub today. Took me all day. First order of business was to remove all the bolts around the perimeter of the floor. Just squirt a little WD on the threads and the nuts come spinning off right? Wrong. There are upwards of 30 bolts holding the floor to the angles around the edges and I had to get underneath and grind off the nuts on all but 4. Now all the bolts are out and the floor just drops out from under the truck right? Wrong again. There are 2 crossmembers under the plywood one in front of the wheelwell and one behind the wheelwell. The plywood is bolted to these crossmembers with the heads recessed into the wood. The bolts have no screwdriver slots and are not hex heads and in order for the floor to come out the bolts need to be removed. I crawl under and then discover that the nuts can't be ground off because they are recessed into the crossmember which is a channel iron. Frustration sets in so I grab the sawzall and perform surgery on the plywood cutting along the front and back of each crossmember so as to free them from the plywood. They break free but still won't come out because their length is greater than the width of the bottom of the body at that point so I hack out more plywood and finally get enough to wiggle them free. At this point the bottom drops out and the job is done. I grab an Old Mil Light, plant myself on a chair and try to analyze just how this floor was put in at the factory. I come to the conclusion that it cant be put in from the top because being one piece the perimeter angles are in the way and it can't be put in from the bottom because the plywood is smaller than the openings around the wheelwells. Well anyway I've got it out and now I can get the body blasted. Anybody have an idea as to how they did this at the factory? C'mon Burb guys clue me in. Weeds the Younger is posting pics of my ordeal. Weeds

simple Weeds - they build up the body on top of the ply, then drop the whole assembly on a completed chassis !! the ply floor has to go in from the bottom unless you wanna put it in split front to back, which I didn't - I replaced the wood in my 57 panel [the 37 millionth Chev truck?] by the correct process - lift the body, cut/remove bolts, stand back when floor drops out, grind heads off cross sill bolts, use old floor for pattern, reverse process using new hardware - not too hard, but intimidating to hafta lift the body

Bill

The pictures from the floor ordeal are here:

http://www.ckhweb.com/users/rpweeden/floor/

well, ya did have the body off!! all that held it in was the outside bolts on the cross sills - I just used an air wrench and any that didn't come off, just tighten till they snap - floor held for a couple minutes, but fell right out when pushed a bit mine was suspended with stuff thru the door holes and windshield

looks like yer there anyway, and still have the ply for a pattern [for the holes anyway] - keep us up on the progress!

Bill

Red58 I'm glad yours went easier than mine. I am tempted to replace it with 2 pieces to make it easier. I saved all the sawzalled pieces for a pattern. Did you replace yours one piece? I have read on the bolt that plywood that size is hard to find. I'll keep the pics coming. Thanks for enlightening me. Weeds

yeah Weeds. to get the ply one piece you have to special order it, and I couldn't afford it at the time from the only place I found that could get it, so I cut up 2 sheets of #1 marine ply and biscuit joined'em to make one

Bill

I did a lot of work on my '50 floor (not out yet). I think the AD burbs are different than the TF burbs. On the ADs they will not drop out. I have body off the frame, all bolts out and it is still held in place. The plywood overlaps metal on the front and back and is under the metal on the sides. I THINK at the factory they dropped the plywood in from the top then spot welded the side strips on. That is my guess on the ADs

Anyway, THREE CHEERS FOR WEEDS ! ! ! I gotta get my _ _ _ _ in gear and take the floor out on mine. Maybe the OMLight AFTER the work is done is the key?

Buddy

Buddy---good to hear from you and I agree. There is absolutely positively NO WAY that the one piece plywood floor drops out from the bottom on an AD sub. The one piece plywood floor is bigger than the opening in the bottom of the body that it is supposed to drop thru. I think the plywood was put in first from the top and then the angles welded on. With the floor out I have discovered that the body has a lot less rigidity. I bolted the 2 crossmembers back in without the plywood so I can get it to my blaster without it distorting. If the floor can be removed from the bottom without a sawzall I sure would like to know how. Weeds

Buddy---The OM light really helps.

way to go weeds, you might try a sign comoany supplier for sign board.you can by it 5'x 12'x 3/4 almost as good as marine board.is that an old champ frame sitting to the side of the burb?

tony'n weatherford

Great work! I sure wish my '54 was past the demo stage. There is a Redi-Strip just North of me in Canada where they can dunk the whole body, strip the paint, and remove the rust with electrolytic process. Final treatment is phosphoric acid etch I believe. Have not got a quote from them yet.
I finally scored the rear sill piece I needed. Mine was toast. I would like to galvanize that piece! Have you kept up with Ray the Metal Man? He has done a lot to help us. Has his own forum over at Oldgmctrucks.com. The photos are really great.

Tony, good to know plywood in that big of a chunk is available. The frame is a Starduster Too. My #2 son bought the plans when he was 14. He is now 42, a Gulf one vet flying a KC-135 tanker and is now 1st officer on a DC-9 freighter for DHL (Airborne Express). He has been working on it pretty steady lately so I might get to see it fly before I expire. Splash I got one quote from Redi-Strip for $1200 on my sub. Too rich for my blood. My #4 son had a local guy blast his 69 Judge body for $350. It came out just fine so I think I am going that route. If you can find a guy who knows what he is doing with a blaster and not warp any panels it is much more economical. Don't know about Ray. Tell me more. Weeds

Thanks for the update and pictures! Now I know what I am in for...........g

I'm jealous for your garage.

Wheelwright Restorations (Ray) has reproduced the rear corners, and the lower panel from the door to the rear fender that is usually toast. Correct curves and contours.
I think sandblasting has its place, but environmental concerns about the lead dust contamination that results will make it much more costly. In addition, there are many areas where rust is embedded that are difficult to blast. Northwest trucks really need the full dunking if the rust is a concern. I'm budgeting for the Redi-Strip on my '54 since I don't believe I can effectively reach the areas between panels. Costly, but effective.

I'm thinking about removing the rear interior panels to get in there and clean the rust out, then seal things back up. Not fun, but easier than getting 15+ feet of 1-ton panel body to a dunking tank. The roof will stay on - I'll clean that joint up as best I can and hope it's enough.

Panels and Burbs are cool but from the back of the front seat back I am learning that bodywise they are a completely different animal than a pickup and they have problems that are unique. But what fun! Thanks to all. By the way Garretthes the garage is an airplane hangar. Weeds

I usually have a pic of a nice AD truck on as my screen saver. I change it about once a week. For now, I have Weeds growing up through his Burb.

Keep up the good work!

Buddy

You da man Buddy Weeds

I see the difference now! couldn't figger what would have held the floor in, but lookin at the pics again I twigged on the fact that you didn't remove the rear door sill piece - I did, so the floor piece could move back an inch off the front lip it sits on - yours was trapped by those front and back lips - doesn't it come out? the TF one is held by about 10 bolts, and mine needed metal work underneath anyway

I'd think it'd be worth takin it out to put the ply back rather than 2-piecing the ply, tho' makes the body a bit more vulnerable to getting tweaked, that's why mine was done suspended

Bill

remembered about this pic at Rob\'s site - the dark colored section at bottom back - and note the body is being assembled on the floor

Bill

As Weeds and Buddy describe above:

The only way to remove the plywood floor in one-piece (or to put the floor back in one piece) in a 47.5-55.5 Suburban is to remove an upper-side metal ledge from one side (about 30 spot welds) and then lift/angle the floor up sideways through the rear door.

The floor cannot drop down because the body-sides turn inwards under the floor. The floor cannot be slid flat out the back (with the rear sill removed) because the rear door opening is too narrow (and, anyways, the wood cannot slide in a flat position through the inner wheel wells). The wood floor has to be angled upward on one side.

Has anyone had first-hand experience removing (or replacing) the plywood floor from these trucks (47.5-55.5 Suburban) in one-piece from the bottom; or, from the top, without removing one metal side-strip from an upper edge?

Been there; tried that; gave up (sadly) and put new linoleum on the floor, in place (after removing the old linoleum, in place). Still feeling a sense of failure since this was the only piece left, in place, on a otherwise totally disassembled suburban.

Tim

Red Five Eight very very cool factory assembly pic. I wonder if thats my sub? Tim I think it would be worth the effort now that I have the floor out ( albeit in pieces) for me to remove the upper side metal edge and try to put the new floor back in as one piece. If it wont go with one side off I'll just go ahead and remove the edge on the other side. Then put the new floor in and reweld the side angles. One of the angles on mine needs some repair any way. I have found with that big chunk of plywood out the rear body becomes very wiggly. After the body comes back from the blaster I will prime and paint the underside and the new floor will go in right away so as to keep the body as rigid as possible. Thanks everyone for all the replies. Didn't think I would see so many. Must be a lot of panels and burbs lurking out there.

CANOPY EXPRESS FLOOR REVEALED
Thought that this one would be a good comparison to the suburban. the CE's had plank flooring (some may have had plywood).........g

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.

Copyright Notice
This page and all of its content are the property of Jim Carter Classic Truck Parts. Copyright ©2000-2005."

My '52 1-ton panel shell has a plywood floor.

Hello Suburbanites!

Your floor issues are one of the reasons I sold my 52 Burb,even though it was sound.

Being a perfectionist as far as restored vehicles are concerned, I would have also gone "NUTS!" attempting to make my restoration perfect and original with a sound new floor and correctly de-rusted body.

"Good On Yah" fer doing thee job right and working so hard to get it correct!

. . . Anyone can hack up an old Stovebolt...It takes care tomake it original and sound!

Now Ill tackle my 54 Cabover this summer. . It's about time to remove "Nadine's" bod from the frame and get her dipped as well! BUt. . . NO plywood puzzle to remove down below!

Keep at it!

"Old Coes" Si Lupton
Hartland VT

1926 Chevrolet Open Delivery
1941 GMC AFKX 4X4 COE Military Mobile Shop truck
1950 National Chevrolet Combo/Hearse Ambulance
1954 Chevrolet 5400 COE
1950 Pheumotractor
1927 Farmall Regular
1970 Subaru 360 Van
One Girl Friend :mad: :rolleyes: :p