Wood or steel floors?

I was reading the excellent thread Don had on wooding in a fiberglass body, and it got me to thinking. A lot of the older, say 10's through early 30's car and trucks had a lot of wood in them, even wood floors. I know steel lasts longer and is stronger, but what about putting a plywood floor in a 30's model, fiberglassing it over to make it waterproof? Just a thought on doing something different than the herd, what do ya'll think?[S
Not a daily driver, just a weekend fun car.

sounds like a squeak squeak rattle rattle ....errr i mean a corvette

s10.butcher said:

sounds like a squeak squeak rattle rattle ....errr i mean a corvette

Click to expand...

I guess that depends on how loud the exhaust is , loud enough and you'd never hear it![ddd

I know it's been done, just wanted some pros and cons.....

Buddy of mine had plywood floors in his 34 Pontiac coupe for years, even sold it that way.
I didn't even know it till he said something about it

I like wood floors. They are a good sound and heat insulator. This Plywood floor is in a '25 Dodge I built. There is a thread in the builds section. It is stained with Brazilian Rosewood and coated with urethane.

i like wood too
i am tempted to cover my steel floors with wood.
just to add mass to quiet it down

Ive got a plywood floor in my 28. Its not the best looking but hey, neither is the car.

I did wood floors in the trunk and seat area in the `29 last winter and it has worked out well. Going to do the same thing in the new `36 truck project

nothing wrong with wood.

Those floors look great. Just make sure you route the exhaust pipes far enough away.

Don

The thing I don't like is it's ability to absorb moisture, especially if it is against steel anywhere, you are asking for corrosion. And obviously its also flammable...

I like wood floors too in cars like Model As. They are easy, absorb sound and dont rust. I just seal them up good using a thick primer and oil-based house paint, or stain & seal with polyurethane.

I also use birch plywood so it doesnt warp like pine. Seal it up good including the edges and it will be fine even in the wet.

I say go for both. A wile back I saw a Bug at a car show that had wood slat foor mats that were made from 1X2s, over black painted floors(I think POR 15)
. Anyway it looked real cool.

heat shields

On my old model t it would get the exhaust red glowing hot if set too lean, and it charcoaled some of the wood, use sheet metal heat shields, space with 1/4 in, nuts if you are close with the pipes.

Use whatever is easiest for you to work with.