trunk replacement help, 1941 business coupe

mustangbrandon

mustangbrandon

Member
Hey there, I am going to be picking up my newly acquired '41 business coupe next week. The only thing I would really like to do with it as this point is replace the trunk floor. It's not terrible but definitely would fail as the hull of a boat.

This will be my first work on a car of this era so I am wondering if someone has some basics on how the floor should be removed etc. Any help, as always, is appreciated.

Thanks!
Brandon
 
The 1941 model year was a change over year so a lot of parts are one year only. It may share some parts with the 42 through 48 but I don't know how much. Sheet metal repair is always taken on a conditional basis. I've replaced metal in holes the size of a dime and I've replace whole sections that were swiss cheese or gone. The short door coupes may have a shorter tail pan than the long door types but I don't know. It may also be the same as a tudor sedan but I figure the sedan coupe is probably more similar for donations. Maybe someone that knows them better will have suggestions.

Just to add: Looking at the Bradley stuff, it looks like that floor could be made by anyone with a bead roller. Getting one out of Paul would be a process not recommended but you can see what he makes. If the car has the tool box in the back, hopefully the wells could be patched. The top forward piece would be relatively easy to fabricate. The tool box structure, not so much.
 
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The basic '41 body shell is the same through '48. This gives you a lot more options in replacing sheetmetal such as the trunk floor. The '41 through early 46 has the tool tray in the trunk and mid '46 through '48 does not have the tray. There is some difference between the floor pans in the coupe with the package shelf and the sedan coupe with the back seat. Find someone in your area that may be working on a project 41-48 and see if you can take measurements. Replacing the trunk floor is definitely doable.
 
Thanks TJ. I'm looking to find out if the pan in the trunk is spot welded in or how it's attached. I don't want to start by "butchering" it to remove. If there's just a bunch of spot welds to drill out or something like that I can head that route. I've got my Dad's 48 coupe but he had that done awhile ago with a "bitchin" floor pan by someone so I don't have a stock point of reference.
 
Most of the bodies were welded in some fashion or another. Access to the welded areas generally requires removal of the rear fenders to get to the inner quarter and floor junctions. Ford usually flanged the floor outer edges with a bend down 90 degrees so they could mate flat with inside of the quarter panels on the lower edges. You will be able to see the type of weldment when you inspect these pinch weld junction areas. The body needs to be braced a bit if you remove any sizable section of the floor since you are taking away a good portion of the structure there and there may be trouble fitting the trunk lid or other components. If your floor is still relatively intact and not rusted completely away then you might want to just cut away the rusted portions leaving something to weld to and just work on one side or the other to effect the repairs. The frontal areas of the rear floor section in this area usually include structure for a seat riser just in front of the rear axle but I don't know if the short door coupe was set up this way or not. The high part or hump that goes over the axle usually survives since water can run off fast enough to slow the cancer process. The low spots where water can pool get hit the hardest.

How bad is your rear floor/trunk floor corrosion?
 
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