ClassicCar

hotrodwench

Hello All!

I am working on a 52' Hudson Hornet and i need to replace the drivers side floor pan. Do these come pre fab?

essexcoupe3131

Like your avatar

Mike

GrimGreaser

There's a seller on ebay with them. They're available, I'll post the link when I find it. ~$50 a side, back and trunk available too.

RockAuto: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1435678,parttype,12481

Made by Classic 2 Current Fabrication LINK

Ebay items: Front Floor Back Floor

Can't speak to the quality though, just that they're out there.

hotrodwench

Thanks Mike! ;))

RL Chilton

hotrodwrench-

They'll do in a pinch, can't beat the price. "Adequate" best describes them.

Ken U-Tx

Perry Spring made a nice set for David Bergamin. If you want factory correct floors, try Perry Spring. The cheapo ones on Ebay are not very good. No U nuts for the tranny cover bolts, the beading is all wrong, generally you get what you paid for, CHEAP, poorly fitting floors that need additional work for the tranny cover to fit, unless you drill holes and use sheet metal screws that look totally MM (Mickey Mouse).

syddthekidd

I put a set of the ebay floor pans into a '49 super six. They are not an exact duplicate of the original and require some fitting. As to the transmission cover...get the pans tacked in place, drop the tranny cover on there, transfer the locations for the holes and drill clearance holes and weld nuts on the back side. If you are installing floors it's not like you are not going to a lot of trouble anyway.....drilling a few more holes I didn't see as a big deal. I always figured if someone looked under my car and told me I didn't have the correct floor pans I'd tell them very politely to pack salt.....

bent metal

I almost hate to comment on this subject.

I think it comes down to a matter of opinion. Also, the car your working on! What you are trying to do too. I drove a Firebird around for ten years with a hole in the floor boards you could step through. It was fine with me, at the time.
I've done floor pans 'down and dirty'. Cheap and easy. Had the customer very happy.... I've also spent a lot of time and effort reproducing every little detail to the best of my ability, hunting down the correct clips, with the proper black oxide finish to make the parts as close as I can possibly get. Checking the radii on Hornet verses Wasp/Pacemaker, or early to late models. And there is a difference from year to year and model to model within' the same year!The trickiest part of it all is understanding what some body wants. Good to one guy, is not good enough for the next, or vise-versa. And neither, is right or wrong.It's just what you want for what you are doing at the time.

As far as the price goes. Like Ken said, "you get what you paid for.". Not that that is a good or bad thing. Just true! You can pay a low price of $50 a side,...then do bunch of 'fitting', ;) drill for the trans cover yourself, weld some nuts on the back yourself, as mentioned above. And to be totally honest, if you want to cut some corners on a project, what better place to do that than the floor pans? I do understand that. I think most people do. But cheap or easy is not always good enough for everyone, or every project. Not to mention, how much have you really saved after "a bunch of fitting"? Plus "some drilling", plus "some welding of nuts" on the back for the trans cover? Then when it's all said and done your going to get mad if some one looks under the car and makes a nasty comment? Don't get mad, expect it!

"sydthekid" I hope you don't take offense to this. I mean no offense to you or anyone else. It's just that neither option is right or wrong. Just a matter of opinion, for the situation a person happens to be in, and the car they happen to be working on, at the time. :)

bent metal

Here are some floors I've made. Don't get me wrong, some guys want everything as original. Some guys will make compromises, or changes, either to make them easier to install, or to save some money, or because they want to make a change to the original design. Whatever they want.
This guy wanted the original style removable drain plugs. An unusual request, but that's what he wanted. Much cheaper, and easier to just use an electrical box plug. ...But that's not what he wanted. :)

syddthekidd

No offense taken bent metal and anyone that can recreate floor pans like that has my utmost respect. The only thing I will say is that since I belong to the HET, a club which doesn't judge cars at meets and I don't expect nasty comments.....I expect people to say "glad to see another Hudson back on the road. I'm 51 years old and grew up riding in the back seat of '53 Hornets and I can remember in the early days of the club my father (being a mechanic) going to peoples houses and helping them with mechanical problems in exchange for some body work here, some interior work there. The only concern those guys had was keeping Hudsons on the road. A few recent experiences has tainted my view and I suppose that came thru in my earlier post. I have a friend that has an absolute beautiful '34 Hudson Eight he has owned since he was 17. He and his wife took their honeymoon in the car. It is restored to near perfection but is not an original Hudson color....it is the color it was when he bought it for sentimental reasons. One of the first comments on the car he got at a national meet was that the car was not an original 1934 color. I was at this years national with a 1946 pickup in tow on a trailer that I just picked up in Canada. I coordinated the trip to pick to car up so I could drive thru and spend the day at the national. Was planning on staying a couple days but only stayed one as I was tired of hearing all that was "wrong" with the truck. I bought the truck because I love Hudsons and thought I could save it as a driver and have some fun with it. The only way to make this thing perfect would be to replace every part of the thing. I'm going to finish it over the next year as best I can without spending a small fortune and plan on driving it to next year's national (from ohio). I plan on staying for the whole meet next year but do have some realatives nearby and will stay as long as I can take all of the comments about what is wrong with the truck at that point. I don't have thin skin believe me but I just thought the clup was about keeping Hudson's on the road. Sorrry to vent here....should be another topic I suppost.

hudsontech

My take on comments made about authenticity are you bought the car to enjoy - just keep going to meets to drive the purists crazy. I personally know of one Hudson owner who did just that - he had a Brand X drive train in an otherwise original Hudson. A club member, who should know better, walked up to the guy and told him he'd like to talk about his car, but couldn't because it was modified. The owner of the car came to many meets - just to drive the detractor nuts. LOL

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

bent metal

"syddthekidd", your point is well taken. :)

I'm not really a purist either. I have a modified car and even a rat rod! The rat rod is a fun car.

I'm not really against the e-bay floors. But for some people, those are not good enough for their project.

For floors, there are options, not just e-bay.
Ok, my rant is done. :D

Kdancy

I've installed both cheapies and expensive pans. If a customer is paying for the time and repair, the better quality pan will cut down on repair time while a quality repair is made. On the other hand, you can still make an acceptable repair with the el-cheapo panels but it will take more time. My experience is that the cost will about even out, so I generally use the more expensive panels when I can get them.
How many times has a non exact floor pan pattern made a difference at a car show? As long as the floor repair is not a butcher job, it should be fine for most.
What I do hate having to do is correcting some one else's butcher job!

walts garage-53 · walts garage-53 September 2012 Posts: 1,486Platinum Member

This club was started to enjoy and drive Hudsons and NO JUDGING. When people look at my car and say that is not correct. air condition, alternator 12 volts, modern ignition, electric wipers, rack and pinion steering, plus gauges on dash to see charge, oil and temp, I tell them go get your original and follow me across this country, coast to coast in July and August. When I turn around they are gone. Lets just keep Hudsons on the road and running as well as we can. Walt.

54SuperWasp

Syddthekidd, I went in Gettysburg, saw a lot of beautiful cars, but the one who gets always in my head is this one. Would have like to talk to the owner and congratulate him. Just saw it run in front of me and it sounds like a very good driver too. Hope to see you in San Mateo. Michel
P.S. Bent Metal: You are very talented. I've seen your work from time to time in this forum and it always look great! Michel

Tallent R

I was at one of our meets in Auburn and saw a stepdown there that looked like it could be sitting in an old slavage yard. The hood was up and I was curious thinking it was for sale or parts .It had current Texas plates on it ,a blanket over the seat to keep the cotton from flyin around. Barely any paint left on it ,most was worn off from years in the sun. And the motor was WARM ,he had just driven it in from Texas! !
Roger
.

402Bowtie

Hotrodwench,

The best "pans" over the years for your 52 Hudson Stepdown is the "Amman" pans. They are proven...ask other Hudson Members! 48-54 Hudson Floor Pans

They have the holes and clips all ready in the correct locations and they have the braces under the floor with spot welding. All pre-fabbed and ready to go. Anything worth doing does take work and planning... nothing is EASY. $145.00 per side or $250.00 a set
No disappointments here.

Spelic Bros. 303-929-8565 Hudson Parts....for Hudson Nutts!

bent metal

The first floor pan I ever did was either a right or left, don't remember. But the car owner had one of the last of Ken's floors and there was only one side still available in stock. I called Ken and he said he was not planning on having any more made. Several grand to have the dies made. Long story. ...His were really nice. So, the car owner needed the other side for his floor. He bought the part off of e-bay, took a look at it and asked me if I could do better.

....That's why I started making floor pans. Back in about 2008. Unless some one bought a bunch and held onto them, I think most of Ken's floors are used up by now.

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