VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Fisher body frustration

Finishing reassembling my 1954 210 4-door after a strip-down for repaint into original Surf Green. Body was nice and straight but the previous owner not only painted it some 50's turquoise but simply masked over all belt and door moldings instead of removing them. Fortunately I could see the original code 541 underneath which verified that it was Surf Green not all that long ago.

Anyways, a question and then a rant. The question is whether the carpet goes under the Fisher sill plates or over top? There seems to be enough clearance underneath the sill when installed but the edges of the carpets are decoratively bound so it could go either way. I just can't remember. Now a related rant about Fisher bodies.....

Why on earth did the engineers at Fisher/GM think the circlip and wear plate concept was a smart idea for attaching the various cranks and handles on the doors? The Chev trucks of the same period also used a splined shaft but wisely used a set-screw hidden under the handle shaft. With the enormous amount of tension provided by the springs keeping the panel out from the door, it makes getting the slim-jim in between the wear plate and the handle very difficult when installing. Not bad for removing - brutal to do it right ever time when installing. Just curious if anyone else has cursed in their garage when working on the doors......Thx.

i've never used the circlip tool to install handles. simply install the circlip on the handle on your work bench, then insert on the spined shaft with the help of a rubber-faced hammer. mike

I've always just used the palm of my hand for installation.

I observed a Chevrolet body and paint man prepare my 52 Belaire for a new paint job back in 1959. He was a master, it took him less than 5 minutes to have both door panels off for new covering and I was amazed, he used the same tool that I did to get the clips and handles off, but his technique was different, a simple push and turn and off they came. I had had the door panels off replaceing the rollers on the glasses off a month before, Then when he got everything ready to go back on and put the clips on the handles and lined them up and used a smack with his palm I saw a light go on inside my head. I had been using vicegrip needlenoses to try to get the handles on before. I guess the engineers at GM had a light burning inside their heads.

Thank you all for the replies - that makes sense to me now and I can't believe how simple it is.

The factory Fisher manual says to use the tool for both removal and install. But I guess the end of the splined shaft has a taper and if you smack the handle back on this must allow the spring to ride up and then close back once it gets home in the groove.

You guys are great. This site is great.

I wanted to hear the answer about the carpet, under the sil plate or not? Same applys to the rubber mat???

The original rubber capret in my 52 Styleline Deluxe fits under the door molding.

The original rubber front mat in my 52 Style line Deluxe fits under the Fisher Sill plate.

Spoke to National Chevy Assn this morning and he said actually gets this question a lot. Since their kits are bound at the edges (adding a fair amount of thickness) and they are based on the original patterns, they end up butting up against the Fisher sill plate and not under. They feel that there wouldn't be enough room underneath anyways.

Nat'l Chevy says the underpad is cemented down to the floor but that the carpet isn't affixed anywhere. It simply floats. (I still might use some Velcro to have it invisibly sit down at the corners).