VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Trunk Wood Finish ?

I am replacing the wood in the trunk of my 1941 Special Del. Coupe.

The wood is for the Top Shelf, that sits OVER the spare tire.

Does any one know if the wood was, unfinished, sealed, painted or ?? {as original}

I have and will use the Rubber mat over the wood. Yes, this mat is original.


Thanks in advance,
Michael41 :)

unpainted

Thanks

Say Gene,

I was just browsing through a book on Chevrolet, 40-48 and it shows some cars going down the assembly line and a guy is loading a dark piece of “dark” wood into the trunk. Mind you, I am not 100% sure what color it is but it is dark in color and “L” shaped sort of like the wood in my trunk.

In your view, was all the wood unfinished ?
And was it plywood or ???

Thanks once more,
Michael41

Michael, I am going to try and contact a friend.His father was the 1941 Tech. advisor (now deceased) and they have an all original 1941 club coupe.Will ask him to check their car.

Thanks Gene. Much appreciated. As always!!

I was telling someone the other day, VCCA doesn't have/need a lot of tech-guys, we have Gene !!

Michael

Michael41
As you know I have a '41 Coupe like yours. I replaced the wood shelf in the trunk of my car when I restored it in '99. You mentioned an L shaped piece of wood from a picture. I cut a piece of plywood in a semi L shape. There is a metal shelf (narrow) in the back of the trunk against the board behind the back seat back. The trunk shelf is bolted to this shelf. I cut the plywood on a curve toward the spare tire going toward the rear around the spare tire and then over to the left rear of the trunk. This makes the shelf cover the spare tire and leaves the right side trunk open to the floor of the trunk.
I put two braces from the trunk floor to the bottom edge of the shelf. I covered the trunk floor and the shelf with trunk cover material. I think I got it from Whitney or ?. It is gray with black check. Looks very good. I wraped the material around the outer edge of the shelf. I glued the material on the shelf. Hope you can understand the above. In editing it I don't even know if I understand it. It would not satisfy the VCCA judges but 99% of judges and spectators really like it. The spare tire slides under the shelf and is secured with the factory brace. You have the top of the shelf and the right side for trunk space. Good Luck JIM

Jim, I sure do understand. Seems we have the same truck.

Mine is complete & restored, I just need to put a newer piece of wood in the trunk. And like you, mine covers the tire & is "L" shaped like yours.

I even have 2 full "mats" in the trunk, 1 on top of the wood & 1. under the wood, on the truck floor...

And I got a direct e-mail message from a guy who did some looking and told me the "wood is flat black, and painted on very informally." Meaning without a lot of detail & quality.

Thanks and I'd like to see your Chevy.

Michael41

Recieved the reply from original 1941 owner and he agrees the wood is black.Like a stain or flat black.

We were able to get pictures of an original 1941 jack and tool package yesterday.Fleetmas47 will be posting them soon :)

Michael41..
I saw the shelf in a magazine some time back and cut my board like the picture. In your case since you have the mats you would want to cut your shelf to match the shelf mat. Also plywood would not look good on yours because of the exposed edge. Mine is covered so it does not matter. Does your shelf have braces from the trunk floor to the bottom of the shelf? I could not see that part on the picture so I "fabricated" those to support the shelf. JIM

Michael 41----- I know my jack/tool cover is original on my 1940 town sedan. I also understand your car is not exactly my year or model. My wood is a five-ply plywood, approx. 1/2" thick with what could be paint or dye flat black finish. As a woodworking enthusiast I can visualize the bowing and cupping a solid piece of wood in a warm moist trunk would be subject to. Don't be worried about how an exposed cut edge of plywood would look--- It would look original!!!! Maybe your model used solid wood- ,but I doubt it. Chevy40

Say, Thanks all you guys and Gene.

My trunk has a metal edge that will cover the Plywood edges. The ply wood will sort of fit in-between the metal edges, kind of sandwiched like.
I found some Flat Black Oil Base which I will thin down and apply.

I will keep my eyes posted for the Jack & Tools Photo. If he wants to send the pics dir the add: socalvccahats@yahoo.com

AND, During a show, are these displayed in the Trunk ??

Also, I was able to get an Original Jack, Stand, Tire iron and some tools. I bought a tool bag for the tools from Chevys40. They say it’s OE “styled” {??}

Thanks again all you guys. You info and time is greatly appreciated.

Michael41

The tools for a 1941 did not come in a bag.They were shipped with the car in a cardboard box that the jack and hand tools fit in.The picture should include the box as it is still with the car.Probably the only one in existance.The bags came along in 1949 which was when the tools were no longer included with the car.In 1949 and up the jack and wheel wrench were fastened down in the trunk.The tool kit was sold as an accessory thru the parts department. and came in bags made of various materials.

Gene what would I do with out you.

And please consider this a kind & friendly note, but have you considered writing all of this down for future use ? It would sure be great.

On my end I have edited all of my questions & THE answers by category {Generator, Eng. Paint, etc.} printed, and placed them in a note book. It's all ready up to about 60 pages.

Thanks again Gene. I'll look forward to seeing the pic's.
Michael41

Last night when I was thinking about butting in here, I thought of three cars that I've owned that had a plywood "cover" or "shelf" or some such thing in the trunk.

The "problem" was (is) none of them were 41 Chevys.

BUT, that "about half inch" plywood chevy 40 speaks of is exactly what I recall being in the trunk of these three cars. And it was 'flat black' in all three cars.

The first is a 41 Cadillac Coupe. The spare 'sat' between the trunk floor and the plywood.

My 59 Corvette had the 'same' plywood under the rubber trunk mat and the plywood 'covered' the spare which sat down in a well in the trunk. The plywood was drilled in the center, for a 'bolt' that went thru the plywood, the wheel and into the "well" to hold the wheel/tire in place.

The third car was a '57 Nomad. Again, 'same' plywood; but it was covered with the sorta "rubber / linoleum" in the trunk area.

Where the plywood was 'exposed' in each of these cars it was a sorta flat black. I simply rattle canned it with 'flat black.' It looked just fine in the cars mentioned above.

Of course, the only similarity is either the year (41 Caddy) or the 'brand' (Chevrolet). I understand none of the three are spot on for Michael's question about a 41 coupe.

I suppose it's "likely" GM did the "same" thing for years........ But, I definitely cannot "swear to it."

Bill.

When I bought my '41 it was a basket case in as much as everything that had been removed from the car was in the trunk or back seat. Since we are talking about trunks and spare tires I remembered something that was in the trunk of my car. It is a circular piece of wood l3" in diameter. Near the edge there is hole approximately 3" in diameter. The top side is covered with material similar to upholstry material. Brown color. On the back side is a metal dual prong that would fit into a hole maybe the center hole of a wheel. This prong would secure the board in place. I have seen this cover in the trunk of cars but dont have any idea where. It is definetly a spare tire cover. Any ideas? Being 13" across lets out 15 or 16 inch wheels. The material is old so it is not from a recent model. JIM

A correction-The 1947-48 came with a tool bag.Found this in the 1947 Engineering Feature book "For emergency repairs and adjustments ,all the passenger cars are provided with a kit of rust protected hand tools which are NOW neatly contained in an envelope type bag of durable duck".What ever duck was...sure it didn't have feathers.

Anaother thing I discovered is that the jack was changed during 1946.The 1942 and early 1946 used the 1941 type jack.Later the 1946-48 had the new improved jack...will get back to that later.Also a hydralic type bumper jack was available in 1947-48 for extra $$$ as well as a friction type jack for extra $$.

Trunk wood.The 2 and 4 door sedans did not have a shelf after 1938.They did have a tool compartment under the trunk floor next to the opening.It has a wood cover.Mine is painted dull black -or stained.The 1941-48 did not have this feature.The 1938-mid year 1947 club coupes had a shelf above the spare tire.The late 47 and all 48 club coupes had no shelf.Just a round fabric covered board that clipped to the top of the rim.The Business coupes had a full shelf and used no mat...just black painted wood.

Interesting stuff.

Michael41

"Duck" material used for the tool bags was a tan canvas like material. My 49 pickup had one of the bags in it.

The 1949 is not shown as coming with a tool kit.The cars are listed as having a jack and lug wrench only as per the Engineering Features.The 1/2 ton truck listed as jack,handle and lug wrench as per Truck Data book.I wonder if the kit you have is the accessory kit sold in 1949 or a left over 1948 kit.
I have a few bags they used for the kits.One is a heavy cloth olive drab bag.I believe it was from a kit in the late '50's

Good question Gene,

I got my tool bag from Chevs40's and it's Olive Drab and sort of a cotton like material. {Part no. 986362}

I was able to find a reasonably good photo of a 41, Coupe Trunk area w/Jack Box in it. So I took the photo, made a sketch and had a box made and it looks pretty good.

As to how original looking it is, I'm not sure. But since I had the box made, the jack & tools do fit well. And I think it will look presentable at shows.

Michael41

Chevgene the tool kit came with the 1949 that I bought out of Wisconsin. It was a 3/4 ton with a Dealer installed dump hoist with the pickup bed. Truck was used only in summer months for hauling grain. The jack asm., lug wrench and tool pouch were in cab along with owners manual (none looked used very much). Tool pouch measures 13.5 X 6 inches with two button snaps to close; it's all fabric that is a tan or a faded olive drab color, cloth is soft with a darker color brown edging sown on. Tools include 3 open end wrenches forged and painted black (marked "V" forged in USA and numbers 41, 43 and little 7/16 x 3/8 can't read #. One 10" screw driver w/black handle, spark plug socket 4&1/4 in. long w/screw driver slot, one adjustable wrench # 9 auto, one ball-peen hammer