New Floor Pans have arrived!

RL Chilton
RL Chilton Administrator, Member
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Well, it only took me 45 minutes to re-size 3 pictures, but I thought some of you would like to see these.



My new pans recently arrived. These were made by bentmetal, here on the forum. For those of you that are looking for originality, it doesn't get any better than this:



The 2nd pic shows a shot of the backsides, notice the "L" rib down the middle.



In the 3rd pic: The clips to hold on the tranny cover came from Restoration Specialties. The pans are made from 19-gauge metal, just like Hudson did, not like the flimsy ones you find on E-Bay. Yes, these cost a little more, but well worth it, IMO.



Notice the dimples that the clips rest upon. The attention to detail is unsurpassed.



The only "concession" that was made that differs from the originals, is that the rib that welds to the frame around the backside bends "up", rather than down, and that is only to ease installation. These can be put in from the top of the car, rather than trying to work under the car, or roll the car over.



I'm so impressed with bentmetal's work, we've started the ball rolling on the next piece I'd like him to make for me.



If anyone would like bigger pictures, please e-mail me and I'd be glad to send them to you.

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Russell (and Bentmetal), are these going to be "stocked" items, or at least orderable, in the future? Or was this a case where they were custom made to order, with the necessity of sending an old piece as a pattern? If they're an item which can be ordered, I'd be more than happy to add this to my list of Hudson Repro Parts, at http://mysite.verizon.net/detailed1/Repro_Table.pdf
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    These look like the ones that were availible early on. Ken Amman had them?? If they fit like they look,you should be able to sell alot of them. What is the availblity and cost of these?.
  • Fred
    Fred Expert Adviser
    I know I should know this but in addition to availability and price, what cars do they fit? (Or trucks?)

    Fred
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    Worth every penny if you want a stock looking pan.

    No others come close, only Ken's were ~ and they're not available anymore.

    Pre-Drilled for the spot-welds - priceless!:D
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Fred-



    You'll have to talk to bentmetal about price, but they fit all stepdowns.
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Thank you Russell for that very complimentary post, I'm glad your happy with the new floors.:D:D:D
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Jon B wrote:
    Russell (and Bentmetal), are these going to be "stocked" items, or at least orderable, in the future? Or was this a case where they were custom made to order, with the necessity of sending an old piece as a pattern? If they're an item which can be ordered, I'd be more than happy to add this to my list of Hudson Repro Parts, at http://mysite.verizon.net/detailed1/Repro_Table.pdf





    I've got two sets in stock now. A set for 48'-49', which have no ribs at all, and a set like pictured above, but neither set has the mounting clips installed. The floor pans pictured above Russell asked me to make them like factory as much as I possibly could except he wanted the outside flange bent "up" to make them easier to install. I made another set where I bent the flange "down". These will be a little bit harder to install, but they will look really close to original when finished. If installed carefully I believe the replacement will be undetectable. I have a picture of the two sets that I sent out, one with the flange up, the other, flange down.
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Clutch guy wrote:
    These look like the ones that were availible early on. Ken Amman had them?? If they fit like they look,you should be able to sell alot of them. What is the availblity and cost of these?.





    Well, the whole reason I started making these was because someone came to me with rotted out floors and they had a right side Ken Amman floor and an e-bay left side floor. I told him I wasn't comfortable installing the e-bay floor, but the Ken Ammen one was fine, so I made my own left side.

    Each time I make these I try to make them a little better then the last. I don't have a great big punch press. It's all done by hand, one bead at a time, one hole at a time. So because of that, I make them to order. I do have a couple in the garage that I made for the Nationals last year. Didn't sell um', so I still got um'. No mounting holes in those ones. If someone is interested in them just contact me and I could make whatever you want. Maybe any year you want, just need patterns. Here's a picture of some custom 40'-47' floors.
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Fred wrote:
    I know I should know this but in addition to availability and price, what cars do they fit? (Or trucks?)

    Fred





    The ones pictured above fit 48'-54'. There are several variations depending on how perfectly original you want to get. It seems as though Hudson made the first ones (48') with no ribs at all, then in 50' they added some to the toe-board, then in 51' or 52' they added two to the floor, going cross ways. In 1954 they added a rounded piece in the corners to make the carpet have a radiused corner. ALSO, the Wasp/Pacemaker has different profile then the long wheel based cars. It's more rounded as the long wheel base floors are more flat. Not much, but when you look at them side by side you can see it. Bottom line is There are many different variations that may or may not matter to you. Ken Ammen made one long wheel based style with all of the ribs in it and I think everyone was happy with that. These ones pictured would fit 48' to 54' long wheel based, similar to what Mr. Ammen was making.

    As for price, they are $200. a side. I think Mr. Ammen's were $125. a side a few years ago? I don't know for sure. As for availability, you can get them through K-Gap for the same price, or through me. K-Gap should have a set or two in stock, if you buy them through me it will take a couple weeks, depending on how detailed you want me to get.
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    rambos_ride wrote:
    Worth every penny if you want a stock looking pan.



    No others come close, only Ken's were ~ and they're not available anymore.



    Pre-Drilled for the spot-welds - priceless!:D





    You like that "pre-drilled"! lol:D Thanks, Russell asked me to make these as original as I could and ready to be installed. So I did, and if I was going to install them I would have to punch holes for the spot welds. Just between you and me, they are punched, not drilled, no burrs on the holes.;)

    I think you'll get a kick out of this too. My Dad has a miniature punch press that we never could find a use for but I always thought it was cool as heck. I made a set of dies for it and used it to counter sink around the clips, it worked pretty good.

    As for what you said "worth every penny", thanks. These things take a bunch of time, I'm probably lucky to make minimum wage when it's all said and done. But, it's not about money.:)
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    bent metal wrote:
    As for price, they are $200. a side. I think Mr. Ammen's were $125. a side a few years ago? I don't know for sure. As for availability, you can get them through K-Gap for the same price, or through me. K-Gap should have a set or two in stock, if you buy them through me it will take a couple weeks, depending on how detailed you want me to get.

    That's what I paid for the set I got from Ken - about 275 with shipping...but - remember, those sets where made from a mold and stamped out in batches to get the price down..and as far as I know Ken never raised the prices, although it took years to sell the inventory.

    Heck - the price of steel alone has skyrocketed, let alone the labor invovled!

    Bent Metal's are hand-made, detailed pieces - 200.00 a side is not out-of-line for the effort and cost of materials for something that is as close a you can get to an original replacement.

    And we all know these floor pans are almost always in need of replacement!
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    Another possibility to keep the cost down might be a "basic" set, without any bells or whistles, for those of us who don't care about originality, but just want to make sure the grandkids don't fall through onto the street. He could probably bang those out for a little less. Beautiful work, Bent Metal!
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Bentmetal-



    Check your e-mail when you get a chance. I'm anxiously awaiting a response!:)
  • Sarah Young
    Sarah Young Senior Contributor
    I've had several requests for Jet floor pans. Did the Ammens ever make those? Do you know of a source for them? So far, I've had to tell people that the ones under their feet make a great pattern and refer them to Dan's site for installation cues.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Mike (WA) wrote:
    Another possibility to keep the cost down might be a "basic" set, without any bells or whistles, for those of us who don't care about originality, but just want to make sure the grandkids don't fall through onto the street. He could probably bang those out for a little less. Beautiful work, Bent Metal!



    The ones offered on e-bay for $69.99 are a good basic set and they fit well

    with very little tweeking. I installed a pair two months ago.
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