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41 Chevy with no rocker panels

5K views 20 replies 4 participants last post by  41SUPERCOUPE 
#1 ·
I posted a question yesterday about running board ideas for my 41 coupe and Centerline suggested just replacing the rockers. I thought about it but after some research looking at other 41 Chevys, it appears that replacing the bulge type rocker panels is out of the question.

Look at my doors......They are not 41 coupe doors, there is no bulge at the bottom

My door bottoms are factory straight down.....and they appear to be original, the doors, jambs and interior paint all match, it appears to be the original dark burgundy paint.

So whats going on here?.....1940 car with 41 vin tag?.....it looks untampered.

I'm ok with it cuz I like the pre-41 running boards, i'm just baffled.
 

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#2 ·
41 Chev

41SUPERCOUPE said:
I posted a question yesterday about running board ideas for my 41 coupe and Centerline suggested just replacing the rockers. I thought about it but after some research looking at other 41 Chevys, it appears that replacing the bulge type rocker panels is out of the question.

Look at my doors......They are not 41 coupe doors, there is no bulge at the bottom

My door bottoms are factory straight down.....and they appear to be original, the doors, jambs and interior paint all match, it appears to be the original dark burgundy paint.

So whats going on here?.....1940 car with 41 vin tag?.....it looks untampered.

I'm ok with it cuz I like the pre-41 running boards, i'm just baffled.
It could be a early 41 where they were using up parts from the 40. Some guys have a 47 Ford, but have parts on it from 46, that will only fit the 46 and the first 47's. the 47 Ford did not get all the changes until march of 47. Chev might have done the same. You might be able to google it to find out.

Bob
 
#3 ·
Nothing on google Bob, but did find a correct name for the "bulge" rocker panels....Chevrolet's new "Concealed safety steps"

My vin tag date is 04, built at the Tarrytown plant, so I kinda doubt it was leftover parts, plus the old ads claim a whole new model for 41 with a Fisher body....mine has an oval brass Fisher tag on the door hinge post.

But then again what else COULD it be?

I found a Chevy style number chart for 1946, but couldn't find 1941.....but if the numbers are the same (1227B), this coupe means business!

She's a 1941 Special Deluxe Business coupe :mwink:
 

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#4 ·
41

41SUPERCOUPE said:
Nothing on google Bob, but did find a correct name for the "bulge" rocker panels....Chevrolet's new "Concealed safety steps"

My vin tag date is 04, built at the Tarrytown plant, so I kinda doubt it was leftover parts, plus the old ads claim a whole new model for 41 with a Fisher body....mine has an oval brass Fisher tag on the door hinge post.

But then again what else COULD it be?

I found a Chevy style number chart for 1946, but couldn't find 1941.....but if the numbers are the same (1227B), this coupe means business!

She's a 1941 Special Deluxe Business coupe :mwink:
It could be that just that model had a flat door, does your car have a back seat. I'm not really up on Chev's.

Are you close to Cape Coral, I belong to a club there.

Bob
 
#6 ·
41 Chev

41SUPERCOUPE said:
No they were the same as any 41-48 coupe.

I did find more info stating mine is an "A" car, built in january so I suspect your right......The other website stated "AH" meant the 4th month.

I'm in Port Charlotte....are you a snowbird?.....when do you fly down?...what do ya drive?

Scott
I drive down, I guess you could call me a snowbird. I have a 46 Ford I drive right now, 33 Ford 3w Almost ready for paint, and a 35 Terraplane that was on the road once as a street rod but I parked it, as I didn't like the way it was.

Bob
 
#8 ·
It would be interesting to see a pic of the underside of the doors. I've checked every info source I have and I can't find any 41 GM vehicles with running boards (other than trucks). They aren't 40 doors as the quarter window line is straight on the 40 and the 41 is slightly curved as yours is. I'm wondering if someone didn't shorten the doors when the body was installed on that chassis. If so then the easiest option would be to just make some custom running boards and then let everyone wonder what's different about it.

Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Instructions are just the manufacturers opinion of how it should be put together". - Tim Allen
 
#11 ·
She's cut, mystery solved!

The doors were chopped and remade years ago, WOW!

So the original dark burgundy paint just aint.....and it seems pretty old so that tells me my 41 was once totally stripped of paint and rebuilt, then repainted near original......I can tell a resprayed car and this one must have been stripped.

My guess is the custom work and grey primer was done more recently, probably after the old restoration started aging.?
 

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#13 ·
Yep. No doubt about it, your doors have been chopped. Decent job too considering how long ago it was done.

What you can do is cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to the shape you want for running boards and then use it as a pattern to cut another piece. Then cut a piece of 14 ga. steel a couple inches larger than your pattern. Sandwich the steel between the two pieces of plywood and use a hammer to bend the edges down. If you do this carefully you can wind up with a custom set of running boards that look almost factory.

Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Remember, if you didn't put it together with your own hands, its not really yours." - Tim Allen
 
#15 ·
41

41SUPERCOUPE said:
She's cut, mystery solved!

The doors were chopped and remade years ago, WOW!

So the original dark burgundy paint just aint.....and it seems pretty old so that tells me my 41 was once totally stripped of paint and rebuilt, then repainted near original......I can tell a resprayed car and this one must have been stripped.

My guess is the custom work and grey primer was done more recently, probably after the old restoration started aging.?
Cool, I admit I don't know that much on old cheby's but, on this board someone will jump in and help. Get running boards on it and all done you will have a head scatcher there. :cool: :thumbup:

Bob
 
#17 ·
41

41SUPERCOUPE said:
She's had a nip 'n tuck by gorry!

Must be gettin nippy up in the north country, when u headed down Bob?.....u ever go to Flywheelers?
We got down somewhere in the 20 degree range a couple weeks ago, 2 days before that it was 90 degrees. Yesterday it was 81 today about 60, do to a cold front sent down by our friends in the north.

This weekend our club goes on it's fall cruise, leave Friday come back Sunday. We take all back roads and make stops in little towns, and a few winery's to test the local brew. We are meeting another club on Sat. that will go with us, we will have about 75 to 100 cars, just like a traveling car show. With all the colors of the cars and the color of the leaves it is cool.

No I have never been to Flywheelers. What and where is it?
You had better PM me, it your thread but we don't want to change it.

Bob
 
#19 ·
41

41SUPERCOUPE said:
That sounds cool Bob....Flywheelers, you will love!....i'll create a new posting for it because I suspect many other members will love it too.

How bout you DBM, ever been out to Frostproof?
Hate to sound like a stick in the mud, but we can't steal the thread, this is suppose to be on your 41. What we are talking about should be in off-topic, or by PM's not on this thread. I will be glad to talk with you, but not here.

The mods can shut it down if we stay too far off of the thread. Just send me a PM and we can BS.

Bob
 
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