Daves1940Buick56S Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 I am working on derusting and sealing the floor and when I pulled the seat out (oof!) I found that there is an access panel under there. It appears to be for an under floor battery. Did any C body in 1940 have the battery in that location? Currently it accesses nothing. Any ideas? Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Passenger side? Underseat heater delete plate. If so, only one I have seen. Ben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves1940Buick56S Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 Oh, duh on me!! Of course! I just don't think about the factory heater on that car since I have an underdash unit. Why are the delete plates so rare? One thing that is odd about it - three of the screws are in keyed holes and one is at the edge. So to remove it all you have to do is loosen the screws a bit and slide the plate to the outside and out. No loose screws to fumble with. I guess this is to keep from the dealer having to pull the seat to add a factory heater? Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Pic of my floor that I did earlier this year. Delete heater for under the seats, but shows the plate. This is taken from the driver side. Primed and painted using Rustoleum enamel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgreen Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 The lower photo in the above post is interesting Mike. Do you have a blank plate under the drivers seat as well? Possibly not but I see two things that look like they might be fasteners. The under dash heater that you have is very likely a dealer add or post sale owner add. It is not uncommon to see these cars without a heater. Not sure why but I've seen several. As for the rarity of the heater delete plate/cover we could only guess that those covers stayed in the car up to it's final parking spot at the crusher. If one was removed, the owner most likely did so to install a factory heater where one never was and the plate got tossed. Another cover plate that gets rare are the plates that screw onto the openings of the inside of the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Ken, If you look closely there are four bolt holes for the seat with the "C" clip in the back and the "L" in the front. The blank plate where the heater would have gone is center of the drivers side. Blank plate on the passengers side also. The car did not have the under seat heater from the factory (built in California). I believe that more of the cars built for the midwest in Flint had the under seat heater. I am restoring the after market Hadees heater from the 40s. My cover plates on the doors were in great condition. Dave's picture shows the passenger side and my picture shows the drivers side plate. Ken, do you have the dimensions of the trim rings on your Super? I am going to replace mine and want the correct ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves1940Buick56S Posted September 26, 2020 Author Share Posted September 26, 2020 On mine no plate under the driver's seat, just a stamping in the floor. Interesting that mine had no factory heater as it was built at Linden. The underdash heater that was in the car is a Hupp aftermarket from the 1950s judging by the gold hammertone finish. I stripped it and redid in black crackle to look more authentic to 1940. I also painted the floor black gloss after 3 coats of rust converter. Am in process of putting down insulating material to be followed by the brown custom rubber mat. I should be done with this early next week. Cheers, Dave 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted September 26, 2020 Share Posted September 26, 2020 Sounds like a good plan Dave. I purchased the front rubber mat from Bob's Automobilia a few years back and finally installed it this year with jute padding underneath secured with some 3M spray 20. The rear mat I purchased from Restoration Specialties, not an exact match, but pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgreen Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 On 9/25/2020 at 11:35 AM, kingrudy said: Ken, If you look closely there are four bolt holes for the seat with the "C" clip in the back and the "L" in the front. The blank plate where the heater would have gone is center of the drivers side. Blank plate on the passengers side also. You have an interesting situation there Mike. The Cadillacs had two under seat heaters while the Buicks had just one which located on the passenger side. The C-body like you have is the same as that used on the Cadillac Series 62's. They would be nearly identical except for the front end sheet metal, interior and tail lights. I wonder what you got there??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgreen Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Mike, I'll get a look at my trim rings tomorrow. I spent the entire glorious day pretending to be a Buick mechanic and am too bushed to check at the moment. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Regarding the heater, the car had an aftermarket Hadees hot water heater which I am planning to restore over the winter. Many of these looked crude, but were functional. The one that I have looks nice and will add to the appearance of the interior when finished. Looking forward to seeing the pics of your trim rings. If they are 1-1/2" deep I may purchase the ones through Ford Restorations, as the price and free shipping is attractive. How did the drive go over the weekend? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now