1x6 by 14 wood inside of rear quarter panels

Can someone please tell me what 1x6 by 14 planks of wood were doing in the rear quarter panels of my 48 Hudson? I found these in my car,when I removed the panels on my car. I found various sized and lengths of wood in each rear quarter panel. All planks are still solid and intact. This is the first time that these panels have been removed from my car since it left the factory in October of 1947.

Comments

  • 2manyprojects
    2manyprojects Expert Adviser
    post a pic please.
  • I will get them tomorrow

  • these are pictures of the wood, that i found in the panels on the left side of my car. the small part on the bottom of the long 1x6 is either foam or something like that, that was on my left removable quarter panel
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor

    I have used yardsticks between the quarters and frame to bridge the gap between the frame and the quarters to keep the metal from warping. It looks like this is some kind of variant.. 

  • drivergo2
    drivergo2 Expert Adviser
    I had a small piece of wood on the inside of my door panel when I replaced my striker on  my 52 hornet sedan. 
  • There wouldn’t have been any wood in any step downs from the factory. That’s just something a previous owner might’ve stuck in there to keep stuff from getting lost between the wheel house and quarter panels. 
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
    There wouldn’t have been any wood in any step downs from the factory. That’s just something a previous owner might’ve stuck in there to keep stuff from getting lost between the wheel house and quarter panels. 

    That's definitely true. What the factory used on one of the cars that I did was a hard white substance. I'm not sure what it was or I would have duplicated it. I really don't understand why they didn't make the quarter panels to match up to the perimeter frame. If the car was damaged any time during it's life and another quarter panel was put on, I think that a body shop would use anything laying around to bridge that gap in order to keep the quarter panel from buckling in at the bottom. An old timer told me to use yardsticks- plastic yardsticks are cheap,don't hold water, and will not cause any dissimilar metal corrosion. Just my .02 worth. Cheyenne7271- what do you use?
  • 7X, I have only taken cars apart and haven’t reassembled any yet, lol. But what I did notice when I removed the rear quarters from my ‘51 coupe is some thick but spongy weatherstripping where the bottom of the quarter meets the frame rail.