Hello fellow wagon enthusiasts

Kodachromed Ash? My sweet little imagination?

Well one thing Dynaflow and I have going for us is the Air-drying he's allowed his ash to have.

I'm lucky here, because Ash is an abundant lumber here, the farmers cut it down to clear the land for their monstrous grain crops, and the only Air-drying hardwood lumber mill in Canada is like 10 blocks from me. We buy our lumber there for our Yard products. 250 board feet is a lot of money in solid lumber. It's going to look elegant.

Here's where we get ours. The Ash isn't on the site because they do most of it for wooden barrels and those 'end-of-run' boxes (Coffins).
http://www.brownandrutherford.com/

 

Dynaflow. Awesome tips! Thanks!

I did some digging on the titles you mentioned and it took me to some of the best resources on the web:

Outstanding Wood Tech articles!
http://www.oldwoodies.com/shoptalk.htm

Those led me to these old Fabric and Top reproducers!
http://www.hamptoncoach.com/

http://www.lebaronbonney.com/fabrics.htm

And all the refinishing info on exterior wood, in Rick Mack's excellent summary!
http://www.oldwoodies.com/shoptalk_refinish.htm

And the pictures on this 'Scrapbook' page! Outstanding!
http://www.woodiesusa.com/scrapbook.asp

 

My Real Woodie will be an orphan.

I won't be allowed in contests or shows.

At least not according to these rules:
http://www.nationalwoodieclub.com/b_b/content/images/definition.htm

Oh well, I'll get over it. After all, I own it, not the bank!

 

Hi Stormin,
Please don't confuse the NWC definition of a "woodie" to it being used for admission to the shows put on by the various "chapters" of the NWC. If you are going to have any real wood on your orphan, I'm sure it will be welcome at any of the woodie shows. I'd suggest calling the event sponsor first to confirm this but I doubt you'll be refused admission - unless you have it hot rodded and they don't allow hot rods (or stock and they only want hot rods!). Yes, it does happen but more so at non NWC events. There is an annual show in Macungie, PA in early August (it is not put on by the NWC) that the Penns Wood Chapter of the NWC participates in. They do not allow hot rods because the hot rod show they put on is a few weeks later. It's a space issue and that is how they draw the line. Good luck with your orphan and I hope I see you at a woodie event to be held near you!!
George
to any Penns Wood Chapter event! - and others I'm sure.

 

Thanks, George. No, I'm planning on building a decent 225 CID Mopar Slant Six, with a Torqueflite Auto (I want the parking brake on the Drive shaft, and 4 wheel disc brakes (all around). But I'm going to try to use some of the 30's/40's/50's design elements that allow me to make the best use of the space. I want reliability on the drivetrain, with style.

It would be fun to put the car in a show or two.

 

welcome Dynaflow79r!

it is always great to welcome a new member, especially one with the obvious talents and passion that you have for these great cars! those era real wood buick woodies are some of the most beautiful looking cars ever made in my opinion. and it is always nice to see another one of these beauties being restored to its former glory! i love gm cars, especially buicks and oldsmobiles, with a passion, and although i dont yet own anything of that vintage, i hope to someday!

oh, and yes, please drown us in pictures! :banana:

but welcome again, and enjoy the site!

-bob

 

Thanks Bob

Thanks for the kind and encouraging comments about my project.

When I had this wagon shipped across the country from San Juan capistrano back in the summer or 2001 to the old warehouse rented by a car club I belong to, most of the guys who saw this badly abused and vandalized wreck get pushed into the building thought it was as a hopeless cause. I saw it differently I guess. Even through the dented and torn steel, rusted out floors and rotted woodwork, I saw great potential and the more I researched how rare she was, the more committed I became to bring her back to her former glory.

In the 5th pic you'll see a shot from a 4 dr. Riviera that I bought as a parts car. It donated it's entire floor pan to my wagon (surface rusty but no rot). Since the 52 Wagons (Super and Roadmaster) began their lives as Super sedans, I was able to find and remove the six inch wide floor pan extension piece that Buick added to lengthen the body by 4 inches to become a Riviera. In the 3rd picture you can see this piece I removed. By drilling out the spot welds, butting the front and rear pans together and adding back the spot welds, I was able to install an originally stamped out Buick floor into my wagon rather than a piecework of spice pans that don't exactly replicate the original shape of the floor.

I'm happy to share what I've been up to. More to come..... Steve

 

hey no problem steve! those comments are very well deserved! its just always nice to know of someone else who cares about these cars. if i had the means and the skills, i would love to tackle projects like that! thats why i have cars and wagons of a bit newer vintage. but it is still nice to know that you are saving great old american cars from the likes of people who just want to demo derby them! :banghead3: that fact has always frustrated, even when i was a little kid and my dad would take us to the demo derbies for fun.

those pictures are great! you sure have done your research! do you own any other vintage steel?

-bob

 

Steve, I was cruising around for gauges and instrument panels and came upon a Sailboat club's site, where they carry on an annual review of exterior wood varnishes. They mentioned one from the NWC site, and a couple of other brands. They also talked about the types of UV ray options, finishing, etc. Good article.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/marine/varnishing_sailboat_floorboards.html

 

The same site has another article on doing what the sailors call 'Brightwork' - High gloss woodwork, with a downloadable PDF at the bottom (PDF has sample photos):
http://www.practical-sailor.com/marine/sparkling_brightwork.html

 

Thanks for the links

I checked out the Practical Sailor articles and printed out copied for my records. If all goes well, I'll be needing it late summer.

 

Right on! Them thar sailors should know a bit, since us land-lubbers haven't used real wood in our yachts since the late 40's. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Latest Enstallment

Hello all,
Spent the weekend once again working in bondo. I've been reshaping the original wood to fill the voids where wood was missing due to dry rot and where the outer surface was worn away. I remounted the wood onto the wagon back in July so that I could see whether they would provide me good templates. I quickly realized that I needed to repair and resurface much of it so liquid epoxy consolidant followed by body filler (Rage Gold) was what I began layering on and then with wraps, files and sanding boards, fairing it out. Now that the wood is off the car and in my shop, I'm still working the backs of the wood components and getting them to be very good templates. Here are a few pics showing the pale green body filler. More to come......

 

Wow! That's a slick technique! I ran a 16th Century furniture mfr back in the mid-80's. If clients asked the price, they couldn't afford us. We would hand carve broken Chippendale chair arms and legs. We never considered using fillers to reconstruct the chair pieces. We'd use wire shaping 'brushes', but the compound curves you're working with would be impossible to do that with. Well done! Keep it coming, awesome.

 

Hey Steve, how about a DIY on whitewall tires for that beauty?

Here's the Youtube version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9d57F_8vDc

Or the big one on HAMB:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124144