Event Coverage Spring Break Roadtrip

a few months ago.. I learned about a set of wood that had been removed from a 1948 Chevy woodie and was available for sale...

The wood was used, and wouldn't be available until April, and no photos were available until the seller returned home from his wintering in Florida..

I felt the price was fair, so in earnest I began saving my pennies, started packing my lunch again, did a few small side jobs, and sold a few things to have cash ready...

when photos of the wood arrived.. this is what I saw.






I hoped that the wood might be "good enough" to allow me to finish my 48 Oldsmobile woodie (that I bought from Django in 2001? or 2002? IN the midst of a February snowstorm..)


the seller and I agreed that April 15th / 16th would be the best time for both of us to do the deal.. I had already committed to drive to Michigan and the only caveat to the trip was that I needed to be back in Philly to hear my girls sing in church on Sunday 4/17.

given that my DD Chevy Silverado gets 15mpg, and has an open bed, I decided the only reasonable thing to do was to load up my other car.. and head west..



leaving work at 3pm on Friday I made decent time.. I was careful about my driving and watched fuel economy closely.. I managed to pull off 20- 22mpg on all but one leg of the trip.. (that leg calculated out to 17mpg.. but I wasn't wasting any time)

I hadn't mentioned to don that I would be arriving in my woodie.. so I think it was quite a shock for him..

here we are loading up the chevy wood into my ford woodie..



the drive home saturday was somewhat less spectacular. Downpours were expected late in the day.. so I was trying to hustle back thru ohio when at my first gas stop I realized that I had lost an exhaust hanger.. although it only took a few minutes to find a parts store and repair the situation, I lost valuable time..



at my second fuel stop I added some new windshield trim to address a leak that came with the driving rain.

shortly thereafter I passed this guy.. who may be more foolish than me?



I arrived home around 11pm saturday night.. the rain stopped around 11:15 ;-(

monday evening.. I went and rescued my olds wagon from storage. 20 minutes of charging from my trusty 5.00 swap meet battery charger.. and it came to life..


the wood I began to fabricate 5,6, 7 years ago.. now comes off.. and the chevy wood goes on..
no more steel substructure..

more to come as I dig into it again!

 

Your girls are now old enought to sing in the church choir?? Where does the time go??

Congrats on finding what you need.....in MY hood.

 

Cool ! I love what you have done with all the original wood you have rescued ...what happened to the Chevy the wood came from, did it get a whole new wood kit?

 

Nice! Way to drive the Ford Woodie out there to rescue that Chevrolet wood for the Oldsmobile.

 

Very Cool, that stuff looks to be in awesome condition.

 

Cool beans, hombre... Ha, I bet that guy shit a brick when you pulled up in the '40!

 

Cool, and a very impressive score, the Chevrolet wood looks superb in the photos!

 

Very nice. I like to see it reused. If you need any of the hardware give me a jingle.
Tom Fritz

 

Cooler than cool. Denise...how jealous are ya? I mean...a woodie version of Big Olds? I want it.

 

Well not so much, it's not a convertible BUT since "Sticks" is Big Olds' girlfriend, we will al be spending alot of time together as soon as she is on the road and attending events.

 

the chevy did get new wood.. and it came out spectacular..

tom.. I will be..

I cant wait !

 

I think maybe you need a few more projects!

 

Wow that's a really great story and I'd like to use it in my new woodie book.
Any chance you can dtrop me an email...
Colin
[email protected]

 

You are my hero...

 

Awesomeness....

 

Geez, I gotta get to work. You will have two cars finished before I have one running. Great story. Jay

 

Cool !

 

What a cool roadtrip, man driving the Ford woodie is so cool, that baby rocks. Good luck with the install. ~sololobo~

 

started the install yesterday.. still lots to do..

 

Looks great! Subscribed.

 

fit the rear gate..



cut some finger joints along the end grain of a few pieces of stock..

layout


trim...


glue up..



fit.

more to come..

 

Looking great Sawzall ! I cant wait to see it come together!

 

More progress this morning...

 

Nice work there my friend!!

 

You're killing me!

Seriously, looks great! What drivetrain is in it?

 

been busy on this for the last few weeks.. as it turned out I had initially mounted the lower gate 3/4 inch too high.. moving it down solved LOTS of problems..





additionally.. because I initially built the inner fenders without the wood I had to slightly rework part of the passenger side inner fender.. good news is that now were good to go..



one of my favorite shots..

the "long" fingers, cut on my own finger jointing machine.. No sissy little fingers here.

details..

41 pontiac "8" adorns the hood.


front bumper will eventually be chromed..


a few more days of work.. then the wood comes off for sanding and varnish!!!!

 

Jeff............in a word.........*TITS*..............

CB
*Just painted my Fiddy One this morning.......after weeks and weeks of grunt prep.......you know how it goes....

 

Nice work Jeff!

Do you happen to know the firing order for that Olds? hahahaa