Here's a photo of our fabulous crew (minus me, the photographer) They are an amazingly talented bunch of people which only goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover! The roll up mechanisms for the windows were rusted and worn out. So I decided to try power windows. I got a set from Speedway for about 150 bucks. The "good" ones are more than 3 times the money and this set was highly reviewed. They are a cable drive unit which will fit in a tighter space, and that was also a consideration. Because of the chop, the widow glass has to be custom, so Dana made a pattern for the new window out of Masonite. Steve and Dana had the setup operating in no time! Here's a photo of the mechanism installed in the door. I got a new lock for the vent window, but I didn't realize that the mounting stem was integral with the frame. so I decided to manufacture a new stem. Here's a photo at the beginning of the process. It took all damn day, but it did work. We don't have a lathe, so we turned it on a drill press with various files. By the end of the day we had it worked out. Its crap like this that slows a project down, but also makes it interesting. Nick in the meantime began shaping the rear tailgate wood . This thing is gonna come out awesome!. We decided that all the interior sides should remain mostly square (1/8 inch roundover while the exterior sides of the wood will have an easy curve . Nick decided that when we start applying the wood to the body next week we'll start with the doors, as that will make the lines easier to manipulate. There's a lot of thought that goes into this process. With as hard as it was to form the wood we don't want to screw up and ruin a piece because we didn't think something through.
Now that's some progress. Very nice. I know what you mean about little things taking forever, but once done it is worth it. Ryan.
It's time to start attaching the wood to the body. The Ash rails in final form will be attached to the body with 5/16" Stainless steel carriage bolts, just as was done in the day. But for today we are using 1/4" hex bolts to put everything in place. This is just a preliminary setup, and we need to make sure everything fits as it should before we enlarge the holes for the stainless carriage bolts. . The holes are located, and then drilled out with a 1/8 inch bit through both the wood and the underlying steel panel. Then the panel is drilled, and the wood is taken to the drill press and bored with a 1/4" brad point bit so not to chip or splinter the wood. The steel is drilled slightly oversize so that the bolts will readily slip through. Here you can see that on the inside of the door the bolt comes through on a ridge. You cant just pick a new place for the bolt top go. Its GOTTA go here for the bolt spacing on the outside of the door to look good..... so The back of the hole is clearanced so both the nut and a socket will fit comfortably. It's all worth it though when the finished installation can look this clean.
Chaz, good call on the 1/4" bolts first. Nothin' like a little wiggle room. Man, this is looking good. Wayno
Something new today..... We used to drag our stuff that needed to be sandblasted outside and blast it, but with the new asphalt driveway my wife was less than excited to see the new driveway coated with a layer of sand that tracked into the house. So I broke down and purchased a industrial cabinet to do our work in. I LOVE this thing! Dana spent the better part of his day blasting all those hinges and little parts that are such a pain in the butt to clean any other way. By the end of the day we had a pile of beautiful clean parts. This is the way... no muss, no fuss. Nick began attaching the ash rails to the side of the car. We just drilled a few holes and used sheetmetal screws to hold the rails in place so that Nick could accurately measure and fit all the joints "on the car" to make sure everything will line up. I know this seems like a cheapie drill press, but two guys can get a hole drilled pretty much perfectly vertical if you view the drill from two sides 90 degrees apart. This works well especially when the wood you're drilling has no flat surfaces to set on a drill press table. Then the rails were screwed onto the body with easily removable sheetmetal screws. The rails near the door opening had to be shaped so that they would clear each other when the door is opened Here's a view down the side of the car with a few of the rails attached. Each horizontal line we add makes the vehicle seem longer and lower. Steve and I worked over the other vent window today to fit under the chopped top.
Looking better each time you guys touch it. I'm sure you are all excited and anxious, as you move towards completion. GREAT WORK!!! I love the wood!
Thanks Ken. The woodwork is an interesting challenge. You're always trying to think ahead of all the repercussions if you attach the wood a certain way. Can this expand? Will the mahogany fit under? Do we put finish on the wood before or after? How are we gonna get a wrench on a bolt if we put it there? How much of a roundover will look correct? What color will look good and not wash out the colors of the natural wood? It really keeps your mind cooking and that's good for a bunch of old farts like us.
We've been looking at just about everything there is. So far, the LC 4000 by BASF looks best to us. Its a clear that is used on their Limco 4 automotive finishes. We sprayed a test piece and it came out beautifully. Seems to be quite durable. The auto finishing industry is light years ahead of the wood finish industry . I've yet to see a chair or table you can leave out in the driveway for 10 years or so like you do a car. The auto clears are very stable, able to expand and contract and slow to amber. Seemed like a no-brainer to us. ( Its either gonna be marvelous or else bite us on the ass. We're prepared for either!)
The top headliner is one of mine installed by the owner. They're made to fit '49-'51 Ford and Mercurys, don't know how close they are to the next gen wagon. More pics here www.shoeboxtops.com call me if I can do anything for ya. Gary O
A quick update: We did work today cause everyone had some open time before their big Easter dinner. Nick continued working on the side rail wood and got pretty far. Here he is trial fitting the curve over the rear fender. The pieces so far are fitting pretty well. You can actually kinda get a feel for the look it'll have in this photo. Everything still needs a lot of trimming and finessing but it is starting to show it's woodieness. Steve and I completed chopping the drivers side vent window. We now understand why people eliminate vent windows ( sometimes windows altogether) on a chopped car. Cutting these down is a real bitch. Every single piece of metal and weatherstrip has to be altered. Still it somehow seems worth it when you finally get it completed and installed. Here's one of the entire side after glue up. Lots of trimming still to do, but the pieces fit the round body well.
Very nice work!! Progress is nice whether large or small. When doing something that takes a long time it feels like you are getting nothing done. But when you step back and take a look it is well worth the time and effort. Great job!! Ryan.
Chuck,when you modify something like the vent windows and you can't really tell they have been chopped you know the men that preformed their magic you know they have spent a great deal of time honing their skills. HRP
Now that all the pieces have been glued and fitted to the profile of the car, Nick took them back to his shop to trim and smooth them out. The car looks like it is fairly flat sided, but it is not at all. Here Nick shows some of the curvature that the wood had to make to fit tight against the sides of the wagon He brought back one of the rear pieces today and we attached it temporarily to the car to get a feel for the look with everything dressed out This thing is gonna work out just the way we had hoped. !!!! The rest of us spent the whole damn day getting the rider side door in perfect alignment. We ultimately had to slightly elongate some of the hinge holes to get everything to line up perfectly.
been following this build I wood(pun) love to have that wagon.when finished of course.then I could sit and look at it when the winter rolls around and its parked on pedestal in garage.I promise I would not change a thing even the colourLOL
This is what I have been dreaming about ever since you talked about building a real woodie,,I absolutely love it,and I know you and your crew are very talented when it comes to being creative but bringing Nick on board uped the bar on this build. You guys are amazing. HRP
Here's a photo of the rear siderails getting tuned up at Nick's shop. They are quite sturdy . You'd think they'd need additional support to keep them from breaking but those tenons are awfully strong!
I just read through the whole thread and can only say that you guys are amazing. What a beautiful car with such subtle modifications. Very, very nice!
WOW, as the son of an ameteur woodworker this project really gets my attention. Any Woody would be my ultimate old car to own. Gonna be killer when it's all done. Me and Nads just went to a vintage boat show, a few weeks ago. I could totally see one of those Chris-crafts being towed behind this, when finished. Yowza!! JT
Just read through the whole post. You guys are doing a fantastic job. I have to admit when I first saw the title of the thread, I thought, "Geeez, another guy who don't know nuttin' about Ford station wagons!" How wrong I was!
You guys are not old farts, you're more like the PEP BOYS on steroids. This is truly a labor of love, and a great build to watch. Thanks for the updates.... Rich
The Jalopy Journal
