Projects When building the early Fords & GM's are you keeping the wood or replacing it with steel?

Great engine choice for your coupe! My buddy, Bob used wood in his 32 chevy build.

 

The termites are sad and will absolutely hate you

 

I don't know about the termites Larry, but when I was helping my pal Mike gather up the remnants of what was once a 1932 Chevy 2 door sedan what wood was left was full of carpenter ant's and the wood actually crumbled in your hands. HRP

 

I Woodgrained every piece that originally was wood along with a few that weren't , I have been asked more than once " What kind of wood is that ? " my reply = Ironwood

 

I chose to replace the wood with metal because most of the wood was gone.

 

It was built with wood. Keep it wood. Nothing like original.

 

I chose to buy a quality wood kit for my 30 A coupe and use some of it. It's crazy how much rigidity came piece by piece. I assume the interior will look a little more 1960s traditional by keeping the window wood to fasten to.

However, because the car is chopped, I'll be leaving out the top bows and relying on metal (a roof insert to add strength. The same goes for the sheet metal bulkhead. We designed it in a way that it added a ton of strength to the body.

 

All the wood in my 35 Chevy was in excellent condition with some being replaced previously so I retained it rather than steel it out. However I built a solid 34 frame for it with a stout x-member that took away all that torsional twist so the body wouldn't flex when driving on our wonderful roads down here. I sold the 35 frame with drive train to a restorer as it was too good to modify. My car has been on the road now for 15yrs without issue. Had the original wood deteriorated. the car would have been steeled out.

 

A chev car with wood is a lot quieter inside driving than a ford .
If the wood is good I save it , no good replace it wit steel.Here is a 34 truck I am doing with steel

 

My Dad had a 31 Chevy coupe.he said he always had to tighten the screws holding the doors on because they always worked loose from the wood.

 

I couldn’t see paying the money for the body, floor and top wood kits for my Tudor.

Made my own, wood and hardware I’m into it for less that $150.00

Cliff Ramsdell

 

Really nice work!

 

Thanks, nothing special, just an old hot rod that I rebuild and enjoy.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I am restoring a 36 chevy 2dr sedan for a guy. I'm replacing the wood in the doors and b posts with steel, but I have to use all the original hardware and make it look factory (I draw my inspiration from the 37 chevy doors).
It is a giant pain in the ass and time consuming, if it had been mine I would have use wood...

 

Yes quite right Danny, funny enough I came across this picture,

 

In my 34 Tudor Sedan, I replaced all of the wood with steel tubing.

In my Model A Tudor Sedan, I kept the wood header panel over the windshield, and the wood roof panel ribs cause they are in good shape, but I've replaced all of the other wood (including the rear window surround) with steel tubing. So basically, all of the upright pillars and the upper perimeter inner frame are now steel, but the upper roof section looks like the one Cliff Ramsdell posted. I might change out the roof panel ribs to tie it into the rest of the inner steel framework, I might not.

 

This one would be on the road if it weren't for the bad wood.Sheet metal is really in nice shape but you can just about poke your finger through any of the wood framing.I had contacted a couple of vendors about kits and yes it was pretty expensive but theres a lot of work on some of the parts.Timing was a couple of years if they didn't have it in stock.Looks like I will be using steel tubing to repair.

 

All steel...in my 32 3/window...it’s a race car! It had wood but in poor condition...later.

 

I think a lot depends on what is available vs cost. Also how good is original wood. If a less popular vehicle you may not find a wood kit. So either get good at woodworking or replace with steel. A nice wood kit saves time at expense of cost. Dealing with rotten wood requires something done to address the rot.

On my 37 Chevy Ute, it still has wood used in parts of the body. Much is poor shape and won't hold a screw. As a temp fix I recently drilled 1 inch holes and glued in 1 inch dowel pieces in. Kind of a simple fix, where new wood is where needed and some glue to help the surrounding original wood. Then redrilled and put new screws in. Much better now. But ultimately I think it will get steel replacement as a permanent fix.

 

Great thread, I've really gone back and forth on this with my '33 chevy 5w. I met a guy that rebuilt a couple like mine, street rod, kept it all wood and the floors bowed enough that his doors didn't line up after 3years and he was real bummed out by it, it was a show car level built too.

But I want to retain some wood for the nostalgia of it all. I'm thinking steel floor, B pillars, framing betwixt cabin and trunk, inside the back quarters, and inside the doors (with bearclaws from hotrodlatches of course!). Then buy the individual replacement hardwood pieces for the A pillars (bottom area), above windshield, and ceiling and leave some exposed. That guy out of Arkansas will sell them individually, forget his name right now.

Leaving some wood retains some character, IMO. Also sets us apart from street rods and glass cars, I guess.

 

I originally made replacement B-pillars, front and rear headers out of rough oak from pallets. I took patterns off of the old pieces and did a good job of replicating. But sometime along the way I decided to treat myself to a nice oak wood kit. I'm glad I did, as I'll finish out the AA cab with the polyurethane-sealed oak exposed.