Projects 1951 Chevrolet tin woody wagon project

I thought I would do a small build thread on my 51 Chevy wagon , just for fun and to document my progress . Bought the car 3/26/11 from a really cool guy in Monrovia Ca. It has a fresh 235 , powerglide , stock rear . 3 rows of redone seats , new brakes , exhaust and is pretty much complete . Pro installed repro floor , lots of cool stuff with it . He said the project stalled a couple years ago when he put the new engine in put it in gear and nothing . I figured worst case I'd swap the trans . Got it back to the shop , my buddy Rob goofed around with the linkage , we put fluid in it and started driving it ! Blew it all apart for bodywork and paint , went to put it away and a freeze plug blew on the back of the block , gushing water . Pulled the engine , changed the plug and detailed it while it was out . Took it to my buddy Jake's for body work , he fixed the little rust on the lower gate and above the left skirt , blocked it a couple times and put it in buff poly primer . It was original paint and otherwise the body is really nice . The previous owner found some cherrier fenders than the originals and swapped them , that's why the color is different . I don't think this car was ever hit or anything . Sent the chrome and stainless to get done , started gathering up all the parts and trinkets to make reassembly go as smoothly as possible . Shot it a nice beige color . Wood grained it myself and then cleared the whole car . Tomorrow it gets color sanded and buffed . Hopefully start putting it together this weekend . Only got a few pix today then the camera died . Thanks to Rob , Jake and Luis for all their hard work so far . If this is too stock a build for anybody sorry , I like these wagons a lot though

 

man thats pretty. Wish I was good at wood cuz I would love to have a woody car but im not much of the wood worker

 

Wow-very nice (now drop it-chop it-etc-HA!)

 

It will have skirts and maybe a mild ass drag , sorta like this grey one I like a lot . Thanks !

 

That is freakin awsome!The tin woodie is #4 on my all time gotta have list.I wish I couls find cars that nice around here.Oh well get job on the wagon.glad you did not paint it red like 99% of them are.

 

Rollin' on some stainless , new wide whites , back bumper , N.O.S. tailight , window channels and felts . Went to put the glass in and wasn't even close to the same size as the originals, big Chevy place on ebay selling glass kits doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground , better refund my money . I called him up and he says oh sorry , I guess our patterns are wrong that's only the second set we've sold for a tin woody and the other guy said the same thing as you . They list like 30 sets of glass on ebay at a time . Went to the local ghetto glass shop and homie says it 'll be ready tomorrow for cheaper than the ebay place anyway .

 

It's all tin. Thus the name "tin woody" . The wood is just paint. Which means the painter did a really good job.

 

a nice looking wagon

 

bad ass wagon, im going to have you do my wood grained

 

Thanks a lot you guys ! I have family in Houston , next time I'm there I can knock it out for you in a day . Maybe I'll do a quick little tech on graining when I finish this wagon and get a chance to get caught up if people are interested . It's very expensive to have done by a pro and you can have fun and get it looking pretty good for the cost of materials and some time if you do it yourself .

 

Rollin' on glass , grille , chrome , carpet , door panels , dash , steering wheel and a bunch of small stuff . Maybe seats back in tomorrow , w/s and headliner Monday , caps and skirts and maybe it's time for a cerveza .

 

Seats Y mas , I don't mean to toot my own horn but ... BEEP BEEP . Just kidding

 

Wow, that looks great!

 

looks like a real enjoyable car ,needs a trailer

 

What a cool ride.



Can a plane old Chevy wagon be made into a tin woody with paint ect or are they complexly different car?

 

I would sure like to see that woodgraining tech.

 

Oh man what a cool car. that would be fun to have. Of course.. id have to get the Pontiac version...

 

I like the way it's turning out !!!

 

Thank you very much for the kind words !

All of these 50-54 Gm wagons are tin woody's if you add some graining it seems , they have some real wood inside and a lot of graining in there as well .

I like the Pontiac version very much also , it's def. a bit fancier . Here is my Father in law's 52 that I did up a couple years ago . I argued with him in a nice way about the color like crazy , as it turns out I was wrong !

 

Buick used actual structural wood up until 1953. Here is a picture of my old '52. I like your car..great job.

 

Pretty car, and nice job with the wood graining. You definately need a trailer for it, it's the final accessory!

 

Yep sorry , just meant Chevy/Olds/Pontiac wagons , Buicks are the real deal and real nice . I have this little trailer for it if I get a hitch on the wagon .

 

Love it. One day I woould love to own an original 49 chevy woodie (few made) to replace my 48 dodge woodie I have now. I love the 49-54 GM bodied wagons.

40FordPU, I talked with you at the Belevue show a month back, I think you had a canoe on the roof, or is there two of those around here.

 

Boones, it wasn't me. I sold mine last summer..although it could have been my old car.

 

Been busy ... Glass , caps , skirts , lotsa small stuff . Getting down to the home stretch . Actually drove it today , first time is the best !!!

 

Great job! I really like to tones on the lighter wood.

 

Really looks good, you've got it done in time for "Woodies at the Beach" in Santa Barba Aug.20,2011..... pm me if you need info.....

 

Great job on the wagon. I would be interested in learning to wood grain myself. I live in the Oakland area and am down at Disneyland as we speak.
I am taking on a 47 Chevy wagon and still tracking down final parts for my ground up resto.
Cheers,

Joe

 

very cool wagon. I just saw one a few weeks back in just about the same color at "Woodies on the Wharf" in Santa Cruz Ca.

there was 2 or 3 49-52 tin woodies there. no real wood ones. I've only seen one real wood 1949 woodie in the last 35 years of looking for such things.

 

Thanks a lot guys . Here's a wood 49 I saw , pretty bitchin' I thought .