How was the body of Dave Shuten's Ice Truck built?

Specifically, the beltline. A buddy of mine said one sheet, steamed and bent, but that seems impractical to me. Is it two sheets of plywood joined together? If so, what kind of joint? I'd like to do something inspired by this rod one day. Seems like a cool project. Labor intensive, but seems like a lot could be done in the garage, rather than paying a pro builder.

 

I always thought it was fiberglass with wood support..

 

steamed and bent? highly unlikely. if indeed it is plywood the easiest way to do something like that would be to take a slice from the backside but not all the way through the wood, then glue up the crack and bend as needed.

a glue joint in wood is usually stronger than the wood that surrounds it.

steaming wood is used for gradual curves, not a sharp one like that.

 

IIRC from the Rod & Custom article, it was plywood covered with fiberglass. I just did a Google search to check on that and lifted this from their site: "We used finger joints pinned with dowels and glue for the body framework--kind of Old World-like construction". I don't know if he's talking about the beltline or not.

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You could miter it and use a biscuit jointer or even pocket screws. I would still want some sort of support on the backside of that joint.

 

we did'ent have biscuit jointers in america yet, probably a long spline joint, or like someone said, finger joints. like a fender amp. case. super strong, but one that long would be a pain to get the glue spread out quick enough before the wood starts to swell up and making it hard to fit together. a long spline is very doable. the wood glues a that time were so so. jbl used to put metal splines in there miters with epoxy in the 60's. these were super strong. someone told me he's (dan woods) a wood worker to this day. i don't know if this is true, but if he was building these kinds of projects so young, he had good instincts and guidance. one of my car hero's!

 

I was merely saying how it could be accomplished today. We didn't have the inter-webs back then either...

 

one more thing, it could be bender board. something the trade show builders use quite a bit. it's thin plywood that has the grain in all the ply's going the same way. it bends one way really easy, the other way super stiff. this is not a common lumber yard buy. you need to go to a real plywood supply house. it's normaly 1/4'' thick, and you build-up a thickness by glueing it up, and triming it down when dry.

 

The body skeleton was carefully made out of hard wood then mitered pieces of plywood (not sure how thick it was hard to tell) were mated to the skeleton thit resin and screws. then glass was hand laid over the wood and sanded smooth. it was extreamly well pu together!

 

There you go...From the horse's mouth.

Damn, I love that truck! I had the pleasure of seeing it in person a few years ago, it ruled me...

 

Dave, do you have any old photos(of anything not just the Ice Truck)to share with us?

 

Ask Bernie, maybe it came out of his "Milk Truck" mold

 

^ Now that's funny.

 

I wish more of these 60`s type show cars were being built.I never get tired of them.

 

I do have a bunch of build photo's that Dan Woods gave me... but i"m not so handy with a computer and have no idea how to post pics, pm me with an email and i'll do the best i can. i'm really busy right now prepping for SEMA.

PS... there was NO mold for the milk truck... Period!

they were one off show rods as was the butcher truck and the pizza wagon.

 

You should look up Ed Roth's technique for building fibreglass bodies.

Start with a framework of wooden boards, cardboard, chicken wire, whatever. Cover with "giant spitwads" of newspaper dipped in wet plaster. Carve roughly to shape with a keyhole saw and Surform. Smooth over with plaster mixed with Vermiculite. Carve to the desired shape. If it doesn't swing, cut off the bad part and try again.

When you have a body that looks the way you want it cover it with several layers of fibreglass, build up the thickness to 1/4" to 1/2".

After the fibreglass cures, break out the plaster and you have a fibreglass shell.

This is a very versatile way to shape a body. If you want more flat planes, the plywood method is good. He did this too on the Druid Princess.

 

Tell Bernie that The welding fumes seem to have gotten the best of him

 

Thanks for the replies. It's great to hear from Dave Shuten. I hope someone can post his photos. I'd like to build something along the lines of the Ice Truck one day.

 

Any boat or Jet Ski repair shop could give you some pointers to help you make a belt line like that.

Not that the process would be the same but you could duplicate that same kind of seam.