Termites and Bowties- Early Chevy Group

I have looked but cant find it. someone sells parts for 33-35(standard) and is in Kentucky?? would anyone have a name or website?? I cant find it in a search

 

after further tear down, I found termite damage to some wood. Left hinge pillar is shot and both main sills have enough damage that I will be replacing. Rear kickups also damaged. The main structure otherwise looks salvageable, only body damage I found is the bottom corner of cowl where hinge pillar was bad that corner had an older patch in it and some rust spread from the welded area on the area that rolled over to be nailed, so ill be cutting that out. Im hoping I can get the hinge pillar out without tearing the whole top corner apart.

 

think of the car assembly in reverse of what your looking at. They built the wood frame , then nailed and screwed the wood body panels to it. To repair it you need to reverse engineer it.

There should be a triangulate shape metal brace on the rear of the door post facing the firewall. Its the main support, hope you have them.
Because the other side ( pass ) looks good ??? see how its done.

You could also use a hand saw and cut thru the post wood ONLY. Then duplicate that short piece and wood glue into position. If it makes you feel better, you can attach a metal brace to the piece to increase the strength of the joint.

I have heard good things about the strength of GORILLA GLUE .

MIKE ..............

 

if the upper part of the wood was sound, a scarf joint could be made to replace the rotten section. a "Fein" type tool works good to make straight intricate cuts. it can also be made in two pieces. to get the stepped sections made. as mike noted, gorilla glue and some screws will be stronger than the wood. i also cut a piece of 10 gage sheet metal that was cut to the contour of the post on the front side and ran bolts straight through and sandwiched the wood between the new piece and the original metal door jamb. this eliminates the screws from coming loose in the wood.
here is an example of a scarf joint i made for my deck lid.

 

Thanks for the detailed pictures. I think I can save a lot of the '26 Roadster wood. I really like the idea of replacing small pieces where the rest is solid.

 

Very nice work


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I was able to remove the hinge pillar with not too much metal removal, I'm waiting on the main sills I ordered. Once I get those I think I will be able to get everything stabilized and work with the rest of the wood I have, TB33 I will be looking to do splicing like you showed for many repairs. Thanks for the pics

 

Luckily everything is here so I think once I have my main sills I will be good to go, took some work but got the hinge pillar out and have the new one fitted in with metal loose till I get main sills. I also need to cut the bottom of cowl off and make a patch before I start putting anything back together.

 

@tb33anda3rd That's some nice woodworking! Nice way to save some of the original lumber!

 

Lookie here Ma, we done got a brand new freshly made door post, all pretty out of brand new wood.

A few simple tools ; chisels, hammer, plane, band saw , hand saw, forstner bit to make nice round hole.

Hey folks its not rocket science to create wood replacement parts using simple shop tools to get that THUNK , CLICK CHEVY SOUND.

mike

 

That is really nice. So encouraging, thanks!

 

Love looking at your photo story it gives me hope lol

 

Your ride is a '34 Chevy Coach (2-dr.). The '35 model didn't have a removal gas tank apron as the body gently rolled down over the tank. I had a '35 Coach with ONE bad piece of wood, the one in the A-pillar. I freaked out and sold it like a moron. It was super straight, no rust, and complete. I miss that car.

 

That is a "gentle" chop, which should be the kind of modification one does on 4-dr bodies. It gives the whole car a sophistication like on its big brother Cadillac without appearing slammed. Good luck.

 

I presume your build will be a weekend warrior rather than an over the road cruiser. That body can be a super long-distance "mochine" with a small-block, a/c, o/d trans, and tall rear tires. Just my 2 cents. Good luck whichever direction you decide to take.

 

I wish you knotheads wood quit splintering these timberrods.

 

You have way too much time on your hands. LOL

 

re gas tank cover panel for 34 standard series DC.. The gas tank cover was only used on 1933 Chevrolet standard series, 1934 EARLY standard series on the : sedan , coupe, roadster and phaeton. 1935 standard series EC, coupe, roadster, phaeton.
In Late 1934 ( December ) the body ( sedan ) was lengthened 2" thru the quarters and the rear section was made in one piece construction for 1935 eliminating the separate gas tank cover, that's why they are so hard to get , as the sedan and coach sales really took off.

They can be repaired properly.
mike lynch

 

I'm ready to pull the body off my chassis to strengthen the frame by step boxing and adding an x-member. I found a few companies that offer boxing plates for early Chevy cars - FINALLY. Does anyone know if the 1930 and 1931 frames are the same or different? I can't imagine that they are different, because the fenders are the same and most other parts. Appreciate any info - thanks!

 

Not the same, but similar. '30 fenders are different, but can be made to work. Biggest diff. is the side apron shape. WB on the '30 is different. '29-30 frames can interchange and '31-32 can interchange.

 

Reason I'm asking about the 30/31 frames is that one of the companies offers a full set for my car without speed holes, and the other has boxing plates for a 1930 WITH speed holes, but no center section which is odd. I want a full set of boxing plates, front to rear WITH speed holes.

 

I WOULD THINK THAT you would use a zip cutter blade ...1/32 thick on a 4 1/2 grinder to cut them out. Back in the older days we used a cutting torch, today its more likely a plasma cutter will be used. You can make patterns on cardstock then take them to a shop that has a WATER JET cutter .

You may want to consider using a STEP SYSTEM where the boxing plate sits slightly inside the frame .

mike

 

That's exactly what I plan to do Mike - step boxing the frame using 1 - 2" square tubing, welded to the top and bottom inside the rails, then finishing up with the boxing plates. Should give me an inch or so left on the inside of the rails to run brake lines, fuel lines, etc. The companies I found have them pre-cut from a plasma cutter, just weld in. Still trying to find some facts whether the frame is the same with the '30 and '31 models. Appreciate the info Mike!

 

Could you share the companies that sell them?

 

progressiveautomotive.com / streetrodengineering.com / wolfesmetalfabrication.com - this shop requires you to send them a template of your Chevy rails. Call them for more instructions on how they want you to perform this. I found this shop on eBay, most of their boxing plates are for FORD.

 

Another shop just wrote me back and explained to me that Jason will be glad to make boxing plates for my car or anyone elses - SEND HIM SOME MORE CHEVIES PLEASE!!! westtexasplasma.com

 

I'd be interested in some boxing plates for a '31 Chevy frame, but how would I go about getting the dimensions to him?