Termites and Bowties- Early Chevy Group

here is a few more of the cowl area . Rather than filling all the holes I made a pattern of the firewall and had them cut out of a 1/4" thick aluminum cover. Belt sanded the sides to match the angle on the sides. I then took the plate to a friend with a small mill and had him mill the pattern you see into the firewall. I also had him do 4 weber carb aluminum tops to match. I then went to fireside coatings and had the firewall powder coated flat black. The 3 jug brake brake clutch reservoirs in gloss black. I also made a pair of 5/8" round hood adjuster rods with heim joints left and right threads using some transmission aluminum forks off something and powder coating them satin black.

Still waiting to get the weber 48IDF fast Freddie manifold back and carbs so I can take them to powder coater and then rebuilt with new parts. Carbs will be satin black and manifold gloss black.

The Larson engineering 8" wide SBC 2 piece valve covers in gloss black just came back along with another rare item, Gennie Shifter company 16 Valve 7" wide SBC valve covers that appear like DOHC motor. They were blasted and done in clear flat powder coating.. The 1 1/2" wide GILMER cog belt drive unit and pullys just came back powder coated gloss black as is the water pump with the AN-20 hose adapter TIG welded too it. A new black AN-20 fitting and the latest cloth aeroquip/russell hose will be used. It will run from the water pump around the radiator to the bottom front on the other side for ease of getting too it. The drain will also be in the front for ease of service.

How come you ask that there is no polished aluminum or stainless on the parts. Maintenance.............my coupe is full of the stuff, Kugel IFS stainless front end, motor , headers, drive shaft, complete jag rear and on and on. Just want to drive the cars not spend all my spare time cleaning them. That applies to the phaetion as well. As they say, been there done that not going down that road again.

Oh have I said the roadster is not having any upholstery inside, just a couple of lawn chair cushions on the stock wood seat frame. You look inside when its done, you going to say " damn chevys have a lot of wood in them "

mike

 

here is some pictures of the roadster showing all the wood parts inside the drivers area. Plus the firewall to rad support system using left & right hand rod ends. A new aluminum bracket at radiator was made to spread the support rods out further. Note the aluminum transmission inside shift forks I used to go thru firewall and take the rod ends with 5/8" rods . I really like the firewall mounted hood props spring loaded that hold the hood up. I see these on ebay for $69 stainless steel. Everything has been sand blasted and powder coated various shades of black.

The wood floor boards shown are made of cherry wood. I tried to find boards with as much knots and colour changes as I could , to represent a real tree . The main side rails mounted on top of frame that all the door posts & floor boards attach too , are made from Northern Ash hardwood.

mike lynch

 

Yikes!............Your pics gave me "goose-bumps" as i flashback to when i installed wood in my 31'. You are doing a beautifully detailed job and only someone that has gone thru this process could appreciate the work involved.

Well done!

 

fordflame............I got lucky and ran into another roadster owner around Knoxville who was restoring a 35 roadster, has been for 20 years. He knew where there was a 80% of a wood kit made by Glenn Stauffer of jekyl Isle GA that was still kicking around after his passing 5-6 years ago. Glenn was an expert on 32--35 chev open cars and I used to see his cars for sale full page ads in hemmings motor news back in 70==80 when I was still getting it.

The main part I was missing from the kit is where the top goes down into it and also is the seat back. What a production it was making 2 of those. Wallpaper steamers, 4" black abs pipe to soak the wood in and also steam it so it could be bent. The construction of the jig using the original setup and then bending it around it. Took me and 2 friends to do it............one bending, 2 clamping the steamed northern ash to the plywood.. The factory used 5 pieces to go around, using giant finger joints, scarf joints to make it work.. My supposedly one piece construction of 4" wide wood x 7/8" thick 96" long board, in hindsight was not the easy way to do it. Using a biscuit joiner machine I was able to stack them 3 boards high and clamp the hell out of them. They are still in the pipe clamp system in my basement until I get doors mounted.

I made and modified a bunch of wood posts to get them to fit my roadster body. The guys that used to make wood kits for the open cars are dying off and tough to find somebody who does this. Specialized commercial band saw and other items are needed to make these parts. Not easy to do.

Will dig out and post some more pictures of the build later on

mike lynch

 

madmike...........back in the early 70's the only place i found wood kits was 'Obsolete Chevrolet' in Nashville, Georgia. I couldn't afford all the wood so i purchased drivers side and my dad and I built the other side. Nothing in my kit was steam bent ........it was all either made of one piece (sill plate was huge) or stacked and glued. The fit on the pieces i purchased was terrible so i spent a lot of time trimming or re-cutting pieces to make them work. Had a really hard time trying to figure out how to drive stainless nails into the Oak and Ash.......ended up pre-drilling. The guy at Obsolete Chevrolet told me to use 'brass' wood screws for screw joints.......boy was that a mistake. After breaking the heads off a couple of screws, i regrouped and went with stainless wood screws (pre-drilled of course) ..........We didn't have any big power tools to speak of........just basic saws, chisels, and the likes.........

What is a hoot is my car has loosened up over the years so it rattles, squeaks, and groans sometimes, especially when on the freeways and/or on curvy roads. If i want to quieten it down, i give it a bath and the water swells the wood and tightens it up............makes it quiet as a mouse........My door hinges loosen up over time and begin to sag so ever three to five years, i have to re-align and tighten them. Early Chevy's are really an exercise in craftsmanship.............

I have great appreciation for anyone willing to tackle the job!

 

FORDFLAME.........in my case the car came from Argentina where it was assembled on the GM assembly line in 1935 as a right hand drive. Sometime in the early 90s it got shipped to southern usa, Alabama Tenn area. They had no idea what they were doing and proceeded to wreck havoc on the body. I bought it off ebay and because I could not cross the border then, I could not go get it. If I had gone there it would never have left their property. No bondo they said, both the father and the son in separate calls. All the fenders had 1/2" thick bondo on top and the underside was coated with a thick layer of tar.. Rumble seat lid was made of angle iron with sheet metal tacked over top with 1/2" bondo coating it. To raise the surface they whacked it with an arc welding chipping hammer.

All fenders scrapped, 1/2 of the hood scrapped, rumble lid scrapped, as UN-REPAIRABLE. Chassis has 6 cracks in it, wood was all rotted and replaced with red cedar !!!!!!!!!! Top of cowl was rotted thru and covered with 3/8" bondo. Dash was butchered converting from right to left hand steering. I hope this father and son die horrible deaths in great pain., I really do. Barry Barber and father scumbags.

Because I have been wanting a chevy 34-35 roadster since 1972 I jumped at this..........DUMB.

I have a : NOS rad shell, grill and trim ring, NOS right front fender , a like NOS left, NOS pair of running boards, quality pair of rear fenders that need some work , a 33 master trunk lid that can be professionally cut down 2" narrower to fit the roadster. Gas tank cover panel repaired properly. Doors repaired properly. Next big job the quarter panels.

mike lynch

 

pictures of the door wood

 

the doors, had rust out down lower area, was piece of metal bondo'd in place both sides. Surface inside covered with a cork material glued to door inside. Cdar wood was installed using construction adhesive or no more nails > ?

The northern ash wood door frame has been sanded and 5 coats of EPIFANES VARNISH from Holland, very expensive, $50 quart and used on wood hulled classic boats.. I had the door handle hole filled as the stock location was driving me crazy. Its stuck too low and looks dumb !!!!!!!!!!!!! So no more outside door handles.

Oh the 35 roadster has a name, SHAZZBOTT. Robin Williams used to say that word when he had the TV show , mork and mindy. It means either the F word or Shit, Robin never said, both apply to this car until its done.

mike lynch

 

thinking of buying a 1934 1935 Chevrolet roadster...............check out all the wood used. The sheet metal is nailed mostly and screwed to the wood frame

mike lynch

 

The bottom of your doors are made like mine............no drain holes.........and on my 31 Coach, the lower wood frame below the rear windows are built the same way. No way for water to get out........I have some ideas of how to remedy this if i ever have mine apart again.......................a little creativity here would potentially keep rot away forever.

You may have seen them but if not, there are brochures for 1933 and 1934 World's Fair showing the GM assembly process including a few snippets of Fisher body assembly. There are some of these brochures for sale on EBay if you are interested in one.............(1934 CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR "THE CHEVROLET FISHER BODY EXHIBIT" BROCHURE)...........check it out.

Problem with varnishes is they typically only penetrate a fraction of the way into the wood. Normally, after the first coat, you have sealed the grain and subsequent coats only build on the outside. I have been intrigued by a set up sold by Rocklers (woodworking supply) designed to save puffy/rotten wood. It is actually a vacuum process where you submerge your part in the "sealer" product then pull vacuum on the container to infuse the sealer deeper into the grain of the wood........their kit is made for small parts so you would have to make a vacuum chamber for larger parts.........and best i can remember, the sealer is expensive.

Regardless, once you are finished, i am sure your roadster will never see the weather it was exposed to in previous years. I am sure your refinement and attention to detail will outlast several of our lives.............

Once again, Beautiful work!

Phil

 

thanks for ALL the info Phil. Your right about no drain holes and water getting trapped between the wood and the metal. In my 35 coupe I used flexible tar type caulking to seal where the wood sits against the metal door panel on the inside. I then drilled down thru the wood and metal bottom to allow drain channels / tubes to dump any water. Today I would take pre made brake line , cut it to length and insert into the drain holes.

I often thought how come our early chevy closed cars did not have a rubber weather strip that would seal the top of the door when glass is rolled up just like a newer car. One day while browsing LYNN STEELE rubber parts catalogue I actually found they have reproduced it..........an L shaped piece. On the out sides of your wind up mechanisms is a flexible channel that the rubber fits into, and when the window is wound up should seal it at top from water infiltration. I would have to get my side window glass in my 35 3w coupe re-cut. I'll get too it.

Later will go thru my lynn steel catalogue and find that part number. I know it fits my 35 coupe and imagine it also fits 1933-1935 ?

mike lynch

 

Here is what I discovered when I first got the roadster here in 2012........the rumble seat floor was covered in carpet, tore that off and look what I found. Scratched at it and figured better head to ENVIRO TECHNO STRIP. Anything that is not steel is removed in a process of heating an alkaline solution to 190 degrees ? Bondo , lead, tar, aluminum, cast iron, bronze, paint, primer ...GONE . There used to be a company in USA that did the same thing FIRST, dipping whole car bodies, fenders ect. Cannot remember their name but they had maybe 20 locations across the USA. Doesn't harm the metal like blasting does. BUT you have to spend a bunch of time pressure washing it out of the bent over metal spots , as it will weep out. It gets into places that sand blasting cannot.

When I went back a week later......SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE. holy swiss cheese batman. Water had been trapped on the floor panel and they just taped ( fiberglass ??? ) and bondo'd it up.

People who failed the IQ test should not be allowed to touch vintage bodied street rods.

mike lynch

 

Mike, don't bash the guy too bad. what he did may have kept the car on the road instead of in the crusher.
i put holes in the bottom of my doors in case water got in too.
i also thoroughly painted all the wood i could get to. in my opinion/experience NOTHING protects wood better than a quality paint.

 

TB............my hostility is wholly directed at the father and the son who sold me the car and lied repeatedly to me in over 2 1/2 hours of telephone conversation. NO they said no bondo, nicely metal finished. You saw the floor post and the door post. They also got a firewall plate serial number from a 2 door 34 master sedan in order to get a title. That's fraud.

The main floor sill that the doors and posts attach too, was cut in half, not even bolted down !

"Don't bash the guy too bad", TB I want to break some bones on these CLOWN SCHOOL DROPOUTS . I was in the Kentucky Tennessee area last nov on way to New Orleans and was going to drop in and say HELLO . Wife knew what i was up to and threatened to call police on me. Lucky for them. Just too many people out there trying to play stunts and eventually having to pay for it.

If I was going to use paint it would probably be a marine paint. The Epifanes varnish requires you to thin 4 times...first at 50%, 2nd at 25%, 3rd at 15%, 4th at 10%, and last coat full strength.

BUT we continue onward down the long build road with shazzbott , hopefully to completion

mike lynch

 

Mike, what you are doing is painfully correct. Congratulations.
For my not correct hot rod I replaced the wood with steel welded rectangular pieces.
Still a lot of work into the unknown.
Mike Rouse

 

MIKE ROUSE your not alone , quite a few people have chosen to replace the wood with steel. Nobody has said they are unhappy with the job they turned out..

Somebody else mentioned the creaking and groaning of the wood metal structure. In the late fall the noises that come out of my original wood framed coupe, like a symphony of groans as I travel along the road. During the heat its quiet as a mouse.

One problem with a steeled out car conversion is, you have to get it right for hanging of the doors and body lines matched up. When a stock wood framed door is closed it has a nice solid clunk to it. Steeled out has a clang like a ford.

mike lynch

 

Yep so true Mike.

Mike Rouse.

 

More of how the rumble seat floor was rebuilt. The rumble seat floor behind the front seat or the floor behind the phaeton front seat is much different than a FISHER BODIED CAR. The rumble seat floor drops down over 6" for the footwells area as you will see.. A trunk floor drops and then slopes with no provision for feet area.
Before I bought the roadster , I had ZERO idea about all these special features in the open cars.

I used an angle gauge on a flat level surface , then put the holy panel on it. Middle was 0 degrees, the ends swept up 10 degrees each end. Took the original panel to METAL MART and they bent up the main panel and also the side panels into a 90 degree 2" wide. piece that will form the sides. It was all welded up by my friend Rick who has a gas MIG does much nicer job than regular MIG I own.

We used a zip cutter disc to remove all the damaged area and kept the stock back area and attached the new panel parts to it. Other than not having the piece in the middle that divides the feet its perfect.

The underside stiffening ribs I had removed , got sand blasted and all the former spot weld holes were filled. Matched pairs of new 10/32" holes were drilled in them. These were clamped to the panel and new mounting holes drilled.

A whole lot of eastwood special ceramic chassis paint was applied. I made oil-gas-waterproof paper gaskets to go between the ribs and the panel to be attached with button head allen heads and 10/32 ny-locks.
Funny thing is this winter I was able to buy a like new panel from ebay. just needs sanded and painted. But I am more than happy with the one I reproduced.

If you look at the ends of the panel you will see multiple small holes. Those are factory nail or screw holes as the original is nailed to a wood panel that goes from side to side.


mike lynch

 

All that pretty wood just when I'd talked myself into replacing mine with steel.

 

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Made my day!



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TB33.............re build thread...............I was doing one and emailing it out to friends around the world. Right back when i got it and took it apart in 2012. Lately kinda been in stall mode for a year and not getting anything done. But finally shook off the funk and getting back at it starting this 2017 spring. Trying to not take a ton of bandwidth on this site, so cutting to bare bones the pictures.

I got to go thru a bunch of CDR discs and email pictures to myself , then put them in a special file titled XXX shazzbott .
I need to find the pictures of the aluminum firewall that's powder coated flat black and then various pieces that are gloss black and also satin black added to it. Makes for an interesting look.. A kinda HUUUUUUUM whats going on here.?????

mike lynch

 

i really like the look of gloss black and satin black...........when done with restraint. can't wait to see the pictures.

 

To get away from the wood and more wood. Here is a half of the aluminum brackets I got from concours west in California back in 1997, the right side. Because concours is gone out of business and supposedly back in England , I needed 2 more sets of these, so what to do. Nobody in jag rear ends 1962--1986 made anything like them.

What do they do. The mount a wilwood 4 piston dynalite disc brake caliper to the rear of the rear end, and at the same time the wilwood emergency mechanical spot brakes move to the front. All this replaces the inferior stock jag brake system. I currently have my coupe jacked up across garage doors and removed these.

I went to DURMACH machine in bowmanville and got a quote for 3 pair of them. One for my 35 phaeton with jag brakes, another set for SHAZZBOTT the roadster under construction and a spare set just in case I buy or build another car???????? with jag rear end. Just had to order a 4th set because my friend Tony in Oregon wanted a pair as he has a large stock of jag rear parts. We may go into production and produce some for other people who want to go this route.

Here is 2 pictures of the bracket, it has 3 different thickness levels to it. tony owns a mill to maybe make more. Right now my cost to produce just one pair is $250 !!! That's in a tool and die shop charging $100 per hour labor.

mike lynch

 

These 3 pieces of oak make up the cowl support wood that ties the door posts together. If you look closely you will see extremely large FINGER JOINTS , done with a large spinning machine. I went to a few cabinet makers and they threw there hands in the air like a frenchie, wanting no part of making this. I tried with my basic tools, was well above my skill level. One of the cabinet guys wanted to slice this into multiple pieces and copy and glue together. I can do that , but not letting anybody carve this up, me included. This part is only used in roadsters and phaetons 1933---1935, to best of my knowledge.

It goes under the cowl

mike lynch

 

I might be interested in a pair as well. Water jet/laser the alum. and then some machine work that's not real complicated. $250 is a little steep, but I'd like to show a pic of these to a buddy who owns a machine shop and see what he would charge. I'd like to get a template marked with the recesses and thickness of each section. Looks like nut-certs for the caliper mounts.

 

PAUL55..........as soon as get the 4 sets back from machine shop, a set will go out to TONY in Oregon. Tony will take his pair and look them over. He has a water jet cutter in his area about 100 miles away. Tony has a mill. Tony and I will talk about going partners with me maybe shipping him the water jet cut brackets and he will make the machining of them . Tony will ship them from his location . Right now its still a conversation other than him ordering a pair. for himself.
You can send your friend a picture of the bracket and also print it out. Those brackets have 3 different thicknesses to them.
Will post something more when I know 100%.

mike lynch

 

Glad to help any way I can. I have several water jet cutters within a few miles. I've already used one for Jag half shaft spacers in lieu of the thin stacked shims.

 

Paul, I was actually thinking about doing that myself, make some spacers. I have a couple of spare rear ends for parts and one of them was loaded with shims. I bought the last one just to get the S series ( 1962 ?---1970 ) forged half shafts and tubular lower control arms, which gives you a 56 1/2" width. It was a small sedan that is pretty rare in North America.

These Wilwood adaptors also require a package of their shims. .15 or .32 . For the spot brakes you need from LOKAR their Wilwood U clips .

The installation of this brake design was covered by Jeff Tann in the 1997 ROD & CUSTOM MAGAZINE , 6 pages with lots of photos , under the title of BETTER BINDERS. You can still find these older magazines on ebay fairly cheap.

Paul, what do you have the jaguar rear end in ??????

mike lynch.....................

 

'31 Cabriolet I'm working on.

 

FIRST THING CAUGHT MY EYE, those gennie shifter valve covers, very trick, I also have a pair and they are currently out at that same machine shop getting O ring channels milled into them. I had them sand blasted and then powder coated flat clear. I got the 25 foot long o-ring material from Jegs or Summit along with special glue to butt the ends together.. I also have a pair of the LARSON 8" wide covers , just as rare. Those are powder coated a gloss black.
Love the DCOE webers on the motor. Funny I was looking at that setup by MOON ?? on ebay ? other day. Its pretty rare setup compared to the usual weber 48 IDF series I am running .

Unlike the roadsters and phaetons, your cabriolet is a FISHER BODY and all the parts will fit from the other closed cars. These had a special rear window that looks like a football with the ends cut off.

Forgot to say that a company ?? in Colorado that sells street rod parts, bought GENNIE SHIFTER a few years ago and has all the molds to produce those covers again. But according to him they will not........cement head !

Looks like your not that far away from finished.

mike lynch