Acquired a previously chopped 30 coupe. Top got chopped with wood still in the car and only welded on the outside sheetmetal (not in door jamb). B-pillar flexes like crazy, doors don’t shut well, paint is cracking, weld will eventually fail if I don’t patch it now. (already is) Wood doesn’t seem removable at this point and I really don’t want to set my “new” car on fire. How can I stiffen this up? Can I slide some stainless shim stock between the metal and wood to act as a shield and then tac and cool, tac and cool, repeat as needed? I’m thinking of cutting out and welding in a half-moon shape rather than just rewelding that jagged mess. (see pic with scribble). next, I’m adding biscuit joints to the wood that was cut and thinking about cutting some 1-1/8 wide steel strap to cover the wood top to bottom and screwing to the wood and possibly tacking to the door jamb sheetmetal. I have no current plans to put interior in this car. please critique my plan, tell me how you would do it.
Full replace wood were needed{ with Oak },don't do 1/2 ***. Weld right,then replace wood. Seeing your pic's ,looks like rod had never really been finished anyway,so great time for clean up,fix any other spots, rest work needed an complete finish. Love coupe's.
The outside is painted so I’d like to not redo that part. I wanted to take the wood out but I read that you cannot once the outside skim is in place (and painted) because the wood has some screws from the outside under the outer skin… Are those only for the bottom wood? Can I remove the upper wood without taking the outer skin off? I’m here for the education and thank you so much!
Definitely needs wood but from what I’ve read I’d have to remove the outer skin which is painted to get to some screws to release the wood… I may be misinformed. Are the uppers removable easily? thank you!
Grind the wood out? I’ve honestly never seen the inside of that area with the wood removed so I’m not sure what I’d need to avoid.
If you had just one issue out of the list, I'd get creative with a shim dissimilar metal so you can tack it or biscuit-join the b-pillar wood. But, since you have a few items to solve - you're really just putting more time into getting the butcher better. I'd pull the fasteners out of the b-pillar (usually small nails and a couple screws), fix the chop and install new pillar wood. Whether you buy a set and chop down the length, which is what I did, or make some of your own - you'll find that whole length of wood will really stiffen up the pillar. You likely won't be able to pull the b-pillar channel, however, it is possible without messing with the painted exterior. The joined wood, the way you'd have to do it, won't ever be as sturdy. Here's some of what I did:
Your paint is gonna get messed up so you might as well just get to it. Remove all those little tacks, then get one of those small plunging ********y wood saws. The kind that have a toothed blade that points forward. Will take a couple hours but you can get the wood out in pieces. Then you will see the screws that held it in from the outside. Probably just grind those off. After welding the post properly, you can put some new repro wood in the post, chopped a little off the top of course. Install screws from the backside to hold it in place. Then new tacks for the skin.
Thanks. I cannot figure out why they didn’t remove the wood when chopping tbh. I’d prefer to replace with new. can I get top piece of wood out with outside of car painted?
The only nails or screws I have ever seen are in the jamb not through the skin out the “outside” of the car. I’ve seen the wood replaced on painted cars about a million times.
Most A chops the wood is still in there when the roof is cut off. I've looked in a lot of chopped As over the years and many retain the original wood. The reason it's likely not an issue is the chop cuts were done straight, the metal was probably prepared and welded well, maybe the car was more solid, and so on. That whole b-pillar piece of wood can come out without damaging the exterior paint. You'll see a bunch of nails in the door opening, those need to be pulled. There are some bolts and bracketry that tie everything together. You'll have to pull that, too.
Respecting the OP's interest to keep wood, I wanted more strength so I hogged out the wood, finish welded inside channel, fastened square steel tubing in both B and C pillars then riveted the skin at the door jamb. Nobody notices.
I appreciate it, and would love to see more pix if readily available. FTR I’m not opposed to replacing wood… I just didn’t think it was possible from other reading.
so, welding IS done without catching the wood on fire? I’ll likely replace if I can but still interested to know if I “can” weld it with the wood there. (I guess anything is possible tho lol) thanks for the insight!
GOOD EYE! I just did this as a stop gap until I figured out what/how to do to fix it right. I didn’t have a picture of it before I cut it fit biscuits.
Yep, countless chops were/are done with the wood still in it. Including my own. Keep a spray bottle and rag nearby if you are worried There is a b-pillar channel that is between the body metal and wood. The wood sits in it. Click on my quoted post from my build thread to see what I am talking about. In a case where you have the workpiece directly contacting the wood, you can slip in a piece of copper between the wood and sheetmetal. I've got a small section at the top of my p***enger door opening that I'll go that route with. Somehow I missed that a**** all the other repairs. There is wood above the door that I cannot remove. I'll cut out the damaged piece, make a patch, slide a thin piece of copper in and tack the patch in. In your case, you have that channel around the wood. So, not necessary. However, if you pull it, you can zap that together, too.
I’d just chop it another inch and cut that area out haha. This is not going to be very popular here but when I chopped my model A coupe in my 20s I just chopped right through the wood and welded the sheet metal up . Welded with the wood in place. Same thing with my last 34 coupe. I’m sure it smoldered but never caught the car on fire. I drove the **** outta both cars and now one is in Japan and one’s in France both on the road in the same configuration. Just grind out the crack, weld it up and enjoy the car dont overthink it. After a while you’ll wanna change the car up anyway that how it goes. You can get crazy with the wood then if you want.
yes indeed, your pictures helped me understand what is going on in there for sure! Truly appreciated.
I know this is not what the OP wants , but. From memory the wood is screwed in from the outside then the metal pillar installed over the screw heads, hiding them . Great fun /challenge removing the wood. We actually used a mini electric chainsaw carefully. We wanted it solid so folded a bit of 3mm flat into a C shape and contoured it to march the B pillar leaving enough gap to reinstall some wood to attach upholstery.
Cut out the outer metal one inch above and below the cut line...once out router style and cut slot into the wood and glue in biscuits....you can weld with wood in place,,,go easy on the welding...skip and let cool....once you start to repair it you'll say...wow..that was kinda easy....
a Forstner bit will work to "eat away" at the wood and a chisel and razor knife will clean up the ends. wood CAN be scarfed together. I would in the least change from the body line up, it would be an easy piece to make.
I show how to repair/make wood in this thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/fixing-a-smashed-31-model-a-pickup-cab.1143362/ it is long thread about a pickup but there should be enough info to make coupe parts. B-pillar repair is on page 15
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