I was reading Muttley's intro and the subject of chopping an early 30's Chevy came up. I didn't want to hi-jack his post, so I posted here. I've often wondered about the longevity of rods with wood-framed bodies. I never tried doing one, nor did I ever get involved with anyone else, rodding a wood-framed bodied car in all the years I've been playing around with cars. Maybe it's a stupid question, but aside from the obvious special problems (wood-working skills, etc.) presented with those cars, is there any problems with the wood loosening up with a lot of extra horsepower, torque, etc.? I've p***ed on a few early Chevs and recently a '29 Es*** coupe, because of the wood-framed body. In the real world, doing a lot of driving, is it better to stay away from them ???
My Model A pickup squeaks. The wood creaks like a set of old stairs. I treated it with deck stain and water seal and keep the car indoors most of the time. One of the Door sill pieces of Oak was still good from 1930 so I didn't bother to replace it. I hope it lasts another 70 years TZ
i've been riding around in a 28 oakland for years...OAK land....all wood..creaks alot...i put some nails in it here and there...probably will make it easier and cheaper to chop...i don't have a welder,but i have an ax
TagMan, many early cars had wood body "frames" with the outer sheet metal nailed over the frame. Lots of rodders take the wood pieces out and duplicate them with steel tubing. My model A body for example is built almost completley of wood (the frame work) and by carefully removing the pieces of wood (one at a time!) I am duplicating them out of various sizes of steel tube. It improves the strength and cuts down on door aligment problems.
I've seen 'em done both ways. The wood frames seem to hold up OK but I prefer diggers solution myself. Hell some of the english cars still had wood frame bodies on into the sixties. Still thing steel is the better solution.
Incidently, Morgans are still carriage-built (steel on wood)! And still have a sliding pillar front suspension. Time moves very slowly at Malvern...
I'd like to suggest reading a few issues of "Wooden Boat". They frequently run articles on replacing and repairing wood structure and the car's carc*** is not that different from the boats framing so a lot of technique is adaptable. You may also discover that the wooden boats featured are in many ways a water born parallel to traditional hotrods.
Any part of the body framework that can be made out of wood,can be made out of steel. The big advantage of wood in certain area,is for ease of attatching upholstery. Wooden tack strips,where necessary,can be included in the design when framing the body in steel. The big disadvantage,is if the wood gets wet it will hold moisture against the steel panels. For wooden blocks under the body,I would use White Oak no question.
I did a 33 Chev coupe a few years ago, all the wood was there but super soft(dry rot). I found a wood harding proudct, can't remember the name, but it was 2 part stuff that when mixed it was as thin as gas. It set in about 3 minutes, hard as a rock. Soaked thru the wood. I think the resto guys might know what it is. It really worked....OLDBEET
A friend and I chopped the top on my 34 Chevy about 8 years ago. I replaced the wood in the front door posts and braced part of the roof with steel tubing. It's held up fine and will probably last another 70 years. I also replaced the wood floor with steel and filled the roof with a steel insert. Theres hardly any flex and I haven't noticed any stress cracks after 15,000 miles. -Rich
I didn't do the build, but used to own a chopped '34 Chevy sedan. It held up real good. It had a steel top insert and '34 Ford back window. No cracks, I don't know what was under the upholstery, but it didn't squeak either. The doors I know were still wood framed. A friend did a '36 Chevy PU, he gl***ed the wood to the body.
The Jalopy Journal
