I finished the woodie body on my 37 Lincoln Zephyr this spring - see below. It turned out pretty good and I am happy with the result. The plan was to leave the body unfinished until I got the doors complete and fitted...........Then came a very wet spring.<ST1</ST1 Today I noticed that all of the laminated joints have a pronounced ridge. Obviously the wood has absorbed some moisture and I am in the middle of learning a lesson. I have two options: 1. Sand everything smooth and clear coat the body. This will preserve the wood at its present moisture content. 2. Shut the shop tight and run the dehumidifer 24/7 for a couple of weeks to try to get the wood back to the moisture content where it was during the winter time build, then clear coat it. <O</O <O</O In its future life, the car will be driven in the rain and baked in the sun. No finish is a perfect seal, so the wood will see some moisture fluctuation.<O</O <O</O So what's the best plan, option 1 or option 2? </O
i'm not sure...i'm not a wood expert , but i would think that you would want to lower the moisture level. the `49 ford woodie i did the wood was fitted and finished by: Wood by Wiskers , Denny Fetzer , Sommerset Wi. he has done MANY woodies. it may be worth calling him at 715-247-2513 anyway , that looks like some nice work
Theres a company in L.A. that makes a polyester coating W-500 Polylux that might be worth testing for an all weather coating with a UV absorber, I've used it for 30 years on a variety of applications and will probably use it on my 50 woodie
That body looks a lot like the one Richard Paris built on a 1937 Studebaker ch***is, just saw it at last nights cruse. He's a local cabinet maker I'll PM you his phone number.
Hi Henry You did a nice job , sure its the first time ? Try a search on Linseed oil on Wikipedia. I use Linseed oil for a lot of wood products, also its one of the oldest and proven methods for wood preserving. Dont know how you made/fixed/glue'ed the joints , you have to check if the glue works with the Lineseed oil. Also the oil brings out the nerves in the wood realy nice. Personaly i don't like to paint a wooden car, oil it and rub it in. Hope this helps.
I would try your dehumidifying gig & if that doesn't work, I'd go with the sanding gig, if you can afford the loss of time. It's entirely possible that the dehumidifying thing will help somewhat, but not correct the problem entirely. It looks incredible, by the way.
Nice wood work on the car. Wow you have a real issue there of what to do. I am not a wood expert but i would dry out the wood as much as posable. Then sand it smooth and get it sealed right away. If you sanded it smooth right now and seal it in clear. The clear might milk on you from the moisture trapped in the wood . Thats only my opion.
I am by no means an expert, but I like your No. 2 idea. Could you also roll it out in the sun on a hot day or two, when it's not too humid. Just a thought.
Thanks kid, I'll call him tomorrow. Any chance I can see a pic or two of the Stude? Yes, this is my first woodie. It was going good until this point. I've had great luck in the past using Automotive clear coat on wood. The Mahogany running boards on my 36 Ford lasted for years with no issues. Good clears have a heavy dose of UV inhibitor and they can be sanded and buffed.
I wish I had photos of Richards '37 Studebaker, I fished around on Google but nothing turned up. Real top flight build with a great Deco look. Love the front end on your car, don't know much about them is that stock or modified? . Bob
Doug is a great guy with as much wood car experience as anyone probably should have. http://woodncarr.net/
We need more pics of the project We have seen it since you started the steel framework for it, now give with a few more pics! Id say your doing a great job by the way. I am inclined to lean toward sealing the wood someway.. Wether is spray, or the mentioned oiling. I would do whatever the experts say. But I would think of what would protect the wood, maintain the color, and be reproduceable, so when you get doors done etc they will match. Dont hide that primo work under paint for sure. Its like if you do your own car in steel, and you paint it black to show how good you did on the body work. All the wood you used will bring out great detail. I want to do something similar down the road, but a 32 Chevy. I have the wood cowl, set of fenders, hood, etc. But want to make it like a two door phaeton backed car. Your giving me inspiration! Keep up the grand job, Also let us know the version you go with on preservation
Dry it out and lower the content before you seal it, if you leave it at the present content and seal it the wood will shrink and i doubt it would look very good..
Billybob's link to instructions by Rick Mack is real good. Rick has been messing with wood for a long time. Talked to Cecil at http://www.herculesmotorcarco.com/ . He makes brand new 34 and 36 Woodies and uses the automotive clear on them. Like Rick says, the finishes will not add any color to the finish. Your oil bases finishes will turn yellow in time. As far as sanding vs drying the wood back out. I would go with the sanding unless the car has gotten very wet. When you finish the wood the back side will still be open to the penitration of mosture. Wood is going to expand and contract during the seasons unless is is in a controlled environment. This isn't going to happen if you plan on driving the car. If the wood has swollen slightly you must have started with very dry wood or it has gotten very humid in MN. I would go with what the car is going to be in most of the time and finish to that. On another sbject, how about posting some pictures on how you did the rear hatch. Hindges, lock, supports, gasket. Enquiring minds what to know. Great project!
Drop this guy a PM,,he has built a bunch of woodies and I'm sure he KNOWS what he says will work! HRP woodguy@woodieworks.net
Absolutly talk with Kirk. While he's not building phantom woodies any more, He's a kool guy who will shoot you the streight scoop on your situation.
unfortunately I think this this would pull the moisture content out of the wood quickly and result in warping. ie. .... equally devastating.. remember the wood doesnt need to be perfectly dry, but rather STABLE in its moisture content.. I'd sand and spray soon.. (***uming the M.C. isn't exceedingly high)
Thanks for the advice guys! Once again the Hamb is awesome. I now have lots of good leads for advice. I started with very nice kiln dried wood. I built the body in the winter when the humidity in the shop was maybe 20%. The body is probably responding to the normal summer type air moisture level. I'll post some build pics when I get time. For now, here's a link to an earlier thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331755
Fine Woodworking, May/June'09 ish did a comparo on finishes for outdoor wood furniture. Best?? Epifanes High Gloss Marine Varnish. Spendy ($5/qt), but not as bad as re-doing woodwork every few years... Cosmo
Doing a 51 Ford Woody now and for someone who is used to working with metal and making all gaps perfect as possible and lines straight working on a Woody is a learning experience. I honestly think in any climate that fluctuates as mine and yours does there is no way to get it to sit on the car perfect. Think of all the variables; wet wood but low humidity day, dry wood high humidity day. Then trap all this under several coats of clear. I have seen some West Coast show cars and yes they have some killer lines and gaps but that is Ca. Let that car sit through a cycle of weather in an East Coast garage and there will be some cracked seams. I have taken the route of lightly distressing wood and will use tints to make it look original and somewhat old. This way it will at least mask and give a sort of intended look. I never heard anybody say anything bad about Rick and heck with the 1.5 year waiting list you could have gotten out of that kit pretty quickly. Then again there is always a first and I do not know your exact situation. I used Wood n Car and am fairly satisfied but the 5 lines of written instructions is an absolute joke. Good luck
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Do all of your finish sanding just before you are ready to clear the wood. Wood has a tendancy to shrink and grow with humidity changes. Just make sure that your glue joints are tight and holding well.
Hey, guys - I though everyone might be interested in how this turned out. The key theme in all the feedback I got is "stabilize the wood". With that and the good advice I got from cabinet maker Richard Paris (thanks The37Kid for the tip) I did the following: I kept the shop at a very constant 72 degrees/50% humidity (an "average" summer day for the car in its future life) for three weeks to stabilize the wood. I then finished all the wood with 220 grit and the plywood with 320. I chose House of Kolor UC35 clear because it has double the usual UV inhibitor. I shot the wood with 3 coats, inside and out. Where the joints weren't quite perfect, I used an hypodermic needle to inject some clear. I used a Q-tip to coat the inside of the drain holes in the hatch area. Here's the result. Tha clear really brings out the character of the wood, especially the "curly" in the curly Maple plywood. However, it makes me wish I had paid a little more attention to grain matching. Oh well. I now have the dehumidifier running in the wood shop to take care of the components are raw wood for my doors.
The only thing I can add is that all surfaces must be coated, as , lots of times people used to paint house doors and did not bother painting the top & bottom thus these areas were a perfect candidate for moisture to seep in and thus doors warped especially those that were exposed to bright sunlight.
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