Briggs Leatherback installed wood roof pics

[Beauford]

Hey guys. I need to make sense of what I have. My roof is intact except for some rot on side bows above doors and around back window. I can not pay the price for those few pieces. My idea is to spray the rot with wood hardner, then fill rotted areas with wood putty that way I can shape if need be. looking at it seems I might be missing something for sides to get right contour when adding top. Pic to come shortly....

[Tom Wesenberg]

Sounds like a good plan to me.

About 10 years ago I visited an antique 3 level blacksmith shop in northern Iowa. When the owner died he willed it to the state as a museum and historical site. They weren't allowed to replace any of the rotted window frames. They had to use a strong wood filler to repair all the rot. Nothing was allowed to be remove nor added to the blacksmith shop. It had to remain exact as it was the last day it operated. A block east of the blacksmith shop is the old train depot, which is now used as a Welcome Center for Iowa. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. Wish I could remember the name of the town.

Did a Google search and found it, Dows, Iowa. Here's the link.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...Dows_Iowa.html

[Beauford]

Carpenter buddy turned me on to this wood hardner that stops the rot as well...gonna give it a shot

[Y-Blockhead]

I have used Minwax Wood Hardener on soft/rotted wood around the house and was impressed how it "restored" the wood strength. I never tried it on a car but there is no reason it should not work. I think your plan is a good one to at least try.

Let us know how it works out..

[Tom Wesenberg]

I found the link and added it to my post above. Dows, Iowa is the town to visit.

[Big hammer]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Check out Kwik Poly, a retired foreman of mine helped develop it. He used it on model T wooden spokes and other wood parts of T's. I made a handle of it for a large screw drive, it held up when I would hit it with a Big Hammer ��

[Randy in ca]

Link to Part 1 of a Leatherback restoration video:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNMsGx6Bhb0

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by Big hammer

Check out Kwik Poly, a retired foreman of mine helped develop it. He used it on model T wooden spokes and other wood parts of T's. I made a handle of it for a large screw drive, it held up when I would hit it with a Big Hammer ��

I see Snyder's carries Kwik Poly. Sounds like good stuff for repairing wood. I will have to try some in the near future.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

My experience with using the wood hardener such as KwikPoly is they are only good for a short-time repair. If you think about what the body wood does, it must be flexible to allow the body to bend with the road conditions, and also remain pliable to hold fasteners such as nails & screws. After using it early on in my career, I now know to steer clear of using it because it will come back to haunt you after everything else has been restored (paint, upholstery, etc.)

As for using it on wheel spokes, that is the LAST place I would ever suggest to use it! Below is a couple of pix of my '15 that had old hard Oak spokes. When the brittle spokes finally give way, what you see below is a result. Spokes are not something to cut corners on.

[Y-Blockhead]

Wow Brent! I hope everyone was OK?

[Terry, NJ]

I would rather try to reproduce the wood than mess around with some kind of dope. It may work on a stationary object like a house , Where replacing the wood is almost impossible. But can the bond take the vibrations and shocks ? You will have to make sure you're not anchoring to solid wood. If you are anchoring poorly, the bond will let go. Those pieces primarily are a long, gentle curve. About 6' or less. A walk in the woods should produce some good usable stock to work with.
Terry

[dean from bozeman]

Brent, your two photos are worth more than a thousand words each. Thanks for posting them.

Beauford, you may want to check around to see if someone would make the wood pieces for a reasonable price. The time to replace these is when everything is open.

As a high schooler, I remade all the top wood for my '29 Tudor except for the header. I believe that if you ask around you might find a high school shop teacher who might like this as a project for his advanced students.

[Beauford]

Dean...sounds like a plan with a school. Do they still offer these types of classes or maybe they could do it in 30 minutes with a 3-D printer??

[dean from bozeman]

Our local high school offers wood working classes. They even go to competitions with the projects that they have made. This weekend they will be selling things that they made at Garagarama, a local event sponsored by the Optimist Club. The money earned this weekend will help pay for transportation to the next competition.

Don't know about having top bows made with a 3D printer. I realize that it could be done. I just don't know how functional they would be.

I'm with Terry/NJ. Just get some wood and try to form it yourself. It is a very forgiving medium. The pieces that you would need to recreate are flat and have slight curve.