Truck based woody

[GB SISSON]

Anyone have a photo or two of a wood wagon built on a '42-'47 truck platform? I am in the process of gathering the parts I need. I am a cabinet and furniture maker with 44 years experience in custom woodwork. The first 10 of these was in wood boat construction. I am hoping to combine my passion of ford trucks with my vocation of woodworking and build one of these. Google search didn't find much on Ford trucks, but saw some really cool chevs, gmcs, dodges etc. Thanks. I have a 1/2 ton chassis but the cab for it is way too good to cut up just to get a cowl. Could use a cab with bad corners and floors. I could fix lower cowl if need be.

[38 coupe]

The only good Ford truck wood station wagon pictures I know of are on the next generation trucks in this thread over on FTE:http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/43...-of-these.html

[wga]

GB - are you on the Yahoo Woodie Group? This type of question is not unusual for that group. One of the best woodie wood guys - Rick Mac is up your way.
Cantrell, Hercules and a few others did those type of builds. Just saw a real nice Dodge
and International Harvester woodies. A gathering of the faithful is coming up near San Diego next month - Wavecrest, you would see those types of woodies.

http://www.oldwoodies.com/gallery-truckwoodies4.htm

[GB SISSON]

Thanks guys. This has been helpful. Last Friday I brought home a '47 tonner rolling chassis. It would make a cool HD woody, but really think the 1/2 ton would be more user friendly when finished. Besides, then I could use that nice cab on the tonner frame.

[big job]

I agree GB its the cowl and windshied problem not to cut up a good one. My case
it was a mint no mile 1933 Plymouth PD. I wrote to Chrysler in 1960 all they said was
we made a few chassis only. Researched body builders at that time few 33 Dodges
but no Plymouths. My mother worked for a Dr who gave it to her (he raised shepards) it had about 4500 miles and bought it new. I suspect he bought a new
car and had it built locally. I would like to do this but finding a chassis cowl sheet
metal is impossible, so thats pipe smokin. Here is a 1959 photo of this rare car. sam

[GEOFFNZ]

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The New Zealand army had quite a number '42 Ford V8 woodie wagons on the half ton jailbar chassis.I think they were built here from the cowl/windscreen back.I remember them being sold at army surplus sales in the mid fifties and all in good order. A lot were used as tradesmen's vehicles but don't know of any survivors which is not to say that there aren't one or two tucked away somewhere.My father bought a '42 one ton Ford truck out of the army in 1945. Geoff

[GB SISSON]

Once again, good info. I haven't ventured into the world of facebook yet. I'm holding off as long as I can. I have a lot of jailbar parts and 3 59ab flatheads. I kind of hate to sacrifice the complete pickup in the earlier post, but it has a good title and box floor, fenders and tailgate are pretty bad. The cab I'm looking at to cut is on a 1 1/2 ton truck with no bed or engine. Seems a good candidate because the door bottoms are rusty and so are the floors. No title.

[woodiewagon46]

Ford never made a "Woodie" other than those made on automobile type chassis. GMC, Dodge and IH however made a truck type "Woodie". What you are describing is what is known as a "phantom". I wouldn't cut up a restorable car to build one, but I would start with a chassis and cowl. I have seen several "phantom" woodies and some were very nicely built. With your woodworking background it shouldn't be a problem.

[41ford1]

Here is a link to a good article on woody bodies. http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/h/herc...s_campbell.htm

[BrianCT]

You will need a titled frame and any cab .

[mrtexas]

A woodie body is quite a complicated thing. However on my 36 woodie most wood is flat and straight except for the roof frame. On the later woodies like 42-51 there aren't many pieces that are straight. If you have made wood for boats making a body shouldn't be a problem for you. The woodie makers out there now are making the whole thing including fiberglass firewalls. It would be helpful for you to have access to a 46-48 woodie to get an idea of how to shape the pieces. I think a 4 door sedan would be a better starting point than a truck. http://www.woodiewood.com/for_sale.htm

[Fordors]

GB, I think you will like this past thread-

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...die#post560891

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Fordors

GB, I think you will like this past thread-

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...die#post560891

Thank you, I like it a lot! I never buy new stuff. I have lots of parts here, but all truck parts. All ford except for a lot of landcruiser parts and two running wagons, one diesel, one gas. My original plan was toyota frame and running gear for ps, pb, 4wd etc but too short, even the wagon. Now I lean twds the '47 1/2 ton frame with or without landcruiser gear under it. I can't afford to be a purist or buy fiberglass parts or special chassis. I use what I have and as for the truck sheet metal I feel that I don't have to build it 'correct' if I do it truck style as they got built by whoever. And... Like I said I only have truck parts here. Mostly jailbar, which I prefer over the more car-like 40-41 sheet metal. This thing won't be seeing Pebble Beach unless maybe I'm living in it someday and stay at the Walmart parking lot there. Thet DO have a Walmart at Pebble Beach don't they?

[41ford1]

Granted this pic is not a Ford, but I think if you built a similar body on a 42 - 47 chassis it would look right. All the side pieces are flat. I certainly would not be opposed to having something like that.

[GEOFFNZ]

That looks very similar to the Jailbar based New Zealand army versions.Geoff

[truckdog62563]

Here's the Midstate Campbell's F-2. I have an original hard copy I can Xerox and mail if you want it. Think I still have your address.




Here's a half ton. I have a hard time seeing past the 18" "milk truck" high clearance wheels.



And I know I have a pic somewhere of a '47ish tonner woodie but can't find it. I'll post it if I find it. Stu

[GB SISSON]

Flat looks great on that curvaceous front end.... Why wouldn't it look great on a jailbar truck? My wife just gave me the green light on heading to Eastern Washington after work on Thursday to pick up the cab and front clip there. The cab would be cut down for the woody and the front clip since it has the larger fender openings would go on the tonner chassis I just bought. The half ton jailbar has two other sets of front fenders in the bed, and a NOS set of jailbars I have been hanging onto because they are too good for most of the wrecks I bomb around the island in.

[truckdog62563]

Gary - I mentioned to you once that I've had a dream of doing a truck based M-H woodie. Seems to me that use of a donor pickup cowl and floor section doesn't give a means of attaching the rear fenders. I was thinking that a panel truck would be a better donor body. Have you thought of another way to interconnect rear fender structure? Stu

[GB SISSON]

Thanks for the offer on literature Stu. As far as the rear fenders I guess I assumed they were attached to the wood structure. The framed plywood panels should be very strong and when an inner fender or tub is incorporated it could be flanged to the floor. Keep in mind I would not be trying to copy or reproduce in exact detail any truck based woody built in the 40s or 50s. Mine would be based on what I can find locally and isn't too expensive. I would like to enjoy it for a couple of years and then perhaps sell it most likely here on the island. I have a long history of selling trucks to the clients I build furniture and cabinets for. They move here with a couple of european luxury cars and don't have anything to go to the dump with. I had my diesel converted '54 gmc 3/4 ton on Seattle Craigslist for three weeks with only one call so one Saturday morning I put it in front of the grocery store with a for sale sign on it and had two calls before I got back home. The second guy was really disappointed not to get it. Same story with my old '38 tonner, a '34 1 1/2 ton, '40 ford 1/2 ton and a '53 dodge 1/2 ton, a 51 F3 and a '32 1 1/2 ton. This island is a perfect place for vehicles that like to run 40 mph. These people who buy these don't ever take them to car shows and they like them a bit faded but new brakes and reliable.

[jerseyboy]

The 32 woodie does not have a full metal floor, but the wheel wells are attached to flanges on the section of floor between them. Thought this might be helpful.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

The 32 woodie does not have a full metal floor, but the wheel wells are attached to flanges on the section of floor between them. Thought this might be helpful.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

That's what I'm talking about. Wood floor with steel wheel tubs. I would use perhaps two layers of 5/8 plywood bonded together, staggering the joints and vacuum press maybe 1/4" solid wood to it. Would it be typical to use bed strips? Oh some bad news the '47 truck on CL was sold when I called to tell him I had ferry reservations for Friday. The listing said 400.00 or any offer considered. Ya snooze yo lose. Something else will come up in the meantime. I really need to complete my tonner panel this winter, but will continue to gather parts and research this woody project. Here's the one that got away.

[jerseyboy]

GB,

If you notice, the area between the wheel wells is sheet metal. The piece consists of five parts; the two wells, two side sections, and a center section. All the pieces are spot welded at flanges, except the wells, that are spot welded on the main surface. The wood floors consist of a front frame made of maple and oak and two floor boards inside the frame, made of 11/16 thick 5 ply plywood. The rear sections on either side of the wheel wells/floor pan, are maple floor boards running perpendicular to the frame and fastened to the frame and pan.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,

If you notice, the area between the wheel wells is sheet metal. The piece consists of five parts; the two wells, two side sections, and a center section. All the pieces are spot welded at flanges, except the wells, that are spot welded on the main surface. The wood floors consist of a front frame made of maple and oak and two floor boards inside the frame, made of 11/16 thick 5 ply plywood. The rear sections on either side of the wheel wells/floor pan, are maple floor boards running perpendicular to the frame and fastened to the frame and pan.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

We still need to keep in mind that with a truck based woody, the builder might not have had all those same parts, perhaps just the cowl. I have purchased (traded for) 4 jailbar trucks, one is a 1/2 ton panel that has spent some time on it's roof.... Perhaps just the ticket for those wheel wells an has decent rear fenders too! There's also some nice cabs, seats, a nice tonner with new tires and a title, a factory cowl piece for jailbar delivery trucks, a running 8ba, a complete 1/2 ton pu with a title, 2 extra panel doors, two extra truck doors, 2 very good rear 1/2 ton pu fenders etc etc.... I am on my way to cutting one of the cabs with bad back corners and floors to make a good cowl piece. I still have 3 more loads East of the cascades to finish it out...... What I'm wondering so I can start some preliminary mock-up and thought process over the 3 day weekend is does anyone have specs/drawings of a 1/2 ton jailbar panel? The one I'm getting is still ovr there til next week or two. Also interested in what the normal panels have above the windshield to accept the wood top framing. On that great video that was posted a while back, he was pounding wood into some kind of recess at the header. Anyone have a un-built woody can show a picture? Thanks much in advance. Took the ugliest stuff first so I wouldn't run outa steam and leave some over there. Next trip will be the tonner or the panel. Too bad no back doors on it.....

[Bill]

Within the past two or three years a jailbar woodie was featured in the "Woodie Times" the monthly newsletter of the National Woodie Club. Can't remember where it was located. I'll see if I can find the copy and let you know which issue it was. The truck was very well done. Can't remember if they retained the original drivetrain.... Bill

[truckdog62563]

Here's the half ton panel and light duty cab/chassis. If you want the tonner drawings I have them too. Also, please email me your address so I can mail the Campbell Midstate diagram. I'm sure I still have it but finding it is another matter. Stu

[GB SISSON]

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Wow, Thanks Stu. I think I'll start with a 1/2 ton truck based woody, perhaps sell it when complete. Next I will build a tonner based woody for myself. How cool would that be? This haul from Twisp looks better and better as I scrape off the moss. Under the moss and needles is very solid sheet metal. That doesn't happen west of the cascades..... I will soon have my very own junkyard consisting entirely of jailbar trucks, and maybe another today... It can't be any worse than the stock market. Have you ever tried to gaze upon or fondle a stock market shareholder certificate? I haven't, but a really nice 1/2 ton rear fender? Or two? ...... Off to dinner with the missus, will get serious with drawings tomorrow. GB

[Mtn Wudy]

As a kid in High School I drove a 1947 Ford 1/2ton Panel...Next to Woodies they are my favorite ..That said at the Wavecrest Woodie Meet three years ago the was a Woodie built in a 1/2 Ton Ford Panel chassis...He drove it to the meet from New York...He too was a Woodworker and adjusted a lot of the lines of a passenger Woodie....It looked good and didn't look Fake or Made-up....! I'll look at my National Woodie Club Rooster and see if I could find a contact for you...Good luck on your project.....Carl...

[Mtn Wudy]

Like a "Dummy" I hadn't read the 2nd page before I wrote my reply..I didn't see and hadn't read "Bill's " reply....That Woodie is the same one that drove to Wavecrest...Anyway,,We're pullin' for Ya,,,,We're all in this thing together....Carl...aka..Slim over at "The Lazy S Ranch" Montose,CO.

[Bill]

So I dug thru the pile and found Sept /13 copy of Woodie Times. Get ready to cash in yours and the wifes' 401 K. The build is spectacular I'd estimate 80/100K to do it. The truck is located in Cedar Mi. Wood by Mike Nickels of Traverse City Mi. to resemble 41/48 wood. Built on a Wagoneer chassis. Maybe another NWC member can upload the article. Beyond my limited skills. All in all a very well executed job just not cheap! By the way Wavecrest takes place in Encinitas Ca. Sept 17/20. Am I going? You bet! Lotsa flathead and modified woodies all in one place. I'll take some pics of the originals and try to post when I get back... Bill

[truckdog62563]

This should be it. Stu

[Ralph Moore]

That is a beautiful truck!

[Bill]

That's the truck! Thanks Stu now do you have any more pics to post? The truck is titled as a 42. Powertrain is by GM. Again a well executed project... Bill

[truckdog62563]

Somewhere I have pics that Gary wanted of the joint where the wood meets the metal of the windshield surround. But I'm away from home today so will post it later. Stu

[scooder]

Originally Posted by truckdog62563

Here's the half ton panel and light duty cab/chassis. If you want the tonner drawings I have them too. Also, please email me your address so I can mail the Campbell Midstate diagram. I'm sure I still have it but finding it is another matter. Stu

Stu,
You got those pics but for the 1/2 ton pickup?
Be lovely to see them.
Thanks,
Martin.

[truckdog62563]

Pickup.



Stake bed

[truckdog62563]

Maybe this could help too, even though it's a '37. Stu

[Mtn Wudy]

Wow,,,I stand corrected.....I was a few States Off....Sure enough that's the truck I was thinking of...Thanks Bill for following through,and yes he's in the Directory... Maybe one of us could contact him and get him into the Post....
PS ..I'm still up in the air if I'm gunna load up the car and head to Wavecrest..Carl

[GB SISSON]

Thanks tons Stu and others! It's pouring out and most of this new metal is still outside so I hope to do a little research today. As miraculous as it sounds, a summer resident just across the county road has a nice collection of vintage vehicles in an 8 car garage. One is a beautifully restored '40 ford woody wagon. I don't know him too well, but I'm thinking since it's Labor Day weekend he may be at his vacation home so I plan to drop in on him if he's there.

[scooder]

Thanks for the pics stu.
Martin.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Thanks tons Stu and others! It's pouring out and most of this new metal is still outside so I hope to do a little research today. As miraculous as it sounds, a summer resident just across the county road has a nice collection of vintage vehicles in an 8 car garage. One is a beautifully restored '40 ford woody wagon. I don't know him too well, but I'm thinking since it's Labor Day weekend he may be at his vacation home so I plan to drop in on him if he's there.

Dang, talked to his wife and he sold it.... Cleaned and surveyed 2 '47 cabs trying to decide which one to cut off at the header and rear floor. Such a tough decision. One is a better cowl and one has a better floor. Back east or rust belt, you'd get horse whipped for cutting up either one!

[GB SISSON]

This morning I set about with the sawzall and angle grinder. I will be replacing the floor sections and sills with reproduction pieces before woodwork begins in earnest. Aside from the cowl, none of the sheet metal in the photos will be used on the woody, as I have better pieces set aside. What I have accomplished today will allow me to carefully measure and plan what I intend to do. When I needed a break this afternoon I went to a buddy's place and we dug up 4) 16" innie wheels all with 7.00x16's that are plenty good for rollers. That was a huge plus!

[jerseyboy]

Wow, a man on a mission. I can post pictures of how a 32 header is assembled, but I don't think it will be as helpful as a later woodie.

Keep V-8ing an d 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

Wow, a man on a mission. I can post pictures of how a 32 header is assembled, but I don't think it will be as helpful as a later woodie.

Keep V-8ing an d 4-banging!

Or a man posessed.......

[Gary-UK]

I am in the throes of doing a couple of 39 woodies and have all the original wood apart and can take pictures of any of the ford joints etc that you need. Just PM me with what you need.

[GB SISSON]

Thanks Gary. It will be winter before I can start on the wood and I'm sure I will have questions. Picked up another load on Wednesday. The second of 3. None of this batch will be cut up. Last load will be the tonner and a 9' script stakebed , more doors and a running 8ba. Once again I'll be doing 30 mph over Washington Pass wound out in second gear, leaving a blanket of grey diesel smoke for the enjoyment of all those people riding my a$$. State law mandates you pull over after you have accumulated 5 cars in your wake. It's kinda hard to see how many there are through the haze..... Here's Wednesday's haul.

[GB SISSON]

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3rd load was on Tuesday. I left Anacortes at 4:30 am from a motel. Arrived in Twisp after snow in Washington Pass at 9 am. Loaded up the tonner, the script bed, the 8rt , the panel rear doors and who knows what else and then stopped to buy some trim pieces and more fenders from a CL ad in East Wenatchee, lastly to Marysville Wa where another CL lister had a bed for an f3 that fit my tonner that was loaded on my trailer. I have been wondering about rear fenders for jailbar pickups. After careful measurements, seems the crown or ridge line on a pickup fender is where the panel truck fender has it's flange. In other words, the more common pickup rear fender can be cut there and flanged to become a rear fender for a panel, or in my case , A woody.....After I caught the 9 pm ferry I was home in bed at 11:30. I'm no math expert but that's like a 16 hour day on the road. I have everything I need to build the woody now but the wood, and with bi-weekly deliveries to the cabinetshop from a large mainland hardwood supplier, that's the easy part. I know they are '39 rear doors but we are gonna switch belt lines. Not like that is gonna be easy.

[Ralph Moore]

It's starting to look like a woody already!!
This will be a great thread to follow, I'll love seeing this one completed.

[GB SISSON]

Been doing some copying from the 1/2 ton panel. Tonight after work I built and installed frame extensions as on the panel. These extend the frame rails 5 1/2" rearward. I also milled crossmembers that will be the first actual wood for the project. As previously stated, I am mocking things up with the current beat up sheet metal installed. I will be able to rough out the details and not worry about having to climb on the hood or other parts or ding them by being covered with tools etc. The current front clip will be removed for engine/tranny install, king pins, brakes etc. and as completion nears, will be replaced by the nicest sheet metal I have, which is now safely stored in a shed. The way things are going, I will probably get the shape of the body together before I remove everything back to the bare frame for mechanical work. This creative phase is just too much fun to stop now and do yet another brake job etc......

[GB SISSON]

I really should have gone to the woody meet in San Diego. I am sort of laying out the floor plan or footprint of the body using these pickup fenders. I have now seen quite a few photos of commercial based woodies on various chassis. Most are rather slab sided, which is fine, but I want the sharp ridged crown of the pickup fenders to be parallel to the wood sides. They were from a parallel sided pickup box with no wheel tubs inside, which is stock '40-'47 ford 1/2 ton. I can take care of this with a wedge shaped forward section which includes both front and rear doors, then becoming parallel sided after the rear doors. The width of the rear section of the body would be something like 60-61" wide without going down to check. The flanged section of the un-cut pickup fenders would protrude inside the body and require a sturdy inner panel which would have a substantial flange to mate to the floor. I ask because it looks like most woodies have the angle or 'wedge' change behind the front door, not the rear door. It also seems the '40 ford built woody is quite a bit straighter in line than the '46, so I lean towards that look for my one-off commercial rig. I hope this makes sense. Thanks for any help as I start out.

[Ralph Moore]

Any updates? I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for the next update on your progress!

[GB SISSON]

Unfortunately we are getting really busy with work in the woodshop again so the wody has to wait a bit. My employee took Thursday off so I went at it all day on my project. Today, being Saturday I got to finish up and now I have the rear fenders set up for good and the plywood subfloor bolted down. The plywood subfloor is some pressure treated 3/4 ply leftover from a bathroom remodel a few years back. Then I used some 1/8" steel sides from an old fire engine to make inner fenders. I have a lot of maple and a lot of marine plywood stashed away. As far as the 80,000.00 needed to build this thing, so far it has been some galvanized bolts from the local hardware store. I have a good running 8ba and a bunch of carbs and distributers, not to mention water pumps and generators and starters. I have collected good used tires all my life as a secondary passion, so I'm good to go there too. This will never be the 1000 point woody some dream of, but it will be a solid example of how a truck based commercial would have been produced on a small scale.

[GB SISSON]

Work has indeed stayed busy, then we have had 6 members of my wife's family visiting since Friday. They caught the morning ferry off the island today so I busted out some scrap lumber, plywood strips and some sheetrock screws and started mocking up the woodie in three dimensions. None of what you see here will be a final part of the wagon, it's only a rough layout. Since I have seen photos of commercial woodies with just two doors like a panel truck, I was tempted, but decided to lay it out as a 4 door wagon. The rear passenger doors will have 4 square corners without a curved cut-out at the rear fender, making them easier to build and far stronger. In the photos you will see I used an extra panel truck passenger side door I had for the mock-up to lead into the shape of the body lines. The panel doors have a square top corner that mimics what I will be building from wood. So far just some sticks and screws, but it is still fun to look at and visualize the outcome. I have about a thousand board feet of clear 1" western white pine, sometimes called sugar pine or pattern pine. I plan to make the two main longitudinal roof rails from 3 laminations of this. It is a very close color match to the maple but easier to machine. It will be covered in black material on the exterior and only exposed on the interior. The structural body will be maple with maple veneer panels. We have a vaccuum press that will press up to a 4x8 sheet, so I can make the panels with exterior glue. My plan is to build the body with the doors and rear gates and retain the ability to lift it off when it's near completion. At that point I will install the engine/tranny and do brakes, kingpins etc without having to crawl around on the floor. I know it's kind of backwards, but I have to keep my interest up and I'm kind of like an excited kid wanting to see the woody come together. The mechanical part is not that exciting as I have done all the procedures many times on past Ford trucks.

[Ralph Moore]

Mock ups are good, gives you an idea of what the end result will look like. And this one looks like it will turn out great!

[GB SISSON]

Got an afternoon to make some progress. Working on the longitudinal roof stringers. They are quite clear pine and the boards laid out flat are shaped sort of like an elongated hockey stick. There are a right and left stack of 5 hockey sticks each laminated up. About 4x4 now and curved in two directions. I know with all the rattle traps I've written about and photographed here, many of you may be rolling your eyes that this beatnick is building some kind of woodie out of scraps and an old hammered pickup. I spend my days building furniture, doors, and cabinetry for clients, who along with their interior designers and architects who are very demanding. After work and weekends I have to do it differently. 'Free style' if you will. I am enclosing a shot or two of a dining set I recently built for our Washington State Treasurer and his wife so you will see I can do proper work when called upon to do so. I feel pulled to do a neat job of the woodie, might even spray on the paint when I get all the nice sheet metal I have saved in one of my sheds. Think I gotta brush the varnish though. Too many years working in boatyards in my younger years.

[Flowmeister]

I don't know about anybody else, but i'm diggin' what you're doing here.

[JSeery]

Nice looking work!

[GB SISSON]

Thanks guys, I'm itching to build the door posts and rear corners now. Trying to work on parts that I already have the material for. Looks like I need to order some maple which would arrive a week from today. In the mean time I will work on the 59 ab that is the most likely engine for this project. With all the flathead trucks I have had over the years they have all been 4 speeds. Never owned or driven a car or half ton with a 3 speed. Are they syncro-mesh units? Like the general public could drive this thing when complete?

[sidevalve8ba]

Yes, second and third are synchronized and if working properly they shift, as my old friend from Jersey says, "smooth as buttah".

[jerseyboy]

Dining set is beautiful! I don't think anyone can question your skills. Besides, when building anything, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. The people on this site are so highly experienced and professional I sometimes feel like some kind of a hick the way I do things. 20 years ago I had occasion to stop at the 'Sportsman Shop' in Alger Wa. Bob Brown builds only ford Sportsman wood bodied convertibles. He does all phases from the ground up. A mossy old metal building in the woods, a bunch of homemade tools his son as his employee, a bunch of parts trucks and a hand painted wooden sign over the door. After I spent an afternoon there I was humbled and no longer felt the need for high end tooling and european made woodworking tools and cad drawings (whatever they are). My shop was kind of like his. His cars grace the likes of Pebble Beach and win high honors with the best of what comes out of the most exclusive shops in the country. Correct me if I'm wrong. I know very little about show cars having only been to one car show and that as a visitor. Didn't look all that fun to me, but neither does golf and that is hugely popular they say.

[GB SISSON]

Got my 3" maple a couple weeks ago. Have been mapping out my strategy from here. Today I got a rare break to finish up steel brackets and measure all the angles and lengths for the body pillars. During the last month I have been scouting up grille bars for most of the hulks I hauled from Twisp because if my property is gonna be covered with a bunch of jailbar trucks, they can at least have their jailbars. Work has stayed really busy in the furniture realm and that pays the bills so I guess that's a plus. Next weekend we will be going to Shelton Wa while helping my wife's son and his family move to a new job. Hoping to looking at the '40 ford woodie that resides there for inspiration, but also understand I won't be working on mine til after Christmas (or to some 'the holidays')

[Fordors]

GB, somehow I missed your post about visiting the Sportsman Shop, and I couldn't agree more. It is not the shop or equipment that accomplishes tasks, it is the builder. The truck is coming along nicely and that table and chairs ain't half bad either!

[VeryTangled]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Work has stayed really busy in the furniture realm and that pays the bills so I guess that's a plus.

Yes to that!

[willowbilly3]

Did you ever get your jailbars and windshields from the post office? I might have another jailbar ton and a half front clip next time I go to ND. He wants 2 bills but I can do some trading. I have a plan for 2 sets of those fenders to get cut up and make one set of rear fenders for an imaginary dually project. Anyway, any straight bars I find will have your name on them.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by willowbilly3

Did you ever get your jailbars and windshields from the post office? I might have another jailbar ton and a half front clip next time I go to ND. He wants 2 bills but I can do some trading. I have a plan for 2 sets of those fenders to get cut up and make one set of rear fenders for an imaginary dually project. Anyway, any straight bars I find will have your name on them.

Though I mentioned that I finally made the 2 mile drive to the post office and picked them up. I already straightened the 3 bent center bars and painted and installed them along with six of the other ones. Only six left to go. That's on my tonner pickup project. I feel like a juggler with all these projects, all this work and a family with grandkids that want wooden toys from Grandpa Walton. Sheesh, I just want to work on the woodie again tomorrow.... And thanks again for the Christmas box!

[willowbilly3]

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I must have missed that.

[GB SISSON]

After work I roughed out the rear posts and set the laminated roof stringers on top for the first time. Next I will shape the stringers to fit into the square recess on each side of the windshield header, then shape the wooden 'V' piece over the windshield and cut out the steel header panel to accept it. I think after that I will rabbet out the other 4 posts for doors and set them up to the stringer. The panel truck door that is temporarily installed on the passenger side sits 5" above the running board so That is my benchmark for the bottom of the wood structure. My 4 rearmost floor to post brackets are 3x5x 3/8" angle which is quite heavy, but a neighbor had it and he also has a power hacksaw so he cut them for me last weekend. They are in for now with lags but will be replaced by # 14 flathead screws and stainless carraige bolts when I get to town. The 3/4" t x g fir decking will be routed out to cover the bottom part and I plan to radius the top of the brackets and paint them before I fasten them in for good. The rear posts at the front doors are connected by a piece of 2x2 square tubing with gusseted straps. The 2x2 spans the rear of the cab and fortifies the cab floor in the absence of a rear cab wall. As little as is there, it feels pretty rigid. Yes it's a bit overbuilt, but it's a truck.....

[GB SISSON]

I pick away at this when I can. Unheated shop, cold today but my employee took a half day so at noon I switched gears and did more work on the woodie...

[RalphM]

Looking good! How did you tie the header in place?
I just noticed in the second set of pics, second picture you've got a tool I have. It's hanging on the post, nearest I can figure it's to bust down tires, off wire wheels.
Am I right?

[GB SISSON]

The header has 2 wood 'biscuits' , two dowels and a 6" x 5/16" star drive construction lag into each maple post. I have the steel now to fab the welded interior brackets as well. It will also have another wood member approx 2" x 5" attached to it at at near 90 degrees that will be routed for the ceiling slats. The front header will be similar in most respects. My truck woodie was never intended to look anything like the Ford built station wagon. It will look a bit like a '40 Ford woodie wagon, but not a whole lot. It would never get points at pebble beach, that's for sure....That tool is a tire bead breaker. I would be lost without it. I have broken down countless truck tires on split rims with it, as well as modern tubeless tires. I use a cheater pipe often on the lever. Beads come loose with this thing. They have to.....

[GB SISSON]

I was thinking about this last night.... The header is tied into the rails with biscuits, dowels and another 6" lag. It is the roof stringers that fasten down to the rear pillars. All the joints are also fastened with 3M 5200 marine adhesive sealer. Very tenacious and stays rubbery for flex. For 25 bucks a tube it ought to. At the forward header the stringers are mortised into the windshield posts with the 5200, but I couldnt be sure I had all the voids filled so I drilled a 3/8 hole from the inside and through the steel and the stringer and pumped in a half a tube of the adhesive like you would a grease gun. Messy, but it cleaned up ok. Well, back to the paying work in the shop.....

[nospartsman]

When you get your Woody done you will be swamped with orders to build more.
Back in the day(they still do) Ford offered "drive away: chassis with just a cowl. The one without a windshield was often used on moving vans with large overhang above the windshield of their own design. The cowl with the header would lend itself to another Woody. Although these are not for sale. There should be a few more stashed somewhere.

[GB SISSON]

I have a nice example of the cowl without windshield. It is exactly like the one you show. Today I mounted the wood header over the windshield into my woodie. After that it was the one larger curved roof beam at the B pillar. I will post a pic later, but my wife just got home from the mainland with 'take-out mexican food'. We don't have anything like that on the island. Thank God for microwaves. (and smart wives)

[GB SISSON]

The header has more curve than the beam behind it. I felt much better when I looked at the similar interior shot of a correct 47 woodie station wagon. My header has a curved bottom instead of Ford's vee shape. That just evolved through the build. It will have a valence covering it's rearward face so we don't see the unsightly spaces and gaps. I'm hoping to cut the other six roof beams in the shop tomorrow morning before we resume regular 'for pay' work because I'm all set up for the radius ..... The last photo is from a barner that build a correct ford style woodie wagon, not a renegade 'off the cuff' commercial job like mine. I am basing my version roughly on this and the youtube video by Alec Guerreo and what I think a small shop in a small town would have built from a pickup for a local resort to pick up their guests at the train station. I'm thinking in 1947 there were a lot of skilled woodworkers in the US job market. They got their training building wood airframes, boats and during the recent war would have been trained in the building of d-day gliders, pt boats and all manner of complicated wooden conveyences.

[1952henry]

Nice job so far!

[expavr]

Your vision and the woodworking skill required to pull it together is mind boggling. I'm trying to understand how you are tieing all the components together. Did you dovetail the stringer at the point of connection with the roof beams? Its hard to tell from the photo of that joint. Do you plan to tie the stringer, roof beam and B pillar together with a steel angle brace like that shown in the photo of the 47 woodie?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by expavr

Your vision and the woodworking skill required to pull it together is mind boggling. I'm trying to understand how you are tieing all the components together. Did you dovetail the stringer at the point of connection with the roof beams? Its hard to tell from the photo of that joint. Do you plan to tie the stringer, roof beam and B pillar together with a steel angle brace like that shown in the photo of the 47 woodie?

Not a dovetail, but a pocket cut made with a router and a wood pattern. It will be glued, scerwed and tatoo'ed. This beam is larger in size than the intermediate beams. This first one is 1 3/4 x 1 3/8. Above the top of the beam I will rout down a 1/2 inch to accept the roof slats. I have already made and installed the steel brackets at the floor to hold the base of the posts. 3/8" thick angles. The tops are held by one 'construction lag' with a star drive washer head. This goes through the pine stringer and 4" into the 3x3 maple pillar. There is also a beech wood 'biscuit' that us woodworkers have used for about 30 years to replace dowels and sometimes mortise and tenons. At this point the posts are in dry for removal if needed, such as easier mortising door hinges/latches etc. On final assembly I will drill through the stringer and add a 5/8 hardwood dowel down into the post. Lastly I will add the T and L steel brackets which I just bought the steel strap for. Where needed I will place a stainless carraige bolt through the pillar and steel bracket. 3m 5200 marine adhesive will fill the joint, biscuit and 5/8 dowel. Before putting fabric on the roof I will fill all holes that pass through the radiused longitudinal stringer. I know these joints will need to stay strong while experiencing considerable stress. The 3m adhesive goes a long way towards achieving that goal with it's tenacious grip and flexible properties. Ok, now I'm late to work......

[nospartsman]

Before you go any further, make two of everything. Someone is going to want a Woody like that when you're done. (easier to do now)

[GB SISSON]

Been making plywood patterns and jotting down notes on them. Tonight after work I got the beams finished and routed into place. Next I will rout the stringers down a half inch in a rabbet so the roof slats will lay on the beams.

[GB SISSON]

We started a big cabinet job yesterday but today my employee called in with a 'personal day'. What's a guy to do?.... I worked on the woodie.

[Joe777]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

We started a big cabinet job yesterday but today my employee called in with a 'personal day'. What's a guy to do?.... I worked on the woodie.

Truth be told, we paid him to take a day off so we could see more progress on the woody .

[RalphM]

That is really taking shape. Going to be a beautiful one of a kind woody!

[jerseyboy]

GB,
Looking great! What will you be using for door hardware? Are you going to pick up some repo stuff or make due?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,
Looking great! What will you be using for door hardware? Are you going to pick up some repo stuff or make due?

There is a VERY old hardware store in Anacortes where the ferry docks. They have all kinds of old time door latches. They will be just right. Work in our 'resort area' gets slow in winter so I wll; only buy what I can trade for or get really cheap. Today I got a chance to do some milling on the belt line moldings. What I am trying to do is introduce the 'commercial truck' belt line into a woodie. I have a one ton panel and various trucks with this exact beltline. Here is a mock up I did afrer work today to show my version of ford's commercial truck beltline incorporated into a woody wagon.....

[jerseyboy]

Nice match, looks good!

[GB SISSON]

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Well I got tired of spending the last ten days trying to coax a few more psi compression out of my old 8ba, so today I quit work early and mortised in the permanent belt line pieces. Stressful router work with the rear pillar attached permanently but I got through it. Next time I will assemble the rear quarter panels as a completed unit, built on the workbench......But with no plans I gotta fly by the seat of my pants.

[Vanspeed]

Very impressive work! The belt line looks great.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

GB just read the whole thread. You are a man with a vision and very talented and I like your sense of humour (humor). Absolutely beautiful work. I'm going to keep up to date with this thread.

regards
Graeme (the other GB)

[GB SISSON]

Well, with work picking up the woodie takes a back seat but I manage a few hours in now and then. Made some thin plywood and cardboard patterns, did some routing into the pillars and spent way too long getting the rear fenders plumb, square and true to the floor structure. With the fender crowns returning in towards the body as they do on '40-'47 half tons, the shape of the arch changes dramatically with a little tilt of the fender's mounting. Now I'm ready to set up for finger jointing and making up these curved members around the fenders. I have collected a bunch of 5/8" shims and washers and plan to stack 10" sawblades with spacers on my table saw to create the finger joints. Should work ok.

[VeryTangled]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

...and spent way too long getting the rear fenders plumb, square and true to the floor structure.

Hi Everyone, Even though I may never see this vehicle, I'm confident it will turn out in such a way to take my or your breath away!

Thanks for bringing us along for the journey.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Graeme / New Zealand

GB just read the whole thread. You are a man with a vision and very talented and I like your sense of humour (humor). Absolutely beautiful work. I'm going to keep up to date with this thread.

regards
Graeme (the other GB)

Het Graeme, I picked up take out chinese take out this afternoon as I was on the mainland where they have such stuff. It came with fortune cookies of course. Mine made me think of you... " Others appreciate your sense of humor today"...... I do try

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Well GB you bring some interesting threads to this forum and there's always a laugh in them somewhere. We need to all get back to a relaxed way of life like in the days "before the world went mad". I'm learning now not to "sweat the small stuff" we're not here for a long time but we should be here for a good time

cheers
Graeme

[mhsprecher]

What a cool project. Others have already said it all, but I am in awe! ;-)

[GB SISSON]

Got an early Sunday start at about 4:30 am. Couldn't fall back to sleep, so what the heck. Yesterday I made up the finger joints with my dado blade and some assorted washers. Worked ok, good enough for a truck. All these new maple parts will be coming off for final fitting and joining. The panels you see are just 1/8" door skins and cardboard and I wanted to check proportions before I finalize things. It's getting pretty fun now as it takes shape. It's back to work tomorrow.....

[41ford1]

That is coming along very nicely. You might have an additional income source there. Taking orders?

[Mtn Wudy]

I Hope you can get it ready for Wavecrest........What a cool truck...

[jerseyboy]

Lookin' really good!!! It really looks like a woodie from one of the woodie builders of the past.

[GB SISSON]

With a lifetime of custom woodworking as my vocation running neck and neck with a hobby (obsession) with old ford trucks it was just a natural progression. Something I just had to try. Thanks to that fateful trip to Bob Brown's 'The Sportsman Shop' in Alger Wa. 20 some odd years ago, I learned that one doesn't need state of the art tooling to do good quality work, as witnessed by his masterful wood convertibles. Many of my contemporaries in this field have huge, well equipped shops with Gigantic and complicated looking German and Swiss made woodworking machines with self feeders and LED readouts and 3 phase power. Funny, we get most of the high end work here. We have a couple of early makita chop saws, 2 table saws from yard sales (powermatic and unisaw), 1930's 6" delta joiner, a router table andthree ww2 vintage bandsaws, and a 20" taiwanese planer. Typical sanders and power planes, routers, with a drawer full of chinese bits from Grizzly. Oh and 2 really cluttered shops. Thanks for the continued support in my efforts. I'm making patterns and taking notes. I have spent more time researching, mocking up, re-doing and figuring and re-doing again than I have actually spent on constructing. Next time I will have full sized patterns, and the rear quarters will be completed and assembled on the bench, not one piece at a time stood up on the chassis!

[GB SISSON]

So the record temp for today in Seattle was 62 but we made 63 today. I told my employee I was workin on the woodie..... It does not look changed much but for the first time the maple exoskeleton is joined together with well glued 1/2" plywood splines, mortise and tenon joints and 3m 5200 marine adhesive sealant. No more mockups, no more patterns, no more movie sets. What I'm saying is there is no backing up now. The panels will be able to be removed from this structure and finished/veneered as I see fit. I made parts for both sides but this side is easier to photograph. The 3m is known by boatey types as 'pinky', 'bubblegum' and other names. It is a tan colored, rubbery, tenacious glue. This will be a very tough and resilient vehicle, although maybe harder to repair than an original. Tomorrow I can't take the day off, but I have the parts ready so at quitting time I can assemble the drivers side to match. After I find a 42-50 truck 3 speed tranny I should have this thing able to motor in and out of the shop for the upcoming good weather. I already have the brake parts and a choice of engines.....

[RalphM]

Really looking good, ill bet 95% of the population will never know Henry didnt build it.
Are you going to cover the top with vinal as an original would be?

[GB SISSON]

Not into spending big money for a vinyl top kit from some woodie outfit. What would a small town company use if they were located near a resort in Colorado in 1947 and a resort hotel ordered a cowl/chassis from ford and hired them to build a 'depot hack' to pick up their clientle at the railway station? I envision an army tarp stretched very neatly and carefully and perhaps many coats of black paint. I think maybe roll on bedliner brushed fore and aft. I doubt this would leak. We need to keep in mind it's not what 'Henry' did here, it's what a small time boat builder/coachworks/out of work gypsy wagon builder would have done to complete the task in 1947.

[Snouts out]

You might use roll rubber roofing,painted with MP1 sealent.MP1 is flexible and won't leak!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Snouts out

You might use roll rubber roofing,painted with MP1 sealent.MP1 is flexible and won't leak!

Thanks for the tip. Does the roll rubber roofing have a trade name I could look up? Have you used it before and would it conform to the compound curve on the rear corners? I predict that will be tough area to get right no matter what I use. Sorry if I sound like I'm always being super cheap on this build, but I'm still playing catch-up from the long recession in the building trades. It's better than it was five years ago, but not like what I'd gotten used to. Someone recently made a comment about his cars being 'rolling IRAs'. I liked that. Well, it's 4:30, coffee's on and it's out to work on the woodie til my employee shows up at 8 and reminds me it's time to go to work.

[mhsprecher]

GB, the vinyl stuff might not be that expensive, compared to canvas and the coatings necessary to make it waterproof. The compound curves will be tough regardless of what material you use. Great project.

[Bill]

I've been following this thread with interest and commend your obvious skills! I purchased my top material from Ed Clarke the "woodieologist" in Larchmont NY 35 years ago. It is short grained vinyl over canvas similar to a Model A. I installed it per his instructions and it still fits tight as a drum today and still looks new after 50K miles in all kinds of weather. My point is explore the options but keep in mind that the top will show as much as the finish paint. Check Lebaron/Bonney they still stock the material. Sometimes you got to stretch a little...JMHO Bill

[GB SISSON]

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Thanks Bill. I know there are areas where I can stretch a buck and some I can't. I bought nice Eastern maple for the frame even though I was tempted to use the softer and far less costly Western big leaf maple which is sometimes available from small local mills. I'm glad I spent the money now that time has passed. Roof material just might be the same.

[flatford8]

Goodyear makes roofing rubber. I delivered urethane insulation for 20 yrs. it was used commercial buildings, mostly flat roofs. The rubber goes over it. I think it lasts 50 yrs right out in the sun. If you want to try it I have some pieces I think are big enough for your roof. Shipping is on me. If I ever get to Washington..... Take me for a ride.... MARK

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Goodyear makes roofing rubber. I delivered urethane insulation for 20 yrs. it was used commercial buildings, mostly flat roofs. The rubber goes over it. I think it lasts 50 yrs right out in the sun. If you want to try it I have some pieces I think are big enough for your roof. Shipping is on me. If I ever get to Washington..... Take me for a ride.... MARK

Wow! I just ran in from the shop to check email. I'll pm you at lunch. How thick is it?

[38bill]

Loving your project. Cant wait to see how you handle the doors and windows.

PS: I like your idea of a canvas roof. I recently saw a restoration on a train car and that's just what they used. Whatever you go with I think you need to use something with a texture. The rubber roofing that I have used before just wouldn't look right IMO.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

Loving your project. Cant wait to see how you handle the doors and windows.

PS: I like your idea of a canvas roof. I recently saw a restoration on a train car and that's just what they used. Whatever you go with I think you need to use something with a texture. The rubber roofing that I have used before just wouldn't look right IMO.

If it would adhere, I could coat the rubber with bedliner applied with a stiff brush for the fore and aft texture. We know that whatever they use to glue the seams on this stuff will stick to it. I'd love to play with a scrap of it before shipping. I am open to helpful comments on my project.

[B-O-B]

Hi GB;
Been following your adventures from the git go. Not sure you would be interested but I have a 47 truck V8 & tranny 3 speed matching numbers that I would be willing to let go. The bad is the block has a crack about a 1" long 1/2 way down # 8 cylinder. I had the machine shop mag & pressure test it. They epoxied the crack for the test & it tested ok. This is torn down & cleaned & will need a rebuild & bore job. Not sure you want to fool with it but thought I would let you know. The other bad is I'm in Az now & won't be up to Oregon till some time in April. Should you want pics send me an E mail @ [email][email protected]. I also have a 53 merc block & 4" crank.They both(47 V8 & 53merc) have std. bore now & I have about $1100+, invested in both engines & tranny & machine shop the machine shop bill was $350. Lots of parts like flywheels,starter & timing covers,pans,clutch & PPlate,generater,intakes,& waterpumps&heads &stock cams & lifters. pretty much two complete engines & one tranny.
Beings that I'm 82+ I doubt that I will ever get to use them so they are going bye,bye.

Regards, B-O-B

[GB SISSON]

Thanks. I have a couple of decent engines that I'm working on, but do need parts and pieces and a 3 speed 1/2 ton truck tranny and driveline. I plan to go to the Portland swap meet in April. I went there 25 years ago, but have only been to two swap meets since. Raised 4 kids and weekends were always sports etc. They are all grown now and all live in Seattle, so now I can do what I want, within reason!

[38bill]

I actually have some EPDM rubber roofing and some Herculiner textured bed liner. I could try it out for you to see if it sticks. Just let me know.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

I actually have some EPDM rubber roofing and some Herculiner textured bed liner. I could try it out for you to see if it sticks. Just let me know.

I'd like that. I picture applying with a course brush. Maybe even follow up with careful 'grain' strokes with an old fashioned whisk broom. Or rolling it on and chasing with the whisk broom. I'm hoping the material isn't too thick. I plan on holding it down on the edges with a rain gutter. I have seen it in aluminum for 'canned ham' travel trailers. Sometimes called J metal. It would get painted black. When I first started this project by sawing the pickup's cab off, I was being pretty casual about the details, but after so much labor and trial and error design, I have become more uptight about the finished product. I really want it to look as if it were built in the 40s. If I went with the rubber and it's quite thick then it might not need padding or anything under it. Not too familiar with soft tops. Thanks again for all the help! Edit: Maybe a scuffing with 80 grit before the bed liner. Like we do before patching a tube. Nothing like a little bit of 'tooth' for adhesion.

[38bill]

I'll give it a try and get back to you. The Hurculiner has rubber partials in it so as its rolled on it leaves a nice stippled finish. I'm pretty sure that you would need some kind of backer to prevent the roof stringers from telescoping through. Here's a photo of a ice fishing house I built. The rubber membrane is glued down with contact cement to a 1/4" plywood sheathing. The edges are wrapped over and stapled to the side and the cut edge is covered with an alum trim. My roofing came with seams in it every 10'.
[IMG][/IMG]

[sidevalve8ba]

How wide would the material need to be to cover the roof?

[Bill]

Just measured my roof covering for width. It's 66" wide. From LeBaron/Bonney they still stock it. About $25./yd plus shipping!Took a pic now lets see if I can upload it...Bill

[GB SISSON]

I just measured my roof. 63 1/2" gutter to gutter. So 66" would give just barely enough to hold onto for stretching. Working alone the length was hard to measure, but 128" would be ample. Got a start on welding up my steel pillar to roof stringer brackets this morning. I'm waiting for the 3m 5200 sealant to cure on the driver's side maple frame before fitting the last sections of maple in place. Never a dull moment around here.....

[rustynutz]

Most common rubber membrane is .060 thickness although .040 is available.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by rustynutz

Most common rubber membrane is .060 thickness although .040 is available.

Mark said the material is about look and feel of an inner tube but a lot thicker. I just held my digital caliper at .060 and .040 and it looks about like a truck inner tube in thickness. Therefore the thickness would be about right. It's outside of the box and would need some texture to it, but everything I do seems to be outside the box. At 25 per yard, the Lebarron Bonney material would be about 200 bucks and that won't break the bank and it's a known commodity. I might clean a square of innertube material and try some preliminary tests. In the meantime I made some progress on my steel brackets last night and this morning. Maybe finish the gusseted brace at the B pillar after work. It will get a curved triangular gusset similar to one I see in that location on a photo of a '47 station wagon woodie.

[38bill]

OK, I tried a piece of 45 mil EDPM roofing membrane. The piece was cleaned with lacquer thinner before it was coated with a texture. It looked good but after it was dry I could scrap the texture off of the membrane. I think with the quality of your wood working you need to bite the bullet and go with something that you know will last.

[Bill]

Here is a pic of the upper right rear pillar steel bracket. You'll note it ties in the rear header, upper right roof rail as well as the upper rear side window rail. Make sense? It reduces any lateral movement by tying in the rear upper header. Bill

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

OK, I tried a piece of 45 mil EDPM roofing membrane. The piece was cleaned with lacquer thinner before it was coated with a texture. It looked good but after it was dry I could scrap the texture off of the membrane. I think with the quality of your wood working you need to bite the bullet and go with something that you know will last.

Hmmmm, well it was a good idea and a really generous offer from Mark, but it looks like it makes sense to buy the real thing. I probably won't buy it until spring as the overhead lights in my shop add just some extra light through the roof for now and it will stay indoors anyway. Thanks for taking the time to do the experiment, that was very nice of you.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

Here is a pic of the upper right rear pillar steel bracket. You'll note it ties in the rear header, upper right roof rail as well as the upper rear side window rail. Make sense? It reduces any lateral movement by tying in the rear upper header. Bill

With my design there isn't room for the lower loop, but I will for sure add the strap across to the rear header. Thanks for the picture! This is gonna seem odd, but I have never really even looked at a ford woodie before I started (or since). I have been dreaming of going to the Lemay antique car museum in Tacoma Wa. and am hoping they have one there. With the ferry and travel time it would be a 2 day trip. Meanwhile I just put away an 8ba that was on my run stand. After repeated running it has better and more even compression numbers. Turns out it's not quite good enough for the woodie, but would be great for the junkyard dog wrecker I want to build from one of the engineless tonners I have. My plan for the woodie is to build up a 59ab with the 3 1/16" bore block I have. It's the one I showed the pictures of the .060 war surplus pistons in cosmoline. Ok, now down to the shop to finish the gussets in the B pillar bracket and add some ears onto the rear one. Thanks all of you for the help, kind words and encouragement.

[38bill]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Hmmmm, well it was a good idea and a really generous offer from Mark, but it looks like it makes sense to buy the real thing. I probably won't buy it until spring as the overhead lights in my shop add just some extra light through the roof for now and it will stay indoors anyway. Thanks for taking the time to do the experiment, that was very nice of you.

Least I could do. Some day I may be asking you for help. I have always thought a custom woody would be a unique, fun project. Sure wish you weren't so far away from me.

[GB SISSON]

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One year and 3 weeks ago I tried to drive to Parkers Prairie Minnesota to pick up my tonner panel truck. It was dead of winter and hair brained scheme seein's on how I had just went through open heart surgery 3 months before. I turned around half way in Bozeman, but I almost got to your neighborhood. I had it hauled by a trucker instead. He had to deal with your Minnesota winter, but he was a Montana gu and used to it. Got a lot done on the brackets, but then company stopped by and I had to quit and be sociable.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

Here is a pic of the upper right rear pillar steel bracket. You'll note it ties in the rear header, upper right roof rail as well as the upper rear side window rail. Make sense? It reduces any lateral movement by tying in the rear upper header. Bill

Well Bill, I tied the rear header in. I'm glad I'm not trying to build an exact '47 station wagon replica as those rear corner brackets would be a tough job. The knee braces were hard enough.... All I could find around here for 1/4" plate was diamond plate so I ground off the tread pattern. Right now the brackets are just stuck on with some drywall screws, but there will be large oval head wood screws and some thru-bolts with blind nuts as well.

[GB SISSON]

Well Mark, Your rubber roof samples arrived today. Thanks so very much. I have a couple of things I want to try with them such as black sikaflex polyurethane marine sealant as a texture. There is very little that stuff won't adhere to with a death grip. Haven't done much on the wood body because the weather is dry for a while and I'm working on an engine outdoors. Back onto the woodwork when the rain returns.

[flatford8]

Your welcome. If you decide you want to use it let me know. The suggestion of the Lebaron Bonney stuff may make the job easier. But it doesn't seem like you take the easy way out....LOL.... Im gonna keep watching the progress...... Mark

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

Here is a pic of the upper right rear pillar steel bracket. You'll note it ties in the rear header, upper right roof rail as well as the upper rear side window rail. Make sense? It reduces any lateral movement by tying in the rear upper header. Bill

Is this slotted slider the stock piece for holding up the rear window? It looks like a Model A windshield piece. Does it have the model A's notch?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

Here is a pic of the upper right rear pillar steel bracket. You'll note it ties in the rear header, upper right roof rail as well as the upper rear side window rail. Make sense? It reduces any lateral movement by tying in the rear upper header. Bill

Is this slotted slider the stock piece for holding up the rear window? It looks like a Model A windshield piece. Does it have the model A's notch? Upon further inspection I see no notch, so if this is the correct holder, then maybe finding a couple model A pieces would be even better. Who knows, maybe gravity would drop them into place.....

[Bill]

Those are the stock supports and similar to Model A. I think C&G of Escondido Ca. repro them. Actually if you check their online catalogue they stock a lot of woodie related stuff. Good people to deal with. Check it out! I see you are still leaning toward an upper and lower tailgate. Actually the access to the rear area of a woodie is awkward thru the upper/lower tailgate configuration, ask the man who owns one! Reconsider making a hatch. Millions of minivans later it's the way to go but don't let me tell you what to do it's your baby... Bill

[GB SISSON]

Bill, I DO see the problem. The tailgate is really tall and when down it's a lot to reach across. Leaning towards mechanical and sheet metal work for a while so I will have time to work up some mock-ups and decide.

[Mtn Wudy]

GB, been following from the start and am in awe of your nerve and skills. I vote for double doors on the rear, (like your panel), after all it is a truck. Keep up the great work.

[willowbilly3]

Maybe you could come up with a 2 way tailgate like those 60s wagons. Did you decide on top material? How about using tyvek or typar and coating it with that stuff they sell on late night tv where they put a screen bottom in a boat

[GB SISSON]

I record all these ideas in my brain for when I get back to working on the truck's body. I should be excited that we now have 11 jobs at one stage or another in the wood shop. 2 are big cabinet jobs with contractors schedules involved, another job we have means two more trips to Seattle, rest are tables, desks and other furniture. Sheesh, how's a guy gonna sneak away to work on his own projects?

[Bill]

Glad you are busy at your day job even if it gets in the way of your passion! Found a couple of pics of barn doors on a '52 panel woodie makeover at Wavecrest a few years ago. The truck is gorgeous! To keep the pot stirred a one piece hatch will minimize the exhaust fumes that find their way into the cab when you are driving. Their is no cat converter or O-2 sensor to scrub the fumes and the typical tailgate allows lots of fumes in as the stock weatherstrips are marginal at best. I find any time I go for a daytrip I have a headache and bloodshot eyes by days end! Doesn't stop me from going though!! Now go back to work and watch yer fingers...Bill

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

Glad you are busy at your day job even if it gets in the way of your passion! Found a couple of pics of barn doors on a '52 panel woodie makeover at Wavecrest a few years ago. The truck is gorgeous! To keep the pot stirred a one piece hatch will minimize the exhaust fumes that find their way into the cab when you are driving. Their is no cat converter or O-2 sensor to scrub the fumes and the typical tailgate allows lots of fumes in as the stock weatherstrips are marginal at best. I find any time I go for a daytrip I have a headache and bloodshot eyes by days end! Doesn't stop me from going though!! Now go back to work and watch yer fingers...Bill

I have a few fumers myself. Very obnoxious. The finger injuries are part of the elusive charm of woodworking. This was a few years back, but it helped me to get to know the nurse who became my wife. Sorry if you're eating breakfast....

[RalphM]

Ouch!

[GB SISSON]

Well it's been a while. Today marks the beginning of high school baseball practice. My employee of 16 years is a coach and he leaves work at 2 in the spring time. After he's gone, I do a few things around the shop and gravity seems to take me down the hill to the 'lower shop' where the woodie is. In celebration I cleaned out the floor, which was a total mess, and built a temporary shelf to set stuff on so I can work towards door sills and flooring for the rear cargo and back seat area. Since my business centers around the use of salvaged and reclaimed lumber I have saved out a quantity of 1x4 douglas fir t&g flooring from an old school to use as the rear floor. I grabbed a couple of short pieces to see how it joined up to the rear tail pan (tail plank)...To plane it clean it will be about 5/8" thick. On the outside edge of the flooring, scribed around the fenders will be a 7/8" thick border piece down each side. This will be routed out underneath to cover the 3/8" steel angle brackets at the posts. After that I will construct thin plywood panels inside the body's sides which hide the screws and irregularities holding the panels in the woodie's framework. Stay tuned for tomorrow's after 2:00 report. The plan is to finish up the body sans doors and lift it off the chassis, install running gear and drivetrain, set it back on and shim permanently, then build and fit the wood doors and tailgate assemblies.

[Bill]

Tailgate assemblies.. you meant assembly right....LOLOL Bill

[GB SISSON]

Bill, I know, I know... you feel a one piece lift gate with gas shocks might seal better, and there's a good chance it would. To me the only reason a person owns, builds, drives a woodie (or any antique vehicle for that matter) is the romance of the whole experience. Let's face it. Modern cars work much better and are more comfortable and require far less maintenance. The more we make our old vehicles 'better', more of the original feel is lost. I do feel that with modern rubber weatherstripping and seals I can get a tight seal at the gates. We build a lot of custom entry door sets and double french doors on waterfront homes. Very important they don't leak any driving rain and salt spray as the owners are usually in Arizona or Hawaii for the winter and the wood floors will be ruined. My vision of this truck is the tailgate down, rear windows up, our old aluminum cooler on the tailgate
and it's a pita to reach in and load and unload everything across what looks like will be a huge tailgate. I'm hoping to address the exhaust fume issue, but I know already that the tailgate will be pretty horrible to use, but I won't have to look at the black, mini-van sourced gas shocks when I'm gazing upon my creation. We all adjust for what is important to us. Juice brakes on a model A.... Holy crap I'm starting to sound like some of the rants I see on forums. Really Bill, you have been a big supporter and this thing will never be anything original, but I just gotta have an old fashioned tailgate.

[flatford8]

^^^^^ Well said^^^^^ Guys that I work with don't understand why I drive a 35 yr old truck everyday. I just smile and say" Driving it makes me smile". Mark

[GB SISSON]

I set the old cooler inside but haven't got a picture yet. Those that understand will understand.... But I ALSO understand Bill's headaches and light headeness from those awful flathead v8 exhaust fumes. When I drove the 38 tonner as my dd, cabinet shop delivery, every day vehicle, I once backed up to an 8000 sq ft waterfront home with 12 subcontractors trying to get their work done... Well my dual exhausts filled the house with the worst fumes ever and most of the crew went home with migranes.....

[Bill]

Well GB I didn't want you to think I was takin' over your build I was throwin' out the one piece t-gate for what it was worth! Like I said in a previous post it's your baby. You are right gas prop rods (you could woodgrain them) do take away from the oldtimey look. I'm still supporting your build and will still offer my opinion as it comes together.Look forward to every post.. Bill

[GB SISSON]

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I love you man...

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

I have a few fumers myself. Very obnoxious. The finger injuries are part of the elusive charm of woodworking. This was a few years back, but it helped me to get to know the nurse who became my wife. Sorry if you're eating breakfast....

GB out of every bad thing that happens comes the chance for something good and your "accident" certainly netted you a good prize. As a she's a nurse you now have her nearby should you by chance saw your hand off working on the woody (only joking). A mate of mine who's sixty and a builder told me some young "chippie" showed him his missing didget that he took off with a skill saw and proudly proclaimed that "he was a real builder now". He turned around and said to the youngster "No... real builders have all their body parts intact" .

The woody is looking fantastic. I 'm with you on keeping the tailgate 2 piece. With a hatch type door and gas struts it would only look like one of those "hot rod" wannabe woodies that are a bit of a rage....bluck!

Graeme

[flatford8]

Im not trying to offer suggestions but could you make two swinging doors like a panel?....Mark

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Im not trying to offer suggestions but could you make two swinging doors like a panel?....Mark

I have thought about that too. Some years back when I had a big family our dd was a '79 toyota landcruiser fj55 station wagon. These had a tall, heavy tailgate with electric back window. All those runs to costco for groceries in heavy cardboard boxes to lift across the gate got really old. It was replaced by an ex forest service suburban and when I went shopping for a burb, the barn door version was at the top of my list. Still....... I really think the panel type doors won't seal any better than a tailgate properly weather stripped. I'm still leaning towards the tailgate. Not sure if the pun was intended or not.

[41panelmark]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

I have a few fumers myself. Very obnoxious. The finger injuries are part of the elusive charm of woodworking. This was a few years back, but it helped me to get to know the nurse who became my wife. Sorry if you're eating breakfast....

Geeze that looks like no fun. As I told you before I lopped one off in October while showing a hit n miss. Luckily it was a clean chop and the surgeons were able to put it back together with no problems. Looks pretty good now.

[GB SISSON]

I have kept my fingers out of my 1912 stover 8 hp so far. A neighbor gave it to me in '88 with the head missing and every single part stuck. Funny they had overhead valves in 1912....

[GB SISSON]

Got a couple pictures of my cooler. Frikken Ay It needs a tailgate.

[38bill]

Yup, she needs a tail gate. With your skills I have no doubt that you can come up with one that will work great.

[GB SISSON]

With work getting busier all the time, I have not done too much on the woodie this week. Yesterday while working on the mainland I picked up a driveshaft and transmission yoke for the 3 speed trans that Stu is shipping to me. This was a timely 50.00 CL find. In today's mail I got NORS valves and guides for the engine from Bob Selzam in New Jersey. They were all wrapped in dark brown waxed paper and smelled like pine tar. This afternoon after work I jacked up the front of the woodie, placed jack stands under the axle, pulled the front wheels and prepared to remove the front clip. I have decided not to build and fit the doors until the engine and transmission are installed. I have found that door gaps etc can change when the frame settles. The other reason is after it runs, I can drive it in and out of the shop on sunny days this spring. My shop is unheated and poorly lit. Gloomy, you might say, particularly in the winter weather of Western Washington. I guess what I'm saying is work is progressing, but the wood body isn't going to change a lot for a while as I continue to work on the mechanical aspects. I bought a tube of black sikaflex polyurethane marine sealant to test on my goodyear rubber roof samples in an attempt to give it an old fashioned roof texture. Stay tuned.....

[GB SISSON]

The sun shone bright all day and I am almost caught up with the rush in my cabinet work so took a day off to work on the woodie. My engine work is stalled for a technical glitch so I decided to start mocking up doors. The rear doors are more simple so I started there. I have been using panel truck doors to set the curves and angles because they match the truck's roof line and I think it is the way to carry the belt line back aft for something that started as a truck. I learned a tremendous amount today in mocking up this door with scrap lumber. Good thing, as my supply of expensive Eastern maple won't last forever. It is quite humbling to do a bunch of math and measuring only to have the first attempt not line up with the back half and the front hinge. I reverted to a straight board, hell with the math and got a nice fair line down the length of the body. Now to copy this in hard maple and get the front doors to follow suit. All the doors I build will be a bit oversized so I can do a final fitting when the engine and transmission are buttoned up. It's a pretty gol dang fun project I gotta say.....

[mhsprecher]

GB, if your shop does not have enough light, try using LEDs. Costco had florescent fixture-sized LEDs for a good price. A lot more light from the same number of fixtures. A little harsh, but I got used to it.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

GB, if your shop does not have enough light, try using LEDs. Costco had florescent fixture-sized LEDs for a good price. A lot more light from the same number of fixtures. A little harsh, but I got used to it.

You mean like flourescent tubes that roll into my ceiling fixtures but they are LEDs? That sounds like exactly what I need! And maybe stronger reading glasses. Thanks for that info!

[Fordors]

I know they do market fluorescent replacement LED 4 foot tubes but reports I've read say some have good luck with them and some don't. Apparently it depends on the ballasts in your fixtures, some are hard on them and fry them quickly. The fixtures mhs mentioned are plug-in but I would think they could be hard wired if desired. A question for mhsprecher-how did you hook them up?

[mhsprecher]

You can buy replacement bulbs or the whole fixture. I bought the fixtures from Costco and they were about the same as just buying the bulbs.

[AKCJ]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

This is gonna seem odd, but I have never really even looked at a ford woodie before I started (or since). I have been dreaming of going to the Lemay antique car museum in Tacoma Wa. and am hoping they have one there. With the ferry and travel time it would be a 2 day trip. .

Just google Lemay car collection woodie - you will probably like what you see. We were lucky enough to visit there two years ago when we were down south. Well worth the time and price of admission. Good luck.

[CarlG]

Quote:
Originally Posted by GB SISSON
This is gonna seem odd, but I have never really even looked at a ford woodie before I started (or since). I have been dreaming of going to the Lemay antique car museum in Tacoma Wa. and am hoping they have one there. With the ferry and travel time it would be a 2 day trip. .

Originally Posted by AKCJ

Just google Lemay car collection woodie - you will probably like what you see. We were lucky enough to visit there two years ago when we were down south. Well worth the time and price of admission. Good luck.

When you do go to the LeMay Museum, make sure to see not only the one in downtown Tacoma, but also the one in Parkland at Marymount. It's not as fancy, but has a lot more of Harold's cars.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by CarlG

Quote:
Originally Posted by GB SISSON
This is gonna seem odd, but I have never really even looked at a ford woodie before I started (or since). I have been dreaming of going to the Lemay antique car museum in Tacoma Wa. and am hoping they have one there. With the ferry and travel time it would be a 2 day trip. .




When you do go to the LeMay Museum, make sure to see not only the one in downtown Tacoma, but also the one in Parkland at Marymount. It's not as fancy, but has a lot more of Harold's cars.

Awesome! Now it's a 3 day trip. There's a big weekend coming up where my ex is throwing a bridal shower for our daughter. There will be hens from all over converging on the island. Maybe my youngest son and I can hit the Lemay for that weekend.

[FireEngineMike]

Sam's has a choice of two 4' LED fixtures for around $35 each. The replacement LED tubes I saw on-line cost more than that for 2 "bulbs" and as Fordors said, there are some ballast issues. I bought 6 for my new garage, but it is not finished so they are still in the cartons. The one I am trying in my shop gives good light.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by FireEngineMike

Sam's has a choice of two 4' LED fixtures for around $35 each. The replacement LED tubes I saw on-line cost more than that for 2 "bulbs" and as Fordors said, there are some ballast issues. I bought 6 for my new garage, but it is not finished so they are still in the cartons. The one I am trying in my shop gives good light.

How about the part where the shop is unheated. I know that has a lot to do with the performance and choice of the flourescent fixtures. Are LEDs dependant on heat?

[mhsprecher]

My garage is unheated and the LEDs do fine there. Mine were around $35 each fixture at Costco.

[docrock]

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Awesome build. what size are the vertical styles on the door? How are you putting the doors and quarters together? Biscuits or Lap joints or Mortise? When build the actual doors will you make tracks for the glass?
Thanks for all the great pics

[RalphM]

Looking good GB!

[mercman from oz]

Looking wood, I mean looking good. Can't wait until we see the finished product.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by docrock

Awesome build. what size are the vertical styles on the door? How are you putting the doors and quarters together? Biscuits or Lap joints or Mortise? When build the actual doors will you make tracks for the glass?
Thanks for all the great pics

The rear quarters are mortise and tenon, but drawn together with star drive construction lags which stay in. The door stiles are constructed at 2 1/4" but lose some from fitting. I started mocking up the front doors from scrap lumber yesterday, but my pattern got really complex. The cowl's A pillar has quite a curved profile but the B pillar is straight and flat, just like a '40 ford wagon woodie. The transition from one to the other is certainly do-able and I see it time after time in all kinds of woodie pictures on the net. The tough part is getting a straight line which is paralell for flat glass that will bisect the front and rear door stiles at different angles, all the while leaving room inside this wood door to accomodate the channels , cranks , gears and whatever else resides in a door while maintaining a thickness that works for the cabin's interior. As fate would have it I received a roster from the national woodie club (which I joined one late night) in Saturday's mail and I found a member on a neighboring island who has 4 ford woodies and some that are apart. He and I will meet soon and look at door construction in great detail! In the meantime I have been working on the sheet metal for the front clip and that is pretty fun and exciting too!

[jerseyboy]

GB,
Welcome to the Woodie Club! I was on a woodie thread on the HAMB, and we were discussing the very same front transition. Here is a pic of a custom A with the transition from cowl to B pillar.

Looks like they kept everything straight except the front door frame and the inner panel.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[Jungle Jalopy]

Looks bitchin', GB!

[GB SISSON]

Every time I vow to put this thing on the back burner because work in the cabinet shop has gotten so busy and my own kitchen is all torn up and the lawn needs mowing already and I have company coming for the weekend and a hundred other reasons, I sneak out there and grab a few tools and go at it. So I have still been mocking up doors with scrap lumber and plywood. It's that darn transition from voluptious front cowl to the slab sided '40 ford woodie type body that is getting to me. I was able to make most of the transition by shaping the 2 x 5 1/2" bottom door rail as a twist and all the while keeping the line of the inset panel straight and in line with the rear stile of the door. Somewhere along the line when it stopped raining, I painted the hood that I sanded on Saturday. It's a three ring circus of 8ba outdoor rebuild, tin work and wood work. Oh, and then there's the real work during the weekdays that pays for all this madness, so I guess it's four rings....... I actually milled some of the parts for the actual doors in hard maple when I was set up to make the rear quarters, so I am pretty anxious to see what the real doors will look like. My big ol' lawn is about 8" high......

[Lawson Cox]

Looking great. It will be an eye catcher for sure. Congratulations on your wood working abilities.

[jerseyboy]

GB,

Looks great! What is the green are you using?

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[RalphM]

Getting better looking with each addition! Love it!

[ebruns1]

Gary,

That's coming along great! I wanted to thank you for all the help answering my 1-ton Express tire and rim questions. Here's a photo of my favorite truck-based woody. I may follow your lead and do this on my 1946 tonner chassis, although it might be easier to do a full chassis swap with an old F-100! I'm not sure of the condition of my v8 flatty so maybe that will determine which way I'll go with it. Hopefully the attachment comes through...

Jim T

[GB SISSON]

I have seen pictures of that cornbinder. It is really beautiful and a great example of a truck based woodie. I almost went with a tonner as I have a few around here, but I was thinking more in terms of some weekend outings with my wife, and while she doesn't have a problem with my truck collecting she doesn't seem to enjoy trips in the tonner panel. It's quite noisy inside with the square cut gears and extremely truck like in all regards. This will be my first half ton in 44 years of owning many vintage ford trucks.... My 3 speed light duty transmission arrived at Fastenal and I picked it up on Tuesday. It seems to be in excellent shape and rolls through the gears smoothly. I also dug up some old door latches I had bought a while back at second hand store. I knew they would be perfect for this project. Maybe not the easiest to reach and unlatch from the inside of the vehicle, but the woodie parts specialty houses get 450.00 per latch for an original. These are new old stock and made in Chicago and they fit the 3/8 shaft for the ford handle. I have completed the door mock-ups and now I'm itchy to bust out the last of my 3x8 maple and get a start on the actual doors, but we are extremely busy in the shop. At least I have a rather complete 'Hollywood Set' side view to look down at from the cabinet shop. Thank you for all the nice comments I have received.

[truckdog62563]

Anything is possible if you want to bad enough. Here are the before and after pictures of that magnificent IHC R140. Stu

[willowbilly3]

Not to sidetrack the thread but wasn't that binder a one-off they built to squire around IH execs or something. Seems like I read about it in Hemmings a few years back.

[truckdog62563]

Iirc there were two or three built for a safari or some such. This one was rebuilt based on measurements of one other. The pics I posted were from the original eBay for sale posting of it as found many years ago. I had to dig out an old thumb drive to retrieve the pics. Stu

[mhsprecher]

GB,

There is an article on a 48 Dodge truck-based woodie in the latest issue of Vintage Truck magazine (vintagetruckmagazine.com). A nice magazine, if you are not already aware of it. The Dodge is located in Spokane, which is good and bad news for you in that it is in the same state, but about as far away as you can get and still be in Washington. Just thought I would pass that along.

[GB SISSON]

Well it's 5am and I'm on my second cup of coffee. Seems the building trades recession is nearing an end here in the islands. We are working on a couple of mega homes at the same time and bracing for a two home family compound on one of the outer islands without ferry service. These large waterfront cabinet projects are often done in conjunction with huge Seattle based general contractors and architects and they take a lot out of me and my two or three man shop. I am the only one of the subcontractors that actually uses tools all day long and is a totally 'hands on' shop worker. Of course the deadlines are nearly impossible to maintain and all the huge amounts of paperwork fall upon me in the evenings after we're done for the day in the shop. In my typical long winded fashion I have just explained why progress on the wood wagon has come to a crawl. Well that and the fact that I have 4 grown kids that like to bring their families up to the old place they grew up on the weekends. Grandma and Grandpa DO enjoy that as many of you can attest. Now a huge wedding looms this summer with 200 out of town guests..... Since I can't sleep I figure I can get a couple hours in this morning before my guys show up at seven. My plan is to sort out the maple and do some proper layout on the doors now that I have all the angles worked out. Last Sunday afternoon after the kids headed for the ferry I got a few good hours in on sheet metal work. This was mostly tapping out dents, welding up cracks, dragging better pieces out of a storage shed and scrounging up good hood trim, but it felt great seeing some progress. For now I am priming with rustoleum red primer and using two colors of green in krylon rattle cans. Both are satin finish. One is 'camp green' and the other is 'Italian Olive'. My local Island Hardware doesn't stock them so I always pick some up when I'm 'over town'. When I run out of one I switch to the other. They are very similar. This may or may not be the final finish, but it looks presentable for now. Here's a couple pictures from Sunday. Oh great, now it's 5:30, gotta run.

[wga]

GB - what's the story on the BSA?

[Bill]

In an earlier post on this thread I mentioned to get ready to cash in yours and the wife's 401K. Yer provin there's more than one way to skin a cat!! Hang in there GB... Bill SNOW here today

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by wga

GB - what's the story on the BSA?

I snuck in a ride since the sun was out in Western Washington. I had a couple of 441 Victore back in the late 60, early 70s. Got divorced in '99 and that was the first thing I went shopping for. I keep it in tune and it usually starts on the first kick. There IS a technique. Getting back to bikes after 30 some odd years is a bit daunting, but not really any traffic in the islands. Just Tons of deer....

[GB SISSON]

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Originally Posted by Bill

In an earlier post on this thread I mentioned to get ready to cash in yours and the wife's 401K. Yer provin there's more than one way to skin a cat!! Hang in there GB... Bill SNOW here today

Lots of folks here have been very generous with extra parts, even including shipping. Really quite amazing what has been offered to me. I also never throw anything away so I have been able to keep the cash outflow to a minimum using old parts in good condition. Luckily I have two crack free blocks to overhaul out in front of the woodie on sunny days off. So far the biggest expense has been the 3" maple, but I bought it along with a bunch of other cabinet lumber and I never looked at the invoice. When my monthly bill came from my lumber supplier I just wrote them a check like I do every month. I guess I just didn't want or need to know what part of the check was my maple.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

What model BSA GB? I've always had a thing for the A65 Lightning since I saw one back in the early 70's when in high school. A 500 Goldie single is cool and you can't beat the sound of a rocket 3 with the ray gun mufflers..

the truck is coming on cool as well. I hope you are going to paint the jail bars and hood side trim. I like them better than the chrome jobs you see some people do.

Graeme

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Graeme / New Zealand

What model BSA GB? I've always had a thing for the A65 Lightning since I saw one back in the early 70's when in high school. A 500 Goldie single is cool and you can't beat the sound of a rocket 3 with the ray gun mufflers..

the truck is coming on cool as well. I hope you are going to paint the jail bars and hood side trim. I like them better than the chrome jobs you see some people do.

Graeme

If you click on the picture above on the upper right, I had just installed the hood spear on that side. They were both in rough shape but solid. 80 grit sandpaper, rustoleum rusty metal primer then topcoated with my recipe for 'sun bleached flat tacoma cream'. Rustoleum flat white enamel and 'new caterpillar yellow' from a napa rattle can. Mix up in a tuna can and apply with a soft bristle brush. I have a great collection of grill bars saved for this project. Most have never been hit so they are for the woodie wagon. When you collect jailbar trucks you find out how awesome it is to find straight bars. When they are kinked I have taught myself to saw across the kink with an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel, bend the front surface into a fair curve, vice grip a stiff bar of copper to the inside leg and weld up the saw kerf. The metal is too stretched to just bend back to straight. Yes, all the trim will be tacoma cream. Some of you have seen the video a Hollywood cinematographer made for me about my tonner panel. It has some footage about this tacoma cream thing. He has a summer home on the island and I built new cabinets for him. He wanted to do a video in thanks so he did. It isn't on youtube, but something called 'vimeo'. He named it 'truck detail string out'. It's about 5 minutes and I gotta say he did a nice job....

[wga]

https://vimeo.com/135415843

[Bill]

That was a very well produced video. To the point, great background.. wish I was riding shotgun. The stars didn't even have to cleanup for their parts! Ten outa ten...Bill

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

That was a very well produced video. To the point, great background.. wish I was riding shotgun. The stars didn't even have to cleanup for their parts! Ten outa ten...Bill

Another big thank you to the folks that appreciate a build on a shoestring. I just can't get enough of this stuff. Any Barner that ventures to Washington's San Juan Islands would be welcome to tour the island in one of my jalopies. All my ford friends live on the internet. The old car guys I know locally are into 'old' volvos or studebakers or dodges. Some of them even prefer old chevys. Gasp.

['36 5W]

Great video! Love your theme. Your old Fords are right at home on the islands;
like a step back in time.
Gotta love No Budget Builds; one step below Low Budget. We have to take a
similar approach for some of our Cobble Cars we piece together at the museum
where I volunteer. Make it work with generic parts (most people would not know
the difference).

At least yours are All Ford.....

[vilanar]

Nice ! Thanks for sharing . Looks like a beautiful island.

[jerseyboy]

GB,
Great video! Thanks! Woodie is coming along wonderfully.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Well in the next few days I can post some pictures of my doors. I woke up at about 4 am and after a weekend with my wife's relatives on the mainland I was ready to get to work on the woodie but had a full day of work waiting. By 7 am I had a jig built for laminating the front door stiles. I traced the pattern off a panel truck door and bandsawed a stack of 2x8's into the shape. I sort of built in a finger joint about 1 1/4" long that took care of itself in the laminating process. When I get some pictures you will know what I'm getting at. In the meantime I dug up some excellent NOS door latches at an ancient hardware store while I was over on the mainland. They have a thumb latch to open from the inside and a 3/8" square that accepts the ford door handle on the exterior. The striker is the exact same size and shape as a ford pickup striker. I bought all the ones they had just in case I end up building another. I also ran across a '36 cowl that I fell in love with. Next woodie?

[RalphM]

Next Woodie? If it's anywhere near this one, hell ya! You did bring it home with you?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by RalphM

Next Woodie? If it's anywhere near this one, hell ya! You did bring it home with you?

Sometimes we only have one chance to approach the owner with some kind of offer. It's yard art at a business, but hidden in the trees. Gotta think of a really good reason why I should have it, and what I could give him to put in it's place......

[docrock]

Great video. Makes me want to live there. Keep up the great work

[GB SISSON]

It has been a great place to raise 4 kids. Like a lot of rural areas, all of them have moved to the mainland where they have 'real' jobs. It is indeed a very beautiful place and like I stated in the video, the top speed limit of 40 mph (35 on most roads) makes it a great place to use and enjoy older vehicles. At the speed limit it takes almost an hour to go from one end to the other. No stop lights, but we have a movie theater and a supermarket and a napa store. We also have summerfolk who need cabinets and furniture in their vacation homes. In the fall, I will have been here 40 years. I guess it will be the weekend before I get pictures of my door parts.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Goodyear makes roofing rubber. I delivered urethane insulation for 20 yrs. it was used commercial buildings, mostly flat roofs. The rubber goes over it. I think it lasts 50 yrs right out in the sun. If you want to try it I have some pieces I think are big enough for your roof. Shipping is on me. If I ever get to Washington..... Take me for a ride.... MARK

Mark, this was so incredibly generous of you! Well this morning I have spent about an hour researching a coating for an epdm roof. 99% of what's available is white. I had intended to apply sikaflex black marine sealant onto Mark's samples but I have read that most chemicals don't bond properly or else they react negatively with the rubber. There are coatings out there made for painting an epdm rubber roof, and from this research even 'flex seal' from the late night tv ads claims to be compatible for epdm and is available in a brushing liquid in black. The reason I would coat it would be to put a 'grain' texture to the surface as opposed to the smooth look of an inner tube. It seems the rubber roof would conform well onto the roof's compound curves. I think I will order a quart and if it doesn't work out I can always build a redneck rowboat out of old window screens and flex seal.....

[GB SISSON]

I got the front door stiles laminated up and today I got a few hours to rough out the driver's door side. There are seven laminations of 3/8" maple and there will be one more on the outer surface. This outer layer will extend about 1/2" forward of the post, creating the forward lip which fits into the cowl's rabbet. Using this method allows me to bandsaw the inner door's contours to fit the door opening, then fit the last outer layer that shows. The 'built in place' finger joints created by offsetting my material should be really strong while maintaining a fair curve to match the vertical lines of the pickup cowl. This is a very labor intensive project.

[flatford8]

Hey GB....... Great video!!!.... Very professional.... Nice place you have there.... Nobody could do a video like that about my projects... Because my face only looks good on radio!!!!... Let me know if you want the rubber and what size, so I dont bother shipping something thats to small....I work alot of hours and am busy with my own projects, so it might take me a little while to find suitable packaging and get it shipped way "over there"... The truck looks great!!!!..... Mark

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Hey GB....... Great video!!!.... Very professional.... Nice place you have there.... Nobody could do a video like that about my projects... Because my face only looks good on radio!!!!... Let me know if you want the rubber and what size, so I dont bother shipping something thats to small....I work alot of hours and am busy with my own projects, so it might take me a little while to find suitable packaging and get it shipped way "over there"... The truck looks great!!!!..... Mark

I had been working for the guy and he's a cinematographer in Hollywood. My last kid had just moved away and he was the one who had always done a cellphone video of my 'first drives' for youtube. Their place is nearby and Geoff seemed like he needed a project so I asked if he'd come by after work and film the panel truck. Well 3 trips later with a high definition movie camera he comes up with this. I will get some good measurements today and heck, you could at least let me pay the shipping!

[GB SISSON]

I keep going back and forth between the wood body, the engine and the sheet metal depending on my mood...... After work today I pulled out my best grill bars and the front bumper I bought off CL a year ago anticipating the woodie project. Just cleaning up and sorting, not installing anything for good. Maybe I'll drag out the front fenders next week and start welding up the cracks......

[docrock]

Outstanding workmanship on these doors, and great pics. Thank you

[tiger.1000]

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Graeme,

Here's my Goldie....once a year in the summer we have a "Goldie evening".....see who can actually start it and determine who's first to recover from either bruised shins or severe arm-ache after a belt up the country lanes.

[GB SISSON]

Been working on the rear doors and riding the BSA a bit too. I finally built the rear doors. Not the tailgate but the rear doors for passengers. I had bought some real heavy duty 2 1/2" hinges to hang them on but for the life of me I can't find them anywhere..... The photos show the very first fit into the opening and it isn't too bad. Some needs to be relieved so they will sit plumb. I have yet to determine how the windows will operate, but I have a lot of router bits and a welder to alter them if needed to get clearance. Tomorrow we will be on the mainland starting a much needed 4 day weekend. First stop is a guy I found in Oak Harbor who has 3 ford woodies and is willing to show me the doors and lots of other parts so I can get some dimensions and photos before I build the front doors. The front doors have been keeping me up at night, but really it's the regular work jobs that stress me and the woodie project keeps me sane. Or relatively so...... The mahogany looking panels you see are marine plywood I get from my supplier for 70 bucks and it's 9 ply 3/8". I see woodies that have mahogany panels and others with birch or ash or whatever. I tend to like the blonde wood for panels. Any advice on what would have been customary for the era? I have a vacuum press for veneers and access to any species so open to ideas.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by tiger.1000

Graeme,

Here's my Goldie....once a year in the summer we have a "Goldie evening".....see who can actually start it and determine who's first to recover from either bruised shins or severe arm-ache after a belt up the country lanes.

Absolutely beautiful the ultimate 500 " one lunger" in my opinion, a real Isle of Man bike, you have to love the rake of that pipe. Thanks for posting the pic.

Hey GB haven't looked at this thread for a while, the woodwork is a masterpiece, the blond panels look fantastic.

Graeme

[Bill]

Well I gotta stick my nose in it ..again. You're a mile away from wood varnish but when the time comes I'm suggesting you go with the dark panel inserts and for varnish make sure it has an amber tint not clear. This will make it look like it was refinished years ago which should be the effect you are looking for. Go with a spar varnish not the plastic looking urethanes. You can thank me later..you'll see!

[GB SISSON]

I'm a huge fan of old fashioned spar varnish. The more amber the better. I totally get what you are saying. Still on the fence about mahogany or lighter wood for the panels. Well, I gotta run to catch the ferry. Thanks.

[wga]

GB - wow, incredible work. Something about working with spar varnish that brings out the inherent beauty of the wood. For the doors, Ford had the dark mahogany inserts,
and when varnished, the contrast is awesome - as with Bill's. Either way, you have will have a stunning car.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by Bill

Well I gotta stick my nose in it ..again. You're a mile away from wood varnish but when the time comes I'm suggesting you go with the dark panel inserts and for varnish make sure it has an amber tint not clear. This will make it look like it was refinished years ago which should be the effect you are looking for. Go with a spar varnish not the plastic looking urethanes. You can thank me later..you'll see!

Bill what are those wheels you are using...interesting, are they merc caps? Very subtle, lovely woody.

Graeme

[docrock]

20160325_185936.jpg This is my Woodie and I am a big fan of dark panels. I use Mahogany with gunstock stain. This car is built out of Birch and I stained it with Golden Pecan and 15 coats of Epifanes. Keep up the great work and the pics.

[GB SISSON]

Finally got some time to fit those rear doors to the posts prior to hinging and latches. I have a new camera because the old one is trashed with too much dust and grit. For the most part the woodie project has taken a back burner to my busiest summer ever. Perhaps my biggest pet peeve with the car hobby is people who start something and never finish it, sell it for peanuts as a basket case with boxes of unopened expensive parts. I have been rebuilding old ford trucks since 1973 and have driven every single one and next spring I will be driving this woodie. In some ways it's almost a curse. My dad once asked me if I remembered how as a kid I would get a model car kit and I would not quit until it was done. Sometimes that meant 3 am and sleeping at my desk the next day at school. Like there's something wrong with that.... I need to learn to be more like my supervisor (pictured) and sit down and relax and enjoy the project, but I'm just not used to such a complex endeavor as this woodie. I guess this one's a two year project.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Here's a 37 Woody that SWOOP who posts on this site made from a sedan that has been "trucked" I'll let him tell the story.......... "I started to build this from a 37 sedan that had been trucked.
Got the wood templates from Ken Terrio.
Had the doors ,rear 1/4's and tailgate made by an old woodworking craftsman.
Stained and varnished them myself, and then sold the car to a buddy.
Doesn't look too bad for a copy though".

Just thought this may be of interest to all woody fans.

Graeme

[GB SISSON]

That's a great job he did. I guess 'trucked' means the sedan had been converted to a truck or ute. Any before picture?

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

That's a great job he did. I guess 'trucked' means the sedan had been converted to a truck or ute. Any before picture?

Swoop will see this and if he's got a pic he can send me I can post it. Yes "trucked" is exactly that. It was common practice here in NZ to cut the rears off old sedans and turn them into trucks/ utes, especially by "cockies" (farmers).

Graeme

[jerseyboy]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

I guess this one's a two year project.

GB, You are way ahead of me, and I started in 2006! Now I just have to finish reconditioning all the parts, and assemble.
You are getting this done quickly!

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Somewhere along the last month I found the missing hinges and hung the rear doors. The hinges were for weld on so I had to drill and countersink them. I'd like to have all the doors and rear gates installed this fall if possible. That will make one year. I sort of look forward to the mechanical work like engine/trans and brakes as it is so much different than my ordinary work day. Today I found some early photos of the project that were miss labled in another section so thought I'd post one from the early days along with my door hinge pics. With the busy summer we are having at work, four kids and five grandkids, big wedding in August, I guess the front doors have to wait. We'll have tons of new relatives from Northern California who we have never met and have never been to the island, so we have to clean up the place a bit. Here's something anyhow.

[RalphM]

Boy that sure is coming along! I like the logo on the front door too!

[flatford8]

GB... Thats looking real good.... Sorry I couldn't come through with the rubber roofing..... Just so followers of this thread understand, I had promised some rubber roofing for the top of his Woody but the pieces I had were to small and the one that was big enough had some holes right in the middle. Again, sorry it didn't work out..... Mark

[GB SISSON]

Mark, it's the fact you were willing to pass it along that counts. It is amazing to me how FTE and Fordbarners have ralleyed to send me parts they weren't using for their projects. I got an email today from a friend who retired from woodworking and offered me some beautiful veneers he had squirreled away. Last week a client who we built cabinets for decided he'd never use the new bandsaw he'd bought and asked if I wanted it. It's like a reverse tornado on Mt. Pickett.... Good stuff just lands here. My 4 kids all live in Seattle and love to come up for July 4th weekend and the parade, so for father's day I got to spend the day cleaning and organizing the shops and then rolling out the woodie for it's first light of day. I had never been able to step back and look at it since I started it. I did some fairing of the roof structure and corners because the natural shadows showed where there were flat spots and bumps. Was a great afternoon to have a couple beers and just sit for a while, feeling like I had made good progress on a lifelong dream. Thanks for all of your continued support. It means a lot to me to have so many friends sharing the build with me.

[Snouts out]

A thing of beauty is a joy forever! Mark & GB don't worry about the rubber roofing,if you know roofers,they'll give you what you need.Remember to use MP1 to hold it down,it's the best thing since sliced bread!

[1952henry]

Nice job thus far!

[jerseyboy]

GB,

Your wagon looks terrific! It looks like it rolled off the Iron Mountain Line!

I don't know how soon you need the rubber, but my dad has some laying around.
I'll check how much. How thick and wide does the roll need to be?

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[docrock]

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Is it finished? It looks great so far.

[GB SISSON]

Well I had to pretty much take the summer off. We are still feeling the effects of the recession in the building trades and we got a couple of really nice cabinet jobs and decided we better take on both of them. That, and my daughter got married here two weeks ago and the place needed a lot of work. Now I'm working on the front doors. I am assembling the driver's door on the car. It can't be built flat on the bench because it has a complex shape and there are no plans, patterns or an old door to copy. I have most of the pieces made for both front doors and I figure it will take a week of 'after work' time to complete each one. Nothing real photo-worthy yet, but by the weekend there should be. Thanks for checking in. It feels good to be back at it.

[cmbrucew]

Noticed you were not posting often. Good to hear all is well.
Bruce

[flatford8]

Originally Posted by cmbrucew

Noticed you were not posting often. Good to hear all is well.
Bruce

I too noticed we hadn't heard from you in awhile but, I remembered last spring you said you were going to be busy. Can't wait till we can all go for a ride.... Mark

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

I too noticed we hadn't heard from you in awhile but, I remembered last spring you said you were going to be busy. Can't wait till we can all go for a ride.... Mark

I'll pick you up on my way through Maine. Back in the mid 70s I worked at the HR Hinckley Co in Southwest Harbor for a couple of years. Is Lyman where the Lyman motor boats came from?

[flatford8]

We're about 10miles inland from Kennebunkport. Ive been here since '64 and I never knew of anybody building boats. It used to be a little one horse town but...... that horse died along time ago. LOL.... Keep us all updated.... This has been one of the best threads going.... Mark

[GB SISSON]

Well, I said I was starting on the front doors. I don't really see roll up windows, maybe sliders like on the old mini coopers. I will see how thick they end up with inside panels and what I can scrounge for mechanisms. I used hinges from rotted out pickup doors and drilled and countersunk for wood screws. The pins were worn so I redrilled to 9/64" and used a shank from a craftsman #2 phillips screwdriver for my new pins. Welded heavy washers on for a head. Next I mortised the hinges into my laminated door stiles and made the front stile open and close. I pretty much built the door in the opening because of the weird shape. I have now added the final lamination of 3/8" maple onto the door's forward and top faces, leaving about 5/8" overhang to fit into the pickup cowl's recess. Next I will have to rout in the dado for the panels and to spline in the belt line with a 'T' cutter wheel in the router. After this much work I know I'll have to have a touch of 'the recipe' to steady my hands and my nerves this afternoon. There is no going back with that slot cutter. I could have (maybe should have) routed much of this first but I never know how I'm doing anything until I get there. When this latest lamination dries I will re-hang in the opening and see how I did. Stay tuned.

[GB SISSON]

Photos of door hung in frame. The floating tenons for joinery will allow me good alignment of the belt line and other horizontal rails.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,

Your wagon looks terrific! It looks like it rolled off the Iron Mountain Line!

I don't know how soon you need the rubber, but my dad has some laying around.
I'll check how much. How thick and wide does the roll need to be?

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

The distance side to side is 63 1/2". I figure I need something to hold onto below that, so maybe 66" x 10'. I am also looking into long grain vinyl top material. Lebarron Bonney's is 63" wide and I cant see this working. I am going to call some places today. Looks like a Model T place has it in 64" wide. I plan to hold it down on the edges with a J metal drip rail like used on RVs. I will paint the aluminum rail a dull black and attach it with screws. It will take over the line of the factory drip rail where I cut the cab off. Anyone have a suggestion on finding the long grain in a 66" width? I have checked on Google. And Jerseyboy, thanks for the offer. I am keeping my options open and look forward to hearing back on what you might have. Thanks

[mhsprecher]

Lyman boats were made in the Great Lakes. The company that built them was founded by the Lyman brothers.

[cmbrucew]

Gary
Have you considered Rhino Liner. I will say it is a very good product. They use a making tape with a wire embedded to make a straight edge.
Bruce

[GB SISSON]

But my roof is slatted. About 1/4" between slats. I could see using canvas like an old boat deck and rhino that. Can't help but think the compound corners in the rear would be really difficult. I saw a couple of woodies up close lately and really like the linear grain of the long grain vinyl. I feel I could grain some rubber roof material with a stiff brush, but what if....? The vinyl would be a sure thing. Narrowest I have found is 54" wide and I'd need 20' with a center seam. 525.00 plus shipping

[GB SISSON]

Well I got the door roughed in tonight after work. Panels are in temporary and the header over the left rear side window is lined up. I have noticed how the door gaps change when I pull the truck outside on uneven ground. Even when my slow leaker right rear tire loses air things change. I will leave them alone until I get the engine/tranny installed because that may affect door gaps as well. Struck out today trying to find 66" wide roof material on the phone. Nothing is easy on this....

[jerseyboy]

GB, It looks sooo nice! I will not be able to check what my dad has until mid September. Hope you can wait or you find something better in the meantime. I'll let you know as soon as I can.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[Bill]

So, I tapped my sources at Lebarron Bonney they tell me that long grain vinyl is made in 66" width only it's on back order with no delivery date in sight. I reached out to Leanardo in Ca. who told me that he can provide and ship 64'' material. He went on to say that the 64'' long grain material will stretch if it is warmed up. Also remember that you will gain a wee bit as your drip rail will cover about 3/4 '' on each side. I will PM you his # if you want to speak to him directly. He does high end interiors but don't let that intimidate you.
The secret to the install is to lay your material out in the bright sun and let it get hot. I mean really HOT. Then start from the back and with at least 2/4 helpers start pulling as tight as possible. Fit one corner and tack with copper nails up half an inch from the edge.Space them out about 4" and work up the side about a foot. Then pull tight and do the other corner. At this point the material should be tight across the rear header. The hardest part is now done. Keep pulling hard and toward the front and watch to see that no ripples/folds develop. Tack as you go every 4" or so. Keep your help pulling for all they're worth and the top will be tight as a drum. 30 years later mine is still great. Good luck. Bill

[GB SISSON]

Thank you both. Not sure how many days we have left to hope for really hot weather here in the Northwest. In some ways it wouldn't matter if I didn't do the roof until next summer. I certainly don't plan on leaving it outside in the weather. Bill, can you tell me what goes on before the vinyl? I feel as a commercial type vehicle it wouldn't need padding for a plush look, just what's needed to wear well on the slats and maybe if the long grain vinyl is white on the underside I would rather see brown or black muslin or burlap whatever. The very next task at hand is the passenger side front door. And Bill I just saw your pm with Leonardos phone # Thanks!

[Bill]

I used white flannel as an underlay material and I taped it in place. Flannel must come in a variety of colors take yer pick. Taped in place rather than stapled will avoid staple and or nails from showing thru tight roofing material. I would recommend that 2" wide red cello tape sold at building supply stores. Maybe by next year Lebaron will have access to the 66"wide material... Bill

[GB SISSON]

With summer winding down I got some time today to work on the passenger side front door. I decided to get a few pictures of this process. Once again I drilled out the hinge rivets in a rotten pickup truck door to use as woodie hinges. I had to weld up some of the holes I didn't need and drill and countersink the rest for #14 wood screws. I mortised them into my laminated maple front door stiles and re-drilled the hinges for oversized pins. The pins are made from an old screwdriver I got at a yard sale. I will be welding thick washers on for heads for these new pins. As on the driver's side I am assembling this door within it's opening because of the twisted shape as it mates into the cowl. The rear stile was milled to fit the door jamb and held with a temporary screw to hold it in place. Tomorrow after work I plan to rout the vertical grooves that hold the panels as well as the mahogany marine plywood splines that join the door parts together with the 3m 5200 marine adhesive/sealant and hardened star drive construction lags. With a spline as opposed to Henry's mortise and tenon, both horizontal and vertical members have a 3/8 x 3/4" deep groove and a 1 1/2" strip of marine plywood is inserted and glued in with the 5200. Strong and resilient joint, but tough to pull apart to repair.....It feels good to be back at it!

[RalphM]

Boy, that's going to be a beaut. when. Your done with it.

[jerseyboy]

GB I love your use of found objects! You make this look so easy.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

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Had some family stuff tonight but here's where I got to last night. Still working up the joinery while there's a straight edge here and there, tomorrow I will scribe the curves and cut them out on the bandsaw before assembling the door. The bottom rail will be shaped with power plane and belt sander to conform to the cowl's curves and one more lift of 3/8" maple will be applied to the front stile and overlapped slightly forward to create the rabbet in the door top and edge. Pretty much just as you saw for the driver's door, but thought I'd get detail shots this time.

[Bill]

Love the BUZZ in pic#4. Bet you can juggle four balls... Good luck Bill

[GB SISSON]

The perimeter of the door shaped and glued up with it's joinery in the opening. I used to think I might like to build a few of these in 'semi-retirement'. Trying to build this in my time off has been a stretch, particularly when I do woodwork all day long.

[GB SISSON]

Got that last door hung. It isn't completely done by a long shot, but it's as done as the other 3. Now I need to think about barn doors vs tailgate. That might wait til spring while I do some mechanical work on it for a change of pace.

[jerseyboy]

GB,

Beautiful! I vote barn doors! They will be unique and fit the look of the truck.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,

Beautiful! I vote barn doors! They will be unique and fit the look of the truck.

There are some woodie owners here that suggest barn doors may seal better than a tailgate/liftgate against the exhaust fumes that seem to suck into a wagon's tail end. Need more maple to do either and my supplier doesn't deliver to the island for another ten days or so. The barn doors are growing on me.

[flatford8]

If your taking votes...... make mine for Barn Doors.... it just seems more traditional for a truck than a tailgate and hatch. Your doing a great job and I cant wait till you take us all for a ride... Mark

[truckdog62563]

If it mattered (it doesn't), my view would be to have a traditional tailgate and hatch. Stu

[Newc]

Hi all; Brand X suburbans had both types and the barn doors did seal better and tighter. Newc

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Newc

Hi all; Brand X suburbans had both types and the barn doors did seal better and tighter. Newc

I have had a few burbs with the barn doors. Ok, I still have one. Easier loading on the costco runs to the mainland too. And yes, I'm taking votes but with all the poll hacking by the Russians, I can't be held to any strict guidelines. I was going to do a sketch and maybe I can scan it.

[KGS]

GB, Just another option. I've had barn doors; hatch lid with a tail gate and the one I have now, hatch back without a flop down tail gate. Hinged at the top. Swings high and makes a nice sun shade/umbrella. Allows you to reach way inside to retrieve the groceries and you don't bang your thighs on any sharp edge
Love the project and your craftsmanship!
Ken

[PeteVS]

For what it's worth, barn doors allow an easier reach into the cargo bay. Cargo doesn't have to be lifted past the tailgate going in or out.

[Bill]

No question a liftgate with woodgrained gas lift cylnders is the most functional but you know that ain't happenin'! Go with barn doors and give the windows some style.... Bill

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

No question a liftgate with woodgrained gas lift cylnders is the most functional but you know that ain't happenin'! Go with barn doors and give the windows some style.... Bill

Funny, in the last set of photos I had added a triangle of plywood with a radiused corner in the upper rear corner of the rear side window. I was gonna ask if I should do this in maple like the '47 ford woodies. I know the ford built corner is sawn in and mitered. Then all the while when I think about barn doors I wonder if the two windows should have radiused corners. Henry's wagon lift gate never did. I know the windows need to be big, as my tonner panel's back windows are way too small.

[GB SISSON]

Here's my sketch. It makes a lot of sense to me. What a small time local builder would opt for? Glass is cheap with square corners... Woodwork is basically the same as a house door, not a chris craft or a steinway. Windows look big. This is the first sketch I have done for any part of the woodie. The Seattle architects I work with always want 'shop drawings'. I have no drawing board, no cad program, or anything resembling that. One time I mailed the 'shop drawings' we use back to a Seattle firm. They were all on scraps of 1/4" plywood and wouldn't fit through the slot on my fax machine. It feels great to be getting old and not care what the yuppie architects think about how I operate...... Well I think I have to get the sketch out of a pdf?? Details at eleven... edit: If someone can make this sketch right side up and appear without a link, have at it, I give up.....

[truckdog62563]

[GB SISSON]

Thank you Stu. You are, as always, a gentleman and a scholar.

[38bill]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Funny, in the last set of photos I had added a triangle of plywood with a radiused corner in the upper rear corner of the rear side window. I was gonna ask if I should do this in maple like the '47 ford woodies. I know the ford built corner is sawn in and mitered. Then all the while when I think about barn doors I wonder if the two windows should have radiused corners. Henry's wagon lift gate never did. I know the windows need to be big, as my tonner panel's back windows are way too small.

I noticed the radius right away. I like it.

[GB SISSON]

Most of the details of this body were based on the 40-41 wagon, and that radius looks really good on that body. Mine would never have the same flowing line as on the ford built body because of the offset from the rear post. If I were to do that radius I may settle for the square cornered windows on the back. So much less work, and I have miles to go yet. edit: After posting these pics, I see they could also be used in the dark panel/blonde panel debate.....

[flatford8]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Most of the details of this body were based on the 40-41 wagon, and that radius looks really good on that body. Mine would never have the same flowing line as on the ford built body because of the offset from the rear post. If I were to do that radius I may settle for the square cornered windows on the back. So much less work, and I have miles to go yet. edit: After posting these pics, I see they could also be used in the dark panel/blonde panel debate.....

Blond or Brunette.... THAT debate has been going on for centuries....Then theres always "red" cedar.... LOL ...... Mark

[GB SISSON]

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Originally Posted by flatford8

Blond or Brunette.... THAT debate has been going on for centuries....Then theres always "red" cedar.... LOL ...... Mark

Or this debate......

[GB SISSON]

With 4 doors hung and no more maple for a while, I have once again turned my after work attention to the mechanical aspects. My first valve grinding with the proper equipment. About half cleaned up right away with just the 45 degree angle and a 3/32" seat, and the other half needed the 30 degree top cut. I'm using nors 8ba exhaust valves and guides. Just to check my work I am lapping them in very lightly. Hoping to use the new ball hone and then drill my tappet bores this weekend and final clean and paint before assembly. I bought a really long 1/8" drill bit and the same in 3/16". Which one should I use?

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

With 4 doors hung and no more maple for a while, I have once again turned my after work attention to the mechanical aspects. My first valve grinding with the proper equipment. About half cleaned up right away with just the 45 degree angle and a 3/32" seat, and the other half needed the 30 degree top cut. I'm using nors 8ba exhaust valves and guides. Just to check my work I am lapping them in very lightly. Hoping to use the new ball hone and then drill my tappet bores this weekend and final clean and paint before assembly. I bought a really long 1/8" drill bit and the same in 3/16". Which one should I use?

Red's Headers site says 5/32"

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Red's Headers site says 5/32"

Figures... I know it's good to use a long bit. I remember last time I did this with a jobber length bit and it was hard to get a good angle on it down low. Anyone chime in on which would be better? I suppose I could order in the right one, but weekend is coming right up.

[GB SISSON]

Having just read a recent thread about a woodie rear fender and a gas door, is that how I should introduce gas into my future tank? Through a trap door in a rear fender?Being a truck, I can live with a visible gas cap as well. I'm using '42-47 pickup rear fenders. Also any advice on what to use for a fuel tank and how/where to mount it between the frame rails. I'd like to use something common I can find in a wrecking yard if possible. Thanks. Hoping to work on door latches as it's above freezing today in my unheated shop. My engine is coming along, but slower than I would like. I got my re-drilled flywheel back and maybe it goes on today after we go cut down a tree in the woods.

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Having just read a recent thread about a woodie rear fender and a gas door, is that how I should introduce gas into my future tank? Through a trap door in a rear fender?Being a truck, I can live with a visible gas cap as well. I'm using '42-47 pickup rear fenders. Also any advice on what to use for a fuel tank and how/where to mount it between the frame rails. I'd like to use something common I can find in a wrecking yard if possible. Thanks. Hoping to work on door latches as it's above freezing today in my unheated shop. My engine is coming along, but slower than I would like. I got my re-drilled flywheel back and maybe it goes on today after we go cut down a tree in the woods.

Check out a mid '60's Mustang or Cougar tank. IIRC the Couger had a slightly different fill than the Mustang but I could be wrong. If a stock tank from a '39 p/u would work I've got one that I replaced with a new one from Drake. Still has the original sending unit in it. Don't know what condition it is inside since I got a good deal on the new Drake unit during one of his 20% off free plus shipping Black Friday Deals a couple of years ago and he actually had it in stock. Still have the box Drake shipped it in so shipping would be easy or if my son gets a new job in Seattle I could probably bring it when we help move him north. Anyway, the tank is just taking up room in the shop and its yours if you think it will work. FWIW the truck was running fine when I took the tank out.

[GB SISSON]

Was it originally mounted under the seat? Not sure I want it in the cab if that's so. Plus how to fill with 4 doors? Thinking the mustang /cougar route might be best. Does the mustang type fit between the rear frame rails? Thanks for the offer and It would be great to meet you if you are out this way!

[41panelmark]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

With summer winding down I got some time today to work on the passenger side front door. I decided to get a few pictures of this process. Once again I drilled out the hinge rivets in a rotten pickup truck door to use as woodie hinges. I had to weld up some of the holes I didn't need and drill and countersink the rest for #14 wood screws. I mortised them into my laminated maple front door stiles and re-drilled the hinges for oversized pins. The pins are made from an old screwdriver I got at a yard sale. I will be welding thick washers on for heads for these new pins. As on the driver's side I am assembling this door within it's opening because of the twisted shape as it mates into the cowl. The rear stile was milled to fit the door jamb and held with a temporary screw to hold it in place. Tomorrow after work I plan to rout the vertical grooves that hold the panels as well as the mahogany marine plywood splines that join the door parts together with the 3m 5200 marine adhesive/sealant and hardened star drive construction lags. With a spline as opposed to Henry's mortise and tenon, both horizontal and vertical members have a 3/8 x 3/4" deep groove and a 1 1/2" strip of marine plywood is inserted and glued in with the 5200. Strong and resilient joint, but tough to pull apart to repair.....It feels good to be back at it!

Geese GB, you are talented for sure.

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Was it originally mounted under the seat? Not sure I want it in the cab if that's so. Plus how to fill with 4 doors? Thinking the mustang /cougar route might be best. Does the mustang type fit between the rear frame rails? Thanks for the offer and It would be great to meet you if you are out this way!

'39 p/u tank is at the far rear of the frame. Fills from the drivers side rear fender.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

'39 p/u tank is at the far rear of the frame. Fills from the drivers side rear fender.

Then this could be perfect! I remembered on my '38 tonner pickup it was under the seat so I thought the '39 pickup would be the same. I have no problem with adding a hole to my fender.

[RalphM]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Most of the details of this body were based on the 40-41 wagon, and that radius looks really good on that body. Mine would never have the same flowing line as on the ford built body because of the offset from the rear post. If I were to do that radius I may settle for the square cornered windows on the back. So much less work, and I have miles to go yet. edit: After posting these pics, I see they could also be used in the dark panel/blonde panel debate.....

Gentlemen prefer blondes!
And so do I, the blonde woody looks so much better to me.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by RalphM

Gentlemen prefer blondes!
And so do I, the blonde woody looks so much better to me.

Well Ralph, I am sorta leaning that way. In the end we all do our rigs how we want, unless we are following the rule book for judging at shows. In the case of blonde vs brunette, I see woodies that have been built both ways, either factory jobs or custom one offs. Dang I didn't get door handles done today. Family situation arose. Gol dang kids..... Don't ask.

[flatford8]

GB.......I have parts for a '37 pickup and the gas filler is between the fender and the rear of the bed. Can't remember if it's passenger side or drivers.......Mark

[GB SISSON]

Thanks guys once again. I did make some progress over the weekend. Most was on door handles/latches. I decided to go with Toyota Landcruiser pre-'75 door latches mated to ford pickup outer door handles. The square shaft is the same size but sits as a diamond shape at rest on the toyota side. Nothing I can't fix. I decided to weld a narrow flange to the toyota latch mechanism so I can screw to the edge of the door as well. This latch has an inside handle that operates direct on the mechanism with no linkage. A bit cumbersome to operate for old stiff folks, but all in all, they look and operate like something one would have chosen back in the 40s for a one off commercial vehicle. Besides I had two in my attic and located two more for 22 bucks each, and they are very solidly built for hard off road work. I labored over the decision to mount the handles about 2 1/2" below the belt line like on a '40-'41 woodie instead of in line with it like a '46-'47. This Frankenwoodie body looks a lot more like a '40-'41 so I opted for the former. With more grandchildren coming along than you can shake a stick at, this location will also be easier for them to reach. I have 3 ford jailbar pickup handles, but some are stainless and some are painted pot metal. I think the stainless ones are '42s? I know I will need dovetails on all doors and that should be rather straightforward. The engine continues to progress as well.

[Mart]

It looks great, GB, that rear 3/4 view is spot on.

Mart.

[flatford8]

That looks awesome!!!..... Can't wait to go for a ride!!..... Mark

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Mart

It looks great, GB, that rear 3/4 view is spot on.

Mart.

I have seen quite a few photos by now of 'phantoms' or 'one offs' and there are a few where the belt line or the tops of the doors don't line up in a 'fair curve'. I have striven to keep the lines in fair curves as I go, sometimes needing to tear pieces out and re-do the joints after the fact because I wasn't happy with the line up. About 1/2 hour ago I returned form a buddy's shop where we pulled out a bunch of ash veneers he bought for a project 25 years ago. These are sequential flitches so the pattern can be laid out on the woodie in the manner that the tree grew. I have a veneer press and plan to adhere these veneers to the marine plywood panels that are fitted to the body. The panels are all still removable from the inside.

[expavr]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Then this could be perfect! I remembered on my '38 tonner pickup it was under the seat so I thought the '39 pickup would be the same. I have no problem with adding a hole to my fender.

Gary
I will be pulling a trailer back to Hansville from SoCal after Easter and should have some room. If you can wait until Spring I can bring it up when we come back. I'd like to make a trip over to Orcas and have a look at your project.
Les Williams

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by expavr

Gary
I will be pulling a trailer back to Hansville from SoCal after Easter and should have some room. If you can wait until Spring I can bring it up when we come back. I'd like to make a trip over to Orcas and have a look at your project.
Les Williams

GB, don't know if I'll be driving to Seattle for sure but If you want to take Les up on his transport offer I'll make arrangements with him to get him the tank.
Tim

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

GB, don't know if I'll be driving to Seattle for sure but If you want to take Les up on his transport offer I'll make arrangements with him to get him the tank.
Tim

Either way that works best. I don't suppose we have to decide right away, so we can call it when it gets closer. Very kind of you to offer me that tank. Anyone have a pic in or out of the truck so I can see how it mounts? This could help for when I rout other wiring or exhaust etc if that comes first.

[flatford8]

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I can dig mine out today after work and post a pic.....Mark

[jerseyboy]

GB, Woodie is looking great! Looks like it rolled of the line!

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[flatford8]

GB.... pics of the tank and where the filler comes out of the bed......Mark

[flatford8]

The pictures are sideways...... like all my pics post!!... if you need measurements let me know.... Mark

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Either way that works best. I don't suppose we have to decide right away, so we can call it when it gets closer. Very kind of you to offer me that tank. Anyone have a pic in or out of the truck so I can see how it mounts? This could help for when I rout other wiring or exhaust etc if that comes first.

GB,
I'll shoot some photos tomorrow of the tank. Les has PM'd me and we're working out the details for the relay north in April if that works for you.
Tim

[GB SISSON]

It MORE than works! Thanks so much!

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

GB,
I'll shoot some photos tomorrow of the tank. Les has PM'd me and we're working out the details for the relay north in April if that works for you.
Tim

Photos of the '39 p/u tank.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Photos of the '39 p/u tank.

It will work great! Been doing some measuring and looks good. I found a bit of time this afternoon to make a mock-up of a rear barn door. This has been a real big problem because of my lack of a real plan on this build. I like to think that nothing is insurmountable, and I still believe that. Between the heavy rear pillars, which are about 3" x 5" I installed a horizontal cross member which I felt would be notched for bumper brackets at a later date. When I got around to planning rear doors or a tailgate and hatch I found that the layout was not compatible with what I had built. On a ford woodie, the tailgate incorporates that horizontal cross member, and it is hinged in such a way as to fold into that space. My design lead to a very strong rear section, but did not allow for a bottom rail on the doors or tailgate. Now my plan is to saw out the 1 x 6 maple cross member and save the bottom 2" or replace the 1 x 6 with a 1 x 2 which is backed up underneath with a strong maple or maybe steel structure to give the rear some extra rigidity. Either way, this mockup is where I am now. I am no stranger to re-work and I will start out with the chainsaw and end up with a router pattern using a top bearing bit. I have all the maple on hand for the rear doors and hope to start this phase after the holidays.

[expavr]

Before you cut that lower cross brace there might be another way to deal with it. The attached photos show a late model (48-53) F1 bumper and brackets that I used on the tonner along with a step/toeplate that was fabricated to fill in the gap between the bed and frame. The mounting holes on the (48-53) brackets exactly matched holes in the 40 frame-no drilling and were fabricated with a "kick down" so that the top of the bumper was almost on the same plain as the lower edge of the fender. Judging by your photo it looks like the top of the bumper would be right at or very close to the bottom of that cross brace. The plain iron bumper and brackets came from C&G Ford. http://cgfordparts.com/

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by expavr

Before you cut that lower cross brace there might be another way to deal with it. The attached photos show a late model (48-53) F1 bumper and brackets that I used on the tonner along with a step/toeplate that was fabricated to fill in the gap between the bed and frame. The mounting holes on the (48-53) brackets exactly matched holes in the 40 frame-no drilling and were fabricated with a "kick down" so that the top of the bumper was almost on the same plain as the lower edge of the fender. Judging by your photo it looks like the top of the bumper would be right at or very close to the bottom of that cross brace. The plain iron bumper and brackets came from C&G Ford. http://cgfordparts.com/

That's a good suggestion to get the bumper lower but it doesn't solve the problem that the 1x6 lower maple cross member is affixed to the body and is an integral part of the woodie's structure. For the panel layout that carries down the side of the vehicle, let's say from the beltline down there are two equal horizontal panels about 10" wide, separated by a 3" horizontal maple rail or divider. At the bottom of the panels (and all the doors) is a 6" bottom rail. This bottom rail opens with the doors and is an important part of the door's structure. For a rear door or tailgate to shut above the rear cross member it would have to terminate at the panel's bottom edge for the vehicle's lines to carry around the corner. I'm not very good at describing this in words. For a rear door to clear even a lowered bumper, the entire 1x6 rear maple cross member would need to be removed. On the ford built woodie, that 1x6 is actually the lower rail of the tailgate which pivots under the vehicle when opened from what I understand. Maybe someone who owns one can get a photo of the tailgate. I know that on the ford built woodie the nice lines of the wagon's sides carry around to the rear gate as well. That cannot happen with my 1x6 bottom cross member or 'sill' without cutting it lower or cutting it completely out. Upon doing this, your lowered bumper brackets would work very nicely. Thanks.

[Mart]

Hi GB. The truck is taking shape nicely. I have looked at the pics and think the heavy crossmember needs to be moved inwards, behind the doors. then a thinner sill piece could be used below the doors. I looked at the English Morris travellers that have wooden construction and barn doors. they have a sheet metal sill below the doors and a deep step up inside the doors.

The deep cross piece (in your case) is very necessary to give strength to the rear structure.

I don't know about the bumper, but in my mind it wants to be as simple as possible (if you have one at all).

Type in "Morris traveller rear" in google images and you will see what i was looking at.

Here's one showing the bumper brackets poking through the rear panel.


Not saying you should do it like that, just showing that the strength can be behind the doors and just a cosmetic sill panel below.


Mart.

[GB SISSON]

I like that. Structural deep cross member, but moved forward in front of the doors. Looks like I'll be busting out the chain saw soon. Behind the 1" maple is a 2" douglas fir piece that mimics it, and the two are bonded with the 3m 5200 marine adhesive. I would like to have a rear bumper hung on some expaver drop down brackets as I've been known to bump things on occasion while backing up.

[GB SISSON]

Oh the humanity..... Rest assured it will look good as new, but that will be after the holidays. New cross member, probably steel with a maple board in front coming soon.

[flatford8]

Your shop looks like mine......I need a lot of stuff...to pile my other stuff on top of....Mark

[Overkill-F1]

GB,
Like flatford8, I like to see other workshops too. It is interesting what others do and have in the background.
In your post #298, in the third photo, under the rear of the truck, on the right hand side, there is a tool tote like the ones we used in cable splicing for the telephone co here.
Where you a telco cable splicer?
...Terry

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Overkill-F1

GB,
Like flatford8, I like to see other workshops too. It is interesting what others do and have in the background.
In your post #298, in the third photo, under the rear of the truck, on the right hand side, there is a tool tote like the ones we used in cable splicing for the telephone co here.
Where you a telco cable splicer?
...Terry

No that's just a tool bag I found along the way. I do have some pretty good stacks going on down in that shop. As for stuff in the background, one of my favorite artifacts which is shown in a lot of my photos is my Aerothrust outboard motor. Manufactured in the '20s in Chicago, it converts any rowboat into an 'everglades' type airboat. The base below allows clamping to the boats transom and adjusts for tilt. It's a horizontaly opposed 2 stroke twin and it is extremely loud and uses a 10/1 oil mix so the exhaust is pungent. Haven't tried it on this canoe as it feels too top heavy. Aerothrust's literature shows a similar engine/blade setup with a different bracket for mounting behind the seat of a bicycle

[38bill]

I probably would have used a reciprocating saw but it looks like the chain saw worked. I kind of figured something like this would pop up during your build but I was thinking it would be with the side doors. The rear should actually be easier to correct and I have complete faith in your abilities to get it done. Looking really great!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

I probably would have used a reciprocating saw but it looks like the chain saw worked. I kind of figured something like this would pop up during your build but I was thinking it would be with the side doors. The rear should actually be easier to correct and I have complete faith in your abilities to get it done. Looking really great!

It was bound to happen. I have only really looked at a couple of woodies ever. All three were about 6 months into the build and in one location. By then it would have been too late for any big changes. I have made a couple of rough sketches. Most planning was done by bending sticks onto rough framework, so I sort of had it coming. Now that I have my regular tools back from the jobsite this change should go quite well. After the Holidays at this point. Thank you for the nice comments.

[GB SISSON]

I was able to get some time in on the new recessed rear sill piece. From here I could make the doors go all the way to the bottom of the sill or keep them about like this scrap wood mock-up door and fill in the bottom with a visible 3" maple rail. Thinking the latter at this point.

[jerseyboy]

GB,

Looks like you resolved that nicely. Any thoughts on providing kits or plans?

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

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Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,

Looks like you resolved that nicely. Any thoughts on providing kits or plans?

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

Not really any thoughts as a business. One of the reasons my progress has slowed is we have been working on an order for large doors from a Seattle architecture firm. These are based on the doors we built for a carraige house on Whidbey Island. The client was taken to this Whidbey project and had to have a set for here gigantic barn on another island. Of the eleven doors, 4 are 6'-2" wide by 10'-2" tall and 3" thick. The remainder are more normal sizes, but 7'-6" tall. They need to be delivered next Wednesday and that's a real stretch as we still have 2 unfinished cabinet projects partially installed. What I'm getting at is I would be hard pressed selling woodies or kits for what I can make building millwork for waterfront estates from reclaimed lumber.

[Bill]

If your business is custom millwork for people with money concentrate on that. Let it fund your hobby. There's no money building custom woodie kits for jailbar Fords! Time is always the real thief for your passion. But you already know that don't you...Hang in there GB you'll git er done... Bill

[GB SISSON]

You got it right there Bill. The gal we are building these barn doors for wrote some books about vampires and werewolves that were in the old logging town of Forks Wa. She sold something like a hundred million copies and they made some movies based on her books. The jobsite is about 4 hours and two ferrys from here. Started at 4am today and it's Sunday. Six years of building recession made me a believer in making hay while the sun shines.

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Either way that works best. I don't suppose we have to decide right away, so we can call it when it gets closer. Very kind of you to offer me that tank. Anyone have a pic in or out of the truck so I can see how it mounts? This could help for when I rout other wiring or exhaust etc if that comes first.

Les picked up the tank yesterday.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Les picked up the tank yesterday.

Wow! Thanks ever so much you two. Still banging away at those big doors and trying my best to keep two other cabinet jobs afloat. It takes 4 guys to handle these doors and there's a lot of handling involved. We should have the '92 loaded up for a Thursday delivery over to the penninsula. Had a few warmer days lately and I have found the remainder of the door latches I'll need for the wagon. I also have the re-drilled flywheel, a clutch kit and everything necessary to finish up the engine. While the front clip is off, I will do the brakes and lines, etc, etc. Then on with all the good sheet metal and grill I have been keeping for this project. Yes, it will still be far from done, but maybe a couple laps down around the sawmill and the shops to keep it fun.

[Mart]

For a moment then I thought they were going on the back of the woody.... Lol.

Silly me . Carry on.

Mart.

[flatford8]

Originally Posted by Mart

For a moment then I thought they were going on the back of the woody.... Lol.

Silly me . Carry on.

Mart.

Ya..... me too... I was thinking for a second..... just how big is that friggin' truck.... Mark

[GB SISSON]

After all GM does call them 'barn doors' on the suburban.

['36 5W]

Ummm.......me three; does that make us Chevy perps in disguise??

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by '36 5W

Ummm.......me three; does that make us Chevy perps in disguise??

Chevy? Had to put a rotor and cap on my suburban this afternoon. What is up with the location of the distributor? Designed by Satan himself?.....As far as a chevy perp, I think my wording was a bit vague. All this talk about barn doors at work and barn doors at fun. I wish I had spent the last month building 'barn doors' for the rear of my woodie, but alas, the business pays the bills. Not griping, just glad I can generate the work. Real soon, I'm gonna be posting more progress reports and photos of the wagon!

[Mart]

Originally Posted by '36 5W

Ummm.......me three; does that make us Chevy perps in disguise??

Er, No!

Wash your mouth out!

[GB SISSON]

I have picked up 3 of this type of outside door handle so far. I will alter the shaft to work with the landcruiser latches which are very ruggedly built and easy to find. Can someone tell me what ford these outer door handles are from? They are stainless clad and are certainly more stylish than the pot metal jailbar truck handles I had originally planned on using. Thanks.

[slowforty]

Looks like a handle from a 1940 Ford

[GB SISSON]

Today I finally got some time in on the wood wagon project. I think that when I had to cut out my rear sill piece because of poor planning I lost some momentum. Well there was the holidays and then tons of work in the shop, but today I ran out of excuses. I just was not happy how the side panel elevations could not be 'wrapped around' at the rear of the vehicle with the old sill in place. There are far more pieces involved in this new sill design, but I was able to incorporate a threshold piece that the 3/4" t&g fir flooring will butt into. This threshold piece is 1" x 4 1/4" and I opted to rout the 3/8" angle iron brackets into it flush and using a 3/8" stainless carriage bolts through the bracket, the maple, the 3/4 treated plywood subfloor and a full dimension 2x8. I need to get some oval head screws larger than #14s for the vertical holes or perhaps the top one should be a chrome or stainless blind nut fastener like we see on woodie bracketry. I know all these steel brackets will see some severe service on our bumpy island roads and my half mile of steep, rutted gravel 'road' up to my place.... I set my mockup door into the new opening and I like it now. With all the wood on hand for the rear barn doors and the fact I can build them in my wood heated cabinet shop, I hope to build upon this newfound momentum.

[Mtn Wudy]

I like that a Whole Lot Better.....shaping up....!!

[jerseyboy]

Looks great GB. If your looking for blind nuts, check out this place. Click on the catalog button to the right.
http://www.ccrod.com/
I'm gonna be ordering some for my wagon.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[Mart]

The latest pics look great, GB. Nicely thought out.

Mart.

[GB SISSON]

Thank you guys. I found time today to assemble the rear 'barn doors'from the parts I milled up yesterday. Hoping to get them ready to install for the weekend. Then I'll have a rather complete shell and maybe I'll get everything to latch before doing more mechanical work. I'm really looking forward to warmer spring weather. March can be the start of it in the Pacific Northwest.

[hotcoupe]

GB, I've been following along with your construction project, alot of nice details and quality workmanship. I like the offset with the stiles and rails, adds I nice shadow line and visual interest.
Tom

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by hotcoupe

GB, I've been following along with your construction project, alot of nice details and quality workmanship. I like the offset with the stiles and rails, adds I nice shadow line and visual interest.
Tom

I see a lot of these offsets in production built woodies. I know that with driving on rough roads and uneven surfaces, which is the norm in my area, the joints will not hold up the same as on stationary furniture. That shadow line will help to keep it looking good. I'm hoping the joinery and modern flexible polyurethane adhesives will allow the body and components some flex. You will notice that the door in the foreground has a wider vertical stile on it's right side. This will have a rabbet cut into it to correspond with another on the right side door. I noticed that on my '99 suburban as well as my '47 tonner panel, the right side door is opened first, then unlatch the left door.

[Mart]

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^^Interesting note on which door opens first. I had never thought about that, but the small ford van I had had the right door opening first. I wonder if it is because the majority of people are right handed, and that feels more natural??

Mart.

[GB SISSON]

Like I've been saying , we are swamped at work so now I got to order tires because I'm flush again. 6.50 x 16s, the rear tractions from Miller Tire and the front hwy tread somewhere else. Tubes from Miller. Digging through my collection of correct wheels, I'm glad I have hoarded wheels and tires all my life. ... On another front, I got to do a test fit of my rear barn doors today. I think they will work out OK. This woodie is being built in the more simplistic style of the pre-war wagons with mostly squared off corners so I opted for simple window treatment. I want these barn doors well sealed as I hate exhaust fumes stinking up the trip, therefore I try to stay one step ahead of how they will be weatherstripped.

[40cpe]

Great work! We'll be watching it on Barrett-Jackson in the future.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 40cpe

Great work! We'll be watching it on Barrett-Jackson in the future.

If I was to sell it, it would be at a loss..... I do this for the love of it, at least that what I tell myself.

[RalphM]

That sir, is a work of art! I can appreciate beautiful wood work. I never had a knack for it, but my Dad is a pattern maker, and wood is his hobby, I grew up around quality wood working and yours is fantastic!

['36 5W]

I second the motion; looks great!

[GB SISSON]

My retired buddy will be leaving for an extended vacation soon. We looked at the ash veneers he had and certain factors didn't add up . He had a nice stack of premium birch veneers so we decided to go with them. After seeing the photo Kube posted today I was sure I would like the birch with the green painted sheet metal. I have a vacuum veneer press similar to his, but he's made his living with veneers and I have always worked with solid stock, so I wanted to use his expertise before he leaves. I pulled out all my inset panels after work today, leaving only skeletel remains. It looks pretty sad but I will post the Kube photo for inspiration. It's never fun to go backwards.....

[Mart]

Sometimes you have to go a little backwards so you can go forwards.

Great progress overall. the back doors with the new sill look very nice.

Mart.

[38bill]

I think it looks great in it's bare bones.

[burnette]

hi gary ! i think i got it. nice work

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by burnette

hi gary ! i think i got it. nice work

Great to see you here burnette. (He's and old friend from 'ford truck enthusiasts' with various questions about his rebuild of a 59ab) . Fire away with your questions, like I said there are lots of really experienced, lifetime flathead builders hanging around this joint!

[burnette]

thanks for the nice welcome gary . i will be doing some reading and checking pictures now that i can see them and questions will come soon. only problem is i,m log in from our shop.

[GB SISSON]

Got my 'blonde' birch panels veneered and set in place. It looks different but I wanted it to be not so showey but more commercial vehicle.. For yucks I went to google images and entered 1940 ford woodie because the body I made was much more based on a '40. And 30 of the first 50 pictures had the light wood panels, not the mahogany. Might be the weekend before I get photos because of work.

[GB SISSON]

Birch panels just set in place so I can see what they look like. You can see I started with a pretty nice cowl. After engine/drivetrain/brakes etc I will assembly my better sheet metal parts into a decent front clip. The parts I have aren't perfect, just better. I am no body and fender guy by any means.

[jerseyboy]

GB,
Are you interested in another project? I don't know how close this is.

1941 Chevrolet Woodie Station Wagon Project - $19000 (Bainbridge Island https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/cto/5936312559.html

For sale - locally-based 1941 Chevy Campbell-bodied Woodie Station Wagon project -- extremely rare car and it's all here. We combined a previously restored Southern 4-door sedan donor plus the original woodie into a single car. It's a project -- original drivetrain and chassis with all the wood removed -- it's all there and some of the woodie is refinished. Seats restored to original, includes all the woodie-only parts plus some accessories. Some of the chrome is also redone. We have lost our storage and work space. Contact for details. $22,000 or best offer. We have a more complete description document with some additional photos and can send that to truly interested parties - thanks.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,
Are you interested in another project? I don't know how close this is.

1941 Chevrolet Woodie Station Wagon Project - $19000 (Bainbridge Island https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/cto/5936312559.html

For sale - locally-based 1941 Chevy Campbell-bodied Woodie Station Wagon project -- extremely rare car and it's all here. We combined a previously restored Southern 4-door sedan donor plus the original woodie into a single car. It's a project -- original drivetrain and chassis with all the wood removed -- it's all there and some of the woodie is refinished. Seats restored to original, includes all the woodie-only parts plus some accessories. Some of the chrome is also redone. We have lost our storage and work space. Contact for details. $22,000 or best offer. We have a more complete description document with some additional photos and can send that to truly interested parties - thanks.

Not now, but thanks. I need to stay all ford because I rely heavily on my stash of good used parts. Looks like a good start with the southern donor car, new seats etc. I wish they had pics of how it looks now. I could be interested in working on the car if someone buys it though.

[GB SISSON]

Tonight's after work project was to complete the hanging of the rear doors. I have been pretty obsessed with engine building for a month or so, and as many of you can relate, doing woodwork (or whatever your day job is) isn't a big thrill on a Friday evening. But this completes the basic exterior shell with the exception of the header over the right rear side window. I still need a 50" piece of Eastern maple to cut that from and I keep forgetting to order up a plank with out bi-monthly hardwood order from the mainland. My gaskets came in from Olsen's on this afternoon's UPS delivery so if I can sneak out to the shop this weekend I just may complete the 3 1/16" 59 engine for the woodie. I have a Bubba's crab and a Jere Jobe carb that I got last week from a guy on a neighboring island who sold his 41 merc woodie and is retiring from the hobby. Yesterday I bolted in and safety wired an original ford oil pump that came from this engine which was a ford remanufactured unit and had no ridge in the cylinder.

[Mart]

Looks great, GB. Excellent progress.

Mart.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Mart

Looks great, GB. Excellent progress.

Mart.

Thank you Mart, but the progress never seems quite excellent enough for me, particularly this winter. We were swamped with work, the weather was colder and wetter than usual so my unheated woodie space was miserable. I also have 4 kids and two stepkids, all in their 20's and thirties, six grandkids. My wife and I each have a son that lives on the island and the rest like to come 'home' to visit for a weekend now and then. Thus, my 2 hours each evening after my employee or two leaves and before my wife gets home from work are my opportunity to make progress. I'm very fortunate to work here on my place with no time lost in a commute. Well it's 5:45 am on a Saturday, and I think I'll go down and try to finish up that engine and maybe get it onto my run stand.

[GB SISSON]

Now that my engine is completed I have turned my attention to removing the front clip for access to all things mechanical up there. It will be brakes, front end and suspension (I have been stockpiling those parts) and engine/tranny and wiring etc. I have had some pretty nice 1/2 ton front fenders stashed in my shed on the lower property. Yesterday I went down and carried them up to the shop and sanded down a couple layers of paint to see what I had. They both look quite good but both have some damage just where they leave the running board. They came from the dry side of this state, East of the Cascades so the joint between fenders and running boards is far better than we see on this side. I guess for a while I will be spending a bit of time welding in some pieces, but all in all they checked out well. I have a better grill shell with the headlight mounts to go with them. The front metal on the existing vehicle is pretty horrible with the exception of the cowl. I have limited skills as a body man so I might be asking some questions as I go. The right side fender looks like a bunch of filler but it is just light blue and white paint.

[harvest]

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GB, you are gonna have one beautiful woodie when your done. Can't wait to see it out of your shop and road ready. I've been poking every now and then over the winter at this thread to see your work. amazing!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by harvest

GB, you are gonna have one beautiful woodie when your done. Can't wait to see it out of your shop and road ready. I've been poking every now and then over the winter at this thread to see your work. amazing!

Thanks! Well the clip is off and I have been cleaning the frame etc. I know I'll be doing the kingpins and the driver side shock is missing. Springs have crummy aftermarket coil helper springs on top and the spring shackles and bushings are totally shot. Haven't pulled the front drums but I have new wheel cyls from napa and excellent drums and shoes from a friend here that converted a restored '46 truck to disc brakes. I have a very dead 1/2 ton panel that seems to have good front shocks, so it's down to the boneyard this weekend. I have always enjoyed brake and suspension work for some reason.

[corvette8n]

Looks like it's coming along nicely, I think it would look great towing a matching wooden boat.

[GB SISSON]

It seems like ages since I have worked on the woodie. I bought a '47 tonner pickup in April and felt I had to get that to a certain point before storing it away. Not sure why.... Today I stripped the woodie's frame of it's axle and springs and drove out the old king pins. So easy with the axle upside down! Good thing my buddy switched to disc brakes as my front drums were toast. Tomorrow I hope to clean and paint the axle and frame horns and get organized for installing the king pins and spring bushings and shackle kit. The new shock links are NOS Ford and the other 3 kits ( tie rod ends, spring bushings/pins and king pins) are NORS. All these components were supplied by Bob Selzam's 'Half ton fun' in Jackson NJ. I will of course be installing my new master cylinder, lines, hoses and wheel cylinders along with the steering and suspension parts at this point. Then it's engine, trans and a test drive around the property nice and slow, but I will have to finish the door latching process first. And yes, a normal person would have stripped the frame down in the beginning and completed all mechanical aspects before building a wooden car on top of it, but I needed the affirmation that I could do it and the inspiration of seeing the body so I would have the steam up to complete this long term project. Trying to complete it this summer is beyond me now, but with the good weather ahead I should get some good varnish on it and complete the big stuff. Then I have the fall and winter to do the interior, wiring, and the ton of details still required for a summer of woodie adventures next year. I intend to stay focused on the woodie now and am feeling quite energized with today's progress.

[Mart]

Thanks for the update, GB. I can understand why you did it the way you did. the new truck looks good too.

Mart.

[mhsprecher]

Your new truck is nice.

I am just finishing some of what you are doing on my 45. You need to have NOS or NORS shock links, as new ones are not available. I just got some from Fred Wilner. I should have gotten all of my bushings and shackle bolts from him, as I have one bushing that I need to ream in order to get the bolt through, darn it. It's good to know of another source. My kingpins are fine, it was the drag link and the shackle bushings and bolts that were shot. Good to know of another source for NOS parts.

As suggested by some here, I disassembled my springs and coated with Slip Plate. I hope to have it back on the road tomorrow.

[cmbrucew]

Thanks for the update, you are making progress.
Bruce

[GB SISSON]

Yes I got a ton of stuff taken care of today. Drove out all the spring bushings and drove in the new ones. Then I drove out the king pin buhings. I have devised ways to ream all this stuff here at the shop so I am good to go. I used deep sockets and pieces of pipe and bolts to remove all the worn out carnage....

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Yes I got a ton of stuff taken care of today. Drove out all the spring bushings and drove in the new ones. Then I drove out the king pin buhings. I have devised ways to ream all this stuff here at the shop so I am good to go. I used deep sockets and pieces of pipe and bolts to remove all the worn out carnage....

I forgot to add that at 64 years of age, all the kneeling on concrete, crawling in and out of the frame members a hundred times and the prying, wrenching and contortions necessary for this kind of work, along with the .... Oh never mind. My wife is out with some of the girls from work at a play, but I can't wait up for her because every bone in my body aches....

[mhsprecher]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

I forgot to add that at 64 years of age, all the kneeling on concrete, crawling in and out of the frame members a hundred times and the prying, wrenching and contortions necessary for this kind of work, along with the .... Oh never mind. My wife is out with some of the girls from work at a play, but I can't wait up for her because every bone in my body aches....

I am glad that I am not the only one.

[flatford8]

Good to see the progress!. Are you driving the tonner as is?....I'm piecing together a '37 half ton and I'm going to put parts together as I find them....I'm not qualified for no fancy restoration......You have a few tonners right?.....there must be more out West....I don't see that many around here in N-E......Mark

['36 5W]

I'm sure many of us here have full empathy for your pain!

Just finished the same job on a '34 pickup at the antique museum, where I volunteer.
Will repeat it again on my '36 coupe this month, now that I have recovered.
At 70, I find the secret is in the PACING, but let's "get 'er done" while we are still able!
Projects like yours help keep us motivated.....

[GB SISSON]

I have an easy project for this morning before my employee shows up. Reaming the kingpin bushings. I get to stand up and do this with the spindles held in my wood jawed vice in the cabinet shop. Then after work I hope to reassemble the front axle. Is there a front/rear or left/right to this axle or is it ambidextrous?

[GB SISSON]

Honing my woodie's kingpins with my slotted dowel and sanding belt strips driven by a cordless drill. Actually I couldn't find my 5/8" dowel and I didn't want to make the 24 mile trip to town so I ransacked my wife's wooden spoons and found a nice straight maple one that measured 5/8 on the handle. Worked great for another honing. The pins twist in with some encouragement when dry and with a light oil on them they glide smoothly in. This may look ridiculous to some, but it takes about 15 minutes per side and I'm in charge of the fit, not some new helper in a machine shop who doesn't care if they have a bit of slop in them because he went too far.

[PeteVS]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Honing my woodie's kingpins with my slotted dowel and sanding belt strips driven by a cordless drill. Actually I couldn't find my 5/8" dowel and I didn't want to make the 24 mile trip to town so I ransacked my wife's wooden spoons and found a nice straight maple one that measured 5/8 on the handle. Worked great for another honing. The pins twist in with some encouragement when dry and with a light oil on them they glide smoothly in. This may look ridiculous to some, but it takes about 15 minutes per side and I'm in charge of the fit, not some new helper in a machine shop who doesn't care if they have a bit of slop in them because he went too far.

Thank you so much for this idea!!

[Mart]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

So I ransacked my wife's wooden spoons and found a nice straight maple one that measured 5/8 on the handle.

Stirring stuff, there, GB.

Mart.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Mart

Stirring stuff, there, GB.

Mart.

Now THAT'S funny! If my wife asks about it I'm going to say I saw it running away with a dish ....

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Honing my woodie's kingpins with my slotted dowel and sanding belt strips driven by a cordless drill. Actually I couldn't find my 5/8" dowel and I didn't want to make the 24 mile trip to town so I ransacked my wife's wooden spoons and found a nice straight maple one that measured 5/8 on the handle. Worked great for another honing. The pins twist in with some encouragement when dry and with a light oil on them they glide smoothly in. This may look ridiculous to some, but it takes about 15 minutes per side and I'm in charge of the fit, not some new helper in a machine shop who doesn't care if they have a bit of slop in them because he went too far.

Is that a Craftsman screw driver being used as a hinge pin or a Harbor Freight cheapie?

[GB SISSON]

I had a drill bit that was just a bit bigger than the original hinge pins. I used this on the worn hinges. Then I had to find a pin that fit... I found that some #2 phillips screwdrivers were a nice snug fit. On the driver's side I cut a #2 off and made two pins with washers for heads. When I got to the pass side I just couldn't cut my good crafstman off so I'm using it whole until I get around to finding another. In the meantime that pin's a lot easier to get in and out as I remove doors for latches and soon varnishing etc. You had to ask...

[GB SISSON]

I'm back at it pretty hard these days. I will be gone the next 4 days so I lose a weekend of woodie progress, but tomorrow I'll be shrimping with a buddy for those nice big spot prawns up near the canadian border, then on a road trip with the misses. Whenever I'm not doing the woodwork in the shop for customers, I'm kneeling on the concrete working on the wagon. This week it's been springs, kingpins steering stuff and welding in some lower cowl patches made from a radiator shroud I didn't need, so a break is a rare treat. Here's some of each type of work.

[GB SISSON]

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Been getting an hour in after work most days. Still, any progress is better than none at all. The warmer weather is helping my morale, and the use of nos and nors parts means the parts are fitting together with great satisfaction.

[Tinker]

Nice work on a big project. its looking great.

[GB SISSON]

Almost have this thing back to a roller with brakes. Unfortunately when I pulled the rear drums I found nothing at all on the backing plates. I had already bought new wheel cylinders because I always do, but I discovered I needed everything else, which means the parking brake links and cables. On a gamble I pulled the rear drums on my 1/2 ton panel, which is deep on the project list, and found everything I needed in almost new condition. Even the drums are excellent. The fronts were completed using parts from a restored jailbar truck that a friend had bought and immediately switched over to front discs. Then I cleaned and primed some good wheels and stretched on a pair of new 6.50 x 16 six plies with my trusty tire irons. Of course the day after mounting the tires I scored two more artillery wheels at a friend's place. Now I have four. At least I haven't mounted the rears yet. Would the artillery wheels look good on the woodie?

[RalphM]

JMO, I'd stick with the stock rims. Look more like a factory job to match all your beautiful woodwork.

[Mart]

^^ Agree. I find the stock wheels more attractive than the artillery wheels. Just my opinion, of course but you did ask.

Mart.

[Sid the Maineiac]

Amazing Thread! Thank you very much for sharing your build.I look forward to seeing more of your progress on this amazing build.The end is in sight and hope you'll start another project soon for us "lurkers" to follow when this one is done lol

[GB SISSON]

Thanks all! Well I noticed today that the first two artillery wheels I've had for a few years are 5 on 6 or 6 1/2... Not sure what the ones I just bought are because I haven't picked them up yet. Anyway the choice is made. Stock rims and that's good because I have three of them cleaned and painted. Gotta pry off another cracked tire for my 4th rim. My employee just told me he'll be on the mainland tomorrow so I won't have anybody notice if I slide over and work on the rear brakes for a while.

[PeteVS]

New avatar photo?? Put me down for a "like."

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by PeteVS

New avatar photo?? Put me down for a "like."

I like to switch it up a bit. That's my 2 ton I did up about 4 years ago. 8ba and vacuum 2 speed axle. Straight pipes and I made all the bends up forward with galvanized pipe and lots of 45s. Should last a while. All good fun.

[slowforty]

Will it pull the front wheels off the ground? uphill?

[cmbrucew]

Originally Posted by slowforty

Will it pull the front wheels off the ground? uphill?

It would depend on the length of the logs.
Bruce

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by cmbrucew

It would depend on the length of the logs.
Bruce

Those are 12' logs. With them it's like power steering. 14' would be getting into the wheelie zone and the hills here are really steep. I'll stick with the 12's thanks. Sold that nice '37 a few years back....

[flatford8]

Hey GB....I've seen your video of you cruzin' in the panel truck...... you got any video of the big trucks workin'?....... Mark

[PeteVS]

Do you mill any of your own lumber? I've just been reading about the logging in Washington and it's fascinating!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Hey GB....I've seen your video of you cruzin' in the panel truck...... you got any video of the big trucks workin'?....... Mark

On youtube 37 ford 1.5 ton log truck here's a link but I can't usually make links that work.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeRWB9vZW38

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by PeteVS

Do you mill any of your own lumber? I've just been reading about the logging in Washington and it's fascinating!

We have a bandsaw mill but we use it primarily to saw big old beams from buildings into dimensional lumber for cabinet and furniture projects. One of my beam suppliers has a tag line 'Logging the industrial forest'. The folks moving up to the islands from the cities like the fact that no trees were harmed in the building of their cabinets. As for me, I cut lots of them down to improve my view, get more sunlight, and heat my house and shop. Most of the trees around here are second and third growth and not the best for finish work. Of all the species here on the property, the alder is actually pretty nice for furniture.

[flatford8]

The link works fine.... Thanks,Mark

[GB SISSON]

Starting to get some sealer on the wood. Will be one door at a time for a while. Got the last tire mounted up after work and the rear axle seals came on UPS while I was finishing the tires. Now I will soon have a roller with service and parking brakes. This will allow me to push it outside and get it turned around, heading into shop for engine and trans next week. I have a lot of family for the long weekend so woodie goes to back burner for a while. That's ok, I need a break.

[GB SISSON]

Work keeps getting in the way but now my wife is gone for the weekend so I can get some woodie time in. Well actually I asked my 23 year old son who works with me if he wanted to go to the mainland tomorrow to watch the sprint cars race, so that's part of the weekend. I am writing because we are experiencing summer in the Pacific NW and so we rolled the woodie outside. Both front doors are sealed and it's good to be outside in the fresh air for varnishing. By Sunday night I shhould have made good progress. Clutch is on the flywheel and tranny next.....

[jerseyboy]

GB,
I really do enjoy watching this build! You are doing such a great job!

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

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I have a question about the bodies on cars and woodies in particular. I have noticed that when the woodie is parked on uneven ground, some of the doors will stick. The rear wooden 'deck' that I built upon is bolted to the frame rails with some rubber belting between the two. I have decided that I need longer bolts with some discarded valve springs mounted below so the frame can flex without twisting the body as well. I have also picked up some steel to fabricate a sort of rigid frame which is to be welded and bolted under my floor structure. The truck's steel floor is stock so some welding will be done there and then brackets built to connect to the wood floor cross supports which are a full 2" x 6" which supports a plywood deck. Another thing to note is that there are no dovetails on the doors yet and I plan to use those from a 46 pickup. Now a question on door gaps. Can someone tell me what their's might be? My body is closest to a '40 ford. The body's insert panels are just set in place, not screwed in yet. I'm hoping these will provide a certain amount shear strength once fastened in. Do woodies tend to flex more than a steel bodies? I'm thinking if I do all that's mentioned above, as well as opening up some gaps I should be ok, but I welcome advice from those with experience in this area. Thanks in advance, GB

[Bill]

Just reviewed some of your older pics and think I notice you have eliminated the angle brackets at the rear platform barn door opening. on a 41/48 wagon at this point the steel floor platform turns up maybe 3 to 4"and is bolted in an offset pattern. I can send a pic if you like. Replace this and it should connect to a steel platform from side to side connected to the chassis. Think it disappeared when you changed the design of the lower wood crossmember. Also on 41/48 wagons there is a serious steel support post on the "C" pillar from the inner fender extending upwards and rearwards for more support. Woodies do flex you can hear it when you drive. Gaps on my car are generally 1/4". Tailgates 1/4-3/8" and plenty drafty! At any level none of my doors jamb but after a hard rain they will and have binded. Your wooden platform in the rear may account for some of the problem but I'm thinking the flexing starts with the frame itself. Just my observations from 4000 miles away...others may have other suggestions. Bill

[Bill]

Just had another thought! The frame on your truck is "ladder style" and Ford passenger cars had an X style frame which would reduce the amount of flex in a wood wagon. You may need an X brace to eliminate the flex action. Just another roadblock. I could be wrong...Bill

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Bill

Just had another thought! The frame on your truck is "ladder style" and Ford passenger cars had an X style frame which would reduce the amount of flex in a wood wagon. You may need an X brace to eliminate the flex action. Just another roadblock. I could be wrong...Bill

So after I read your posts I noticed that all my steel braketry is just set in place temporarily with sheetrock screws. I do still have very stout angle brackets at the rear doors. The fabbed steel stiffeners I am planning for the woodie body are also very substantial. All my door gaps are about 1/8th inch and that may be a big part of the problem. I am more used to cabinet door reveals and we use 3/32" and look down our nose at those 1/8" gaps that some use..... It's a whole new world when the cabinet goes outside and gets rained on and parks with one wheel in a dip and another on a big old rock. Thank you Bill for your input.

[GB SISSON]

VRoom vroom. Well, pretty soon. I have been bolting down the heavy steel brackets and doing some welding too, and things are tightening up nicely. Still need to open up the door gaps. Now with it turned around in the shop it will be easier to varnish the back end in the natural light. Last night I hooked up and adjusted clutch linkage and started fixing up a rusty battery bracket. Hope to also paint my radiator support.

[GB SISSON]

For 30 years I have not missed the Puget Sound Antique Tractor and Machinery show at Lynden Wa. I run my 8 hp 1912 stover hit and miss engine that I ressurected way back when. Many other hit n miss engines came and went. For 15 years I towed my collection there with my 38 tonner. I load up tomorrow for the annual show and plan to trailer the unfinished woodie truck to Lynden and drive it around the 80 acre grounds. Unlike back in the '80s when guys were hauling in all kinds of junk from the fields and ditches, there is rarely anything new at the show, so I thought I'd mix things up a it. There are always old farm trucks and semis and a collection of ATHS truck members in attendance. Temps are gonna be in high 90s and for a Western Wa. guy it's almost unheard of. Plan to license the woodie after I get on the mainland with a pair of YOM plates I got at the Portland Or swap meet in April. Yeah!!!! 4 days off!!!!

[Mart]

Sounds great, GB. Take a few pics for us. Occasionally my flatheads fall into the hit and miss category when the ht side of the ignition starts failing.

Mart.

[GB SISSON]

I had a great time as usual. Got the woodie licensed and hit the county roads out in farm country. Tranny shifts very well and it steers and brakes well. After years with the 4 speed trucks, this is a bit high geared in low. Speedometer worked for a while but at about 40 mph it self destructed. Got a lot of interest at the show and on the ferry and freeway on the trip. Many folks had a hard time wrapping their heads around some guy sawing the back off a truck and bending some wood into a car.The photo board helped. That's my buddies from all over Washington I see once a year and share a setup with and the engine is my 1912 8hp Stover. Built in Freeport Illinois.

[PeteVS]

We need a "like" button on FordBarn!

[Seth Swoboda]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

I had a great time as usual. Got the woodie licensed and hit the county roads out in farm country. Tranny shifts very well and it steers and brakes well. After years with the 4 speed trucks, this is a bit high geared in low. Speedometer worked for a while but at about 40 mph it self destructed. Got a lot of interest at the show and on the ferry and freeway on the trip. Many folks had a hard time wrapping their heads around some guy sawing the back off a truck and bending some wood into a car.The photo board helped. That's my buddies from all over Washington I see once a year and share a setup with and the engine is my 1912 8hp Stover. Built in Freeport Illinois.

We have an early 1900's model Lauson Frost King 2hp engine. I enjoy the stationary engines as well as the early Fords. Thanks for the post.

[GB SISSON]

Thanks guys. After work I'm hooking up a brake light before I head out on my local roads. The front clip might be a nice touch as well. Still on a total loss electrical system as my slingshot bracket was not the right one. It didn't have holes for the fan mount so I guess I ordered the wrong one. Here's my setup now and I'm wanting to go with 12v alternator which I just bought. I know a 6v generator is a great thing also, but I have had lots of flathead trucks and on this particular one I'm going 12 neg one wire. Who has the right bracket?

[flatford8]

I love hearing a hit and miss engine. Nothing more relaxing. Every year at the Fryburg Fair I sit and listen to them popping 'em off.......Mark

[slowforty]

Check out Speedway. But you could also Fabricate one.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by slowforty

Check out Speedway. But you could also Fabricate one.

The wrong one I have came from speedway. I was reading some old fb posts about slingshots and many said the correct bracket with the threaded holes for the fan only worked with narrow belts. If one uses the wide belts it would require facing off the alternator surfaces to get the belts to line up. It's just that I have used them over the years and I always have trucks with wide belts and they worked in the past. Just wondering if anyone knows which bracket works with my setup and wide belts? Seems there is a 46-53 style and earlier and I guess my setup is the same as the 8ba or 8rt. ???

[willowbilly3]

Gary, I'm surprised a man of your talents doesn't just fab up a bracket. If it was me, I'd be building one to run the smaller frame Ford 3G. Since it has external cooling fan, you can get one of those into a lot tighter space.

[38bill]

This is what I used on my 59AB wide belt with bolt-on fan carrier. Worked fine unless they have changed it. I'll go out and see if I had to modify the alt.

update: Looks basically the same as the one I have with no mods????

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Plain-...cket,4242.html

[GB SISSON]

Thank you Bill. I got one coming! I am keeping the old one because I have a bunch of engines and a bunch of ideas. It may work out on a future project. Your link is was I should have ordered in the first place.

[jerseyboy]

Originally Posted by PeteVS

We need a "like" button on FordBarn!

Hear hear! Great idea!

One of my favorite builds!

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[A bones]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Thanks guys.
It didn't have holes for the fan mount so I guess I ordered the wrong one.

Here's my setup now and I'm wanting to go with 12v alternator which I just bought.

Curiosity killed the cat, but I wonder... Can 'Woody' only tell the temp of the left bank?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by A bones

Curiosity killed the cat, but I wonder... Can 'Woody' only tell the temp of the left bank?

Yes, only that side, but his right boot can give us a fairly reliable read on the rpms as it ticks against the fan blade tips. The ratio of fan pulley to crank pulley must be factored in and then divided by four on account of it being a four blade fan. Of course it's plus or minus 2 percent because of belt slip.

[A bones]

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I give you the last word. But PM sent anyway.

[GB SISSON]

Been away a couple days, but in answer to Abones pm, I have to agree that Buzz Lightyear would be better at calculating rpms than that old hick Woody. And no I don't collect action figures....... I have grandkids!

[GB SISSON]

Did the 24 mile round trip to town with the missus. I sit on a bucket seat from an old fj 40 landcruiser and she on a worn out school bus driver's seat alongside. Doors are latched with barrel bolts and rear doors pulled tight with a bungee cord. Body seems real solid since some reinforcement and that 59 replacement block overhaul is strong and quiet with no sign of smoke. The 3 speed trans that truckdog sent me is silky smooth,The 5 lb test (flour sack)adjustable lifters are dialed in, the Bubba's crab is flawless, the Jere Jobe carb perfect, the Drakes ball bearing water pumps and the speedway alt conversion along with the 3rd street garage voltage drops and all new wiring (one piece at a time) by yours truly all have lead to some successful and enjoyable shake down rides. I am running a 15 gallon polyethylene gas tank from tanks inc because try as I may, there was just no way to get the '39 pu tank (that 5140bat sent to me by way of expaver), into position and having a fuel fill. It's a very nice tank and I already have plans for it on my next build. Coming home last evening through the State Park there is a bank alongside the road where all my favorite fords have cast their individual shadows. This time I asked my wife to bust out her phone and get a photo of us whizzing by. Woodie now has both bumpers, grille shell, headlights (for show at this point) registration and Hagerty insurance! Thanks to so many who have made this possible.

[PeteVS]

Nice now that it's all coming together!

[sidevalve8ba]

GB,
I ran across this photo on the Internet the other day and thought you might enjoy seeing it. Seems that it is from Brazil. I don't have any details on it.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by sidevalve8ba

GB,
I ran across this photo on the Internet the other day and thought you might enjoy seeing it. Seems that it is from Brazil. I don't have any details on it.

Thanks Ted, That's a really cool rig. I'll ad it to my collection of woodie trucks.

[GB SISSON]

With a holiday weekend I found some time to install the grille and I have been wiring up the horn too. I now have maybe 250 miles on the overhauled engine just running around this past week. Temps are really warm for the Pacific NW. In the high 80s low 90s, so who needs windows? Speaking of warm temps, I got my roofing material and my J shaped drip rail. Tuesday is supposed to be te hottest day next week so the plan is to stretch it over the top and fasten it down.... Not sure what year my bumpers are. Two different sources, but the same. Not '42-'47 but earlier. They are sort of pinched on the ends. I like them. I also wire wheeled and painted the insides of the front fenders with a brush. They will go on soon.

[38bill]

What material did you end up getting for the roofing?

[mhsprecher]

It is really coming together.

[GB SISSON]

I bought a 10 x 10 piece of 60 mil Firestone EPDM roofing on amazon for 97 bucks. 50 year guarantee. Looks like it will stretch nicely on the rear corners. It came on Friday and I plan to get a couple friends over tomorrow because it will be almost 90 in the afternoon. I also picked up a 'J' metal drip rail from an RV place, aluminum with black powder coat. It is 1 1/8" high and has holes on 6" centers. This was 32 bucks for each 16' section. I found some black #8 x 1" screws on amazon to fasten it with. The long grain vinyl I can find is 2" too narrow for my truck woodie and so I would need two pieces with a seam. Reproduction woodie gutters are something like 600.00 and too short. I will get some photos once it's on. Got my front fenders on today. Ran out of daylight to get the hood back on but that is close. Finally starting to look like a car. Or is it a truck?

[Bill]

Repeat this ten times IT'S A WOODIE! Got it? GOOD...Good luck with the top.. Bill

[flatford8]

Man I can't wait for you to take us all for a ride......Mark

[GB SISSON]

I keep adding parts. Paint job will never win any shows, but My steep 1/2 mile gravel road eats paint and spits it out.

[meric42]

That's awesome

[Chris]

My friend Chris Carter just sent me pictures of your woody today! You got the truck from him, but before that he got it from me! I got it from the North Idaho/WA border area.

I love what you've done!!

Chris

[Chris]

He also got that 1/2 ton panel from me too. I wanted to build it, but it just didn't happen. I got it off a farm right near Eastern Washington University. I love the stars and stripes you can barley see painted on it. It had an old rotted wood door built on the back when I got it. I removed what was left and cleaned it all out. I pictured some hippies living in it haha!

[flatford8]

I think paint looks great. What did you use?....... Mark

[GB SISSON]

That was a great fall, two years ago. I made 4 trips over the North Cascade hiway hauling jailbar trucks from Carter's place. Funny thing I called Chris about this collection he was selling and after a short phone visit we realized that his Dad's brother is married to my wife's younger sister. They live on Vashon Island near Seattle. The pass over the Cascades in that area is very steep and high with lots of wild dropoffs, many without guard rails. One year after these pics were taken I lost the duals off the '92 at 55 mph with a huge load of timbers on board. Lug nuts had backed off. So glad it wasn't on the pass. As for the paint it's krylon rattle cans. The green is their 'dual' (paint and primer in one) and the color is 'camp green' satin. The Yellow trim is called 'whipped apricot' satin. I feel it's pretty close to tacoma cream.

[Sid the Maineiac]

Have truly enjoyed this build and hope you enjoy this vehicle to the max! Great job! Thank you for sharing!

[GB SISSON]

Thank you Sid. Sometimes I think I am far too 'wordy', bringing in stories about relatives and writing a paragraph when a sentence will do. I seriously live in the middle of nowhere and even when somebody DOES drop in, they certainly aren't lovers of vintage fords and flathead V8s. This site as well as FTE have added a great new dimension to my workaday life. Thanks all who have chimed in. GB

[GB SISSON]

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So a couple of friends dropped in this afternoon to help stretch the epdm rubber roof. We used some contact cement in critical areas and I will trim the edges after work tomorrow and start trimming out with the aluminum J shaped drip rail. It went quite well and we had a few beers and christened the vehicle with a bottle of champagne...

[Bill]

Glad it went well. Many hands make light work in this case! Looks like the inmates are runnin' the joint.Was at Wavecrest in Ca. this weekend there were no jailbar woodies present..Bill

[GB SISSON]

One of the guys came back the next day and we made some hand formed copper corners as there was no way the aluminum J metal would go around that compound corner. I sawed them out of heavy sheet stock in a sort of boomerang shape and Tim tapped them into shape with a dome headed hammer on a soft cedar block. They will be painted black. I still need to make and add the strip at the windshield and between the rear corners before final trimming of the rubber.

[Bill]

Looks great from the East Coast! As far as finishing the strip at the rear and also above the windshield the quick simple and cheap fix is upholsterers "Hidem" It attaches with upholsterers tacks which disappear into the folds of the product. About 5/8" wide it is your friend. Get it in black of course! Tuck it underneath your copper corners and your raingutters in front for a professional look. Bob's yer uncle in less than an hour... Send pics for proof of installation.....Bill

[flatford8]

Post #426 is awesome!!..... good friends, a few beers and a new truck that you were able and talented enough to build yourself.
You’re a rich man GB!!!...... Mark

[Chris]

So awesome! I am so happy to see a truck I rescued from going to scrap is now this piece of art. The landowner died and his brothers were selling the "junk" off the land before calling scrappers. I bought that pickup and some other junk haha!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Chris

So awesome! I am so happy to see a truck I rescued from going to scrap is now this piece of art. The landowner died and his brothers were selling the "junk" off the land before calling scrappers. I bought that pickup and some other junk haha!

Thanks and with flatford's suggestion about using epdm rubber roofing we have a great top on this thing. As I stated previously, the Lebarron Bonney correct long grain vinyl is too narrow for my truck version so I would have needed two 10' lengths and a seam for about 500 bucks, but this 60 mil Firestone product in a 10 x 10' sheet was 97 bucks on amazon. I'll get a picture of the difficult rear corners today. For the front steel strap pictured I just picked up some oval head screws to countersink in this afternoon. Then I will bed it in black sikaflex on final install. And Bill, that sounds like the perfect material, but I had to go through the steel roof up front and I already had the stuff I needed. I tend to keep the momentum up while I've got it and don't like waiting for stuff in the mail.

[Bored&Stroked]

I just love this project! Also, as I tend to write/babble more than I should - I do appreciate your longer stories, the character you bring to them, etc.. It is what makes this thread a great one!

Keep after it . . .
B&S

[Mtn Wudy]

Lookin’ extra special good....!!!

[FlatheadTed]

Well done ,a lot of hard work there ,

[jerseyboy]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

I just love this project! Also, as I tend to write/babble more than I should - I do appreciate your longer stories, the character you bring to them, etc.. It is what makes this thread a great one!

Keep after it . . .
B&S

B&S, well said! This is an inspiring thread, and an enjoyable read. Your wagon looks like it rolled off the assembly line.

Keep V-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Once again we have been really busy at work this month. I have managed to get all four doors latched with my modified landcruiser fj 40 door latches. I fabricated some heavy duty striker plates and mortised them into the posts. I will be using '32-'34 pickup dovetails which arrived last week for added support and alignment, though everything works well as is. I also filled some holes in the front clip the easy way. There was a hole for a spotlight, so I installed one I had hanging from a nail on the shop wall. On the opposite cowl there were 2 holes for an antenna so I ordered one up and installed it. I latched the rear barn doors with a very nice '2 point slam latch'. Using any 5/16" square shaft handle it pulls both latch bolts with a twist and since the bolts have a 45 degree angle it can slam shut. It's all surface mount and looks 'commercial' in the desired truck based style. The seats pictured are temporary so I could do some fall cruising. I sort of picture a pair of old school bus driver's seats, up front. I think that's what my passenger seat might be, and a regular school bus bench seat for the back seat. You know the type, dark green with white piping. Ok, it's back down to the workshop.....

[RalphM]

That interior is a work of art!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by RalphM

That interior is a work of art!

Thanks Ralph. The 1/4" baltic birch plywood for interior door panels will be here on Wednesday. Obviously a lot of work and serious head scratching still ahead on windows, but I like a challenge. Kitchen cabinets are far too routine after 40 years of 'em!

[38bill]

Love the warm glow of the interior wood!

[Gary-UK]

I've really enjoyed following this thread, and really love the way the truck has turned out!

Also I saw this for sale over here and thought you might like to see it...

https://www.handh.co.uk/buy/c1949-fo...e-estate/14355

[GB SISSON]

Very cool Gary! Quite similar in a lot of ways to mine. Even the belt line. Also the doors being about 4" above the running boards. I'd love to see a couple of photos of the one in your avatar. Does it remain unrestored? Thanks

[hook00pad]

I've really enjoyed your build thread. I can identify with it quite well, as I helped my brother "restore"? a '46 woodie back in the late 60's which we had rescued out of my Grandad's back yard. It seems that a gentleman owed my grandad Ples a little money on his grocery store tab. My grand parents ran a country strore at Monkey's Eyebrow, Ky. (True story). Grandad took the car for the money owed and it sat in his yard for several years. If I remember correctly, the car only had about 35,000 miles on it and was very intact, even though the roof covering had deteriorated, ruining some of the wood. I think Charley paid Grandad $60 for it.

Didn't do much to it mechanically, except for brakes and tires and such. We sanded and prepped the body metal and Charles did most of the wood repair himself. He eliminated the rear doors making the Woodie a two-door. It turned out pretty nice for a teen ager first attempt, and was painted Corvette Yellow. He was proud of it and drove it to high school some and during the summer of '66. He started to college at UK in the fall so the Woodie went to the chicken house for a several year siesta. A neighbor who was a body man bought it years later to restore, but never did. I never heard where the car wound up.

[hook00pad]

Good Memories!

Charley also acquired a '48 Tudor Super Deluxe parts car about that time and never did anything with it. He wound up giving me the '48, which I have built into a hot rod with an OT engine/drive train.

It's still a work in progress. They're never quite finished, are they.

Al Hook

[GB SISSON]

The baltic birch for interior panels comes in metric sizes and I got 3 mm instead if 6mm which is near the 1/4"I had hoped for so I switched over to some other areas. I have been working on the instrument panel and the directional signal system. I had to fix my gas gauge so I decided to reface all the instruments with a set of stick ons from Macs. Came out pretty well. I had a couple of 'memory mishaps' where I left the push-pull ignition switch on and drained the battery so I installed an idiot light in an existing hole above the switch. Today I fabricated some brackets for rear directional lamps. I had seen a 1926 model T rear lamp and thought it was just what I was seeking for rear directional lamps so I ordered a couple from Snyders. Beautifully made. For the front I ended up making a set of 2 pole socket parking lights, as some I had found on a parts truck were not worth refurbishing. I rebuilt a steering column mounted aftermarket blinker switch that I've had for years and got a flasher from napa. The system tests well, and maybe I will get a chance to install some or all of the components tomorrow. I will get some pics of the system over the weekend. Here's some pics of my altered toyota landcruiser door latches which I had from years ago, and the homemade door strikers and the instrument panel. My plan is to work on all these interior systems through the winter and pull them out as completed and tested components so I can clean up and paint the interior for next summer's excursions. Decent seats and of course glass will be on the list as well.

[Mart]

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Nice work GB.

[flatford8]

Always look forward to reading your posts!!...I see the gauge says the gas tank is full.....Let’s go for a ride!!!!!...... I hope you and your family enjoy the holidays....Mark

[Fordors]

Here is a scan showing dovetail placement, and yes, all of them were above the latch on woodies as compared to below on the steel bodied cars. Kinda makes one wonder if there was a particular reason that was done.
Of course a pocket needs to be routed for the dovetail but in addition a 3/32" deep relief will make it flush mounted. The d/t's on my '32 coupe are screwed into wood B pillars and after 85 years still good and tight.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Fordors

Here is a scan showing dovetail placement, and yes, all of them were above the latch on woodies as compared to below on the steel bodied cars. Kinda makes one wonder if there was a particular reason that was done.
Of course a pocket needs to be routed for the dovetail but in addition a 3/32" deep relief will make it flush mounted. The d/t's on my '32 coupe are screwed into wood B pillars and after 85 years still good and tight.

Thanks Fordors! That's just what I was looking for. It will probably be after the Holidays before I can make a router jig and let them into the door posts, but this gives me a good idea how to place them. The door latching has gone really well, but I know that things tend to sag and get misaligned as the years and miles roll by. The dovetails I bought have an adjustable wedge on the male side and this has to make installation easier.

[jerseyboy]

GB,

Fordor has you covered, but here is an additional view if it helps.



Keep v-8ing and 4-banging!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by jerseyboy

GB,

Fordor has you covered, but here is an additional view if it helps.



Keep v-8ing and 4-banging!

Jerseyboy, There is no such thing as too much information before one plunges a router into a fixed door post..........

[RKS.PA]

GB, at this point for you, it's almost like open heart surgery!!!

Dick.

[GB SISSON]

Open heart surgery was sooo 4 years ago for me. This morning I had a chance to goof off for a while and it's very hard to share this whole thread, so I made this short slideshow.. See if this link brings you to it. https://spark.adobe.com/video/M0ynvLlPj2GCC

[38bill]

Great slide show! Thanks.

[Mart]

Great little slideshow!

Who else said "Woody" out loud at the end? I did.

Mart.

[FlatheadTed]

GB great job ,good movie to Ted

[mhsprecher]

Thanks for taking us along.

[GB SISSON]

The canned music that adobe spark has is sort of lame, but I don't know how to download something I would like. Like I said, if a friend or someone I meet wants to know how I built this thing, I hate to send them to this thread. I personally have had a ball writing all this and visiting with all of you along the way, but if you aren't a ford 'nut', it may be hard to wade through 2 1/2 years of this thread. Just sayin', and thanks for the nice comments. GB

[Graeme / New Zealand]

GB bloody great job! Thanks for posting.

Graeme

[cas3]

great show! that truck is really a work of art to be proud of

[38coop]

You are a true craftsman.

[GB SISSON]

Dang, it's been a long time since I posted (or worked ) on the wagon. We have had a long, dark and damp winter. My shop is not only unheated, but I hate working in there with the garage doors closed. I have done considerable mechanical work on my '47 tonner PU, but I seem to be able to do that type of work without heat. Precise woodwork seems to require some warmth. Well today we got to the mid 60s and I decided to tackle a nagging problem I have needed to attend to before ordering and installing the glass. On the driver's side I did not do a very good job of fairing in the top of the back door. I'm happy with the sweeping curve of the roofline, but the top of that door did not follow the curve. In these photos one can see that there is a step up of about 1/2" when the curve reaches that door. This afternoon after work, I pulled the door and took my Japanese pull-saw and sawed through the tenons, removing the top rail from the door. I replaced it with a piece of maple which I had milled to the proper curve. Hardest part was tennoning in the new piece. I used double biscuits with a star drive lag in the center, all bedded in my favorite polyurethane marine adhesive, 3M's 5200. Now that I have passed this stumbling block I can start the routing for the window channel. I have the channel here along with my new 3 1/4 hp router and I should have all patterns for glass by the weekend. It feels really great to be back to work and inspired to drive ahead. Here's how it looked before and I'll post new pics as I go.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

GB

wow! what more can I say.

Graeme

[FirstGenF2]

Il take cold and damp over hot and damp anyday, does the environment make keeping a woody in good shape difficult?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by FirstGenF2

Il take cold and damp over hot and damp anyday, does the environment make keeping a woody in good shape difficult?

Yeah, I don't do hot and humid very well. As far as the woodie is concerned, the pile of 3" maple planks I started with were kiln dried, which usually means about 6 percent. Anything left out in the atmosphere around here equalizes at about 12 percent. Therefore I had my share of sticking doors and stuff swelling up here and there, but nothing a sharp block plane wouldn't fix. I have settled on some fairly large gaps at the tops of the doors, but all in all it has done quite well. All of my old fords are kept under a roof year round, and unless I get caught out in a squall, I don't need to drive the woodie around in the rain. It only has 2 coats of varnish at this point because Fall set in, but that will be changing soon.

[GB SISSON]

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I have been getting the interior ready for glass. There are a lot of details I had put off in my quest to build a wooden car. Now I feel the need to attend to these details before I get on to the final act. One detail was fender welting. One of the many things I should have done in the proper sequence, but is now in place. The glass and the opening windows has been the latest hurdle. The long rear side windows will be bypassing sliders, the rear passenger doors will have a simple but effective manual lift system to be described later, and the front doors will have roll up windows with regulators from an old fj 40 toyota landcruiser 'jeep'. These have a nicely finished steel plate that contains all the works and fastens to the surface of the door panel, not unlike a Ford woodie. The hardest part to figure out has been how to rout the groove for the front door glass into the front door stile which is curved in two directions. One day it hit me.... Use a division bar as you'd see with a wing vent. This steel track could be set up parallel to the straight track in the rear post. I had already bought 100' of glass run channel, but I needed a track to insert it into to create the division bar. Available 1/2" light steel channel was 3/8" on the inside. Couldn't find any steel channel in 5/8". While at my local hdw store I found KV shelf standards in 16 ga steel that were 1/2" inside. The vent window will be a dummy, but now I won't have to rout a straight groove on a compound curve. I have decided to start at the rear and work my way forward as the difficulty seems to increase. Tonight after work I shimmed out the interior of the rear quarters and the inside of the rear 'barn doors' to finally accept the finished interior panels. Here's a few progress photos. All these fussy details are far less fun than creating the large sections that turn an old pickup into a dream car. Thanks for bearing with me.

[fordy_nine]

Very good info, great problem-solving, good pictures and excellent explanation...I wish I had some of your talent with woodworking..............Bob L

[GB SISSON]

Progress continues. While the doors were off, they got another coat or two of varnish, and then I coated the fixed portions of the body as well. I switched from 'satin' to a 'semi-gloss'. The difference in the amount of shine really brings it around. On Thursday I ordered all the glass, 14 pcs in all. The steering is really great now with the tire repaired, the toe in at 3/16" and the steering box adjusted. Had a great drive today and picked up oysters on the way home.

[Tinker]

Love them rear tires. ohhh ya.... Nice woodie, WOW so nice! You have the best toys and work hard on them.


...but i do love them rear tires too

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Tinker

Love them rear tires. ohhh ya.... Nice woodie, WOW so nice! You have the best toys and work hard on them.


...but i do love them rear tires too

Thanks Tinker. There are some of us here that really like the bias ply, tall/skinny mud and snow tires. Sometimes I think the best part of the tonners is that you get to have 7.50x17s.

[Tinker]

A thing of beauty.

[sidevalve8ba]

GB, you use a lot of varnish in your line of work. Is there a particular brand that your prefer?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by sidevalve8ba

GB, you use a lot of varnish in your line of work. Is there a particular brand that your prefer?

I really like the old fashioned oil based marine spar varnish. I think that's because it stays quite flexible, and I really like the yellowing effect. I recently repaired a door on a beautiful plymouth woodie and it had been finished with 'Epiphanes' brand varnish, so I bought a quart. I think that may be the premier varnish for our wood wagons. As for me, I have always used McCloskeys 'Man o War' varnish. That's what our local hardware store carries. I have been trying to build a true truck woodie and not a show car, something a small shop would have built for a local business. That's why I went with the rather dull satin version of their varnish. Just less bling. As stated I have now succumbed to a bit more gloss with their semi-gloss. I always use a brush and I don't mind that the brush strokes can be seen.

[wga]

GB - Wow, really nice car. The doors are incredible.



Saturday was 'Drive your Woodie Day'. We had about 50 cars in the Monterey
and Carmel, Ca. area. Fun times.

Woodies on the Wharf is next month, you mentioned bringing it down here.

Look forward to seeing the car and meeting you!

[expavr]

Gary
In the photos of the truck the rims look to be a dark color - reddish brown. The photo of the rim and tire by itself is yellow. What is your intention for the final look on the truck? I like the yellow myself. I think it picks up the look of the wood body and gives the truck a more sporty woodie look.
Les

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by expavr

Gary
In the photos of the truck the rims look to be a dark color - reddish brown. The photo of the rim and tire by itself is yellow. What is your intention for the final look on the truck? I like the yellow myself. I think it picks up the look of the wood body and gives the truck a more sporty woodie look.
Les

When I can't decide on a color, I use rustoleum rusty metal primer. Then I can think on it a while. I do love that big ol yellow wheel. As for woodie shows, that might have to wait til I have some more free time on my hands.

[51504bat]

I'm a fan of Washington Blue with Tacoma Cream wheels but that's JMHO

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

I'm a fan of Washington Blue with Tacoma Cream wheels but that's JMHO

That plymouth woodie here on the island is the same shade of green that mine is. I have been thinking maybe mine should be blue. And that would be a blue-gray. In the meantime I have been installing glass and door panels, a couple of horns and a spare tire holder. The horns are REALLY LOUD! The switch grounds out the center post of a ford solenoid to the header....The flooring shown is old fir t&g flooring I had stacked in the attic. This will be painted gray. I fabbed the spare holder from angle and strap. While I had planned on crank up windows in the front doors, I settled on the nylon web strap method with 'belt holes'as used on the back doors for now. I have been swamped with work in the shop and need to get the back seat in by the 7th of July as that's the day of our parade. It is always on a Saturday, either before or after the real 4th. I have a bunch of grandkids arriving back on the island and are expecting to be waving old glory from the windows. Here are some recent pics.

[RalphM]

Very nice GB!
Love to see pictures of the woody in the Fourth of July parade!

[Bill]

Gary, of all the vehicles you've ever owned this one will be the most memorable! Just wait till you take the grandkids for a ride in the parade. They will be sooo excited. It will make the project more than worthwhile. I drove my grandson and two of his buddies to their junior prom last week. They are still raving about it. One of them even asked me"Mr. Dolan is this thing street legal?" Yah right...Bill

[GB SISSON]

I'm excited about the parade! It will sort of be the woodie's 'coming out party', as very few people on the island know about it. Today while in town I got tracked down by a 'barner from Oregon who has two 1934 fords. Fun to share with V8ers from out of town. As for the tacoma cream wheels, it just made more and more sense as I thought about it and had to shoot an extra wheel with my close match 'Valspar whipped apricot satin'. That's what I spray my grill bars and trim with. Dang, it really brings the trim color from just the grill and sends it around the truck. I have a 1/2 can left so I will try to do two wheels tomorrow morning and see if I can get some coming on amazon before the parade. Good call BAT.

[flatford8]

Looks GREAT Gary!!!....from one coast to the other.......Happy Fourth!!....Mark

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Looks GREAT Gary!!!....from one coast to the other.......Happy Fourth!!....Mark

That middle picture makes me want to put a jeep front axle and a transfer case under this thing. 5 on 5 1/2" all the way. Off to the shop to paint the rear floor and some wheels .

[GB SISSON]

What do you guys think? I like it, but there's still a part of me that says 'body color', a green.. This looks nice to me so it will most likely stay. I found some white spray primer so I painted the wheels with that first so the tacoma cream spray would go further. Pretty much down to bolting down the school bus seat in the back. I stole the coon tail off my panel truck's antenna for the parade, just in case somebody along the parade route thinks I'm politically correct.....

[truckdog62563]

If you’re happy, we’re happy, ‘cause only your opinion matters. It looks great, and will be the hit of the parade. Does the village have a gathering place at the end of the parade where the town folk will be able to look at the vehicles up close? You’ll be mobbed with questions and selfies! Stu

[truckdog62563]

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Originally Posted by truckdog62563

You’ll be mobbed with questions and selfies!

Unless! Unless you’ve done such a good job that the townies don’t recognize what they’re looking at. I’d guess there might be other woodies that could be in the parade - you mention above a blue Plymouth. Might it be that your one-of-a-kind-hand-crafted example of the cabinet makers’ art could just blend in with the crowd? Subtle, understated, was I believe your goal. Stu

[RKS.PA]

Gary, happy to hear you got the seat in for the grandkids!!! At the end of the parade, I predict one of two things will happen: 1, the grandkids will hang with you and cause such a commotion that that will bring more spectators over to your masterpiece, or, 2 they will scatter to explore all the other parade related excitement and you will be left to answers question from those truly observant who recognize what a beautiful piece of work they are having the privilege to see!!!

Either way, you can't lose!!!

Dick.

P.S. Hope you'll keep us posted as to how it went....weather, cooling, etc. This is "his/her" public debut...save for your posting here. Does it have a name??

[Sid the Maineiac]

Mr Sisson, a fine looking machine you have crafted! May the observers at the parade realize the talented effort put forth ( but most won't) as to them it will be just a damn nice looking old truck! Enjoy yourself immensely as you truly built this for yourself and savor the sweet taste of success ! Beautiful job !

[rotorwrench]

Now you can enjoy the fruits of your labor for a one off heavy duty station wagon.

[GB SISSON]

There are a few woodie guys who might be in the parade. One guy has three woodies. IIRC he has a 48 plymouth, a buick special (which I've seen, and a packard woodie. I parked my woodie next to the buick woodie and told the owner's wife, who was alone in the passenger seat, that I felt like 'Plain Jane' sitting next to the prom queen. Not that I'd trade straight across. There is the 41 plymouth I rebuilt a door bottom on last spring. It is a very beautifully restored car. As for a get together, I don't think there's anything official. I have not been in the parade for six or seven years now. People with old vehicles often park in town and talk cars for a few hours. I have a plywood board with about 6 progress photos as the woodie emerged from a pickup, as many people have a hard time envisioning it as an old derelict pickup. When my kids were young, we would sometimes have a few antique tractors driven by the kids, my 38 tonner and a trailer with a bunch of hit and miss engines. With so much to keep running, it was like being the ringmaster at a three ring circus. Parade morning was very stressful back then. I'll bring my camera. And many thanks for the kind replies I have received here!

[VeryTangled]

GB Sisson, Thanks very much for letting us enjoy from this end!

Before and after...

[B-O-B]

SIREEEN?? Gary You need a siren on that beauty.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by B-O-B

SIREEEN?? Gary You need a siren on that beauty.

Like this one on the fender? I still have it, and i remember that on 12 volts it sounded like it was gonna achieve 30,000 rpms so I just ran it on short bursts. The little guy to the right of the spare tire is 24 now and works for me in the woodshop, the redhead girl on the running board is my co-pilot in the parade as my wife has to work on Saturdays..... I think there was a song or an album entitled 'the kids are allright' and that's how it is here. In the 80s I asked a friend's 8 year old kid to come along with us in the parade and be my 'siren man'. He is now brass in our full time fire department. OK, I'll dig out the siren.

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

What do you guys think? I like it, but there's still a part of me that says 'body color', a green.. This looks nice to me so it will most likely stay. I found some white spray primer so I painted the wheels with that first so the tacoma cream spray would go further. Pretty much down to bolting down the school bus seat in the back. I stole the coon tail off my panel truck's antenna for the parade, just in case somebody along the parade route thinks I'm politically correct.....

Pick the right shade of green and tell everyone it was a former Forest Service or Park Service special order superintendent's staff car.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Pick the right shade of green and tell everyone it was a former Forest Service or Park Service special order superintendent's staff car.

And my fuel tank access cover might further convince them....

[cas3]

what a great story this has been from start to finish! nice rig GB, it'l give you years of happiness i'm sure

[burnette]

turned out nice gary ! have fun at the parade ,don,t forget to take pictures.

[GB SISSON]

Great weather and a grand time was had by all. I whittled out a small wooden microphone for Woodie with a cord going down to the bumper mounted boombox. My son in law helped me program a 4 song playlist on the ipod. The Highwaymen, Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr and Johnny Cash were all covered by Woodie. The volume was at 10 and the crowd loved it. The kids (and adults) riding along had an absolute blast!

[expavr]

Gary
Nothing better than a 4th of July Parade to celebrate the woodies debut!!! And the frosting on the cake are the smiles on the faces of your grandkids.....
Les

[flatford8]

Your music playlist is four of my favorites!!!......which “kid” is having the most fun???.....I’m betting the driver!!!......Looks great!!....Mark

[Bill]

I told ya the kids wood really enjoy your wagon in the parade!! Do Hank Jr. and Johnny cash do great harmony on Surfin' USA? I can hear them now..Gotta 46 Ford and We call it a Woodie, Orcas Island here we come, Not very cherry it's an oldie but a goodie.... May it never end! Bill

[GB SISSON]

Us Seattle natives were never much into the surf culture. The music was popular here though. Many Orcas Islanders are SoCal transplants and I had numerous offers of surf boards to haul in the parade. If I were gonna put something on the roof it would be an ancient wooden extension ladder or something else related to the trades. Before the surfers bought all the old used up woodies, they made a good cheap work vehicle.

[mhsprecher]

Wonderful way to debut it. You have accomplished a lot with this one.

[GB SISSON]

thanks. I got a close up of Woodie before I take him and his microphone off the hood for everyday driving.

[DocJohn]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

What do you guys think? I like it, but there's still a part of me that says 'body color', a green.. This looks nice to me so it will most likely stay. I found some white spray primer so I painted the wheels with that first so the tacoma cream spray would go further.

I think that it is fabulous! As you said in my thread, the way you've done the rear is very similar to my UK built Pilot Woodie.

[GB SISSON]

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Thank you Doctor!

[GB SISSON]

Hello again! I miss the excitement of building the woodie. All the stuff to figure out and to source, just the mental exercise in general. I have only taken her to the mainland once but have now managed to rack up in excess of 1000 miles on the island. On the interstate I managed a top speed of 66 mph as verified by my speedometer app on my phone. It was a hot day and I was pushing it for standard pickup gearing, and it belched out a bunch of coolant, but I added some and kept it just below 60 for the next half hour and it was fine. I added the correct shroud and fine since. The good driving days for a woodie are coming to an end later this fall, but I'll be heading into town after a couple of shop hours building regular woodwork for customers. There are only 3 coats of spar varnish on the wood and I'm hoping to get a fourth with our dry Fall weather we are experiencing. There are some winter projects here for sure, such as finding matching front seats and getting them in for a recover. Currently it's a landcruiser seat for me and some unknown vintage bucket seat for Ma. Fortunately, the gorrilla tape upholstery has help up well for the summer. Here's a shot in Anacortes Wa. from that mainland trip.

[VeryTangled]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Here's a shot in Anacortes Wa. from that mainland trip.

Drive on GB, drive on! You inspire us with your skills.

[47panel]

Beautiful job !!!
Your parts supply makes me envious as I have a 47 panel (late model running gear 300/6, C6,9 inch, power discs on orig. axle)
My truck is pretty complete just needs paint -
Love your dedication to the wedge cabs !
GO (in Phx,AZ - a little dryer,hotter and one hell of a lot less trees!)

[Tinker]

Very cool stuff. SOOO NICE!



One of my favorite pictures from this thread. Quite the craftsmanship.

[GB SISSON]

Had a nice dry day yesterday, so I busted it out of the garage for a spin. It's time for a heater though. I have a nice three door example to install for a winter project. Like I mentioned previously, this was a blast building this thing!

[hook00pad]

I love the Woody. This has been a great thread.

Keep on Truckin'

Al Hook

[38bill]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Us Seattle natives were never much into the surf culture. The music was popular here though. Many Orcas Islanders are SoCal transplants and I had numerous offers of surf boards to haul in the parade. If I were gonna put something on the roof it would be an ancient wooden extension ladder or something else related to the trades. Before the surfers bought all the old used up woodies, they made a good cheap work vehicle.

Around here it would be a cedar strip wooden canoe on top of the woody. Say..... there's another project for you.

[GB SISSON]

This showed up beside the road about a mile from here last summer. Nobody has touched it since it appeared. Rain and leaves falling into the open hatch way. I have resisted the urge to call the property owners, at least until last week. I got their son's phone number, but I'm afraid to call because he might say it's available. I have brought back a 32 footer that I paid a hundred bucks for and later a 26 footer that I got for free. At 23 years old we lived on the 26 footer (built 1930) and that's how we discovered the islands up here. Oh, and "somebody stop me!"

[VeryTangled]

Sweet Fancy Moses, son, you are disturbed. I vote for driving around that place for a while, and burning the phone number. But what fun is that! Full speed ahead! Experiences vs. mementos. A bigger fool paid to have it hauled there.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by VeryTangled

Sweet Fancy Moses, son, you are disturbed. I vote for driving around that place for a while, and burning the phone number. But what fun is that! Full speed ahead! Experiences vs. mementos. A bigger fool paid to have it hauled there.

Thanks Jeff, I needed that. Actually a boat may eventually be in the works. My son, my employee and I are talking about going 3rds on a 14' aluminum skiff with about a 20 hp and trailer. And not a fixer-upper either!

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Thanks Jeff, I needed that. Actually a boat may eventually be in the works. My son, my employee and I are talking about going 3rds on a 14' aluminum skiff with about a 20 hp and trailer. And not a fixer-upper either!

This line from Jaws comes to mind: "I think we need a bigger boat"

[flatford8]

You?????.....in an ALUMINUM boat!?!?!?.......Mark

[38bill]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

This line from Jaws comes to mind: "I think we need a bigger boat"

For what its worth I don't like a 14' boat. On our lakes a 14' tends to plow right into the next wave. 16' seems to reach the next wave much better and will usually run just as fast as the 14' using the same size motor and sim hull design. Anyway you may need the extra room if all three of you want to go out at the same time.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

For what its worth I don't like a 14' boat. On our lakes a 14' tends to plow right into the next wave. 16' seems to reach the next wave much better and will usually run just as fast as the 14' using the same size motor and sim hull design. Anyway you may need the extra room if all three of you want to go out at the same time.

Thanks Bill. I have never owned or ridden much in any aluminum boat. That makes sense to me though. I really do enjoy being a ford v8 enthusiast, so a maintenance free generic boat allows me more time to fiddle with (finish) my trucks, and still get some fresh seafood after work.

[GB SISSON]

Well, I am on my third social security check, was med-evac'd off the island by helicopter with a heart attack 3 weeks ago. I'm ok, but have an all new diet that I'm still getting used to. This afternoon my wife and I just got back from a trip to town in the woodie. I bet we have 1500 trouble free miles on it now. I wanted to share some recent work and a few upgrades since I last posted. About a year ago I installed all the glass except for the much needed new windshield. The glass is raised and lowered with a black nylon strap or lanyard screwed to a saw-kerfed maple strip glued to the bottom of the door glass. There is a short piece of 1/4" steel rod, angled slightly downward to hook the lanyard onto. Holes were melted through at intervals by a red hot chainsaw file. The first holes I melted were to hold the glass about 1/3rd of the way down so when we were in town with our dog, she could get good ventilation and not escape. Since then I have burned a few more holes in between. The long rear windows are sliders and in felt lined channel as are the door glass. Last April the mis-matched front seats were replaced with a very nice pair of re-upholstered '64 vw bug low back buckets, and seat belts from Napa. The seats were found in this condition at the annual Portland Or. swap meet. After that I installed a cool, period aftermarket heater that also came from Portland. I still only have about 3 coats of varnish on the body so it has yet to be exposed to rain. The heart attack thing set my fall schedule back a couple of weeks so I might not get those other 3 coats on til spring, but it's safe and secure in the shed when winter roars back into the islands. Winter's projects include floor and firewall sound-proofing, along with a front floor mat. Who makes a good one for a pickup? All in all a great success and that 3M 5200 marine polyurethane adhesive, along with the baltic birch plywood splines in the wood joints, finalized with the hardened star drive 1/4" lags, many of them 6" or more long buried in the joints makes for a tough and resilient intersection on the door and body joinery. I'm glad I made the effort to build this thing. I had thought about doing so for many years, and the events at the end of August made me rethink some of my goals. The way they fixed me up at the hospital was not the ideal, as I had burned up much of my earlier options by not sticking with the guidelines given to me 5 years ago with a triple bypass from a previous event. At 66 with an awesome wife and 4 grandchildren, I endeavor to make this repair hold. OK, enough of that, here's some photos I took today after our town visit.

[Fordors]

Good to hear from you again, I have followed this project from the beginning and I think the look is perfect. Listen to the doctor this time, your family needs you and you should stick around to enjoy the truck after all your hard work.

[51504bat]

Glad you're on the mend. I got the mat for my '39 P/U from Joe's Antique Auto in Mass. I was a Carpenter mat IIRC. Mine came without holes so I could cut them to config to the '39 which is just a bit different from the '40 and up cabs.

[Mart]

Wow. GB, glad you are getting better. The truck looks great and with all the little jobs you're doing it just gets better and better. The terms you are using proves to me that only a highly experienced wood worker could have pulled this one off.

Mart.

[flatford8]

Gary....great to hear from you!!!!......glad you are feeling better.....I had my first heart event twenty years ago....#2 was two and a half years ago.....I definitely learned you gotta toe the line and try to follow the rules as best you can....I’m retiring in one year, four months and eight days....one of my first things to do is take a ride over there to the other coast and say hello and shake your hand....and go for a ride in that Woody.....winter is on the way here too.....the older I get the less I tolerate it.....take care......Mark

[truckdog62563]

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The others have said it, Gary. Glad they got you off the island to treatment, and glad your tune up set things right. Glad you’ve gotten details pulled together on the wagon, and hope you can get more enjoyment out of it before the weather turns. Stu

[flatford8]

I forgot to ask..... what’s the cord hanging down in the middle of the cab?....in pic #1...looks like an air horn......Mark

[cas3]

that truck is just too cool! stay well my friend, best wishes

[51504bat]

GB,
Check out this link over on the HAMB for some more wood inspiration!
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...-show.1165713/

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

GB,
Check out this link over on the HAMB for some more wood inspiration!
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...-show.1165713/

Thanks! That was an enjoyable 'trip' to Wavecrest for a Sunday morning. And a big thanks to ALL my friends who have responded to this post. I am planning to build an engine this winter that would replace the 221 cu in currently installed. Last year I bought a std size 4" merc crank. Had it ground recently and I have a choice of a few 239 blocks here that show no visible cracks (even with my 3.0 power reading glasses on and a halogen light to help). I will let the machine shop make the final determination. This should satisfy my urge for another project, at least for a while.

[A bones]

Nice to hear from you. Glad you weathered the 'storm'. The pictures are enviable. Here's hoping we all have an easy winter. I have a full slate come spring.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

I forgot to ask..... what’s the cord hanging down in the middle of the cab?....in pic #1...looks like an air horn......Mark

I have dual horns about 20" long mounted to the passenger side of the engine. I have a typical flathead era starter solenoid as a horn relay. As we know, the solenoid is activated when the small terminal is grounded. I ran a wire off the small terminal up inside the pillar and made a spring loaded wooden rocker switch with a bare wire on the forward end. Pull the rope and the bare wire hits a spot on the windshield header where I sanded the paint off. HONNNNNNK!!!!

[Mike..Yorba Linda]

That turned out great. Well done from a fellow carpenter....

[38bill]

Gary, Glad your OK! I'm not a MD but I prescribe less work and more fishing.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

Gary, Glad your OK! I'm not a MD but I prescribe less work and more fishing.

Gonna pull the boat out this weekend, but I like your advice for the coming year!!!! And thanks to all my friends here. Funny thing about this internet stuff. You guys really ARE my friends.

[RalphM]

Glad to hear your ok! And the woodie is looking much nicer!
Take care of yourself.

[cmbrucew]

Gary
Now is a chance to spend more time with the grandkids. Show them some about wood work and truck maintenance. Pick and choose which jobs you take on, and enjoy life.
Bruce

[mhsprecher]

Truck does look great. Glad you are doing okay. Follow the rules, less stress and have more fun. You live in a beautiful spot, btw. That has to help.

[RKS.PA]

Hi, Gary! Hopefully the stress of all that commercial woodworking in your shop has slowed down and current woodworking is on your "fun"projects. Also, seem to remember your lovely wife is an RN....that can't hurt!!!

Get your strength back and be well!! So good to see you back here on the barn.

P.S. take is easy pulling the boat....maybe have on of your friends do it for you!!!

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by RKS.PA

Hi, Gary! Hopefully the stress of all that commercial woodworking in your shop has slowed down and current woodworking is on your "fun"projects. Also, seem to remember your lovely wife is an RN....that can't hurt!!!

Get your strength back and be well!! So good to see you back here on the barn.

P.S. take is easy pulling the boat....maybe have on of your friends do it for you!!!

And she can weld to boot!

[GB SISSON]

Things still going well! Having a wet fall in the Pacific NW, but driving the woodie plenty when it's sunny. The heart healthy food is boring, but my blood pressure is really good now and I have lost 15 lbs in six weeks! Huffing and puffing all the way. Just like my 221 cu in raised deck replacement block flathead coming up Mt Pickett on the way home from town. Can't wait to find the time this winter to do the 8ba with merc crank. Can you spell 255?

[Bill]

Am I the only one that noticed the strategically located period correct bottle opener on page 27, post 521, pic#4, Sept 21? Surely an after market add on! You finally found a use for it..Everyone turn back a page. Bill

[Zeke3]

Gary, keep up the good work. I am also on that diet for the last five years and have gotten used to it. Also, keep up with your exercise.

I saw that also, the bottle opener. It beats breaking the top of the bottle off on the door latch.

['36 5W]

You two are likely the only ones to catch the bottle opener on
the left door!
Ok Gary; explain to us near-sighted coots the scenario that calls for that strategic location.
(Glad to see you are getting back on track in the health dept.)

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by '36 5W

You two are likely the only ones to catch the bottle opener on
the left door!
Ok Gary; explain to us near-sighted coots the scenario that calls for that strategic location.
(Glad to see you are getting back on track in the health dept.)

Well, I have a half mile of dirt road off the county road to get to my driveway. This dirt road is owned by the landowners on Pickett's Lane and I'm the only one who maintains it. (1974 Oliver/White construction tractor). Driving home from town, all six bottles are in the six pack until I hit the turn-off. Then I check the mail box and occasionally I will relieve a beer bottle of it's cap with this device......

[51504bat]

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Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Well, I have a half mile of dirt road off the county road to get to my driveway. This dirt road is owned by the landowners on Pickett's Lane and I'm the only one who maintains it. (1974 Oliver/White construction tractor). Driving home from town, all six bottles are in the six pack until I hit the turn-off. Then I check the mail box and occasionally I will relieve a beer bottle of it's cap with this device......

Sounds like you're drinking some of the good local craft beer that needs an opener, not the mass market twist off cap variety!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Sounds like you're drinking some of the good local craft beer that needs an opener, not the mass market twist off cap variety!

Well, you know now that I'm a woodie guy......

[GB SISSON]

We are getting deep into spring here. With the change in the weather I'm going to get perhaps 3 more coats of varnish on in the next few weeks. My diesel conversion is winding down on my tonner pickup and the woodie calls from it's winter resting shed. I don't think I mentioned that as much as I LOVE the look of the 6.50 16 bias tires, I grew tired of the wandering. I replaced them with excellent used 215 85r 16s that have been very common on dually pickups. They are tall and skinny and if I recall, I got 4 pretty much as new at a roadside used tire lot for 125.00. The difference in ride, steering and handling is like night and day. I installed them with the old manual tire changer I got at the Portland swap meet last year. I never balance, but hey, what a difference.

[tubman]

Been there, done that, got the "T"-shirt. Amazing improvement, ain't it?

And you should try balancing them! (Quality tires are usually close, though)

[GB SISSON]

Really, a guy could build a balancer with a cone on a nail and set weights here and there til it lays flat and then pound them on. Maybe I'll do it after lunch tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong?

[Mart]

Deleted. sorry read the tyre size wrong.

[tubman]

I bought a cheap bubble balancer from Northern Tool. After I used it a couple of times, some little sheet metal screws came loose and it fell apart. I fixed it by drilling the holes out, taping them, and using machine screws. Ever since then it has worked fine and I don't have to go to the tire shop anymore. $6 a tire for balancing plus fixed charges for shop supplies and disposal fees. Then there's the long wait because they really don't want to work with tires that they haven't sold.

Your method will probably work fine, too.

[51504bat]

Maybe time for another build?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Maybe time for another build?

I think it might be YOUR turn. That is one Looooong car! Gotta be a straight 8 or something under that snout! What is that?

[51504bat]

From a posting on the HAMB:


This 8 door 1940 La Salle woodie originally served at Meadow Brook Hall and was used to take staff to town on their days off and to drive guests around the estate. It was donated in 1950 to the Pontiac Boys Club and eventually was obtained by the present owner, who resides in California.

Meadow Brook Hall is a mansion in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

From a posting on the HAMB:


This 8 door 1940 La Salle woodie originally served at Meadow Brook Hall and was used to take staff to town on their days off and to drive guests around the estate. It was donated in 1950 to the Pontiac Boys Club and eventually was obtained by the present owner, who resides in California.

Meadow Brook Hall is a mansion in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

I gotta think that down in Cali, even a long board would look short on that roof. The staff from that estate were rollin' High Style on their outing into town, and good thing they had a chauffer on the ride home.

[cas3]

Must have had a truck driver who knew to take turns WIDE ! or else it would have been crashed at some point in its life

[GB SISSON]

So on Saturday I took a friend back to the ferry in the woodie and we were a bit late so we did 55 on a couple of straightaways. Been running GREAT! Well I stopped in town before returning home and ol' Woodie wouldn't start back up. One solenoid click then nuttin'..... I'm hanging over the fenders cleaning connections with nothing but a pair of needle nose vicegrips.I have a toolbag I 'always' take with me', but I won't forget it again. I added a couple strips of sandpaper to it's contents too. Six volt or 12 volt, the stuff has to be clean..... Just a reminder to bring a few tools! Nice that good weather is returning!

[dlyle]

Always satisfying when you can fix it so no tow is needed.

[petehoovie]

GB manning his finishing saw for those delicate cuts....

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

So on Saturday I took a friend back to the ferry in the woodie and we were a bit late so we did 55 on a couple of straightaways. Been running GREAT! Well I stopped in town before returning home and ol' Woodie wouldn't start back up. One solenoid click then nuttin'..... I'm hanging over the fenders cleaning connections with nothing but a pair of needle nose vicegrips.I have a toolbag I 'always' take with me', but I won't forget it again. I added a couple strips of sandpaper to it's contents too. Six volt or 12 volt, the stuff has to be clean..... Just a reminder to bring a few tools! Nice that good weather is returning!

Maybe just the starter was stuck? I guess you tried the old put in 3rd gear and rock it back and forth to see if it popped loose?

[RKS.PA]

So, Gary, was the problem the grounds and once you cleaned them up, the Woodie fired right up??

[GB SISSON]

Actually the battery terminals and connections to the solenoid were gray and fuzzy. The kind of stuff I sort of expect with an old beater on six volts....The stuff we never addressed as kids with a 200.00 flathead truck, BUT, I have been all through this and re-wired everything a few years back, and 12 volt gm alt... ....still We have to keep these terminals clean. My suburban is a '99 and so it's 22 years old. I don't have to clean the battery terminals so I can get home from town. It's fine though. Any geek can drive a suburban and get home. . What I wonder about is that special grease on electrical connectiions, our dads used vaseline. Like a di-electric thing? What is that?

[GB SISSON]

Our 'July 4th' celebration and parade is always on a Saturday. I fine time was had by all. We had a great loop of old country music on a powerful boombox on the front bumper... Disney's Woody figure sittin'n on the grille and we all went for lunch after the parade. Don't get much better than that in my book. The woody has been performing admirably lately but I still plan to build a 255 8ba this winter and maybe with a 4 speed crash box behind it. Will I need to do driveshaft modifications to go from a 3 speed to a four speed in a '47 pickup?

[Bill]

That picture is and will be priceless and timeless! happy July 4th! Bill.

[flatford8]

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Happy Fourth Gary, to you and your family!......that’s a great picture with the truck and grand kids!!......hope you all are well.....Mark from way over here

[burnette]

nice gary !

[deuce5wndw]

Great photo! Happy 4th

[RKS.PA]

Gary, you're building memories in those beautiful grandchildren!!! Don't get no better!!

[Will D]

That's great Gary! Nice job on the woody. To answer your question in #563, both Vaseline and dielectric grease can work to prevent corrosion by not allowing water and oxygen to come in contact. The big difference between them is that Vaseline is petroleum based and IS conductive, dielectric grease is silicone based and NOT conductive. Vaseline may actually improve your connection as well as prevent corrosion but it is combustible and can degrade both plastic and rubber over time.

[GB SISSON]

Thank you all! And a happy Fourth to all my Barner friends!

[sugarmaker]

Gary,
Awesome truck you have! Wonderful picture with the grandkids too. Happy Fourth!
May try to go back and read your thread at some point too! WOW!
Regards,
Chris

[cas3]

Happy 4th GB, great lookin kids, and the woody too

[Alecwhankins]

Looks fantastic, well done!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Will D

That's great Gary! Nice job on the woody. To answer your question in #563, both Vaseline and dielectric grease can work to prevent corrosion by not allowing water and oxygen to come in contact. The big difference between them is that Vaseline is petroleum based and IS conductive, dielectric grease is silicone based and NOT conductive. Vaseline may actually improve your connection as well as prevent corrosion but it is combustible and can degrade both plastic and rubber over time.

Hey Will, I was doing a bit of work on the woodie this afternoon and noticed for the first time in a long time that all the connections around the battery terminals that used to turn gray have now remained bright and the starts are quick and easy. The use of dielectric grease has made a difference with all the jailbar fleet. Our famous damp and rainey winters here in the Pacific Northwest have been known to raise havoc with connections and unheated sheds are not ideal, but keeping a wood burning stove goin' all winter is hard enough in the house and woodshop, never mind in the truckbarn. Happy winter to all and bust out the tube of dielectric grease when you tuck your vehicles in for the winter!

[cas3]

That sure is a great picture GB, the kids and the coolest jail bar on the planet. Carry on

[PeteVS]

In ‘66, Dad bought a new Buick. When he brought it home, I smeared the battery terminals with Sears chassis grease. (RIP the grease but not Sears.) Six years later the battery died. A pair of pliers had the spring ring terminals off in no time, a new Delco battery went in and the Buick was up and running.

[GB SISSON]

Gosh, Time sure flies by. Another Fourth, another parade, another great visit with the grandkids. Woodie has been running great, but ready for another coat of varnish on the maple and maybe a little more paint on the sheet metal here and there.

[sugarmaker]

GB,
Awesome pictures! Enjoy those grandbabies!
Truck still looking good!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Gosh, Time sure flies by. Another Fourth, another parade, another great visit with the grandkids. Woodie has been running great, but ready for another coat of varnish on the maple and maybe a little more paint on the sheet metal here and there.