Jeez-Louise! Replacing structural wood with metal

[southfork]

I was driving behind a car trailer today that had an unrestored 1940's Ford woody on it, and thought seriously about the heresy of replacing structural body wood with metal: Even though the towing pickup (which was pulling the trailer slowly through town) was going quite slow and gentle, at every little bump in the road the Woody body would almost pull itself apart. The body's structural uprights would describe an arc one way from vertical and then describe an arc the other way from vertical.

Since I am getting ready to do a late '31 Ford deluxe delivery (made in early 1932), I am considering forgetting about the expensive body structural wood kit, and going to fabbing my own metal structure, with wood used only for attaching the interior to. How can wood and a few brackets be expected to hold a tall body square anyway? It just doesn't seem logical. Any thoughts? I haven't committed the heresy yet, so don't just tell me to go to the HAMB forum.

[Torchie]

So you say that it was unrestored. Does that mean a sound but original car or a termite infested wreck?
Yes wood bodied cars do flex. So do wooden boats. Should they flex to the point of distortion. Most likely not. But if they didn't flex they would crack and then there would be real problems. As for the wood framing keeping the body square wait till you go to install new wood or steel. There will be alot of tweaking envolved. After all the car is 82 years old.
As far as replacing your wood with steel, that's your choice to make.
Torchie.

[ford38v8]

You already know the obvious reasons why your Delivery shouldn't be done with metal instead of hardwood, so I'll just remind you of the monetary reasons why you should stay with wood:

The restoration will be easier and faster. Time is money.
The wood kits are cut to shape, metal must be formed and fabricated to a pattern piece. Got all the original wood? Again, time is money, and ruined metal pieces cost money too.
Aren't the structural members visible in a Delivery? Consider the resale value down the toilet.

[39wdy]

With all due respect, I'd like to provide my two cents worth. My first Woodie restoration was a 39 with some of the same characteristics you are describing in the vehicle you observed being trailered down the road. As I carefully disassembled the wood pieces I was able to save a right or left hand side piece as a pattern despite the fact that some of the pieces turned to powder. I was not so lucky on the metal as I removed the rocker panels, running boards, and most of the floor without the benefit of tools, just pulling at the lacy rust with my hands. The chassis side rails and kickups over the rear axle were not much better and required extensive repair work. All in all the wood far outdid the metal in maintaining its integrity, but I live in the Northeast, maybe your situation is different. Best wishes, Toby

[rotorwrench]

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For the first 20 years of the helicopter, the main rotor blades were primarilly made from wood with a fiberglass fabric covering and a nickel steel leading edge abrasion strip. The wood is excellent structurally since it will flex with little or no fatigue and with proper care and maintenance can last a very long time. Some of those old wood blades are still out there flying regularly. The only draw back on the use of wood for rotor blades was the fact that they have a tendency to absorb moisture. This made them hard to keep in perfect balance.

Relating to wood boats or wood bodied cars is the fact that you have to maintain them more carefully than any steel body or aluminum hull to keep them looking nice. It does take a lot of carefull operation and maintenance but the flexibility and long fatigue life of wood can not be beat.