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wood imatation


Guest dutchbuick

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Guest dutchbuick

Hello I've got a 1954 chevrolet tin woody i want to know what type of wood they ten imatated on these cars or what type of wood is commonly used on real woodys.

John

Edited by dutchbuick (see edit history)
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Hello I've got a 1954 chevrolet tin woody i want to know what type of wood the ten imatated on these cars or what type of wod is commonly used on real woodys.

John

I don't know about other makes but Ford wagons used maple for the structural members, basswood for the roof slats and mahogany or gum plywood for the panels. I don't know how the factory applied the finish to the tin woodies but I have seen several that have been professionally wood grained and they look great but it is very expensive!

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I doubt very much that any woodie was originally done with "bird's eye maple". Very expensive, even back in the day, and difficult to work with. Very likely there was little if any attention paid to matching grain or the like. After all, woodies were built as utilitarian vehicles, not top of the line show pieces. I suspect what some are calling "bird's eye maple" is just run of the mill unsorted lumber. Restore a woodie or two and you will understand that quality was not the builders' primary concern. Doubt me? Visit and I will show you original Buick and Olds wood with defects, sloppy assembly line repairs and obvious mis-cuts. Nothing much prettier than an over restored woodie but over restored they are.

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dutchbuick, not sure GM ever did wood grain on the 54 chevy wagon from the factory but alot of people have added it (I have never seen a factory picture of one). I have a website that has a lot of pictures of Tin woodies and detail shots of how others have painted the wood on.

Public Home | Boones | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. then look for the Longroof folder. or maybe the link below will work.

Longroofs - woodies and wagons | Boones | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. then look under GM wagons

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Guest plymouthwoody

Chevrolet Townsman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Townsman name was first used in 1953 on the 210 series four-door station wagon. For 1954, the name was shifted to the luxury Bel Air series station wagon, which featured Di-Noc woodgrain paneling. In both years.

A Picture Review of the Chevrolet from1947-1958

Several pictures of 54's here, and a couple look like original paint to me.

You will like this... A 1954 Chevrolet Townsman Station Wagon With Bel Air Trim

http://www.54classicchevy.com/1954-chevrolet-station-wagons.html

Restorer 32: Its a painted tin woodie, not real wood.

It looks to me like they had painted panels in 54, but use some of the terms on these pages and do your own research. All I know about it is what these pages say.

Edited by plymouthwoody (see edit history)
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Guest Rob McDonald

BOONES, you've created a helpful resource for studying station wagons! Your Dodge woodie album is particularly useful, in showing how these cars decay. It gives would-be owners a realistic heads-up on the prospects of restoring one. I'm send you some photos of a barn-find Buick wagon that you might add to your GM woodie gallery.

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I doubt very much that any woodie was originally done with "bird's eye maple". Very expensive, even back in the day, and difficult to work with. Very likely there was little if any attention paid to matching grain or the like. After all, woodies were built as utilitarian vehicles, not top of the line show pieces. I suspect what some are calling "bird's eye maple" is just run of the mill unsorted lumber. Restore a woodie or two and you will understand that quality was not the builders' primary concern. Doubt me? Visit and I will show you original Buick and Olds wood with defects, sloppy assembly line repairs and obvious mis-cuts. Nothing much prettier than an over restored woodie but over restored they are.

Some woodies were top of the line show pieces. The Town and Country from 1941-50 were examples of very fine wood craftsmanship. All fit up was near perfect when the cars were new.

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Guest Rob McDonald

This could be a myth but I read it long ago in Woodie Times: when the Ford station wagon plant was in high production in the late '30s, the guys on the line would put aside the really nice figured maple framing pieces that came from the fabricating shop. (MYTH ALERT - I've generally understood that Ford used ash framing, like most other car body builders.)

Anyway, the story goes that when they got enough pieces of matching birds-eye or ribbon grain or curly maple, they would assemble a whole body with it. After these bodies were fitted to a chassis, the cars would be plucked off the line and Ford executives were given them as company cars. It's a nice tale, anyhow.

By the way, birds-eye maple veneer is indeed a bugger to work with but, as solid stock, it's pretty stable.

"Quilted" is another type of figured maple

post-59990-143139271304_thumb.jpg

Edited by Rob McDonald
because it's just so pretty (see edit history)
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  • 2 months later...

Rob, thanks for the complement. I have tried to document the Dodges since mine was original and at the time Charles Furman was restoring his beautiful version.

I also try to photograph any woodie or wagon I see as I am found of both.

Here are some close up of painted woodgrain on 49-54 wagons

49C_burg04-vi.jpg

IMG_5601-vi.jpg

IMG_5854-vi.jpg

51Ctinwood3-vi.jpg

WCN05510-vi.jpg

WCN05512-vi.jpg

IMG_5702-vi.jpg

53Cgrnwud2-vi.jpg

54Con20s4-vi.jpg

Edited by boones (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...

On the 54 Townsman/ Bel Air (three row seating and sliding qtr windows) may have had Di Noc, but I think it was only use on the insets with the raised areas painted. I do not believe the entire rear like some of those above were done. If someone has a picture of a factory 54 with the entire tailgate and beltline woodgrained I would love to see it.

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