Late 1929 Pontiac Restoration Help

[Guest jumbodog]

I am restoring a well preserved original late 1929 Pontiac 4dr sedan (titled as '29, but similar to '30).Garaged all its life, last on road in 1955 when fuel pump went bad. No rust, turns over,everything is there and in place. My problem is, the previous owner tried to replace alot of critical wood that was dryrotted and was a lousy carpenter at best.I have purchased a nice pair of replacement front hinge pillars and a pair of side roof rails. I am an accomplished woodworker and car restorer, but never the two together. I plan to make new center posts. I have a Fisher Body Service Manual as a guide, but am missing alot of info. Can anyone offer guidance for the easiest removal of the homemade pillar posts and top rails and replacing them with the new in a way that I don't fumble thru it 6 times? Any suggestions for where to find dimensions, or patterns, or further info to help me reconstruct all of the missing top wood framework (crown roof rails, roof bows, strainers, etc)? Any and all help appreciated, I am anxious to save this '29 beauty. Thanks, Steve

[Guest kmankmc]

you can contact the pontiac oakland club international or poci and they can refer you to the right person who can give you all the info you need

[Guest kmankmc]

you can also obtain a fischer closed body manual that shows exacly what the wood pieces look like but no dimensions i had the same problem when i restored my 29 coupe trial and error until it fits perfect and a lot of scrap pieces left over but what i tried that really works is a computer and drafting software and taking a lot of dimensions and drawing them in the computer then printing full scale drawings on a plot printer so i have a templete to go by

[Guest kmankmc]

the thing to remember about these beauties is the woodwork done in these auto's were by european wood craftman as american wood worker's were unable to do the quality work that these men could perform and it was a art that has been lost so take your time be slow and choose the right wood you might wonder why most of the wood kits for chev or ford buick use fir or pine then in about five years they are dry rotted then you ask why after 50 years some of the original wood is still like new the wood choosen is the answer so do your research and make sure you soak it good in a sealer before installing in auto so to last a life time and then yearly reseal the entire wood and keep the car garaged and remember to seal the under side of the car with undercoating to seal all the wood joints and floor to keep water out and try stainless steel bolts,screws,nuts and washers that go into the wood and body no rust. Rust is a killer and helps dryrot in wood

[Dodge1934]

I have some metal parts for a 29 4dr including the center door posts but the wood is toast..

I have a few other parts including 4 wood wheels and rims if you need them.

Good luck with the wood. I`m at that level on a different make of car

[Guest PRESTIGE]

I have some metal parts for a 29 4dr including the center door posts but the wood is toast..

I have a few other parts including 4 wood wheels and rims if you need them.

Good luck with the wood. I`m at that level on a different make of car

SAW YOUR HELP AND EXTRA PARTS I HAVE A 1928 PONTIAC AND LOOKING FOR A STRIGHT 6 MOTOR IF YOU KNOW OF ANY PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT PRESTIGERM109@AOL.COM

THANKS

TOM vENTURA

239-253-5500

[poci1957]

Hey Steve, do you think the body was shared with Chevy? On the VCCA forum they say there is a place in Indiana making them for Chevys. Their website has some exploded diagrams you could check.

Autowood Restoration, Hanna IN, 219-797-3775 or Autowood Restoration - Home Page

[Guest Steve Hughes]

I think that the lead given by poci1957 is a good one. I am pretty sure that Pontiac and Chevrolet did share the same Fisher bodies in this time frame. Jim Rodman at Autowood would certainly be a great source of information, and I would bet that with a few pictures and measurements he could verify that the body either is or isn't the same.

[Guest 1929 pontiac man]

Are you sure it is 1929 as the late 1929 pontiac were 1930 models any thing built after sept 1, 1929  was a 1930 the only way to know for sure is look at the frame look on the cowl for the model and job number and look to see if the rivets holding on either have been altered or changed just behind the drivers front wheel you will find a riveted brass strip it will have a serial number with a -P on it you will know by the vin number to know either 29 or 1930   if built after sept 1 29 they were sold as 1930 but the truth being is look at the body 29 does not look like 30 ,cowl is completely different and make sure the vin number matches the title vin number if they do not match someone used another good title  a lot of dishonest people are doing it and it's expensive to get it fixed there are title companies that can trace the ownership of the vehicle if you want to spend 700. plus dollars and many many months to get a clean title in your name another possibility is someone long time ago put a 1930 body on a 29 frame they are interchangeable same length and width both have a 110" wheel base to the gentleman who stated chevrolet and pontiac shared some of the same wood the answer is absolutely no way pontiac = 110" wheel base chevrolet = 107" wheel base the mounting bolts for the wood structure for pontiac and chevrolet are located in different location then chevrolet also the front door post are completely different than pontiac remember they were oaklands that is why gm discontinued the oakland in 31 to quite the competition against pontiac as the oakland engine were stronger and had more power than the pontiac and better quality 

 

Edited June 24, 2016 by 1929 pontiac man
left info out and foot to insert correction from other member (see edit history)

[Guest 1929 pontiac man]

On September 11, 2010 at 8:57 PM, Steve Hughes said:

I think that the lead given by poci1957 is a good one. I am pretty sure that Pontiac and Chevrolet did share the same Fisher bodies in this time frame. Jim Rodman at Autowood would certainly be a great source of information, and I would bet that with a few pictures and measurements he could verify that the body either is or isn't the same.

 

[Guest 1929 pontiac man]

absolutely not i have a 1929 pontiac coupe and the wood from chevrolet does fit repeat does not fit the pontiac i have taken the sill boards from 29 chevrolet and the sill boards from 29 pontiac the chevrolet is over 3" shorter i n length and over 2.5" shorter in width and mounting holes in frame are in different location i used to think as you over 25 years ago and also asked jim rodman about if they were interchangeable i sent him a photo of the frame with the mounting hole location with dimensions along time ago and after receiving them he replied back and stated they will not fit he can reproduce them but he would half to have either what was left of the wood pieces or the car there since he is almost 2,000 miles away from where i live it was not viable i also talk back in 1978 to a pontiac factory worker that work for them from 1926 to 1953 and he relayed anyone that  thinks that chevrolet will fit on pontiac is lacking correct info shorter wheel base short width pontiac is a bigger car then chevrolet also was

 

[Guest 1929 pontiac man]

Also the pontiac wood will not fit in oakland simple oakland has a 117" wheel base pontiac has 110" wheel base  and chevrolet 107" wheel base that is 7" longer than the pontiac and  10"  longer than the chevrolet the oakland was wider than the pontiac and chevrolet yes all the sill boards kinda look the same but once you really look at the real sill boards and the rest of the real wood parts that is where the differences are clear just so you know i had to learn the hard way over 40 years ago when i started working on these old pontiacs no two cars are the same even same models the wood pieces are slightly different next to each other you will see when your looking at them 25 feet away they kinda look the same when your 2 feet away wow there is a big difference between each one there is also a big difference between chevrolet door post and the wood behind the dash chevrolet uses a 90' angle bracket that screws in the bottom of the wood behind the dash and to the door post the pontiac has a bracket that screws in to the dash and mounts to the door posts and even same model and same year pontiac you have to adjust each piece to fit no 2 pieces of sheet metal are exactly the same they were lead filled at the correct seam to fit the wood structure this all came from the old pontiac man that he is the one that  gave me the scoop on these cars the differences were so slight that most people did not see them they also used  not always what they needed he stated there boss always said use what we have not what we need the customer will never know and if they do we will fix it later at the dealership where it was bought just like they do know with recalls and faulty parts on the modern cars

[Guest 1929 pontiac man]

i really wish that all the fisher body wood pieces were interchangeable it would be so simple, simply order a complete wood body kit from jim roman  and your life would be so easy and carefree but unfortunatly that is not to be and anybody out there it is a hard lesson to learn with my forty +years of replacing body wood you really need good wood working tools a lot of jigs clamps and setup equipment and really good rust free sheet metal that is not distorted i use modeling clay and plastic wrap and let it air dry to get exact repeat exact contour and shape of true edge and shape my pieces always come out perfect 1st time and with a planner  and brackets and custom made router to mill the pieces and a lot of money to buy the right equipment and a large shop you can do the same set your self  you can do just like a lot of people do there own work

[Guest]

The easiest way to tell a Series 6-29, or a Series 6-29A from a Series 6-30B  is to look at the "A" pillar and the belt line.  the 6-29 and 6-29A have the "A" pillar shaped down and forward on the cowl, the 6-30B has smooth cowl sides.  The early one has a concave belt line and the later one has a convex belt line.

I have owned a Pontiac of each year from Series 6-27 to Series 401 (all Canadian built models).  Not a single one of them had a serial number plate on the side of the frame.  The serial number (not vin) was on a brass plate nailed to the front floorboard beside the drivers seat riser and stamped on the rear cross member.

The only wood that I have found that matches the Chevrolet is the Windshield header and the windshield regulator board but do not match year for year.  The Chev outside door handles look like the Pontiac ones but the lengths of the shafts are different.  Of the six that I owned none of them were symmetrical from side to side.  Most of the time you had to measure to know that they were different but the difference was actually visible on two of them.

[1929 pontiac coupe man]

since i posted the original response there is an old saying if you do not know how to do it and are really not good with wood working you better be prepared for a lot of waist of wood and remember only use white spruce  gm has the books with pictures of the wood structure for the bodies i had the same delima there are no dimensions but with the pontiac there is a easier way but remember all the gm cars show the same wood structure with the same photo's but not easy and a lot of work and you need a good drafting ssiftware to go on computer you have to start with the basics you have to measure from the hole from the cowl bracket to the center of hole about 4.5 feet just in front of the rear fender for both sides and 3 inches and then add the distance from the front hole to cowl bottom that will give you the approximate length of the sill boards then you have to measure from the inside frame to the inside of body skin for basic dimensions of width and length the problem will be the thickness and to save on wood i used really hard fiber board to keep shape until i got it perfect i hope you get the basic idea and remember no 2 cars are the same each one is slightly different remember 1929 no computer no high tech machines just steel rivets wood and sheet frame and sheet metal metal screws and bolts it is a lot of time consuming frustrating work i spent over 2 years rewooding my car and i'm pretty good at wood working you will need a lot of jigs clamps 

[1929 pontiac coupe man]

i have contacted jim autwood from autowood wood parts he states he can reproduce any gm product as long as you give the old piece to him and stated its better if he has the car there so he can fit it but to note chevrolet and pontiac wood are not repeat not interchanging with each other simply put pontiac is longer and wider than chevrolet or you cannot take a short piece of wood and make it work if it's to 3" to short to fit he also stated all the gm wood structure books show generic drawings with no dimensions to save money i have talked to 2 people that had there wood from a 1932 pontiac coupe made by him not cheap using premium white furniture ash is top notch it took almost 7 months to get back all the pieces please note if your like most of us and on a budget you can do it your self with a lot of patience and do not hurry make a pattern out of cheap wood and have the tools needed to make the good pattern you can do it