46 woodie

30 Dodge, Well I'm not going to tell you his exact plate and how it reads, but let's say you have a 1940 Ford and you have a 1940 plate that reads "1940Ford", one would automatically ask, how the heck did you get an original plate from 1940 with those exact numbers and letters? Did they even make a 1940 plate with those numbers and letters, probably not, except perhaps for the Ford Motor Company on some 1940 show car? As I stated it was approved by the DMV. Now, I have seen 1932 plates that read "Deuce", did the DMV even call a '32 Ford a Deuce, can those plates be real? I'll bet a lot goes on that the various DMV's don't know about.

30 Dodge, I see the car and owner with the "purchased plate" at almost every local car show and I doubt any police officer can tell that it's fake, I can't. You would need a really astute police officer, well versed on early license plates to even wonder how he got this unique YOM plate with the letters and numbers he has. If I was a police officer and saw the plates and all his paper work from the NYSDMV was legal, I would just let him go on his way. I'm not advocating people just order "fake" plates for their vehicle, I wouldn't do it.

In New York State when you register a car with YOM plates, the requirement is to send in pictures of the plate and the NYSDMV will give you the OK. The plate can not be restored/repainted, even if the colors are exact. Most people have the plates restored after the car has been registered. Sometimes the state requirement makes no sense at all. One local guy has a car registered with YOM plates and the plates are rusty and un-readable, but it was OKed by the state, but a beautifully restored plate will be rejected. Another guy has been driving around for over 10 years with a plate from a company that sells "novelty" plates with zero problems. We were all wondering how he got such a uniquely numbered plate and he finally came clean and told us it was fake.

Zepher, It's the same way in New York, at least it is that way on Long Island. There are several DMV offices in my county. I once had what I considered a very small issue on a registration. The DMV agent rejected my registration and told me I needed more documentation. I went to a DMV office about 10 miles away and walked out with my new license plates. The right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing in NY.

Dandy Dave, I see from your info that you are in New York State. In NY, if you purchase year of manufacture plates and use them on your car, the plates belong to you, not the State. If you sell the car, you keep the plates, they are considered personal property and you do not need to turn them back into the state as you do with normal NYS DMV plates.

Rob Ida is still in business and located in New Jersey. He builds high end hot rods and restorations. His 1941 Wiilys Coupe is one of the nicest ever built. His shop restored Tucker, #1044 and it won both the Amelia Island and Greenwich Concours D'elegance. I believe he stated that he would not do another reproduction Tucker again.

Brendan, I can give you the paint code for the "Woodie Brown" that is listed in the '41-48 book, but I'm not sure the color is the same for the 1939. Where are you located, Jeff Yeagle is in PA and has a 1940 and might have the answers you are looking for. As far as kit's are concerned I have never seen one available.

Brendan, The Early Ford V-8 Club has a 1938-1939 restoration book available and would highly recommend purchasing it. I have the 1941-1948 book and it has a special Station Wagon section that lists all the colors, including paint codes, so I would guess the '39 book has the same. As far as the screws are concerned, most of the hardware for your car were slotted wood screws. Slotted screws are getting harder and harder to find but I purchased much of my hardware from McMaster-Carr. If you can find an older hardware store they might have slotted screws. Are you a member of the National Woodie Club?

It's not a good idea to post a photo of a title. People have been known to use a copy to file for a lost title and use it to gain ownership.

He was asking in the "Other Vehicle Categories" on this site, under the National Woodie Club section. I believe he did mention George Coleman and Green Valentine.

Larry, That's what some areas look like, really bugs me. I was talking to one of the linemen one day and he said a lot of the wires are obsolete but companies just leave them up in place and let some other utility deal with it.

One of my pet peeve's is overhead electric lines and overloaded telephone poles. In my city everywhere you look you see dozens of unsightly electric, cable TV, telephone, fiber optic and other assorted cables. Everything should be underground as they have in dozens of cities across America.

There are several companies that specialize in wood for Ford and other make Woodies. Have you tried any of them?

The only thing missing from the Jaguar is the sign, "Not for sale, I'm gonna restore it some day"!

"Surface Rust" are you for real? I would bet that once you start cleaning the rust off you will end up with dozens of holes. Take a good look at the holes in the tailgate and I'll bet that the roof is no better! Was it parked on the deck of the Titanic? A part's car at best as some of the parts for a wagon, such as the quarter panel trim spears are very hard to find.

The so called RICH neighbors had enough clout to shut down the iconic Bridgehampton Race Course on Long Island. At one tome it was miles from housing, but more and more houses kept getting closer and closer. Grandfathering didn't work for "The Bridge", as it's all about the money. If they could shut down Bridgehampton, they will shut down Laguna Seca!

Rex, I don't know where you are located but in my area there are several woodworking shows that air on TV during the week. A show called the Woodsmith Shop built a jig almost the exact same as you show and plans are available from their web site.

The "indented" firewall was introduced in May of 1931. The cowl band may be salvageable.

Rexville, simple box joints, as you show have been around forever. The issue you will have is clamping your part to allow for the depth that you need to make joints like the beautiful joints like Tom shows. The more complex the part, the harder it will be to make tight joints. I have been building furniture using mortise and tenon joinery for years, but curved parts can be a real pain to clamp. I would contact Tom to pick his brain about how he did his joinery. When it comes to correct finger joints that were used on station wagons, you're talking about a different animal. I have seen production photos of the jig's that were used in the Ford Iron Mountain plant that are massive and take two people to use. The pictures of Phil's cutter and machine are no joke and I'm sure he will tell you that clamping and chucking the piece to be cut is the biggest issue.

Occasionally I will catch drag racing on T.V. and the stands always seem empty. Can't pay the bills if there is no money coming in.

Never heard of such a fire. There was a fire at the Ford Rotunda building in December of 1962 that was caused by roofers, destroying the entire building and contents.

N.O.W., I have always fantasized about taking a '46-'48 Ford two door sedan and replacing everything from the roofline down with wood, similar to the Barrelback you are working on. What got the idea started was seeing a set of four, '46-'48 Woodie doors at HERSHEY and possibly using them during the build. Now that I see what you are doing it makes me realize that I must be out of my mind. I have been following all your builds and can't wait for the next installment of pictures.

jdome, one of the reasons you see drivers entering thru the passenger side is that is where the keyed door handle is on many cars. It was supposed to be a safety factor and encourage people from not walking into the street to enter their car.

In 1962 I was a sophomore in high school and I purchased a 1932 Ford three window coupe from a graduating senior for a whopping $100 and when I got drafted in 1965 I gave the car away to my best friend. Two years later he sold the car when he was drafted and that is the last time I heard anything about the car. What I wouldn't give to go back to 1965.

This is the second rural restoration shop in two years that has burned to the ground. The key word here is "rural". If you are located in a rural location you, you, must do everything to protect your property from fire. First you are relying on a volunteer fire force. It takes time for the responding volunteers to respond from their home or work, if they can leave work that is, to the fire house and man the equipment. Distance from the fire company and response time can be a huge factor. The next issue is limited water supply. Most rural fire companies rely on tanker trucks to supply water to the pumpers. Once that supply is exhausted, they must count on other responding fire companies for water, without water you are helpless. All this takes time and in a fire situation, time is against you. An alarm system that is connected to the fire station or county central dispatch is a must, the sooner you can get manpower to the scene of a fire the better. Never leave any electrical equipment connected, especially battery chargers. A sprinkler system can save the day. Recently, plastic piping has been approved for sprinkler systems, making it a lot cheaper and easier for installation and you might even be able to install one yourself using plastic pipe. Something as simple as having your shop inspected by a fire professional to point out potential problems can help. As a 25 year retired firefighter I know that 90% of fires I responded to probably could have been avoided and I can't begin to tell you how many potential hazardous issues we found during our routine fire inspections. Rural living has its benefits but in an emergency situation it can be life threatening.