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chistech

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chistech last won the day on April 1 2023

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  • Birthday 09/28/1961

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  1. Buying old tools can be as bad a habit as our cars! šŸ˜
  2. Donā€™t use oak. Itā€™s too porous and susceptible to humidity changes. Use high quality ash. Much easier on the tooling too. GM and other wood body manufacturers used long finger joints to aid in making the long radius in many of the parts. I created my own cutter for duplicating these joints and the post about it is here on the AACA. If you look up my posts you will find it and other posts with wood parts made using the cutter.
  3. That section is called the belt rail and it she fairly easy to make when you have the car to measure from. That piece is connected to the two deck rails that make up the sides of the rumble seat opening. It also gets the parcel tray and supports all attached to it. I would not use plywood but pieces of ash shaped and jointed together around the curved sections. The below pictures are of two ā€˜32 Oldsmobile convertible coupes I reframed and the belt rail along. With the parcel tray would be very similar on your Chrysler.
  4. Where are you located and is there any wood left or is it all gone?
  5. They actually are all like that and bushings need to be made. The holes that big is original.
  6. I was told today that Jim Rodman from Autowood Restoration of Hanna Indiana passed away February 8th at the age of 78. Jim specialized in the wood framing of most brands that used wood framed bodies. Donā€™t know any further details at this time.
  7. What is interesting is to paint the fawn brown color, it doesn't show up in modern paint charts as a brown. I refer to the color as a "Georgia red mud" color. It turns out, for me to duplicate the fawn brown as closely to original Duco paint chips from '31, I had to use yellow as a base color! Then we added red oxide and some black per the Dupont Chroma Premier instructions to achieve the color needed. No one could originally mix the correct color and it took an old timer at a small paint shop to say after looking at the paint chip, "Thats not a brown you're looking for, that's a yellow. A red yellow." And he was right. I believe I spent most of one summer trying to match the color and sprayed out close to 40 test cards until the old timer mixed up his batch! It's a hard color to duplicate correctly and the browns are too dark and chocolaty.
  8. The brown and tan was a standard paint color for 31 chevy and it was often accompanied by orange wheels. The fawn brown, coffee cream, and swamp holly orange was only offered on open cars like this landau along with the roadster and convertible coupe. The code 81 included brown fenders also yet the undersides were all painted black. The brown/tan combination was also available with black fenders but I donā€™t know the paint code. On code 81 the pinstripe also was the swamp holly orange. There is a good probability that the colors you see underneath are in fact remnants of the original code 81 scheme. While many seem to feel the two tone brown/tan was a fad of the seventies, many cars were probably being repainted to their original colors. That color combination was offered on most of the GM line plus many other manufacturers has similar paint schemes in their color charts. My own ā€˜31 chevy is painted in code 81 but it is incorrect for my car because itā€™s a closed car and as stated earlier, code 81 was only available in open models. I like though and have had numerous compliments on the car.
  9. Trying to help out a friend in Belgium looking for some parts. Iā€™m looking for a heater tap that also includes the seat for the temperature sensor. The picture shows the fitting with a shutoff valve installed. It can be angled like the picture or even a straight 90d one. The end needs to accept the temp gauge bulb, have the seat for the bulb seal flange, and threaded for the flange nut. Would also be interested in a valve like whatā€™s pictured. The second photo shows the fitting needed installed in the cylinder head with the temperature sensor bulb and an elbow which feeds water to the heater.
  10. Sounds like the ā€œMongooseā€ and the ā€œSnakeā€ twenties style!šŸ˜
  11. Iā€™ve heard the same and read the same many times but have made many ā€œmirror imageā€ pieces and have had no issues getting them to work. For years I have encouraged others to attempt to make wood on their cars if they feel capable. I honestly feel the statement comes from two different ways of thinking. One, if we scare people enough , theyā€™ll will be plenty of work for those who do make wood. The other is things repeated often enough by those without firsthand knowledge of the subject soon become the ā€œtruthā€ whether it is or not. Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll get arguments about my statements but I know firsthand in my real experiences, and I have made lots of wood for many different cars, that these cars are not that much different side to side that a mirrored image piece canā€™t be made to work and fit well. Of course cars with golf bag doors and other one side compartments are different side to side. While I encourage people to attempt wood repairs/construction there is a considerable amount of things that need to be known. Things like using the proper wood, proper joints, correct glues, sequence of assembly (extremely important), and sometimes creativity in making pieces that can be installed from the inside. Many donā€™t realize the wood was built first then the sheet metal body applied. Making replacement wood to be installed from the inside or in assembled sheet metal like doors can be a challenge for most. All this is not taking into consideration the personā€™s general wood working ability and the tools that they have. I have a couple suggestions. You live in Indiana so I would call, and keep calling Jim Rodman from Autowood. He might just have some pieces made that will fit your car that you could drive to him and pick up. I wouldnā€™t suggest to consign him to make pieces he doesnā€™t have based on what others here have experienced. I do know someone who drove out and bought wood he had made and drove home. Another suggestion is if you feel confident, you can attempt to make your own wood. If you have a piece you can copy as a pattern, make a new piece using that. If it fits well, repeat the process on another piece. Put each new piece in the car as you go temporarily attaching it to the original pieces to rebuild your body framework. The last suggestion is you can send your wood pieces to someone who can fabricate you new pieces. There are a few shops that do it including myself. It is not cheap to do and expect to spend $8-12000 depending on where you go. No matter what way you choose do your homework. There is enough information that can be found that will inform you. My own restoration threads done here shows many wood repairs to full redos. If you search my threads you will find many more than just the 32 Oldsmobiles Iā€™ve done.
  12. Jeff, I feel your pain on the wheels. The wheels were the only things I tracked hour wise on my olds restoration. Those 6 wheels from start, (the original condition i received them in) to finished, ( tires installed and wheel completed with pinstripes) took 943 hours! The sanding between each of the 14 coats of spar varnish was over 45 minutes each wheel alone and your correct, you end up taking the skin off your finger tips to the point even taping them up doesnā€™t help much. What was even worse and actually surprised me at how much it hurt and cut my fingers was applying and then removing the masking tape around the spokes especially. The masking had to be applied and removed quite a few times during the total sequence of finishing the wheels with the masking tape, after the primer or paint applied, being extremely stiff and razor sharp, not to mention it was pretty thin. I sliced my fingertips many times on that painted tape! Iā€™ve sworn that Iā€™d never go to the extent on a set of wheels like that again yet it is the wheels that ALWAYS get the initial attention of anyone who looks at my car. When my wifeā€™s with me at a show itā€™s usually her that takes over the conversation as often itā€™s the women who go crazy over the wheels. I can honestly say that at every single show my car has been in, whether on grass or blacktop, someone has layed down and extensively photographed my wheels. So my wife always says to me, ā€œ I know you said youā€™d never do a set of wheels like that again but you do realize that they are what makes your car what it is, right?ā€ And she is correct. Doing the wheels justice will make the car just that much better. Itā€™s a ton of work but worth it in the long run. Iā€™ve looked at other cars that are similar to my own with both wood and wire wheels and can honestly say in my opinion ( of course Iā€™m biased) I havenā€™t seen at set I like better or compliments the total look of the car more. Now that I own a wood wheeled car and a wire wheeled car I can say I find wire wheels to have very little character and are actually kind of boring as they all look the same other than color. With the wood wheels, the diameter, shape of spoke, ferrules or no ferrules, spoke length, spoke diameter, finish, whether paint or varnish, then the pinstripes allows the wheel to take on its own character and contribute to the carā€™s overall looks. Something I find wire spokes or disc wheels just donā€™t offer as much, again my opinion and hopefully wonā€™t start a war and derail your thread. The work you do is outstanding and Iā€™m sure your wheels will make your car that much more outstanding! Looking forward to the completion of your restoration!
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