Re-wooding question

[Erndog]

[h=2]I am in the process of doing a total re-wooding of my 1930 Buick four door sedan. I have an issue regarding the Rear Quarter Belt Bars, that piece of wood which goes along the bottom of the rear quarter windows. Evidently, the sheet metal forming the window was rolled down over the wood after the metal was attached to the wood structure. The bar is screwed on from the outside edge, so it must be installed prior to the metal skin going on. With the wood pre-assembled it is impossible to mate the metal and wood without bending the hell out of the metal. Can anyone tell me the right way to do this?? I am trying to figure out a way to assemble the wood from the inside, but haven't come up with one yet.[/h]

[Pete K.]

Ernie, I know what you're talking here. I did a semi-wood replacement in a good original '30 Buick 4-door Series 40 sedan back in the '70's and whatever you do, DON'T bend up the metal. I don't really know how extensive the wood rot is but if you can, save that part and work with it and around it. Buy some of the wood restore fluid they sell these days and try to just save what's there. Cutting and scarfing in new wood under it is the way to go. Surface it all smooth and paint it all black and you'll be happy you did. I'm not trying to convey a fast and sloppy job here, but it sounds like you'll have your hands full for a long time with the whole wood replacement in that body.

[Tom_S]

Ernie,

Quick Poly is a good wood restorer product.

Tom

[Erndog]

I have been doing a 100% re-wooding of this car for many years with intermittent stoppages. The only items left to make are the roof slats/crosspieces and rear roof rails. I am entering the fit-up stage of the game finally. That is why this issue reared its ugly head again. I realized the issue ten years ago when I disassembled it, but forgot. Yesterday I attached the rear quarter belt bars to the rear body hinge pillars and test fitted the to the metal. That's when I remembered it is impossible. The old pieces are totally rotted away at the ends, so that is not a possibility. Of course, I would still have the same issue. I am thinking about attaching some kind of scabbing blocks from the inside, but not sure yet how much room there is to play with.

I know somebody must have solved this over the years because there are a lot of re-wooded vehicles out there!

[michaelod]

Ernie,

I had to replace and repair about 1/3 of the wood in my 1930 Model 68 and am a big fan of the Abatron wood repair system. The termites had a field day in my car and turned much of the wood into Swiss cheese. I have used both their WoodEpox and LiquidWood products in sequence with great results. Their marketing information with respect to these products is in my opinion very accurate, and although a bit pricey, worth every penny:

Take Care,

[Erndog]

Thanks to everyone about wood restoration products, but I am way beyond that. Any wood parts that have not already been refabricated are not in need of these products. However, they will be remade also. My chief concern is refitting of the pieces.

[JoelsBuicks]

Ernie, I'm willing to bet that there are creative solutions and ideas awaiting you if you could either post some pics or drawings or both. I've done some of this work and would like to help but I'm not familar with the 1930 assembly.

When I rewooded my '36 Roadmaster, I came to realize that the sequence and method of assembly would be significantly different than the original build. With this in mind, I reconfigured my joinery and assembly techniques accordingly. This meant that some parts ended up with say a glued mortise joint instead of a screwed lap joint. I recall that for one joint at the bottom of the rear door body hinge post, I used a loose finger joint that was tighted with thin wedges which were glued, dowelled and screwed. Also, and at least for 1936, there would be no way to create a rigid door frame and then try to put it in its metal jamb. The wood pieces had to be assembled into the metal frame, piece by piece, and following a well-rehearsed sequence.

A few pics might open this up to all kinds of ideas!

[Erndog]

Good suggestion. I will try to get some up soon.

[bigvic]

Hello, I was able to replace the wood by the quarter windows on my 28-58 and the hardest part was slipping the tenons in place. I had to shorten and bevel them to slide in with persuasion from a block of wood and a rubber hammer. These pieces had the radius which met the radius of the metal. I was able to borrow a tinner folding tool to spread the metal enough and slide thin pieces metal under the metal window wrap to coax them around the new wood. The fit didn't happen right away and had to be removed a few times to remove some wood to fit. That piece of metal has a lot of strength where it was stamped and rolled. I painted the inside of the metal so it left a dirt mark where it was rubbing on the fit-up and would have to remove more wood. You should replace your rubber seal on that piece before the final install.

[Erndog]

Thanks. Good information.

[sligermachine]

On 7/28/2012 at 7:48 PM, Erndog said:

[h=2]I am in the process of doing a total re-wooding of my 1930 Buick four door sedan. I have an issue regarding the Rear Quarter Belt Bars, that piece of wood which goes along the bottom of the rear quarter windows. Evidently, the sheet metal forming the window was rolled down over the wood after the metal was attached to the wood structure. The bar is screwed on from the outside edge, so it must be installed prior to the metal skin going on. With the wood pre-assembled it is impossible to mate the metal and wood without bending the hell out of the metal. Can anyone tell me the right way to do this?? I am trying to figure out a way to assemble the wood from the inside, but haven't come up with one yet.[/h]

DO you have a picture of the open wood ?? -Kyle