New Wood for a 25-55

[ROD W]

Purchased this car site unseen, and was told much of the woodwork was done. When finally got it home after driving 5000kms there and back, found the woodwork was all wrong, being about 3" too wide at the bottom where the tub attached, and in soft wood (philipinne mahogany, meranti) too soft to hold nails. So decided to rebuild timber frame in Merbau a New Guinea timber. Photo,s of making patterns of main rails and posts, and cutting new pillars from original patterns. I also took lots of measurement of a 26-55 located 400kms away.

Main rails and floor in position

.positioning

centre pillars

aligning body

[Dave_B]

Lookin' good, lookin' real good, Rod.

Dave

[hidden_hunter]

was it originally a Holden?

[ROD W]

hidden hunter

The car came from Adelaide. So I would say it was a Holden built body. The person I bought it from had it sitting in he's garage for 30 years, But unfortunately I have no history before that.

[dibarlaw]

Rod:

So good to see progress on this model Buick. I have not seen any 1925-55s in the US. I worked on a model 45 and negotiated on a 1926-45A

last year.

My 25-25 will need some wood attention on the lower drivers door. So it is good seeing some "inside-out" pictures. It would be great if your model 55 would look like this someday!

[hidden_hunter]

hidden hunter

The car came from Adelaide. So I would say it was a Holden built body. The person I bought it from had it sitting in he's garage for 30 years, But unfortunately I have no history before that.

Our 26 seems to be mostly made with Tasmanian Oak/Victorian Ash (right down to the wheels)

[ROD W]

Thanks for that picture Larry. Ill add that one to my photo album. How do you post such a large picture onto the forum.

hidden hunter, I think Vic Ash was the main timber used by Holden. But I think Ash was the main timber used in the U.S also. But saying that, they are very different timbers. Vic Ash is not an Ash and Tassie Oak is not an Oak. They are both Eucalyptus. hardwood gum trees

[ROD W]

Larry , when I,m working on the car, this is what I see. (Isn,t it what we all aspire to in our restorations)

They say that the 20,s are the least popular years. But the tourers of the 20,s look pretty special to me.

Edited April 4, 2014 by ROD W (see edit history)

[hidden_hunter]

Thanks for that picture Larry. Ill add that one to my photo album. How do you post such a large picture onto the forum.

hidden hunter, I think Vic Ash was the main timber used by Holden. But I think Ash was the main timber used in the U.S also. But saying that, they are very different timbers. Vic Ash is not an Ash and Tassie Oak is not an Oak. They are both Eucalyptus. hardwood gum trees

Yep, the names were always a bit odd - ours uses it extensively. I've seen 1927 cars that don't have wood trim on top of the doors, so looks like there was even some variance year on year

[dibarlaw]

Rod :

I probably have 10 photos of that Maroon 1924-45 from the 2012 Nationals in North Carolina. To me it was the most beautiful Buick there. It was just stunning. I would have taken more pictures except my shoes were sticking to the asphalt at 108 degrees!

[ROD W]

Finally got back to working on the 25-55.  This project went on the back- burner for a number of years.  As I aquired a couple/ few other cars,  new and old. Also a move interstate,  to the farm which is 900km/560miles  away,  which involved also moving the cars and all of our furniture.  Then having to return home due to work commitments for both myself and my wife.  One positive out of this is I got under the house cemented before moving anything back,  so now don,t have to work on a wet dirt floor after heavy rain ?. 

[ROD W]

Finished the wood for the tub and the back seat, Well nearly (Still got the seat base and slats to go )  The  tub is not bolted into position yet as it will need to be moved forward slightly once all the door gaps are right.

[Hubert_25-25]

Rod, 

    Interesting to see the post go from 2014 to 2018.  It looks like a nice car that you will be putting together.  The wood looks like a high grade as well.

 

Hugh

[ROD W]

Front door on with hinges.  Gaps look good and level at the top.  Spacers are required  to get everything level.  Will glue in permanent ones on final assembly.

[ROD W]

Yes Hugh,   It is a Papua & New Guinea  hard wood,  Very nice to work with.

[ROD W]

Did not have a lot of original wood for patterns ,  so cut  a lot of patterns out of ply for each piece

Edited November 1, 2018 by ROD W (see edit history)

[ROD W]

Had two different brackets to provide support for the centre pillars.  One off a 24 and the front one off a 26. Decided to use both to give extra bracing.  Upon dismantling and reassemble found the rear bracket did not provide any extra bracing.  So will just go with the front one..   But have put in a large plate to provide extra support.  The whole centre section,  required moving forward about  an 1/8 inch to get the correct door gap.

Edited November 1, 2018 by ROD W (see edit history)

[ROD W]

Cutting out the recess for the hinges.  Back door hinges in place and pillar re- installed.

[Oregon Desert model 45]

My 25-45 door gaps appeared to be ok until I added the door latches and levelers. The levelers now scrape the door opening, and the latch has to be fully retracted to get past the striker.  I may have to move the cowl forward about 1/8" to get some clearance. 

 

kevin

[ROD W]

Looking good Kevin.   The fun never ends, does it.  Adjustment,  re-adjustment.  You start with a nice tight joint,  but then to increase or decrease  gaps,  the joint needs to be relieved for adjustment, or brackets and latches that have been screwed in place end up being out.  I always temporarily attach brackets or clamp where possible,  use smaller screws to start, and epoxy fill ( epoxy mixed with sawdust ) the holes when they need to be moved.  I haven,t  bolted/screwed, either the cowl or tub down yet, ( only clamped in place ) as they both may need to be moved slightly after all the doors are hung. I install the pillar hinge first,  then make all adjustments to the door hinge.

Edited November 15, 2018 by ROD W (see edit history)

[ROD W]

When hanging the back door,  found there was a lot of wear in the hing  and was unable to get the door aligned properly. So will need to replace the pin in the hing.  Also found I am missing two of the hinges,  The part that attaches to the door,  so will need to make more of these as one is also broken.  Have plenty of the pillar hinges.

 

[Oregon Desert model 45]

Apparently Holden used the same type hinges as the Canadian made Buicks. The Flint built Buicks used this style, which allows the door to just "drop" in without screws, but they are real fussy and difficult to get installed and properly adjusted. The spacing between them has to be just right or they will bind, and too far in or out and the door side hinge drags on the sheetmetal skin.

Kevin

 

[ROD W]

Thanks for that Kevin.  I didn,t  realize these were the Canadian hinges.  

[ROD W]

Got all the doors on,  ( swinging on there hinges ).  Adjusted the hinges at the front of the back doors,  to get the correct gap.  Moved  the tub forward about 1/4 inch to get the gap right at the back.   Welded a tab onto the tub support bracket,  to provide extra bracing,  as the model 55 bracket,  only has a small foot,  which does not provide the support that the larger bracket does on other models.