Woody pattern/directions needed

[bfrance]

I have a 1941 SD Woody wagon. I have restored all of the mechanicals and now I’m turning to the wood restoration. All of the original wood was disassembled and bundled up. This was done by the previous owner. So...,I’m trying to figure out this very large jigsaw puzzle. Does anyone have detailed pictures,diagrams, or directions on how to restore and assemble the body on this car. Thank you very much for your help and expertise. Bob

[blind pew]

Contact one of the commercial woodie restoration shops. One would think that they would sell you such plans/information. Additionally, they do sell individual needed wooden parts as well as complete kits. Of course, one could "throw in the towel" and send the whole thing to shop to be assembled. There is satisfaction in doing it yourself, but your final product won't look as good as those done by the shops.

 

Read Rick Mack's section on bleaching and varnishing on the "old woodies" site. Lots of sanding with different grits involved. Don't use a brush- either spray it or use the cheap sponge brushes, otherwise you will leave brush marks and an occasional bristle in the finish. It's going to be tough to get a finish that looks like the shops get, unless you have a very nice, dust free environment.

 

Oddly, the parts that are the hardest to get looking nice are the plywood panels. I've come to the conclusion that to get the look you want, you need to purchase high quality veneer to place over the plywood. I've done that on individual panels, but would really want a press if I was doing the whole car (thus I would have one of the shops do it- far less of a pain in the ass).  You may want to contact the guy restoring the Lasalle on this site, as he is in the process of doing exactly that at this time.

[bfrance]

Excellent information; thank you!

[NewOldWood]

What would be involved in a restoration will depend on the present condition of the wood and what kind of finished product you have in mind. Assembly is pretty much self explanatory, every part will only fit in one place. Start with the larger more obvious pieces and through the process of elimination they will eventually all fall into place.

[bfrance]

Thanks, that is encouraging!

[Tom Boehm]

Hello Bob, I am the guy with the lasalle woodie refered to in a previous post. First, I doubt there are any drawings or directions available for a 1941 chevrolet woodie. Is the wood you have reuseable? Or do you have to reproduce it? I would suggest looking on the internet for pictures of 41 chevy woodies so you can get an idea of what pieces go where. Also I suggest you join the National Woodie Club so you can get access to their roster. The roster is categorized according to type of car. So all the owners of 41 chevy woodies are listed together. Contact other owners to get questions answered and pictures. I would recommend traveling to see some in person. I did that with my Lasalle. Also the NWC has a library housed at the AACA library in Hershey. That would be a great place to look for any info that does exist. What state are you in? There are 8 1941 Chevrolet woodies in the NWC. 

 

Wood station wagon bodies were supplied to Chevrolet by 2 outside companies in 1941, Cantrell and Ionia. There are slight differences between the two. Do you know which you have? Cantrell bodies have the horizontal door rib on the lower third of the door. Ionia Bodies have the horizontal door rib on the top third of the door. There are differences in the beltline wood also. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Tom Boehm (see edit history)