1926 Overland wood

[Landman]

I repaired a seat frame for a friend and the wood was black, more than likely a preservative. What would have they used then and what would be a modern equivalent to retreat it before reassembly?

 

Best regards and Merry Christmas to everyone.

Edited December 18, 2021 by Landman (see edit history)

[Tom Boehm]

In his thread in the restorations section of this forum, Chistech talks about wood preservative used in the restoration of his 1932 Oldsmobile convertible. 

[Erndog]

Seems I read somewhere that Fisher used some type of asphalt-based preservative. Having a hard time finding where I saw that.

[Erndog]

1 hour ago, Erndog said:

Seems I read somewhere that Fisher used some type of asphalt-based preservative. Having a hard time finding where I saw that.

I found it. In the 1931 Buick Fisher Body Manual on pg 13, under "Installing New Wood Parts", it says:

 

"The wooden frame work of the body when assembled is sprayed with an asphalt paint. This paint impregnates the wood and acts as a preservative by preventing moisture from penetrating the wood. When replacing any of the wood parts they should be given a coating of good quality asphalt paint."

 

I would imagine Overland did something similar, if not the exact same.

Edited December 18, 2021 by Erndog (see edit history)

[JFranklin]

/A black asphaltum wash/paint was used in many wood framed bodies of different makes.

[Mark Gregush]

 

Gilsonite could be another name for it; https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=mtfca+Gilsonite

https://www.naturalpigments.com/gilsonite-4-oz-vol.html?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzfuNBhCGARIsAD1nu-9s-MsmI6mkHNfFfZWqQ07jxMcunLdeUoAOPDpA9xTdog5BQypKIScaAnhNEALw_wcB

Googling "asphaltum wash/paint", found a number of different products.

 

[chistech]

Most Fisher bodied cars used a copper arsenic not only as a preservative but also an insecticide and this is why most original wood shows a green color. That green is not from moisture, age, or rot as some believe. The better cars got the asphalt spray along with sheets of an asphalt paper in the doors and large sheet metal areas for better anti-squeak and sound deadening applied on the already copper arsenic treated wood.

My own 32’ Olds had the copper arsenic treatment and the asphalt spray/paper treatment. While the CA is thin and soaks into the wood very easily, the asphalt spray really doesn’t penetrate much at all but rather flows into larger gaps and spaces then glues/coats everything together.

     Today, copper arsenic is not available, for obvious reasons, so copper naphthalene can be substituted with the same look and results. I mix a little dark minwax stain in to make it look a little more aged when applying it to pieces I’ve replaced on frames with original wood still in place. On a restoration intended to make a car “as new”, I leave it as it comes out of the bottle.

Edited December 28, 2021 by chistech
Added information (see edit history)

[chistech]

Here are some pictures of my 32’ olds that show the asphalt coating in the doors and some of the original green copper arsenic treatment in places. All the new wood in other pictures I treated with copper naphthalene, today’s equivalent of the copper arsenic. The upper and side deck rails along the edge of the rumble lid show pretty heavy remnants of the copper arsenic. This was meant as an insecticide as much as a preservative.

[TAKerry]

Who wouldve thought, treated wood in a car!