1932 Canadian Oldsmobile DCR

[chistech]

Been busy with the other side of my business but got in some time here and there to work on the Olds. Looked at everything I got with the car and there’s no more regulators so I decided I would increase the section of teeth. The two bad regulators had the exact tooth spacing the good regulators have so I cut a good section of teeth off the bad regulator. Here’s the good regulator. Problem is the range of rotation is only about 110 degrees and that’s very close but not enough to lower the window frame down to its stops.The first step to adding teeth is to flatten the last tooth even with the rest. That bend in the tooth acts as a stop so the regulator can’t be cranked too far.With the tooth flattened, the section of teeth taken from the bad regulator are aligned with the others so to keep the added teeth i the same radius. The regulator got flipped over and the back edge was scribed onto the add on section so I could cut it with a hack saw.Here’s the section cut to shape and the last tooth bent up to be the stop.Section added on after chamfering the edges of both pieces for better penetration of the mig wire. I have and old Hobart Handler 120 mig and I’m using flux wire for this application. The Hobart really welds good and very flat requiring less grinding after. It gets great penetration too without the buildup.Completely welded up on both sides and cleaned up with the air grinder. It’s been primed and painted here. Did both regulators and installed them back on the boards.Drivers door with the window frame installed and attached to the regulator button. The frame is even with the top of the door and the regulator can go a little further but there will be two rubber bumpers on the two stop blocks setting the window frame right at door top height.Here’s the window frame cranked all the way up and the sash is against the front and rear stops where it should be. While it could have been an issue, I followed the old Clint Eastwood adage of “adapt and overcome” and got the problem fixed pretty easily. These regulators actually have shorter arms than the others which allows for less leverage against the mechanism. The windows crank up easier tan they would with the longer armed regulators. 

[chistech]

Started making the last involved pieces of door wood today. They are probably the most difficult piece in the door because of all the different shapes and angles going on. After planing a couple boards to the correct thickness, they were cut to size. Like most pieces, I had to plan my sequence steps to fabricate them. With the boards cut to size, I made the rabbets on each end. One end was originally a tenon but I can’t do that as I explained in an earlier post. The inward facing side of the board is thicker on the top than the bottom. To cut this the saw blade is set to height then the board is ripped against the fence. The blade then gets set to an angle and the board is ripped again to relieve the piece. If you look close you can see that the top of the angled area is actually flat for 5/8” then it angles in. This flat is where the top edge of the door sheet metal gets nailed to.Here it is alongside a slightly warped original. You can see how the backside has te 5/8” flat, an angle, then the long flat.The curved shape of the outward side was traced on the top edge then a full length block was screwed to the board to give it more width along the bottom to keep it at 90d for both sawing and sanding.The board has been cut to shape with the band saw then sanded on my horizontal sander. This ash is tough and cutting a 6” width of it is much easier with my big bandsaw.Here the boards have been routed and rounded over like the originals. Still a lot of additional work to do and the stabilization block will be screwed back on to sand the outward face more to shape now that the routing was done. The board ended to be of a certain thickness to rout it correctly then sanded thinner towards one end. I will do that tomorrow. I had to work with a dull short round over bit so that is why you see black on the edge of the routed areas.

[Ozzy1932]

On 3/23/2023 at 11:19 PM, chistech said:

Been busy with the other side of my business but got in some time here and there to work on the Olds. Looked at everything I got with the car and there’s no more regulators so I decided I would increase the section of teeth. The two bad regulators had the exact tooth spacing the good regulators have so I cut a good section of teeth off the bad regulator. Here’s the good regulator. Problem is the range of rotation is only about 110 degrees and that’s very close but not enough to lower the window frame down to its stops.The first step to adding teeth is to flatten the last tooth even with the rest. That bend in the tooth acts as a stop so the regulator can’t be cranked too far.With the tooth flattened, the section of teeth taken from the bad regulator are aligned with the others so to keep the added teeth i the same radius. The regulator got flipped over and the back edge was scribed onto the add on section so I could cut it with a hack saw.Here’s the section cut to shape and the last tooth bent up to be the stop.Section added on after chamfering the edges of both pieces for better penetration of the mig wire. I have and old Hobart Handler 120 mig and I’m using flux wire for this application. The Hobart really welds good and very flat requiring less grinding after. It gets great penetration too without the buildup.Completely welded up on both sides and cleaned up with the air grinder. It’s been primed and painted here. Did both regulators and installed them back on the boards.Drivers door with the window frame installed and attached to the regulator button. The frame is even with the top of the door and the regulator can go a little further but there will be two rubber bumpers on the two stop blocks setting the window frame right at door top height.Here’s the window frame cranked all the way up and the sash is against the front and rear stops where it should be. While it could have been an issue, I followed the old Clint Eastwood adage of “adapt and overcome” and got the problem fixed pretty easily. These regulators actually have shorter arms than the others which allows for less leverage against the mechanism. The windows crank up easier tan they would with the longer armed regulators. 

This is the type of work that separates Ted from the rest. When I first saw the problem and Ted said " I'll have to figure out a solution", I thought to myself, what can he do with this? Not that I lacked any confidence but mechanically I couldn't think of a way to fix the issue. Once again, Ted found a way that was true genius !  Thank you for your ingenuity Ted !

[chistech]

2 hours ago, Ozzy1932 said:

This is the type of work that separates Ted from the rest. When I first saw the problem and Ted said " I'll have to figure out a solution", I thought to myself, what can he do with this? Not that I lacked any confidence but mechanically I couldn't think of a way to fix the issue. Once again, Ted found a way that was true genius !  Thank you for your ingenuity Ted !

Thanks for those kind words, but in all honesty Brian, I can't take credit for idea. I had seen many years ago where a guy added teeth from another regulator to repair a worn out section. In the case of your regulators, it was better to just add on to the good ones (which were in excellent shape tooth wise, though I repaired the loose crank on one)rather than cut out the section of bad teeth on the worn out regulators and replace the worn section. They now work really well in your doors and have enough travel to get the job done.

     Getting close now to having all the door wood done. Hope to finish up the top opening boards today and then try to fit them. The upper top of the sheet metal on the latch side has to be cut out to get the boards in. Once in and fastened, the metal will be welded back in. Then the lower metal will be replaced and the doors will be done. Have to machine the new dovetail receptacles then I will shim the body on my service chassis to make all fit right. Then it will be ready for a trip to NY!!!!!s 

Edited March 25, 2023 by chistech (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Ted...that repair was brilliant. You've convinced me I'll have to learn how to weld!

[chistech]

1 hour ago, JV Puleo said:

Ted...that repair was brilliant. You've convinced me I'll have to learn how to weld!

Thanks Joe. I learned to weld by necessity when I was a kid and we had our family business. My brother and I handled almost all repairs from automotive to heavy building maintenance. My dad wanted to add a meat trailer addition with rails for hanging beef. Boston Tram Rail wanted over 20 grand to erect and install the complete system with a lift screw that would change the height of the lower rail coming out of our building (about 8+-‘) to 12’ so the beef could enter the box trailer. Other than my dad buying the screw lift, we made everything else. He bought a Lincoln 225 amp buzz box and had a welder come to work a few days and teach me and my brother. I was about 13-14 my brother 18-19! Back then I had great eyes.

     Todays mig welders are cheap and easy to use. Flux wire for basic welding and gas on wire for the sheet metal work. Todays self darkening helmets are a great improvement over what I learned with too. One thing I’ve learned is now that I wear glasses, my current pair are progressive lenses and they are not good for welding, at least in my opinion. A good set of strong, single lens type works best for me. 

[chistech]

Continued on the door upper boards today. I knew they would need more shaping and fitting and expected it to be a process.I took the Dremel with a thin cut off wheel and cut the top of the passenger latch side open. I was able to work the new board in some using a rubber mallet until I’d feel it bind. I’d drive it back out, look for the marks from the binding areas, then repeat the process.With the board completely I place, the three front holes and the three wood screw holes that are on the bottom of the steel angled piece were marked. The board was removed and a small drill was drilled through the center of each mark. On the opposite side, a forstner bit was used to make a relief for the T nuts. The wood screw holes were drilled then the wood screws soaped and screwed in fully to make them easier to install from underneath later.Here’s the end that originally had a mortise and tenon joint. I used the lap joint instead, drilled two 1/4” holes for two steve bolts into T nuts. It should be equally strong if not stronger.Here’s the top board completely bolted in tight. The whole door gets completely reassembled to make sure all fits as it should.Here it is all assembled including the regulator board. The thing with this kind of work is how many times you’re willing to assemble and disassemble something til you get it 100% right.

Here’s a view of the finished piece with T nuts installed. While it looks like a fairly simple piece it is one of the most difficult ones I’ve made. Dimensions are critical in so many areas that the piece needs to be the proper shape on all sides and ends.This is the bottom of the board with the three screw holes for the steel angled bracket. The screws are extremely difficult to install and I will be cheating here. I will use wood screws with a #2 Phillips head so the screw will stay in place on the tip while it’s screwed up from the bottom.This is the hinge end. The taper is critical to support the door skin, be thick enough for the T nut plus still have the proper clearance. My 12” disk sander makes quick work of extreme wood removal shaping then my horizontal sander to final shape the needed curvature.

A view of the backside from the end. The flat at the top edge is where the window opening in the sheet metal gets nailed into. The reason for the angle with the reduced thickness further down is because the lower sash has a wipe rubber installed that when the window is fully up, it’s supposed to “seal” the rain from entering the door. The minute the window begins its descent when cranked, because of the angle cut in the wood, the rubber wiper clears and allows an easier cranking. All that’s left to the door wood now is making some triangular support pieces. I will not assemble the wood yet now until I get the door skins and bottom’s replaced. 
      

[bradsan]

I linked this thread of Ted's to a post in another sub-forum on the site. The request was the timeless one for a wood kit for a brand that wasn't Ford or Chev.

Rather than hijack another's thread, I though I'd write my reply here where all of the fans would see it.

I've got a wood bodied project that I've been staring at for the past 40 years ( inherited of course! ) and over the years I've built that wooden frame at least 100 times in my head.

It will be a real challenge, as the wood for patterns is incomplete; although I think I've got at least one right or one left of every part🙃

The first question I remember asking of marque specialists when Dad first got the car was 'Where do I get a wood kit?'

The second question was "Where do I get factory drawings of the wooden patterns?"

The third question, and, strike three was " Where do I get a good book on how to do  automotive wood working ?"

 

If there was ever a really good practical  book being written on how to tackle automotive wood working , I think Ted's posts are the becoming of the book I was looking to buy . Not only this post on the Olds but the other posts he has contributed to ( like the finger jointing bit discussion) .

Can't say again how much I appreciate the time and effort Ted has put into detailing what he does. ( Like so many others posting their adventures in this sub).

Gives me hope that I can complete a project ...or where to ship it if I can't!

 

I may be missing other good posts on the same subject by equal talents that have disappeared down the screen into history. I know they are only a search away but it does make me wonder about the potential for pinned subject collections in the Technical thread.

 

More importantly, if you are a member thanks for paying  your dues and if you are not , consider becoming a member because books like this are priceless.

 

Brad

[Ozzy1932]

6 hours ago, bradsan said:

I linked this thread of Ted's to a post in another sub-forum on the site. The request was the timeless one for a wood kit for a brand that wasn't Ford or Chev.

Rather than hijack another's thread, I though I'd write my reply here where all of the fans would see it.

I've got a wood bodied project that I've been staring at for the past 40 years ( inherited of course! ) and over the years I've built that wooden frame at least 100 times in my head.

It will be a real challenge, as the wood for patterns is incomplete; although I think I've got at least one right or one left of every part🙃

The first question I remember asking of marque specialists when Dad first got the car was 'Where do I get a wood kit?'

The second question was "Where do I get factory drawings of the wooden patterns?"

The third question, and, strike three was " Where do I get a good book on how to do  automotive wood working ?"

 

If there was ever a really good practical  book being written on how to tackle automotive wood working , I think Ted's posts are the becoming of the book I was looking to buy . Not only this post on the Olds but the other posts he has contributed to ( like the finger jointing bit discussion) .

Can't say again how much I appreciate the time and effort Ted has put into detailing what he does. ( Like so many others posting their adventures in this sub).

Gives me hope that I can complete a project ...or where to ship it if I can't!

 

I may be missing other good posts on the same subject by equal talents that have disappeared down the screen into history. I know they are only a search away but it does make me wonder about the potential for pinned subject collections in the Technical thread.

 

More importantly, if you are a member thanks for paying  your dues and if you are not , consider becoming a member because books like this are priceless.

 

Brad

Brad, well said. I believe Ted is one of the best kept secrets in the antique car wood restoration world. He has the knowledge, skills and equipment do what is necessary to perfection. I feel fortunate to have met him to help me with this Olds project that laid dormant for 20 years. He has breathed new life into an automobile that was destined for the scrap heap. I bought this 32 Olds because I knew what it was and hoped I could find a way to get it back to its original glory. Without Ted, I don’t know if that would have been possible. 

[chistech]

Thanks for your words gentlemen, i really appreciate them. I feel in any profession or hobby, there’s a wide range of talent and a wide range of work quality. There are plenty of quality hobbyists out there that do work, often better than some top professionals but we just don’t hear about them. Because I couldn’t find much information on wood car restoration I decided to post about it and get the info out there that I couldn’t find. That’s the only reason anyone has heard of me. It’s like athletes that we see, most of us know someone who could have easily gone on to be a top athlete but just never got or pursued the chance.

       I believe what takes an interested hobbyist to move forward is passion in what they’re doing. I do many things and while I enjoy making hardwood decks for example, my passion was never to pursue that as a profession. Originally my antique car passion was in the middle of “very involved hobbyist” and professional. What I did was mainly was take a big hobby and move ahead. Since my previous employer changing directions in my life after 22+ years, I’ve decided to make my passion my profession. 
      I am now looking at getting into the wood end of this even more. Over the years that I’ve done wood repair, I’ve kept patterns on what I’ve worked on. I have been getting a fair amount of inquiries as many are finding the other wood manufacturers are either out of stock, years behind, or don’t even answer inquiries. I know most of those manufacturers are older, close to or past retirement age, and are just plain tired. Finding any sort of help is virtually nonexistent so that what makes the dilemma. In most cases, I have better equipment than the others and I’m a New England guy who works typically New England fast. Sorry to all others from across the country but we’re known for it and growing up, my dad wouldn’t tolerate anything but fast! (Quality had to be first rate also!)

     So I’m strongly considering concentrating on the wood side. Making wood but also installing it if needed as not many understand or do both. I’m working on making up patterns for the common cars but the odd few will still be the older draw out, cut, fit as you go style. If there’s people out there interested, either yourself or your friends, PM me as I’d like to see how much interest is out there. Also, I’m always willing to offer help to people over the phone or internet but please don’t ask for me to send copies of my patterns because the wood pieces being made cost too much. In most cases I all ready have hour’s into those patterns both in design, sequence, and in other procedure. I recently had a little discussion with a gentleman who felt those making wood were charging too much and he would just make it himself. Of course, he had asked everyone for a copy of their patterns! Sorry if I sound grumpy but it just blows my mind that someone would blatantly disrespect someone’s work like that. It’s like saying you like Campbell soup and calling the for the recipe because you didn’t want to buy a can! Okay, off my soapbox now!😁

[JV Puleo]

Narcissists...they think the whole world revolves around them and their interests. I'm sorry to say it but I think the old car world has a disproportionate number of them.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

Very well said Ted. I’m a plumber and it just ticks me off when we give a price to a customer and then they want to beet us up for our knowledge and equipment. I even had one that complained that I was charging up batteries that I wasn’t using. I said ok and went and got out the corded tools and cords and then he complained about the cords. We just can’t pleased everyone. Mike

[chistech]

5 hours ago, Mike "Hubbie" Stearns said:

Very well said Ted. I’m a plumber and it just ticks me off when we give a price to a customer and then they want to beet us up for our knowledge and equipment. I even had one that complained that I was charging up batteries that I wasn’t using. I said ok and went and got out the corded tools and cords and then he complained about the cords. We just can’t pleased everyone. Mike

Wow. How dare you charge a battery! So many People today are hard to understand their thinking. I just don’t get it. I didn’t go into all the details with that guy about the patterns and it wasn’t actually me he was asking for the patterns but another guy who makes wood also up in CN. The guy posted that he was making wood and if anyone needed any to let him know. So the guy I mentioned posted asking for a pattern from him. I posted that wasn’t cool for him to do that, was sticking up for the guy from CN, and it escalated from there. I found out that he had actually asked other wood guys in the business for patterns. I found other posts of his complaining about the cost of the parts. Spoke with some of the wood guys and they had refused to call him back because he was asking for patterns. I’m just dumbfounded with people like that.

[Gary_Ash]

Ted, it's the same situation with 3D CAD models of parts.  It takes a silly number of hours to create exact models, and I don't see the motivation to give them away.  Once the CAD models leave my hands, I have no idea what will happen to them next.  I'd rather negotiate a price to 3D print a casting pattern and see where it goes from there.  That said, someone can fairly easily make a silicone rubber mold of a pattern and generate wax replicas, but they are already investing and I'm more likely to be dealing with a professional.  On the other hand, I do a lot of CAD modeling on a pro bono basis just because I'm interested in the project and want to help.  I doubt anyone would want to pay my industrial consulting rates for these services.

[JV Puleo]

I wonder if this sort of behavior mostly comes from people who have never made anything. I have several relatives that fall into that category...they simply don't comprehend that making things requires thought, imagination, skill and tools as well as time. Or, as a friend once said, they think everything comes from Amazon.

 

I spent about 40 years in the printing business and encountered all the above many times. It is the major reason I will not do outside work for anyone unless it's for a friend or fellow enthusiast. Of course, I also don't have to which isn't the situation Ted is in. Can any of these people imagine a job that takes three hours to set up and twenty minutes to do...if you have $20,000 worth of equipment to do it with?

 

Many years ago I fixed the brakes on a Cloud I RR. The car had been sitting in another shop for 3 months where the "mechanic" had no idea how to do it. The owner dropped it off...and I fixed it in about 30 minutes. My assistant asked me if I was going to call him..."No" I said. I'll to that tomorrow or the next day. He asked why and I explained that I could fix the car because I had the manual, which I'd paid $150 for, and thus knew what to look for. I was going to charge him $300 for the job and if I called him too soon he'd complain. As it was, I called the next day, told him the price and he was thrilled!

Edited April 17, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[chistech]

I have to say all the people I’ve done car work for have been the best. I never had a single complaint about cost, time taken, quality of the work (interior, exterior, or mechanical) or the overall completion time. I have actually never met some of my customers face to face, only seeing their car, working on it, then sending it back to them. When a car or even a set of car wood goes clear across the country and the person calls you telling you how pleased they are with it, and you’ve never met them, those are the things that put a smile on your face and you remember. While mentioning the “dinks” makes for good conversation, it’s not something I dwell on. We all do this for the pleasure and smiles it gives us. An occasional rant about the problems we encounter I believe is good therapy for the mind!😁

[chistech]

10 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

 

Many years ago I fixed the brakes on a Cloud I RR. The car had been sitting in another shop for 3 months where the "mechanic" had no idea hows to do it. The owner dropped it off...and I fixed it in about 30 minutes. My assistant asked me if I was going to call him..."No" I said. I'll to that tomorrow or the next day. He asked why and I explained that I could fix the car because I had the manual, which I'd paid $150 for, and thus knew what to look for. I was going to charge him $300 for the job and if I called him too soon he'd complain. As it was, I called the next day, told him the price and he was thrilled!

When I was working for my previous employer, I was the manager of the department and I had one or two service technicians depending on the time of year. One tech was probably the most experienced and knowledgeable tech on many types of packaging equipment in the NE. He was extremely reliable, never late, never sick, on time, plus had an excellent way with the customers. His work pace was good, faster than average, but not fast. One day a customer in CT had an automated case erector go down and we were busy so I went to do the repair. I have a background in automotive packaging equipment with my pace on the fast side,  so looking at the machine I knew the problem almost immediately and set out repairing it. When I was done , the invoice filled out, I walked over to the customer/owner for his signature. He told me that he no longer wanted anyone else but me working on his machine because I was a lot faster and it cost him less. I explained to him that I had a lot more experience with the case erector than my tech did but that my tech had much more experience with his strapping equipment and his shrink system. It took me a little while to convince him but getting the job done too quickly, or what appears to those who have no understanding as fast, can be a problem for sure.

[chistech]

Gotten some odds and ends done. With the door wood all made and fitted, I removed it all from the doors and sanded it all down smooth. The original pieces were left kind of rough and rough wood absorbs moisture more easily than very smooth wood so it’s another thing I do that I believe is better than what was originally done. 
    About a week back the new ash steam bent bow came in from Penn Dutch Restoration. I fitted the bow to the irons with three wood screws on each side. At the bottom hole a rivet was originally used that’s in the shape of a double hook wrapping around the tip of the bow to keep it from splitting and then the end got expanded on the side with the iron. These rivets have to be drilled out to get them off the iron which leaves them too short to reuse. Both of the rivets were pitted badly on the face and the 1/4” round body had been reduced quite a bit by heavy rust on both. I clamped each one in the mill with the end of the rivet facing up and milled the end flat. After finding the center, I drilled a hole with a small center drill then enlarged the hole down 1/2” with a #25 drill then tapped it with a 10-24 tap. Both got belt sanded some to clean up the heavy pitting then primed and painted. When dry, they were installed on the bow tips. The bow itself gets covered with a sock of bowdrill cloth when the upholstery is done. 
    Milled a piece of aluminum to size to make up two of the dovetail receptacles. Started laying out the needed areas to mill. Here’s the wood for both doors all sanded and treated for later installation.As what was discussed in an earlier post, many would look at these few pieces and not understand the associated cost. If you told someone $1,600-$1,800 they would think you were crazy yet that’s the going cost for two doors on a wood producers current price list! 
Here’s the bow rivets.Bow rivet tapped for the 10-24 flat head screw. You can see the body of the rivet has gotten rusted away from its original 1/4”.

The new steam bent bow installed on the car with the finished mid bow and landau arms.

jThe bow tip rivet in place. Just as originally done.

another view of the completed roof bow system.Aluminum block for the dovetail receptacles in the vice scribed out. I’m using a work stop clamp on the vice because lots of work can be easily done by simply rotating the block to its other side. The block will also be getting flipped over and milled exactly the same way with both receptacles being machined back to back. They will then be sawn apart and milled to their finished thickness. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

Got a little time on the mill today. Worked on the dovetail receptacles. Using the stop block and milling things in proper sequence allowed me to save a lot of time. The digital readout helps tremendously also. These small blocks have a lot going on.This is how far I progressed today. First thing down after I had laid all my scribe lines was to mill the V groove. Using a 11/32 end mill, I cut the slot .965 deep from the face in 3 steps increasing the depth of the bit until I was at the proper depth top to bottom. Flipped the block over and did the same on the opposite side. Then the vice was rotated 10 degrees and one side of the groove cut. Block was flipped and the other was milled. Then the vice got rotated again but 10 degrees opposite of center and the process repeated.I didn’t take pictures at every step, only taking pictures at the end of today but the next step was to drill the .310 spring holes. These were drilled when the block was still full dimensional and the additional milling you see on the back was done in a later step. 
Here are the sides of the block milled to accept the metal sliders. The corners of the retaining blocks are still square and will be rounded as the originals were later.

The dovetail in the V groove.

The front view of the dovetail in the receptacle. The back edge of the dovetail is at 12mm from the face of the receptacle as the original is. The two 3/16 wide grooves on each side of the V groove are for small felts that are lubricated and help the receptacle slide freely in the housing.

This side view shows the rear tongue not yet shaped as the tongue left square is still required for further milling. This tongue helps keep the receptacle aligned in the housing when the door is closed. Lots of the final shaping is easier to do on a belt sander and hand files.Here you can see how badly the original ones were worn. The spring was actually exposed in its hole from wear. Tomorrow I will saw the two apart, mill them to their proper thickness, mill the three 3/16 felt slots on each backside, then finish all the small details in all other areas. This work went really fast and there’s only about 1 1/2 hours work so far. Anyone who’s done machining knows that’s not a lot of time on a small complicated piece. Should be about an 1/2 hour left. 

[chistech]

Finished up the dovetail receptacles today. Here’s the backside with the felts installed. I cut new felts from a hard buffing wheel I have. While it’s not as pretty as the white metal casting it’s just as functional and the back is not seen.

Topside. When I was done hand finishing the two I took them to my neighbor to polish the exposed areas. It doesn’t look like it in this picture but it’s smooth and shiny.

Here are the pieces to one assembly with the piece of hard felt buffing wheel use for the felt sliders. The housing and the two buffers get a light coating of brake grease to help the block slide in the housing when the door is opened and closed. 
Passenger side completely installed. The two pieces of the housing get lumped tightly together then I tack weld together in a couple spots on the back. 
Drivers side installed. Ready to accept the dovetails firmly without any slop or play. Another thing finished. 

[Ozzy1932]

23 hours ago, chistech said:

Got a little time on the mill today. Worked on the dovetail receptacles. Using the stop block and milling things in proper sequence allowed me to save a lot of time. The digital readout helps tremendously also. These small blocks have a lot going on.This is how far I progressed today. First thing down after I had laid all my scribe lines was to mill the V groove. Using a 11/32 end mill, I cut the slot .965 deep from the face in 3 steps increasing the depth of the bit until I was at the proper depth top to bottom. Flipped the block over and did the same on the opposite side. Then the vice was rotated 10 degrees and one side of the groove cut. Block was flipped and the other was milled. Then the vice got rotated again but 10 degrees opposite of center and the process repeated.I didn’t take pictures at every step, only taking pictures at the end of today but the next step was to drill the .310 spring holes. These were drilled when the block was still full dimensional and the additional milling you see on the back was done in a later step. 
Here are the sides of the block milled to accept the metal sliders. The corners of the retaining blocks are still square and will be rounded as the originals were later.

The dovetail in the V groove.

The front view of the dovetail in the receptacle. The back edge of the dovetail is at 12mm from the face of the receptacle as the original is. The two 3/16 wide grooves on each side of the V groove are for small felts that are lubricated and help the receptacle slide freely in the housing.

This side view shows the rear tongue not yet shaped as the tongue left square is still required for further milling. This tongue helps keep the receptacle aligned in the housing when the door is closed. Lots of the final shaping is easier to do on a belt sander and hand files.Here you can see how badly the original ones were worn. The spring was actually exposed in its hole from wear. Tomorrow I will saw the two apart, mill them to their proper thickness, mill the three 3/16 felt slots on each backside, then finish all the small details in all other areas. This work went really fast and there’s only about 1 1/2 hours work so far. Anyone who’s done machining knows that’s not a lot of time on a small complicated piece. Should be about an 1/2 hour left. 

Nice work Ted !

[Ozzy1932]

There dovetails look great Ted. Thanks for getting them done ✅ for me. 

[chistech]

Today was somewhat of a milestone on the olds. Today I finished the last pieces of wood for the car right down to the four blocks to mount the running boards on. The actual last piece was the front roof bow. I was saving this piece till last as I’ve never made one before and Bill Cartwright of KC Wood, who does make them, and does a very nice job of it, told me it’s probably the most difficult single piece to make. I actually purchased the front roof bow for my own Olds from Bill knowing it would be difficult. 
      Using what I had as a pattern, measuring the distances of the mounting holes and the folding roof side irons as patterns, I drew out the bow on a thick piece of laminated ash. The old piece gave me the thickness and curvature I needed plus the design of the unique, uneven angled channel that runs the length of the bow’s bottom. This is a piece that definitely requires a lot of layout and special jigs or tooling accessories to get the results needed. There’s as much   time in making jigs and doing the planning as there is in making the piece itself. Even with the proper sequence taken, you have to attach additional pieces to hold the piece for cutting and shaping. Of course the mill was used for the inletting on the ends but a router with custom made bases was required for the center channel. I recently acquired a shaper with some tooling as I thought I was going to need it on this piece and I did. The bows center channel has a metal pan that fits into it and the original was completely rotted so Brian had purchased a repop. It copies the original very well but is missing the nailing slots in the bottom for the windshield bow gasket. Those slots will get cut on the mill.The ends of the original piece and the new made bow. The front edge has a curve to it along with the bottom and top. The only straight edge is the backside but as you can see it has the two ears of wood on the ends.

The arch of the bow is visible in this photo. Both top and bottom are arched with the top sloping down back to front.

 This end photo shows the center channel with the channel angled to the front edge and the rear edge on a 90d. A Small forstner bit is used to relieve all the countersinks in the metal irons. 
Photo showing the nice curves of the bow.The top rear edge of the bow is inletted for upholstery work. The small strip of light colored ash is where I made a little too long of a dado. I did it on both ends but it’s not structural, only cosmetic, plus it gets covered with upholstery. I’m okay with this tiny mistake considering it’s my first attempt on this piece.

The two shallow forstner holes are for clearance of rivets and the deeper one is to clear the pin for the roof side inserts. The inserts also have a tongue on them that goes into a slot in the bracket.The inletting required to fit the corner iron. The slot open to the back is where the winged T bolt enters to lock the bow down tight on the post of the upper windshield frame.
Right side bracket mounted with a 1/4-20 flat head and T nut. 
Left side. You can see the heavy corrosion the irons have suffered. Brian is really resurrecting a car that had seen better days. These irons are supposed to be chrome so there will be lots of copper added and lots of polishing to get them nice.

End view with the center cover metal installed for fit. Once the slots are milled, the piece primed then painted, it will be nailed to the bow.

So with all the woodworking finished, I moved all but my big bandsaw back to their storage area and swept the floor. Nice to have the open floor space again. I have my pallet jack out in my trailer to move another piece of equipment next week and it’s what I use to move this one ton bandsaw around so that’s why it’s still out in the center floor. Next week it will be wide open. 

[Ozzy1932]

Making the wood for this Olds DCR is definitely and artform. This final piece looks like it would be the toughest one to make. I'm glad that You were able to duplicate the original that was in very poor shape. Thanks for your attention to detail Ted !

 

[chistech]

Well, I spoke too soon. I thought I was all done with the wood but taking a closer look at the remnant of the original bow and pictures of the bow I got for my own olds and I realized that I forgot a couple of rabbets and two more through screws with T nuts. It was a quick fix and now I’m pretty certain I’m done with the wood!Heres the drivers side rabbet I forgot and the T nut towards the front edge was added. The bow also got its stained insecticide treatment. The screw that sits proud of the top is only doing that because I screwed it in kind of tight without the corner bracket. I put both the machine and wood screws in place so Brian has them when the brackets come back from plating and he assembles the bow.

Passenger side done. Originally, the front T nut was covered with a small sheet metal plate inletted and tacked into the bow. This helped keep the top of the roof flat so the depression couldn’t be seen and from someone screwing in too long of a screw and puncturing the top. The space above the T nut is easily filled these days with anything from cotton wadding to expanding foam to fill the depression. The bow, due to all the “close to the edge “ inletting is kind of fragile on the ends so the less nails or tacks in it the better. Most bows end up cracking through the years due to the lack of thickness. All wood screws are drilled with the appropriate drill size plus soaped well to prevent splitting of the wood.Top of the bow finished.Bottom of the bow with all the proper length machine and wood screws in place for future assembly.Yesterday morning the bow insert got clamped in the mill and all the 3/16” slots were done. It then got primed then painted today. I will drill the small nail holes in it and then nail it to the bow.

 

Happy Easter everyone!

Edited April 9, 2023 by chistech (see edit history)

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I was just wondering what type of soap you use and how you put it on a screw?  Years ago, dad used bar soap. Mike

[chistech]

Mike, I find Irish Spring bar soap to be the best as it stays somewhat soft. My normal procedure is to spit on the bar and work it into the bar somewhat, then pull the screw through the soft area. I’ve tried other brand’s but the Irish Spring seems to be the best. 
 

[Gary_Ash]

Years ago, I was told that soap would cause screws to rust.  Beeswax and paraffin are two alternatives.

[chistech]

I’ve been told by a few old timers that a slight rusting of the fastener in a wood car body is a good thing. Blue metal tacks for instance, that were held in the mouth and got moistened by saliva, would then rust some preventing the tapered tack body from working out as easily as it could if it was smooth steel. A shiny wood screw will easily loosen even when tight but a screw with a light film of surface rust will be significantly harder to loosen once tightened because of the rust film. One would think that the lye used in soaps years ago is what gave soaping screws that reputation as lye is a caustic and will promote rusting and corrosion. People will mention hardware sickness but that is seen more so where there’s a constant and consistent cycle of wetting and drying. That was the case when these wood bodied cars were used as everyday of the week, all year cars. We don’t expose our antique cars to much of a normal cars life anymore.

Edited April 9, 2023 by chistech (see edit history)

[kbeach]

Last year I tried to remove wood screws from a door that was re wooded about 25 years ago, almost impossible to get them out. The wood is oak and the screws are cad plated slotted, by now I now have no idea as to the kind of soap used. About 5 years ago I purchased a bees wax toilet bowl seal for setting wood screws. they go in easy and, so far, come out easy.

[chistech]

Started on the re-skinning of the passenger door yesterday. Measured for the height of the new panel minus enough lip for the flange and cut the door skin with a small 90 rotary grinder with a thin cut off wheel. I find the grinder with the thin cut off wheel to give me the straightest cuts with the least metal distortion. Because the flanging tool can’t go all the way to the edge when there’s a former or another brace in the way, the end of the panel gets notched so it’s level with the cut door skin. A couple of taps with a small cold chisel at the transition allows for the notch of the new panel to fit flat and be butt welded in this small area.The other end is done the same way. I made the flange a little deeper than necessary as I measured off by 1/8” but it won’t make a difference as there’s still plenty of overlap.New skin clamped in place with one tack from the mig. I forgot to mention that the replacement skin was cut to length leaving enough length to allow the end to be bent on the brake to be folded over after.Didn’t take step by step photos of the welding but here’s the skin completely welded in place curvature and height looks The wood was installed in the door after the inside of the new metal was both primed and painted. The metal was the nailed to the wood and the upper corner brace screwed in.The bottom lip of the new replacement door bottom got both the drainage slot milled in it and the tabs cut into the full flanged lip. Not cutting the tabs for nailing and leaving the wide flange would mean the interior door panel would have to be tacked to the door bottom at least a 1/2 from the bottom of the door edge. This is too far and the panel wold alway show it. While the repopped door bottom is great to have, you need to finish them so they are more like the originals for those reasons I mentioned. The water drain slots are also very important.A view of the bottom edge folded over. The door bottom came out nice but the folding process does leave small marks and bent areas that will need to be skimmed with body filler. It’s the nature of the beast as I don’t have a full door edge press with the correct tooling like the factory originally had!This is the upper area of the latch side of the door where I had cut open and bent back to get the upper board in. It’s now welded back in place. The upper joint is soldered and i will need to do that. Pretty hard to tell this was cut wide open.

 

[chistech]

Finished up the sheet metal work on the drivers door. Installed and glued the wood then welded up the access hole on the latch side. Installed the flocked channels in the metal channels, installed the old window frame  (still waiting on the frames from the plater, should be next week), installed the regulator board, and adjusted the sash guide track. The window is working properly but is tight and somewhat hard cranking. With the old rough frame it’s expected and it should be fine with the smooth chromed frames. Here the door completely assembled with the garnish molding in place minus the chromed frames, glass, and door strap. Both doors are nice and straight with no movement fitting the body line’s pretty much perfectly. This is a pleasant surprise considering all the new made wood and having to change some of the joints. 
Here is the door closed and the window frame up. It’s lining up nicely with the mid bow which means all parts of the car are aligning correctly as they should. The only thing not seen to easily is both doors are aligning up high with the wedge centered in the dovetail. If it was just one side I would suspect I got one of the B pillar covers installed high (the B pillar covers have the cutout and the countersunk holes to receive the dovetails in only one exact position) but with all the sheet metal and the wood to this point aligning as it should and with both doors equally high, it tells me the custom made pillar covers have the dovetail locations off slightly. When I looked closely at the cover and the wood part of the B pillar, the cutout in the metal is high of center of the routed area in the wood. The wood was made using original B pillar’s as patterns so there is that discrepancy between the  original wood and the custom pillar covers. I started working on adjusting the drivers side receptacle down some. The car is getting close to making its trip home for its body work.ww

[chistech]

Finished up the passenger side door today. Took some measurements off my own original latch pillar covers on my own Olds and sure enough, the location of the dovetails are about 1/8” higher on these repopped covers. So moving them down is what’s needed. Here’s the cutout for the dovetail. You can see that the metal is higher than the cutout in the wood.using a cut off wheel on the die grinder, I removed about 1/8” making the metal even with the wood.using my big countersink, I moved the holes down so the receptacle could move down.Here you can see the pencil line from the original location and where the receptacle sits now.With the body shimmed on my build chassis to have the door at the proper height, you can see in this picture that the wedge is now aligned with the middle of the receptacle.Here the door is closed without the receptacle in place.The receptacle mounted in it’s new location. You can see the old height pencil marks.Door is closed in the receptacle with just a smidge of height which is good as it will have a slight tendency to drop a little with use and driving.

[chistech]

With the dovetails now done, I installed the old window frame along with the channels, tracks, and regulator. The old frame is pretty rough and pitted so I sanded it smooth with a DA and put it in position with the back side channel and track. I then got the regulator pin into the sash, cranked the handle to lower the board to the proper height, then installed all the screws. Cranking the window up and down shows the proper location/angle the rubbing channel outer metal track need to be fastened in so some of the rubber channel get pulled out of the track at the bottom, a small hole drilled for a #4 retaining screw, and the screw gets installed to hold the channel and track assembly in place. Here is the front anti rattle roller for the window that doubles as a stop for the sash. Directly across from the roller is the outer anti rattle roller but it’s hard to see. These rollers keep the window running up and Down nice and true without any shaking side to side.Here’s the rear sash stop contacting the sash in the full up position. Both sash stops contact the sash simultaneously which is what they should do which means the window is going up straight.Here’s the frame all the way up and nice and straight with the mid bow. What is funny on these cars is the door gap is always less on the passengers side than the drivers. I’ve spoken with many who’ve restored GM cabriolet models and they all say they’ve seen exactly the same thing. The gap is not that different but just a little tighter on the passenger side.🤔Quarter view from the front.both doors finished with frames up.Installed the garnish molding.Measured for and installed the latch striker. The door is closed well but just a little tight. The striker installs with two #14 wood screws ands it’s always better to have the door tight as the normal procedure is to grind the rear face of the striker until the door closes with a moderate push and not a hard slam. If the striker is installed with the door not closing tight enough, metal has to be added as you absolutely do not want to move the screws. very happy with the door’s bottom edge alignment with the rocker.Same on the drivers side. She’s done as far as rebuilding the body. Just waiting on the rechromed window frames so i can get glass installed then put them in the doors for good. This was about 7 1/2 months work which I’m happy with considering the amount of work needed and I work mainly alone. I am fortunate that I can devote more time to doing cars for customers. I don’t like having cars for a long time and just sitting there. My goal is always to get a car back as quickly as I can but with the best work I can do.

Edited April 17, 2023 by chistech (see edit history)

[Ozzy1932]

This is just Fantastic ! I appreciated everything you have done Ted to bring this car to this point. It has been like watching a movie on how to restore a 32 Olds DCR. You experience , skill and attention to detail is second to none. I can't wait to see it in person !

[chistech]

It’s not far away Brian! I’m hoping I get the window frames this week and get them along with the sashes down to the glazier. I finished off the small odds and ends on both doors today. Now I have to pull them partially apart so when the frames do get here, I’m ready to take them for glass.Passenger side door with the support strap in place, the anti rattle material, and sheet metal cover nailed on.  The door has nothing more added to in now until upholstery.Soldered up the top edge of the door and filed it smooth. JSI a little skim of body filler will finish this off.Drivers door with the strap and anti rattle treatment. 
When lightly slamming the passenger door closed an odd thing happened, the door latch locked. This is not supposed to happen as the passenger side handle is the one with the lock tumbler and how you lock the drivers door is by lifting the back of the inside door handle up, then the driver exits the passenger side and locks the passenger door with the key from the outside. If the latch is locking from the door being closed with some force and the drivers door was locked on purpose, you would not be able to enter the car. 
     I realized that the passenger side latch is not supposed to have the “lift to lock” detent but this one does. Possibly it’s a Canadian thing or is a rear latch from a four door. My main concern is to prevent it from ever locking from the closing motion. Most likely with the handle in place, it wouldn’t happen but it was happening with a handle just stuck on. I decided to install a simple stop that would no longer allow the latch from going into detent. I simply drilled a hole, threaded it 6-32, and installed a small round head screw in the arm that limits the motion of the arm into detent. Problem solved. Just a shot of the car at full convertible mode.

[chistech]

The car is officially ready to go for its body work. It’s scheduled to head back on the second week in May. Brian and I have discussed car and it will most likely be coming back for me to finish its assembly so it looks like I’ll be doing another full restoration on another 32 Olds DCR. Pretty rare to do one but I’ll have the pleasure of doing two! Looking forward to it.😁Got the frames back from plating ( they did a nice job), dropped them off at the glaziers, the glass got installed, and picked them up. Installed them in the doors yesterday. They operate very good and are just a little tight but all the rubber channels are new and that is expected. They definitely will not rattle or shake around.passenger side driver side rolled down and all components greaseddrivers side up.on the convertible coupes one important thing is to try and set the window travel as parallel to the vertical of the mid bow so the glass contacts the T rubber evenly that is mounted on the mid bow, the front windshield frame, and the removable top roof iron. The goal is to make the opening as water and airtight as possible. This frame is nice and straight to the mid bow.passenger side is very good also. Sometimes you will see other cabriolets and convertible coupes where the windows are leaning out. This area is an area I concentrate on to get correct. A crooked window not only looks bad, it operates up/down bad, and doesn’t seal properly. the window frame end bumper nailed in.The mid bumper installed. The rear and mid bumpers are correctly contacted simultaneously as the window comes down to rest meaning it’s traveling straight as it should. 

[Ozzy1932]

The windows look great Ted ! I can’t wait to see the car in person. 

[Laughing Coyote]

Ted, I see your brother is working on his project too.

[chistech]

3 hours ago, Ozzy1932 said:

The windows look great Ted ! I can’t wait to see the car in person. 

It’s actually a car again, at least in body.😄