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Restoring a woodie from scratch is tough but not impossible. Here are some ways to make sure it's done correctly.
By Benjamin Preston
\nSeek out others who have restored or are restoring a wood-bodied car. Learn from their mistakes to minimize your own. (You\'ll undoubtedly make plenty of those, anyway. Don\'t worry.) \nWestrate has a small library of woodie books; they\'re packed with information about not only rebuilding woodies but also general woodworking knowledge.", credit: "Frank Carroll at Wikipedia", sourceid: null, sourcename: "", sourceurl: null, sourcelogo: "", thumbsrc: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/RL/woodies-resto-03-0313-smn.jpg", src: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/5V/woodies-resto-03-0313-lgn.jpg", srcwidth: 600, srcheight: 450 }, { id: "slide4", url: "how-to-bring-a-woodie-wagon-back-to-life-4", slidetype: "image", title: "Practice on Scrap Wood First", description: "Automotive carpentry is tricky even for skilled woodworkers: Every piece must be perfect. You don\'t want to spend days curving an expensive piece of wood for a door post only to find that you\'ve joined the boards in the wrong place or screwed on the hinges at a weird angle. \n
\nIf there\'s a skill you haven\'t mastered yet, practice on scrap wood (which you can often get at a lumber yard for free) until you\'ve got it down pat.", credit: "", sourceid: null, sourcename: "", sourceurl: null, sourcelogo: "", thumbsrc: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/AG/woodies-resto-04-0313-smn.jpg", src: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/HM/woodies-resto-04-0313-lgn.jpg", srcwidth: 600, srcheight: 450 }, { id: "slide5", url: "how-to-bring-a-woodie-wagon-back-to-life-5", slidetype: "image", title: "Cut and Grain Are Everything", description: "Don\'t just drive down to Home Depot for all the wood you need. This is a fine woodworking project, and you\'ll need to locate just the right wood. For instance, the cut of the boards will have a big impact on how your project looks as it absorbs and evaporates moisture; flat-sawn boards have a tendency to cup because of the way the grains are arranged. The cut will also affect the attractiveness of a piece of wood\'s grain pattern. You should generally look for quarter-sawn boards, as they\'re less likely to warp.\n
\nWestrate is using hard maple for the structural parts of his \'39 Ford Deluxe, birch for its panels, and a host of other types of wood for seat supports, the dashboard, and other interior parts. He sourced the wood from a local hardwood supplier who specializes in gun stocks and musical-instrument bodies. After spending a bunch of money on hardwoods, he says, it\'s a good idea to keep them stored in a dry place so they fit correctly once you\'ve shaped them. (Remember, wood expands when it absorbs moisture and contracts when it dries.)", credit: "", sourceid: null, sourcename: "", sourceurl: null, sourcelogo: "", thumbsrc: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/WS/woodies-resto-05-0313-smn.jpg", src: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/nh/woodies-resto-05-0313-lgn.jpg", srcwidth: 600, srcheight: 450 }, { id: "slide6", url: "how-to-bring-a-woodie-wagon-back-to-life-6", slidetype: "image", title: "Formulate a Plan and Keep Everything", description: "A woodie rebuild is like any classic-car restoration: You have to complete tasks in a certain order. Drawing up an outline for how you want to proceed will help keep your project free from major hiccups. Hang on to all the old parts, even bad ones you\'d otherwise throw away, until your project is completed. Keep them labeled and organized, because you might need them later.", credit: "", sourceid: null, sourcename: "", sourceurl: null, sourcelogo: "", thumbsrc: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/Kt/woodies-resto-06-0313-smn.jpg", src: "/cm/popularmechanics/images/DL/woodies-resto-06-0313-lgn.jpg", srcwidth: 600, srcheight: 450 } ] };
Although many of us were born after the age of wood-bodied cars had come and gone, the woodie wagon remains an icon 60 years after its demise. Long before stick-on vinyl wood grain simulation replaced real wood in America's automotive landscape, these cars' original buyers valued the beauty and craftsmanship of a well-constructed piece of carpentry. Then, in the chrome-drenched 1950s and '60s, you couldn't give away a wooden car. The dirt-cheap price appealed to the vagabond surfers seen in Bruce Brown films, giving woodies a new cultural identity.Today there are few woodies left. The survivors have become very valuable, and if they're in bad shape, professional restoration is prohibitively expensive. But that doesn't mean you can't rebuild a woodie at home. All you need to build your own wooden car body is a dry space for work and storage, a decent set of woodworking tools, and lot of time and patience.
Dave Westrate of Oakton, Va., restored a 1939 Ford Standard woodie wagon to concours quality and is currently working on a Deluxe model of the same year. The Deluxe is a basket case. The wheel wells are rusted out, the floorboards are rotten, and most of the body is ruined. But the fresh pile of shaped pieces of wood lying across the back of its frame is an encouraging sign that someday it will look like the gleaming woodie sitting next to it in the garage.
Building a wooden car body is something a skilled cabinetmaker could do with relative ease, but it isn't impossible for the rest of us. You can learn as you go?Westrate said both cars have been a learning process for him. Here are a few things you should know before you start:
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Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/how-to-bring-a-woodie-wagon-back-to-life?src=rss
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