45 years of Custom Auto Chassis Eng.

[Oldcol]

there is a name for your problem....but i forget what itn is

....yeah,me too....

[pilot Dave]

Yes Andy ,it's back on the go...happened like this, if you remember back a while there was a particulary lovely black '46 Business Coupe that I had been building for a long time client and friend,Robert....he fell short on cash as most of us ordinary folks do at times and we took the car back to his place for a bit of a break. That break dragged on a bit and in the meantime I decided it was time to pack it in, ( the working thing) and we also move up here to the wilds of Warragul. The intention was to get back into the '46 once Rob was ready, but I had the little green pickup on the go (Wayne's car)....and it sort of dragged on a bit too, with an extended stay at the panel shop, then another one at the trimmers...and then the engine went away and we thought it was never going to come back ....but it did eventually. During that time we'd legged it up here and when we eventually got the car out of the trimmers, we brought it up here to finish off....only the engine was still MIA... . Some hassling resulted in it being returned and we got on with the job of finishing it off.
......However, by then I was getting pretty toe-ey to get some of my own stuff done, but couldn't really do much 'coz the shop was full of painted , trimmed and clean car. Scary to be doing dirty work anywhere near it.....and Rob was well and truly ready to boogie on the '46 again. And ,I was not all that excited about taking on another job. So.... son Dale who now lives just up the street from here , has for a while been doing some pretty good resto and modified car work on a part time basis, as well doing his chrome windscreen business. Logical thing to do was handball that job to Dale, which Rob was happy with, and it's been progressing pretty well since then. The '46 still needed all the front panels tidied up and painted, and Dale has a pal who he had do just that, and it has come out like a work of art. So I got all excited and figured that he'd be the right guy to do the panel and paint on the tin bits of the Woodencar ( bet you were wondering if I was ever going to get to the point )....so I went down to good old Bayswater and spoke to Dan and his partner, and they were happy to take the job on. So off back home and extract the Woodie from it's spot down the back, sneak it in beside Waynes car which we buried in blankets ....and jumped back into the metalwork where I left off a few years ago. Naturally it took longer than I figured, but with a bit of thrashing away I got it sorted and trucked it down to Dans for massaging and colour....where it is now...Shit ...all that bs and I'm logged into Kris's computer page...just mentally cross out Kris and put in Col...cheers.

GOD I LOVE THESE STORIES COL oops caps I got excited always a great read on your posts thanks for taking the time to entertain us all even the ones who don't post at all

[Oldcol]

Cheers Dave, you're welcome....

[Kris]

Hey Col Photobucket likes me , I can post pics. , and your avatar shows.




It's a mystery, we both use the same desktop computer, I use Chrome and Col uses Mozilla.

[hot rod andy]

Hey Col Photobucket likes me , I can post pics. , and your avatar shows.




It's a mystery, we both use the same desktop computer, I use Chrome and Col uses Mozilla.

Don’t stop now Kris....updates please...we need pics....before it all goes shit shape again...

[Greg N Smith]

Hi Col

If you are looking for the rear quarters of the Woodie I think they are on the top shelf

I LIKE your updates

[Oldcol]

Nah..that's firewood in the shape of a Woodie that we paid handsomely for a few years back from an alleged Woodie builder in the USA, a learning experience....

[hot rod andy]

Nah..that's firewood in the shape of a Woodie that we paid handsomely for a few years back from an alleged Woodie builder in the USA, a learning experience....

So are you going to rebuild the woodie bit...or just roll with what you have...think it all comes down to how far you are going to go with it....full resto...or enjoy what you have...either way its another car thats been saved

[Chrisso]

Nah..that's firewood in the shape of a Woodie that we paid handsomely for a few years back from an alleged Woodie builder in the USA, a learning experience....

So are you going to rebuild the woodie bit...or just roll with what you have...think it all comes down to how far you are going to go with it....full resto...or enjoy what you have...either way its another car thats been saved

Andy, Andy, Andy this is col you are asking.

[Oldcol]

Nah..that's firewood in the shape of a Woodie that we paid handsomely for a few years back from an alleged Woodie builder in the USA, a learning experience....

So are you going to rebuild the woodie bit...or just roll with what you have...think it all comes down to how far you are going to go with it....full resto...or enjoy what you have...either way its another car thats been saved

Andy, Andy, Andy this is col you are asking.

...ha ha...well ,Andy is onto it. What I am planning to do is "conserve" ( ya like that? ), the original 1941 timbers. Most of it is pretty good,some of it is excellent. There are a number of joints that have opened up over the years and most if not all of the glue has dried out....and there's a bit of shrinkage here and there as befits an elderly gent like this ....and I think having the original timbers does make it pretty special. I'm not trying to build a work of art with this, just make it a nice job and if at the end there are a few blokes who don't like the odd blemish here and there...too bad,eh?

[Mudgy]

Hi Col,

How do you look after all the wood once it's all complete?

Varnish (2 pak clear coat)? or some type of oil? I've seen some guys use gun stock oil on electric guitar bodies, and they come up a treat. But they're indoor items. Mostly.

Cheers, Mudgy

[hot rod andy]

Hi Col,

How do you look after all the wood once it's all complete?

Varnish (2 pak clear coat)? or some type of oil? I've seen some guys use gun stock oil on electric guitar bodies, and they come up a treat. But they're indoor items. Mostly.

Cheers, Mudgy

In my opinion Mudgy I would be looking to put some moisture back into the dried out timber, covering it with any kind of varnish or two pack wouldn’t help, it needs a natural product, I think raw boiled linseed oil would help swell the fibres and use an old fashioned glue( we used to use good old fashioned boiled bone glue stinks like hell though) some modern woodworking glues are okay though, yellow glue, just don’t use pva it’s a craft glue

[Oldcol]

Hi Col,

How do you look after all the wood once it's all complete?

Varnish (2 pak clear coat)? or some type of oil? I've seen some guys use gun stock oil on electric guitar bodies, and they come up a treat. But they're indoor items. Mostly.

Cheers, Mudgy

...there's Woodie clubs,forums and magazines, opinions on most everything seems to vary and I think it's just a question of viewing your options and go for it!, but I'm thinking an oil as Andy says. Originally the civvie wagons were varnished at the factory and they were fairly high maintenance finishes, and likely the varnish you buy now isn't the original type anyway. I like the idea of an oil that will penetrate, which means you get oil into joints and crevices that a varnish will skim over and later on crack with movement....and will repel water too. This is Victoria,it will get wet....

[robtus]

I recently refinished the timber floors in my Qld house. It was sanded in 2015 and coated with tung oil which was too dark. This year I made up a batch of a mixture of about 80% bees wax and 20% of a commercial product called O'Cedar oil (Bunnings). (Heated it gently to blend it) It took a while to go off but the finish is great and repels everything. Worth the experiment to see if this will work for you. Easy to re-coat and retains original colouring.

[Oldcol]

...ha ha, I'm a long way from that part of it, not even any wood dust here yet.