VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Charlies Dream

I bet ole Charlie Like to have this beauty

Beautiful restoration.
Was the wood trim really wood?
How was it treated against rot?
Were they hard to take care of on the trim?
How was it mounted on the car? No visable bolts hardly seen.

I could go on with more questions, but, I might be in the wrong forum.

Ken

At least you have company. If I said I liked the car , but my name isn,t Charlie is that just a "technicality"?

That is one beautiful woody wagon! Would love to own it. However, shouldn't the above post with the photos be in the General Discussions forum since it is a non-technical post?

It's a 1941 chevrolet (37-42)

Maybe we need another 12 sub sections for photos of year models.

I was just wondering because previously you made a suggestion to Bill that posts in the year forums should be technical in nature and, because of your suggestion, Bill put "Technical" in the title heading of each forum. I believe that he suggested general photos (like the two above) and etc. should be in the General Discussions forum. Anyway let Bill and the mods figure it out.

Do you agree this is technically the nicest 41 woody you've ever seen? grin

OK..somebody will move it..sorry

Mercy - what a wagon!!!!!

Well since you moved it, Does anyone have an answer to my questions? Or should this be foward to the Mr.Goodwrench body forum?
No offence, but its getting kind of hard keeping up with the rule changes.

Ken,

I'll answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.

The wood looking stuff is really wood. I do not know what kind or whether the same type of wood was used throughout.

The wood was of such a type (oak, spruce, willow, pine, whatever) that as long as the varnish finish was effective against the elements, it lasted for a long, long time. There may even be some with their originals wood bodies still around.

The wood body was bolted to the frame and roof at the junction where the door pillars met the frame, roof and at the rear fenders, etc. I don't know the actual location of all the bolts but you can rest assured that there were a sufficient number of them. As far as I know there were no wooden pegs used.

Relatively speaking, I suppose that, in the long run, the wood body was harder to keep in pristine condition than was a painted steel body.

It is a beautiful car and I sure would like to be its owner.

I think my answers to your question tend to be somewhat technical but not knowing the actual answers to your questions, I hope they may be allowed to slide by.

Now, maybe some more knowledgeable members will be prompted to post more satisfactory (and correct) answers to your excellent questions. For sake of my own knowledge, I hope so.

Best,
Charlie

BTW: I think that may be a Campbell body and not the other one whose name I forget.

Well by posting in this forum it raised a technical question from a member and that is good enough for me. The car is beautiful by the way.

Thanks Charlie,
I appreciate your prompt answer to my questions. I figured that it was some sort of hard wood. I just wasn't sure how it was held on the body. And what kind of finnish that was on the wood to keep it from rotting? Some kind of shellac?
Thanks again,
Ken

The best person to answer your questions is someone that has restored a woody. Some information was posted a while back on a '46 woody. If one of the principals in the restoration sees this post they may respond. A search for '46 woody or some combination of those or similar terms should retrieve the name and a PM or email setup dialog to better answer your questions. An alternate is to google the subject(s).

i restored our 39 chevy woddie about 10 years ago. framing is ash, inserts birch. in 39, they all started life as 4 door sedans then roof cut about 8" behind the upper windshield, floor pan cut about where front of rear seat would sit in a sedan, then from that point back, the flooring was wood. i musta bought about 15# of wood screws to re-assemble the old girl after refinishing the wood. mike

Thanks for the kind words guys. That's my woodie and is first from the left in my avatar.
This is what I started with, bought it at Turlock Sept. 2000


I got started on it Jan.2004 and it wouldn't be completed untill May 2010 5500 hours over a six year period. It's the toughest restoration I've ever done. The wood framing is white ash. The plywood panels are african mahogany. The body is attached to a 4 door sedan floor pan with simple L brackets. Campbell body supplied the wagons to Chevrolet and made everthing "in house" including the seats, so what I didn't have I made in my shop at home. The wood is sealed with 12-14 coats of marine spar varnish. 5-1/2 gallons
I was going to put up another picture or two but Photo bucket is refusing to upload. I'll try later.
Jay

41carguy, You are a brave, tenacious and talented man! What a beautiful job!

Thanks Gaither, I was the laughingstock at the swap meet for buying that POS.
Photo Bucket seem to be working again.

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curb...42-mercury-woody-wagon-an-american-icon/

Check out the overhead interior shot.. Pretty nice

Here's a few pictures of a nice '47 Pontiac I saw at the Hemmings at Stratton show a few years ago.




All these woodies have special beauty of their own. They have the charm of a fine vintage wooden boat.

Just curious Steve, where did you find the pictures of my woodie? I've never posted them anywhere.
Jay

You're all over the internet. I think I saw the view that I posted from the HAMB.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=5

It's gonna be hard to hide a car like you have. Whata beauty !!!

Congratulations, job well done.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81143434@N00/3564287707/

The above URL won't link but that is a bunch of photos of your car. I think you'll have to type it in.

check your mail on this forum.

The picture of the inside does not show a clutch pedal.

Looks like the pedal could be on the floorboard (pushed in ). Maybe something is disconnected and he's still working on it.

AND..the license plate matches the car..smiles

Super nice car.