Reproduction Parts for 1916-1964 Chevrolet Passenger Cars & 1918-1987 Chevrolet & GMC Trucks


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Has anyone heard from Jim Rodman? It has been over two years and I have not been able to get in touch with him for over 6 months. I got half my wood kit a year ago.....Payed in full over two years ago....Is he alive? I am getting very unhappy. Any one out there heard from him? I want the rest of my wood kit.

Steven

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Yes, I seen him about two months ago. I was in Ohio and needed some wood for a 1934 Master, so I drove out to his place. He is very hard to get hold of, but your best chance is to try first thing in the morning. You'll probably catch him befor he get started working. He seemed to be in good health and trying to get everybody's wood out. He manufactures each piece of wood in batches of 10 or more. So depending on what you need, he may have 10 of it, or you may be waiting until he runs the next batch

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I have ordered a few Front & Rear header Bows from him just over a year ago, and he shipped them out to Ted for my rework within days since he had them in stock.

He is HARD to get a hold of, call him early and call every 15 minutes till he answers. DO NOT leave a message (even if you can) he does not check them same with email, per my conversations with him.

Busy is an understatement !!


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Hi Steven, I ordered a wood kit for my 1931 Chevrolet 4 dr Special from Mr Rodman in Dec 2016, he told me he had a kit minus 1 siderail which he would be cutting after the Christmas Holidays, I sent him a check for the quoted price, it was cashed 5 Jan 2017, I have called twice since then and got the same story about the side rail. Now he does not answer my calls from either of my phone numbers, same with emails,the first part of April I used a friends cell phone and he did answer, I got the same story, I told him to cancel my order and refund my money which he said he would do, as of today I have not received no refund.. He seem to be a very nice guy,and does beautiful work, so I was surprised by his action.I have tried several time in the last week to contact him by phone, it rings forever, no answer.
I have since bought a wood kit from Classic Wood Products LLC.Greensboro NC The owner guy [Ricky ] was great, He had ready all but the bows,which he made and I had it all in about 2 weeks. I have all the wood installed in my 31 Chev and will put the top cover on tomorrow.

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I sent my check two months ago. (he cashed it right away) He told me it would be about one month. Now I'm getting nervous.

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This non sense with this guy has gone on and on and on , and still you guys do not learn.

This is like an episode of the GONG SHOW .

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Sorry to hear...
I have dealt with both and not an issue !!

Jim Rodman at Autowood Restoration
Box 86 - Wheeler Street
Hanna, IN 46340
219-797-3775

and

Bill Cartwright
at KC Wood Manufacturing
470 Rock Church Rd. SW
Willis, VA 24380
540-789-8300


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Ricky at Classic Wood products responded quickly, however, he does not have patterns for my 29 and would need to work from my old wood. The old wood is too far gone to use as an accurate pattern.

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Hey there Bare feet what body 29 are you working on?

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Originally Posted by cabboy
Hey there Bare feet what body 29 are you working on?
Standard AC international Coupe with trunk, (job number 8880). The sill plates are rotted and one end of the rear roof bow assembly is rotted off due to a leak.
If Autowood cannot help within a reasonable time then I will need to find another supplier or self fabricate.
Thanks

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So you need sills and a new crossbow? It's not impossible for me to fabricate. I all be working on a 1929 Sedan and a 1929 Cabriolet this summer. The sill are not too dissimilar and with what remains of yours should be manageable. You can check out photos of my work on my Facebook page "automotive wood bodies". I have not set up a web site yet. Also I believe I am across the lake from you in Oshawa, Canada.

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Thanks Cabboy. I will see how this all irons out. I may take you up on it. I have a local woodworker friend who has also offered to help.

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Sounds good. I will be making floors for the two mentioned starting mid June. If you haven't resolved the situation you can let me know at "automotivewoodbodies@gmail.com.
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Robin

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Hello mike lynch,
What specifically can we determine from your post about this person and his products? Should the VCCA make an effort to find out how he does business and relay it to the members? I think so. I think that this club does have an obligation to inform it's members as to what is good and what is not for it's members welfare. Then let the individual decide.

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Plain and simple Jim Rodman is an excellent woodworker and a poor businessman. Some wood for my car came from him and it took over six months to get and then it arrived Fedx next day delivery. That was over seventeen years ago and nothing has changed. Once he has your order and money its impossible to determine when you will get your product and I can only imagine what it will be like if he becomes incapacitated.


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Plain and simple Jim Rodman is an excellent woodworker and a poor businessman.

iagree The wood that I received from Jim Rodman when I did my 1930 Chevrolet Sport Coupe was absolutely outstanding and of very high quality. The wood was so nice that it was a shame to cover it with sheet metal!

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Originally Posted by Harrys31coach
Hello mike lynch,
What specifically can we determine from your post about this person and his products? Should the VCCA make an effort to find out how he does business and relay it to the members? I think so. I think that this club does have an obligation to inform it's members as to what is good and what is not for it's members welfare. Then let the individual decide.

HARRYS31coach..I have been around here since nov 2011 and this same type thread keeps starting up , over and over again , over time. Its always the same thing........."I sent my money and cannot get a reply or even somebody to pick up the phone and lie to me" .

Its been 3 months, its been 6 months, its been 9 months , its been one year and still no wood parts. He is hiding by not answering the phone or emails or faxes. Why because he has booked way more work than he can produce in a given time.

He is no worse than a doctors secretary who books the doctor solid with no hope of getting to see them without a 3/4--1 hour wait. Just went thru this again because wife doesn't listen and only get FIRST THING in morning appointments. Remember that the next time you walk in to an appointment and see 25 people in front of you.

You can vent at the booking secretary and them the doctor , but that might have you looking for new doctor.

Its your choice and the VCCA whether they want to act on the vendor and tell him that his actions and advertising is no longer welcome here and magazine. Drain the swamp.

hope your having a great day with the bozo's of this planet

mike lynch...... Agrin

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Hello mike lynch,
I understand what you're saying about this business of delayed wood body parts. The same thing over and over again. It is not that the same customer is affected over and over and doesn't learn the lesson and makes a complaint. These are unrelated customers that are unaware of delay issues when placing their individual orders. They all may realize and accept the over booked doctors office or airline seat cause that's just the way it is, but I think that these wood customers are unsuspecting of the issue. I think that 'Steves 30 Chevy' and others weren't aware of this business practice when contracting for products in a timely manner. How are they to know? The lack of customer service after accepting the order and money should be made known someway somehow to all with a need of product but wish to avoid being caught in this situation. My opinion.

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Well he does check e-mails but I guess only responds to ones wanting to purchase. I asked about Cabriolet wood by e-mail and he answered within a day. At least in my case he said he wasn't providing wood for this model. Same for KC, no go on cabriolet wood. I had asked them as a quick fix only as I am capable of making myself and since I have the bodies I can ensure they fit correct and not pieces copied from other peoples cars. So I deduce that Autowood seems fine with emails when money is coming but shy when they have to deliver or explain delays.

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I always called Jim first thing in the morning, his time, and most times he answered. I received the wood in a reasonable time and two missing pieces quickly after I let him know. Maybe it was a slow time.

Wood as mentioned above was excellent.

Dave

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Looks like we are moving toward a lawsuit. Still won't answer the phone. If I would have known about this I would not have bought wood from Autowood Restoration. Even if the wood is the best. The difference with a doctor is that I can die before I get my wood.

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Originally Posted by Harrys31coach
Hello mike lynch,
I understand what you're saying about this business of delayed wood body parts. The same thing over and over again. It is not that the same customer is affected over and over and doesn't learn the lesson and makes a complaint. These are unrelated customers that are unaware of delay issues when placing their individual orders. They all may realize and accept the over booked doctors office or airline seat cause that's just the way it is, but I think that these wood customers are unsuspecting of the issue. I think that 'Steves 30 Chevy' and others weren't aware of this business practice when contracting for products in a timely manner. How are they to know? The lack of customer service after accepting the order and money should be made known someway somehow to all with a need of product but wish to avoid being caught in this situation. My opinion.


Is the better business bureau in operation in the USA. ????

At least contacting them would warn you that the business is not performing at AAA status level. Allowing you to step back and dig the information out. If its available.

Its too bad that Clown School is out and all bad business people are wandering around without crutches

mike lynch hood

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I got involved with a similar nightmare involving running board restorations about 10 years ago. Some guy with a website was accepting shipments of rare running boards from all over the world, taking a $1000USD deposit and then stored the boards with no intention of restoring them.

A 1936 Caddilac owner found me through a forum and determined I was a couple hours away, emailed/called me and asked if I could go pay him a visit. I drove out and the "business" address was a slummy trailer park. I contacted some local car guys through a club and one guy knew the local Sheriff (the type that evicts bad tenants). The sheriff opened the garage and nearly 30 sets of boards were shipped back.

Moral of the story: Can you find someone local to this guy to show up at his door with your bill of sale, emails, etc to ask ever-so-nicely if he could help straighten out this customer's wood order? I paid someone to Serve tenants once and it was cheap like $40 but maybe try a local car club.

Autowood Restoration just sounds overwhelmed with work and handles customers poorly rather than being an all out scam artist. Especially in the OP case it sounds like with it being 2 years ago, the guy has forgotten his commitments so I hate lumping him with the running board scam but it starts to look pretty ugly from a customer's perspective after waiting 2 years...



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I was avoiding commenting as this was what was told me by someone at Hershey last year and I do not know if it is true but this gentleman told me he went and saw Jim about his wood. When he arrived Jim was not working but was on the property and was quite a few "sheets to the wind". The gentleman continued by saying that is the way Jim spends his time now. I do not know this is true but could be the very reason he's not getting out much work these days. I don't see many here saying they're getting their wood, only people saying they're not. If he has something on hand, he'll ship it pretty quick, but if he doesn't have it, you'll be lucky to see it in a couple years.

While I know his quality is very good, his knowledge is far beyond any of the three I've dealt with. When I have a technical question, Jim is the guy I'll call and he's almost always answered (I admit I haven't called him in over a year though). I can tell you by experience, Bill Cartwright of KC wood, actually puts out even higher quality pieces if you can believe it. His wood is nothing short of fantastic. I've been to his shop and seen many pieces for many different cars, every single piece was basically perfect, and even sanded smooth. Both Jim and Bill have excellent patterns to work from. Bill does not have as much car or body assembly knowledge as Jim. Jim is a car guy who makes wood. Bill is a finish carpenter that makes car wood. Bill works alone and is no hurry to get work out. He is super organized and he KNOWS what he has and doesn't have as every single piece is in a labeled box, with many boxes having multiples of each piece. He has very little 31 and 32 wood as he sells out of it as fast as he can make it and like I said, he's in no hurry to get it out.
Classic Wood are a few guys who originally made Ford wood and have an excellent reputation in that brand. They purchased an old GM line but their patterns don't seem to be the best as I have found their wood hit or miss. The paper parts sheet they supplied by fax had David Entler's name and address on it and I'm not sure if their patterns are from him. I was under the belief that Entler produced very nice wood so I don't understand why Classic would not be if they indeed, bought out Entler's business. They are fast, and will make a piece for me immediately and I have it in four days. It's a shame that they don't have better patterns or better knowledge of GM as they want to please and like I said, quick to get the wood out. Their quality is very good and it's things like holes in the wrong places that knock that quality down. I order everything with NO holes, and I drill my own. If a piece is not right, they will take it back and refund your money minus the shipping. The wood quality itself is excellent also. I have dealt with all three and that is my take on them. I now first try Classic when I need 31' wood. If it's a 29 or 30 I will try Bill first then Jim.

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Hi Gang, I would like to add, being I was one of the first on this forum topic to let you all know that I did finally get a refund check from Jim Rodman letting you all know Jim is not a crook, just a little too laid back business man. Being 84 I could not wait the wait time for my wood. Hope this give some peace of mind for some of you who had doubts. And on a happy note I did finish my 31 restoration and showed it last month, Happy motoring you guys.

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I also have had several experiences with all 3 (Jim, KC, and classic wood) I spoke to Bill Cartwright several months ago about a hinge pillar. He said he was so back-logged that it would be about a 2 year wait. I've ordered from Jim several times and had the same experience as most of you. (ie: he had the item and would ship in a few days and it took 8 months). Great products but slow ship. I have never had any trouble getting him real early in the AM (7:30 - 8 Am.) He has forgotten more about the old wooden cars than I know. Very nice and helpful, just slow shipping. Classic Wood - I bought most of my wood from them back when Steve Cannon owned it. Their problem was - no patterns. I took and/or sent all the patterns I had to Steve (2008) and he made my wood but did have to outsource some of it as he was so back-logged. (He had a contract to do a lot of Ford patterns). Then he got cancer and couldn't be around the sawdust (most of the info for the patterns were in his head). He sold the company to a guy who used to be a NASCAR Crew Chief. Ricky is (or was) his shop manager. Steve would work with you if the pattern was off. Steve died about Nov 2012 - 13. The new owners wouldn't make good on any patterns that Steve made so I had to order new pieces from them. They do good work but many of the holes are off. As Chistech said, tell them to NOT drill any holes and do your own holes. Their quality is pretty good overall.

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Originally Posted by pipewrench
Hi Gang, I would like to add, being I was one of the first on this forum topic to let you all know that I did finally get a refund check from Jim Rodman letting you all know Jim is not a crook, just a little too laid back business man. Being 84 I could not wait the wait time for my wood. Hope this give some peace of mind for some of you who had doubts. And on a happy note I did finish my 31 restoration and showed it last month, Happy motoring you guys.
That's good news Pipe. I have been waiting three months for my sills. I talked to him two weeks ago and he said he needs to bring in another load of wood and it would be another month or two. I haven't given up hope yet.

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Used Ricky at classic wood for the 30 spt coupe, only problem was his pattern for the 30 spt coupe with rumble seat was for a 29. Finally figured it out and Pointed it out to him and he said if you have a pattern send and he will make.

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Just adding another story I was just told. Had a gentleman from Pittsburgh PA call me. He has a 32' 2dr Oldsmobile that Jim was supposed to have made wood for and was supposed to install it. Last time Jim picked up the phone was over a yr ago and told this guy that the car was at the body shop getting the cowl/windshield posts cut off. They (father/son) can no longer get Jim to answer the phone and they do not know the condition of their car. Jim has had the car for over 5yrs total. They are going to drive out in a month or so to see what the status is. The wood kit was paid in full. Not sure if any of the wood has been installed. I got the call because another Olds enthusiast told them I could probably install it for them. I will know more soon and will update everyone when I've heard.

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Talked to one of my customers this morning and he ordered a wood kit from Jim Rodman in February of this year. He mentioned that he called Jim just a month and a half ago to ask a question about his wood kit and he said that Jim answered the phone right away.

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Just talk to a friend, who lives in Indiana and owns a 1929 Landau and a 2 Door. Working on his Landau earlier this year he needed needed some wood and tried to call Jim several times but no answer. he decided to take drive up to visit him and see what was going on. Said Jim was not in good health at the time, and that his son had left him to go work for the railroad for more money. so Jim was working alone when he could work. He left some parts there for him to replicate, and as of a few weeks ago he has not touched them, said jim has hardly done any work all summer.

He plans to head back up there in a few weeks to get his wood back, since he needed the parts he had to make his own to get by until he can get his parts back or made.


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I have had many inquiries about making wood for people because the wait is so long with most guys currently making pieces. This is how I found out about what I mentioned in my previous post. Spoke with a good friend today who is a master carpenter (we attended his New England style clam boil)and he is looking for side work in his own home wood shop. It seems the guy who he was making furniture for on the side has bought the custom furniture business my friend works for at his full time job and moved that side work into the business. I will be going over the particulars with him soon but it looks like we will be making up wood. Of course we will need patterns but I'm sure there are people out there who can supply us with good enough wood to copy. We will probably be starting with 32' Oldsmobile wood as I have two or three people needing wood and I have some of the pattern wood already.

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Copying wood is not usually good enough. You need to be able to recognize the ravages of time and whether the body has sagged or distorted from original. A master carpenter is not a carriage builder and won't have the knowledge or experience required. Best of luck.

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True enough, but for most of us, holding out for a carriage builder just means we don't get any wood. Buying a Fisher wood bodied car was an eye opener. I contacted every supplier I could find on the Internet in an attempt to price the wood before buying the car. By the time I bought the car a month later, only one of those suppliers had called me back. Most of them eventually got around to it.

None of them had patterns for a my car. All were booked out for literally years.

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Unfortunately the craftsmen that originally built the wooden bodied cars are long gone. I think a master carpenter would have the ability to learn the "trade" better than the average person. While I am far from being a simple carpenter I did fabricate all the wood for the r.h. front door on my sedan. The fellow rebuilding the body said he did not want to wait for me to fabricate the rest of the wood so he ordered it from Jim Rodman. That was 17 years ago and Jim was a little faster then as it took only about 6 months to get the wood needed. The fellow who has the 29 cabriolet that I hope to get photos of fabricated all the wood for his 32 Cabriolet. He was a master carpenter-also a master electrician and plumber. Experience and knowledge only come from doing and I think it's in the benefit of the wood body owners to encourage and support anyone willing to invest in learning the trade.


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It is indeed sad that Jim Rodman is in poor health, and his son is not interested in taking over the business for him. Perhaps someone who is seriously wanting to do the type work that Jim did should contact Jim about buying his patterns and tools.


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I don't discourage anyone from trying but I don't believe it is anyone's best interest to gloss over the pitfalls. I have studied body engineering practices from the period and have a good idea of what they were trying to accomplish with available materials. Their biggest issue was very poor glues by our today standards. It is interesting to see people ask for measurements from original cars not understanding that over time some of these bodies may have warped and distorted so as to make these type of relative measurements unreliable. Actually with knowledge of body design all dimensions can be calculated either from scratch or using a few key angles and measurements from original wood or sheet metal. I am presently reconstructing wood for a 1928 Durant, a 1929 Chevrolet Sedan and a 1929 Chevrolet Cabriolet. The Durant and Chev sedan are further along with the cabriolet just started. All of these needed to have some areas calculated to insure correct body shape and alignment. A carriage builder usually followed plans given by a body designer so learning the building trade might not give the required knowledge to really make correct replacement wood. Having said this anyone feeling that they can do it by all means I encourage you to give it a go. A lot of quality work comes from people that are not experienced.
All the best to those that try as that is what builds our society.

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Perhaps the term "master carpenter " is incorrect for my friend and I should call him a "master cabinetmaker " as his work is far beyond a carpenter with no disrespect to any carpenter out there. I personally copied my own wood from my Olds and it has all fit back to the sheet metal perfectly meaning all is square, no sagging sheet metal, and proper door alignment. My wood working experience started in high school shop class and was never formal. With anything, proper measurements, proper joints, and general geometry will yield at least good to very good results with time/experience yielding excellent results. A general knowledge of how these cars is built is definitely needed but if one doesn't have it, another can teach it to them. I started with these old cars as an adult just two years ago and with the help of many here, I feel my knowledge and abilities have increased immensely. There are many who rebuild these bodies with steel framework who have no idea how the wood was ever made yet they get proper shape and alignments because of a general understanding of what needs to be done. Wood is the original medium and if a skilled person with a general knowledge of what needs to be done attempts to construct a framework, goal is the same as the one who made it out of steel. There are enough books out there that show the construction techniques and styles used on these car that the skilled craftsmen would not have too much trouble getting good results quickly. Common sense dictates that things from one side of the car to the other are mirror images in lots of cases. A skilled cabinetmaker would already have wood grain knowledge, stress area joinery experience,etc., in his background. I agree that recreating car wood is not for everyone, but I do not feel it's rocket science either. I've seen many fudged areas on these cars that was done originally at the factory. Hammered over nails, hammered in screws, broken wood crudely pieced together and more. Today, the wood made by guys like rodman and bill Cartwright is of much higher quality and fit much better than the original wood. No one bothered to pick the wood out or was concerned with bad joinery as these cars were just put together quickly. I'm willing to bet a car with restored wood made by a cabinetmaker is probably going to be made just as well as what came off chevy's 30's era assembly line.

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Spoke will Bill Cartwright today. His business is up for sale and he has someone interested as I was also but don't think it's in the cards. Bill told me the most important thing is the patterns, then the needed jigs, then using the proper grade of ash. He said most anyone could learn the trade but a skilled cabinetmaker could quickly learn the business and be making money immediately. I've found Bill's wood the best with fit and finish perfect yet Bill has little car knowledge of the body as it's assembled. Jim rodman has the car knowledge and makes very nice wood so what I mean is Bill is a carpenter first and not much more (not meaning that in a bad way)but he makes excellent fitting wood so while car knowledge is definitely an asset, great carpentry skills with good patterns still yield what most here need, quality wood recreated.

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iagree
As a person that has both body and word working experience I support Chistech's comments completely.

I have made and fitted wood in several Chevrolet bodies. Yes I have made cabinets and furniture as well as built structures. It takes a lot of expertise and equipment to duplicate the wood pieces. You throw away many pieces (mostly softwood) until you have your (hardwood or paper or ?) patterns perfected. It is challenging and enjoyable until it becomes a chore.

I have also purchased several pieces from Jim Rodman over the years. Have not had any problems with him. Never tried any of the others but have talked to them occasionally and they seem to know what they are doing. Just not 100% sure on accuracy until I actually install their pieces.

Jim Rodman has installed his manufactured wood in Chevrolet bodies so has first hand knowledge on fit. Apparently his health and business skills are limiting him today. It is a shame because he has contributed to preserving countless old Chevys. Guess it might be up to some younger folks to take up the flag. As it will be for me as well, someday. Just not Today.


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"Good patterns are the key" Doesn't matter skill level if the patterns used have issues. That is my point. I have seen manufacturer deficiencies and have corrected them using the body engineering information I have acquired over the years. Most if not all the "patterns" used by suppliers come from original cars where body condition is unknown. As a case in point I have seen one four door car that looked great with all doors fitting and eventually discovered the body had sagged out and was 3" wider then it was supposed to be. This was an extreme case but shows possible pitfalls of using old wood as patterns. All I wish to convey is that people should not assume anything when re-wooding old cars and use caution with measurements.

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Some of the history I have read pointed out that when some bodies were going thru the assembly process there were workers on each side. Each hand fitted his side so sometimes they were not a mirror image. They were production built and necessity of keeping on schedule sometimes meant that perfection was not top priority. While there are many opinions of best woods to use in various areas I found varieties of wood in my 32 that are today not recommended. I think there was a lot more concern with cost and availability back then than we realize while today when doing one car only the best materials are sought.


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Originally Posted by m006840
Some of the history I have read pointed out that when some bodies were going thru the assembly process there were workers on each side. Each hand fitted his side so sometimes they were not a mirror image. They were production built and necessity of keeping on schedule sometimes meant that perfection was not top priority. While there are many opinions of best woods to use in various areas I found varieties of wood in my 32 that are today not recommended. I think there was a lot more concern with cost and availability back then than we realize while today when doing one car only the best materials are sought.
Ditto! I had the pleasure years ago to talk with a gentleman that worked on the line here at Oshawa during that era and he said that there was a team of "specialists" that whenever a problem with fit or a part that was milled wrong this "team" would come in to fix it while the line kept going. I found one of these fixes on my sedan where the board under the header was milled too thin. It wasn't replaced but everything else was modified to make it work. But knowing the factory wasn't perfect is not a reason I could use to excuse my own work.

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Update: the father/son with the 32 Olds I posted about earlier went out to see their cara couple days ago. They got to jim's around 10am and Jim came out of the house and I was told his health looked good. The wood kit he started 5yrs earlier is not quite done but he promised to finish it by the end of this month minus the door regulators which he will ship. Jim had the cowl cut at the body shop to remove it from the wood and will be reassembling the front wood and the cowl back to the sills so the car can travel back home. So it appears Jim is still working and now has a woman working with him. He had a guy previously who worked with him that passed away from an overdose. I was told he has lots andlot s of wood on the premises though I don't know if that wood was in the rough or finished into parts.

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5 years? Wow?

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I have been trying to contact Jim for a week. He is not answering his phone. I call just after 8 am his time. I tried sending e-mail to the address on his web site, however I get a message UNABLE TO DELIVER. I may have to try snail mail.

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I just got a 1930 Coupe and started stripping it and finding out how much wood needs replaced. I have never worked on a wood frame before and found Jims number online. I called this morning and he answered but said he couldn't talk call back tomorrow, his email just bounced back undelivered. I'm thinking I may need to try someone else after reading this post. Anyone have an idea what a complete kit runs?

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I have bought several wood parts from Jim Rodman. His prices are a bargain. I can make the parts as I have some experience and a multitude of woodworking tools but if Jim has it I can't justify making myself. Always had the parts in stock and shipped as soon as payment was made. Jim may not be the best businessman but definitely is a top notch wood fabricator. I would not hesitate to buy from him again if the parts are in stock.


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30' wood is a little easier to get than 31' or 32'. Jim should have some pieces in stock and so should Bill Cartwright. Bill is usually a little more money but his pieces are usually a little nicer too. Between the two of them you should be able to get most of what you need. The coupes are the most popular wood pieces the sell according to Bill. Some of the wood will cross from other models and the flat easy boards you can make yourself out of ash.

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[quote=jgrohio]I just got a 1930 Coupe and started stripping it and finding out how much wood needs replaced. I have never worked on a wood frame before and found Jims number online. I called this morning and he answered but said he couldn't talk call back tomorrow, his email just bounced back undelivered. [/quote
Got hold of Jim ordered a Hinge Pillar and he shipped it right out. He didn't have other pieces I needed right now but quick response.

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H
Originally Posted by pipewrench
Hi Gang, I would like to add, being I was one of the first on this forum topic to let you all know that I did finally get a refund check from Jim Rodman letting you all know Jim is not a crook, just a little too laid back business man. Being 84 I could not wait the wait time for my wood. Hope this give some peace of mind for some of you who had doubts. And on a happy note I did finish my 31 restoration and showed it last month, Happy motoring you guys.

Not a crook? A least can have the decency of not cashing a check and then disappear. Sent him a check for $2,000, he cashed the check and now I can’t reach him, doesn’t answer the phone, doesn’r Have Ana answer machine and doesnt answer regular mail.

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I also sent Jim a check and have left message with female helper and answering machine and have not received a refund or a call back.
I just received a 1929 Chevy wood kit from Bill Cartright and was packed well and did a wonderful job.

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Originally Posted by nebilly
I also sent Jim a check and have left message with female helper and answering machine and have not received a refund or a call back.
I just received a 1929 Chevy wood kit from Bill Cartright and was packed well and did a wonderful job.

I recently had a conversation with Bill that didn’t go quite well (posted in the general discussion area) but one thing he did mention is he was producing wood for the 34’ truck in a couple months. By the way he worded it it sounds like he’s back to producing more wood again which is good as he does make nice pieces. He also used the word “we” so maybe he has help now. When I last spoke with him he wanted to sell the business and didn’t have much car wood in stock, never mind a full kit. With you getting a body wood kit for your 29’, and by what he said to me, it sounds promising that he is producing on a more regular basis.

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anyone got patterns for the door piillars on a 35 master sedan four door with spare wheel also need to replace the main sills. if anyone can pass along some info. i've tried reaching out to KC Wood (Bill Cartwright) but no answers yet.

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