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


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#459001 06/30/21 08:59 PM
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David_S Offline OP
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Are there other options for body wood other than KC and Jim Rodman?
I was hoping to pick up just the hinge pillars and sills, and maybe the lower windshield header, and make the rest myself.
I have conversed quite a bit with KC and he has the hinge pillars and lower header, but no sills. I asked him if I ordered a set of sills when he could have them done, and he basically told me he doesn't know when he will get around to making truck wood again and that I need to buy what he has in stock before it's gone.
I've heard others on the H.A.M.B say Jim Rodman doesn't answer his phone.
Does anyone know where else wood could be had, or if anyone has some drawings, templates, or old wood for patterns they want to share?
I just about have my cowl fixed up and in primer, and wanted to start some wood fabrication while I decide what to do with my engine.
David

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I will be helping a gentleman re-wood a 29 1 1/2 ton truck in a few months. I’m not sure if the cab wood is similar or not but will be making new sills and other pieces. What does your cab look like?

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David_S Offline OP
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IDK if a 29 is the same or not. It would take someone with more knowledge than me to answer that. I know there must be some differences as the firewall at least was different to allow for the straight 6 motor.
I guess I'm not sure how to respond on what does my truck cab look like. I can either answer it looks like a 27/28 factory truck cab, or I can respond it looks like a pile of steel right now. Not trying to be a wise guy, just unsure what your asking :)
Thanks!
David

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Don't know of any other options other than a few that will make and install wood. One frequents on Chatter and may offer to do your truck. Jim Rodman rarely answers the phone and sometimes returns messages if his recorder is not too full.


How Sweet the roar of a Chevy four!
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I believe 27/28 is much different then 1929. You will need to find someone who can back engineer or design wood to re-assemble your sheet metal parts. Requires knowledge of wood framed body design. I think I'm too far from you to help myself.

Last edited by cabboy; 07/01/21 09:28 AM.
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The green truck is listed as a 27' and the blue is listed as a 29'. The 29' looks like the cab I'll be working on. How much wood do you need? Are your doors gone also or just the cab wood. The cost is not cheap and who ever makes the wood other the KC will need the sheet metal to recreate the wood. Jim Rodman probably has patterns also. I rewooded a 34' high cab recently. If you'd like to see some pictures of the wood work, PM me your email.
I am going to new Ulm MN for the AACA Grand Nationals and possibly meet up with you. Here are a couple links to the 34' truck and my 32' olds that I rewooded.

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/336225-34%E2%80%99-chevy-pickup/

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/283261-32-oldsmobile-deluxe-convertible-roadster/

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27-C1TGT-1.jpg 29DUMP3.jpg
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David_S Offline OP
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Chistech (Ted) Thanks for the links on your car and the truck you did. Very nice photos of the truck. Between the studying of old manuals I could find, looking at a couple other fellow members trucks, and lots and lots of pictures I feel I have an excellent grasp of how these old wood framed bodies were put together. I have most of the wood working tools I would need other than a good band saw.
Fair amount of wood out there to be had on C/L or the facebook pages, just have to watch what your buying.
My biggest thing with wanting to get at least the door hinge pillars along with header and sills, is then I feel I will be quite set with the initial contours, and dimensions, although maybe I'm wrong. I've read fitting kits made buy the guys out there takes some mods to the parts sometimes also.
I have quite a few dimensions that I took off a fellow members truck local to me, but they were dimensions off a cab that was well 'settled in' and though the doors did open and close fairly well and the truck looked pretty straight, there's nothing saying the dimensions would be right on, just close.
The interesting thing about that cab wood was all the pillars were made out of two thickness of board rather than a solid chunk of wood. Not sure of the type of wood, but it did have a green tint to it like I have read the copper based preservative did. It sure seemed like original wood, but I cannot verify that.
It may just be a case of reverse engineering the wood as mentioned. I have figured a method for getting the curve on the hinge pillars right (I think) The hinge pillar side of the doors over laps the cowl and vertical windshield posts a little. As long as my doors are true (and they should be, I thought if I could tack weld the doors to the cowl, and windshield posts I could let the door curve dictate that hinge pillar curve. I could space the two vertical windshield pillars apart the 39 (or maybe it's 39.5) in apart to fit windshield frames, and the lower and upper cross metal for the windshield and tack weld some light angle iron to hold that dimension and square. This would give me the width down at the bottom of the cowl. IDK how the sills get shaped from front of door to back. The bottoms of my doors have some rust to them so IDK if they are a straight line, or if they have a slight curve to them. And though I know how the back of the cab get's shaped and that much of my wood is mostly intact, I am still contemplating how I would do the latch pillars.
I have very good dimensions of the roof bows, strips etc.
Some sill dimensions, or some old ones to pattern off from would really be the most helpful, with hinge and latch pillars a second.

David

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The sills are basically straight with notches for other wood pieces (hinge and lock pillars) and maybe a contour on the outside edge to fit the metal panel under the door and door shape. Some were made of a single piece of wood and others with two glued together. The sills on my '31-'32 trucks are less than 2" nominally 1 3/4". Sills are one place that I have found most of the oak parts.


How Sweet the roar of a Chevy four!
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I have installed a fair amount of wood from both Jim Rodman and Bill Cartwright (KC Wood). I have not had one piece from either of them that was difficult to fit or off to any degree that a little hand chisel work didn't fix. I've read many people's posts who claim the pieces they've gotten aren't even close and I personally traveled to two different people's homes who claimed the same to find that they were not doing things right and the wood was correct. I recently installed two KC wood door kits in the 34' pickup and both kits fits virtually perfect. I have personally only seen where mirror imaged wood wouldn't work from one side of the car to the other and that was on a 32' Olds coupe that had been stamped wrong from the factory at the belt line. Many say making mirror images to do both sides won't work but again, I've not had that nor seen it. It's hard to believe that Fisher wouldn't have designed the frame work that way. Of course models with one side options like golf bag doors would be the exception.
I find making wood for these cars is just common sense woodworking/cabinet making/mechanical design. It is not rocket science and mistakes are useful firewood. As you stated, the doors should give you the curve of the pillars, the cowl and windshield posts will give you hinge locations and where you need to rabbet the edges of the for the body metal to fit against the pillar. The depths of the rabbets and hinge slots are also dictated by the body metal. The width of the doors help give you the location for latch pillar notch with the back edge of the cowl metal giving you the location for the back edge of the A pillar notch. These are all mechanical design measurements working off the metal of the truck/car. Gathering a few measurements from intact vehicles like you've done helps fill in the blanks.
When it comes to the wood itself, I use full dimension ash and do not use the laminated board method originally used. You will need a band saw and I purchased a 14" disc sander which made the body wood work so much easier and faster. I also purchased a small based but high HP Rigid brand trim router that has been absolutely perfect for making body wood. I highly recommend one.


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