VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1928 National AB Touring - wood kit - supplier?

Hi,

I have a 1928 National AB Touring that was subject to a house fire as described in a previous thread:
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/54044/

I'm investigating whether it will be possible/feasible to restore the car. Here a complete wood kit would be essential for the project to succeed. Hence, for now I'm trying to find a potential supplier and receive a quote before pursuing further into the project.

I've reached out to KC Wood Mfg., https://www.chevywood.com/, and they were quick to respond. Unfortunately they do not have the pattern for the car in question.

I've seen previous threads with reference to Autowood, Jim Rodman, from Hannah IN. Although several threads mention he's very hard to reach, challenges with long time etc. Would there by chance be one or more users who has had recent contact and knows whether he's still open for business? If so, how to contact him?

I'm also open for other suggestions of potential suppliers.

Thanks in advance.

Model in question (picture credit to Lou):

. . Hi, Sorry to hear of the loss of your 1928 Touring. I've restored worse with a lot of parts cars. One problem I've had with burn outs is the fire was so hot it warped the sheet metal. When I get the final coat of paint on it looks like a fun house mirror. .
. . I have asked Chevywood for many kits for Chevys from the early 1920s to 1937. When they have bothered to respond, the answer was "No!". Here's all the contact info I could find for "Autowood" Apparently there is a Jim Junior. (574) 797-3775 jr@autowood.net jim@autowood.net , Jim Rodman at Autowood Restoration Box 86 - Wheeler Street Hanna, IN 46340 219-797-3775 , Address: 24 S Pennsylvania St Hanna, IN, 46340-9600, Many companies make wood for another popular make of car. You might ask if they will do custom work. Or find someone else restoring a 1928 touring with Fisher body.
. Example: I found my 27 one ton under the Russian River. The engine and tranny were full of silt. someone had chopped the body off back and roof off the cab. The remainder of the doors still had wood framed windows with straps for risers. (Not a Fisher body) I am now working on a 37 with Flxible body. I met a chap working on a 1935 Chevy with Flxible body and fortunately the back half is similar.
. Good luck with your restoration . . . Lou

I reached out to Classic Wood Products LLC They are in NC. 336-691-1344. They were able to send a complete price list for my 28 roadster. He did say it was a 3 month turnaround for the wood kit. I believe I will be ordering the kit in January.

Thank you both!
I will reach out to both Autowood and Classic Wood Products with an informal request.
https://www.classicwoodproductsllc.com/

Classicwoodproducts is where I have gotten a Few of the Hard to recreate parts on our 28 National AB, only took a few weeks to have them shipped out. Great quality so far and great people to work with.

Thank you for the response.
I emailed Classic Wood Products the 25th of December. I'm sure they are on Christmas / New Years break and will therefore revert in the new year.

I have gotten a few pieces from classic through the years and on average they have been good. They are mainly a Ford wood supplier but are making wood for some chevies. The only word of caution is don’t have them drill any fastener holes. I found all of them to be wrong and in many cases, badly wrong. The wood was nicely done in most cases with one piece being completely wrong for the car i as working on. I make a lot of body wood but have nothing to go by for your car.

Classic Wood Products has kindly reverted to my mail and they've sent me a 2 page price list for 1927-1928 Chevrolet Touring. All in all they are able to supply a complete wood kit for this model.

Although in their response they write:
As they cannot confirm fully from the picture I sent of the car (attached below).

Where on the car would I be able to find the job number? I might have a picture from before the fire but I'm not sure on the location.

There was a metal sign at the front seat with "VIN number": XBAB1673.
I an previous thread this was confirmed to be a 1928 model assembled in Copenhagen, Denmark.
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/54044/2.html

The dash has an imprinted number - sorry for the poor pictures - what does this refer to?
I read it as: > 27896 H

Open the hood and on the firewall (drivers side) there should be a plaque that lists the Fisher body job number. It is a four digit number starting with a 7 if an early model or an 8 if built during the 1928 calendar year.

Thank you for the swift response. Although based on the picture below it seems there's no plate on my car - unfortunately.

Yes it is a '28 Chevrolet touring with some modifications. A very cool car. The open cars did not have an assigned job number, and were not made by Fisher Body Corporation. The only plate it would have should be nailed to the passenger side of the front seat riser.

The folding '29 windshield on your car mounts slightly differently than the original non folding '28 windshield and as such it would be hard to tell which stiffening bracket they used under the cowl. That bracket is what connects the top of the A pillars (front hinge post) to the cowl to strengthen the cowl and anchor the front door hinge post to the body. NOTHING except the instrument cluster from a closed car body will fit an open car body. They were manufactured by two different companies following two different development paths.

Except for where the extra windshield screen for the rear seat attaches to the front seat, the rest of the car should be a standard '28 Chevrolet touring. Not many places make kits for the open cars. Most owners make their own wood to fit their car. If they are lucky they have some original wood to copy even if it is somewhat rotted. One fellow in our region who had a model which was 1 of 4 V-8 Chevrolets left in the world had no wood to copy and made his parts out of scrap Douglas Fir 2" X 4"/2" X 6" lumber. It is a very common cheap softwood and was a trial and error affair. When he got it to a point it fit well then he would use that pattern and make the finished piece out of Western Ash. Ash is the preferred wood used by many restorers today.

I am curious - with all of the extra electrical wiring, the modified firewall, the exhaust in a non original position, and the modified transmission cross member, what engine and transmission are you running in your car?

I have a '25 touring that has '36 truck axles with hydraulic brakes front and rear, a '28 engine, and a 12 volt alternator. Taking it one step further, I am going to install an S-10 5 speed to the torque tube rear end. A PO put this car together as a touring driver. He had the 3 port head with a down draft carburetor. Sadly I did not get the 3 port head with the car, but the '28 with 2 ports is almost as good of a set up.

Thank you for the response. That was very helpful!

Based on the input in this thread I believe to conclude the wood kit from Classic Wood Products will my best bet. In addition, searching for pictures of 1927-1928 Chevrolet Touring reveals the vast majority of the pictures are of identical models to what I have. Much of the chassis will in addition anyhow have to be reconstructed from sheet metal anyway.

There's a bit more information in this old VCCA forum thread: 1928 convertible

In short, the car was purchased by my great grandfather in 1932 (hence 4 years old / used). It's been passed from father to son since and I'm the 4th generation to own the car.

My grandfather was a mechanic and he performed all of the modifications. E.g., the engine is a 1934 DC Standard 181 CUI. I've been told the engine was from a Chevy truck. The engine was gifted to my grandfather as the head suffered frost damage and was cracked several places. A colleague of my grandfather welded the head multiple places and managed to fix it. My grandfather installed the engine around 1950-1951.

In addition, he installed two circuit hydraulic brakes with adjustable front/rear bias. Quite an intricate system utilizing a window wiper motor to adjust the brake bias via two hidden buttons under the dash.

The re-routed exhaust is due to a storage bin installed under the rear seat.

Electrical wiring due to the above brake system, one extra remote light, two different horns, light below the dash (map light), high-low beam as levers on steering column, light in dash etc.

The car is therefore not original but I find it true to it's story when knowing when it was modified (and by whom). Hence, if I'm possible I will strive to restore it to the same condition as my grandfather modified it to.

SVK, Great story. I agree that you should keep it true to the modifications done by your granddad, especially since it has that family connection. The early photo bucket pictures attached to your postings so long ago are no longer linked to an account and don't show up. It would be interesting if you still had some of those photos, and could re-post them. Antique Mechanic (aka Ray Holland) the person you were mainly communicating with, passed away last year.

I have slowly been collecting parts and information for a '28 depression style roadster pickup. I carefully measured a friends '28 roadster, I also got some pictures and info from a fellow who had restored one in Michigan. He built all the wood for his restoration. Some of the more complicated and hard to find pieces are the front hinge pillars, and how they connect to the brace from the windshield stanchions.