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Hi all,
Has anyone used Auto Wood Restorations lately? They were located in Hanna, Indiana. I have an old catalog and I was wondering if they still are in business.
If you have used someone else let me know how it worked out.

You bet they are still in business, and Jim Rodman is the best around! His wood kits are a work of art! :cool2:

Thanks JYD.

I tried fitting my new (used) rumble lid and found out that some of the wood is out of sorts. The hinges are mounted wrong and the wood must have been replaced a long time ago. I don't think it's worth it to try and come up with a "make it fit" solution. So I want to replace all the rumble portion wood. I found his catalog and will call him tommorrow.
By the way, do you know an easy way to remove the small body nails (brads)? without ruining the paint?

I called Jim and he was a great help. Boy have the prices changed since 1983. (20 yrs of inflation) But Jim will get an order from me soon. Thanks again!

No easy way of removing the body nails without chipping the paint around them. You can try cutting into the wood (if you are going to replace it) to the shank of the nail and then cut the shank of the nail out. That way, the head of the nail will come out the top of the metal without chipping the paint.....hopefully, that is! :( :( :( :(

Yeah JYD, Jim had the same suggestion. I did try to wiggle a screw driver behind the body lip and the wood. It move just a hair but enough to get a pair of small side cutters under the nail head. I think I may have found a method. I know I'm going to have to paint some part of it anyway, so if the paint chips that's par for the course. I should have replaced the wood first, but who knew that the repair 50 years ago was wrong. I guess they located the lid hidges to work with the repaired wood because my original rumble lid fits OK. But that was in bad shape a you may remember.
Ha, the pain of restorations. But hey, that's what we do...

If you will use a good quality 18 tooth hacksaw blade and take all the set off with a fine bench grinding wheel you can slip the blade in under the sheetmetal and with a few strokes cut the nails off, (I turn the blade to cut on the pull stroke) the head will still be soldered to the sheet metal but that is no chore to remove with a hot soldering gun or propane torch, the torch will take more paint off than a heavy duty soldering gun. I have a handle that a hacksaw blade slides into and you can extend the bare blade several inches it is handier than a pocket on a shirt.

Use the 'pencil point' flame tip for greater control.

Would MAPP gas be better than Propane here, I know it works better for loosing bolts, but...

Thanks Mr. Mack and Gator.
Those are great suggestions. I have one of those handle only hack saws. I didn't know the nail heads were soldered to the body metal. I'll try the hacksaw this morning. I don't think I will try the torch. I'm not worried about the paint right at the nail locations. I just don't want to get heat on the finished surrounding areas. Remember that I said the wood that is in there was replacement wood installed wrong. Chances are the nails are not soldered.
Time to get down into the garage! see ya...

A propane torch should be adequate, the original nails were probably pre soldered (tinned) and a big copper soldering iron heated by a burner soldered them to the new sheet metal, and sulpheric acid was more than likely used as a cleaner-flux. My Dad used acid core solder and he used a chicken feather to apply the concentrated sulferic acid to the metal he was soldering, he soldered all kinds of sheet metal, he called it tin, and for leaks in gas tanks. He used a gasoline blow torch to heat the soldering iron.

"Oldie" AKA Richard Oldenburg may have more information about this process.

The Fisher Body manual has a little information on the soldered head nails.

That's very interesting Mr. Mackey. When ya figure in the mass production methods you make sense. Pre-dip the nails and use a hot iron to set them in place. I wondered why you don't see any hammer marks...mmmm...could this be the way they did it back then?
By the way, I took all the wood out yesterday. The nails practically fell out on the own. The larger pieces of replacement wood were PINE! I just wedged a thin putty knife between the sheetmetal and wood and wiggled it a little. I was able to grab the head of the nail with a small side cutter and out they came.

I think after the nails were set they went over the area and "leaded" them in and sanded them down.

Mr.Mack ;I don't think you meant "SULFURIC ACID"
Maybe "Muratic Acid"

Actually the label on the bottle said concentrated Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), actually, it may have not been the original container for the acid, I do remember that was the cast in letters on the glass bottle that was stoppered with a glass stopper and that a chicken feather smelled gross and didn't last very long after being dipped in the acid. We had a lot of white leghorn chickens and they supplyed the feathers.

Isn't Muratic a form of Hydracholric acid (HCL)

I have used a diluted Muratic acid solution to etch concrete floors before finishing with Thompson Garage floor finish and to remove rust from a gas tank, it didn't leave a nice shiny finish on the metal but a finish I would called pickled..