VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Wood in 34 Master, need some ideas

Hey fellas, great website. Brand new member. I need to know what is the best thing to do with my project. I have a 1934 chevy master that I have purchased. My dad wants to rebuild the wood in it, but everyone tells me it is best to replace it with steel. I have maybe 70% of the wood there, but the other 30% is missing. Is there anybody that have patterns for sale, or maybe I can get them off the internet? Maybe someone has been there and done that. I could use the advice, Thanks :grin:

If you are building a streetrod then definitely go with the steel tubing. If you are restoring the car then stick (pun intended) with the wood. You can get a new wood kit from various suppliers around the nation. One is Auto Wood Restoration in Hanna, Indiana.

Welcome to the site and I hope that you spend many hours here in the future! By the way, you might also consider joining the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America if you haven't already done so. For more information go here: http://www.vcca.org/

:)

Its gonna be a street rod, but, my dad wants us to do the wood together. I tried the place you said, guess they dont have a website. Found a number though. I need some patterns...

You can use wood or metal if building a street rod. Many rodders use metal because they or their buddies know how to weld but not glue. Fabrication with wood is also more exacting but not rocket science either. Either wood or metal will give a solid body if installed properly.

There are no plans or patterns that I know of. Maybe someone would have kept the old wood from a restoration. If you have most of the wood the rest can be figured from the wood that is there and the shape of the sheet metal. Photos from a restoration or pieces from one of the four people who make wood for the old Chevys is another option. The Fisher Body Manuals contain a lot of general information on the types of joints and their location in the bodies. Don't believe those that tell you that you need to use oak or any other single type of wood. A vast number of hard wood varieties were used originally. Very little pine or other conifer wood is found in original wood parts. Have found nearly every wood variety that I can identify.

Thanks man, I see Texas, where abouts?

My '35 Standard Street Rod was recently completed. I went with the steel square tubing. The builder explained to me the theory
was how the old bodies were to "twist", which made them shake, rattle, and roll. He also explained that the wood will not hold together as well under the torque of a modern drive train. The
tubing will also add a tremendous amount of body integrity and be
a great safety feature. May I highly recommend the square tubing
and also box your frame. You'll be glad that you did.

I'm in Longview, TX. Drop by for a cup of coffee, conversation, and a ride you'll never forget!

The 34 master has a very strong frame to start with & boxing it will make it even stronger. If you already have wood pattern to start with i would go with wood & the pieces that you don't have you can get from David Entler. His number is 717-235-2112. He did a nice kit for my sedan delivery. Real strong. I wouldn't have any worries putting a new wood body on a street rod chassis except i prefer restored cars.......Joe

I'm totally with Johnny on this one. For a street rod go with the steel tubing.....if you want a quality street rod. I have many friends that are street rodders and not a one of them would put wood in a Chevrolet body that was going to be a street rod. And, they wouldn't buy a street rod that had wood in the body either.

Think about it......why do street rodders box and "X" member the original frames? Because the frames are weak and they need to be reinforced due to the flexing and tweaking caused by the modern drive train. Same is true for a street rod body with wood because of high horsepower and the torque created by the modern drive train. It is not uncommon for doors to pop open on street rod body due to the flexing of the body when all of the horses are let out of the barn at once. Also, dudes with electric windows have complained from time to time about the windows binding in the winter season because of the swelling of the wood in the body. At any rate, you might want to think twice about putting wood in your street rod body......especially if you are going to install a 327 or a 350 engine. If you install wood in your street rod body you will probably be sorry later.....and then it will be too late to change it out for steel tubing.

:( :( :(

South of Houston and between Houston and Austin.

Thanks for the great ideas fellas. Its always good to get opinions from the experts who have been there and done that, or know someone that has. I'll be checking in during this project, probably need some more info. :grin:
Thanks again,

Is any of the roof intact on yours ? Mine is gone , but after looking at the Fisher body manual and some trial & error (lots) I have one almost complete . Any pics of it ? Ivan

Hey man, sorry it took so long to get back to ya. I have been out of commission for awhile. My roof is also gone. I dont have any pics yet, but I will get some soon. Any pics from yours yet? Have a great day!