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A clump of photos of my’35 restoration. The back end had been pushed and curled up pretty badly, my expert panel beater said he had to cut it off to work it out, so this is what led to taking the body off. Before he could cut the back end off I had to cut the body framework wood that goes under the trunk opening – it was badly rotten anyway as seen.
He cut the back end off, straightened it and welded it back on, a beautiful job way beyond my skillset. Notice the bottom mold lines are not symmetric left and right- that is how it was originally formed.
Next an order of white ash for wood replacement arrives in the back of my ’66 Chrysler restoration support vehicle, and the rotten bottom sill on top of the 2″ ash the replacement piece was cut from, and the finished piece after a coat of spar varnish before installation.
Some posts a while back asked about painting the body framing wood. Some recommended epoxy, I like good old fashioned spar varnish – smells so much better and my father’s old Forest Service wood handbook has nice data on its effectiveness in slowing moisture penetration (nothing stops it completely). For the record, the original wood in my’35 has a thin coat of something, the color was a rusty brown not black. For wood that will be visible solid color dyes can be added to be authentic looking. If it doesn’t show I feel it almost criminal to paint beautiful hardwood, so usually I leave it clear. I’m not trying to fool anyone that my repairs are original.
My ’35’s body wood is mostly good and solid and far better than anything I could do if foolish enough to try and replace it. There are pieces like this that water got to where replacement is necessary.
Spar varnish should have at least 3 coats with the first slightly reduces with linseed oil for penetration.
Many years back I was into wooden boat building and restoration. The best treatment for any unseen wood (covered, backside, bilge) was a mixture of 70% cuprinol and 30% linseed oil. My friends still in that insane hobby continue to swear by it. Cuprinol penetrates and linseed oil seals.
A quality spar varnish is extremely effective until you get the first slight crack, usually first at joints, andthen it traps any moisture that gets in. Epoxy does the same thing to a lesser degree, but is also less flexible.
The good news is that any of these will methods will suffice for decades of our typical old car use.
Your right, 3 coats is what should be done for maximum effectiveness. Its kind of gilding the lily anyway, in reality I don’t think any painting does much as long as these cars aren’t left out for prolonged periods in the weather. To quote the Forest Service Handbook: Paints and varnishes are not used primarily to prolong the life of wood. Ordinary paints and varnishes are ineffective preservatives against decay fungi…Exterior woodwork that stays reasonably dry, except for wetting of its exposed surfaces by rain or snow for short times does not decay, but if left uncoated, will weather.
When I was younger trying to do everything “right” I “over-restored” by applying 3 coats, primarily because this gave 90+% effectiveness in reducing the rate of moisture change in the wood, i.e. the wood might gain moisture and stretch if assembled in dry Nevada and then spent months in the humid south. I don’t worry about that any more, and coating it is more a feel good thing. More important to seal the openings where moisture can ingress and get trapped such as the trunk hinge bolt holes above where moisture accumulated in 2 decades left outside in Wisconsin winters.
Very nice work James. Other than the moisture protection, does the Cuprinol/Spar Varnish offer any protection from termites or wood beetles? It seems that they are a greater threat to out old cars that are usually pampered and kept inside out of most of the rain and snow.
Thanks,
Greg Long
James,
Really impressive work. I am kind of partial to the ash work. Did you bend your part or cut it out of a thick board?
Bill
The pictures show an amazing transformation of before and after.
All the wood preservation discussion is invaluable for future reference for someone digging into a lot of body wood restoration.
Keep the updates coming.
Greg,
The cuprinol/varnish treatment is primarily aimed at rot protection, not bugs, but it might help. Copper additive paints are effective against many water borers & such, but I’d bet that termites would be more bothered by the deep penetration of cuprinol into tasty wood. Having worked with wood heavily treated with cuprinol early & often I can attest to wood being very hardened by decades of cuprinol/varnish treatment.
Dave