Truck based woody

[41ford1]

That is coming along very nicely. You might have an additional income source there. Taking orders?

[Mtn Wudy]

I Hope you can get it ready for Wavecrest........What a cool truck...

[jerseyboy]

Lookin' really good!!! It really looks like a woodie from one of the woodie builders of the past.

[GB SISSON]

With a lifetime of custom woodworking as my vocation running neck and neck with a hobby (obsession) with old ford trucks it was just a natural progression. Something I just had to try. Thanks to that fateful trip to Bob Brown's 'The Sportsman Shop' in Alger Wa. 20 some odd years ago, I learned that one doesn't need state of the art tooling to do good quality work, as witnessed by his masterful wood convertibles. Many of my contemporaries in this field have huge, well equipped shops with Gigantic and complicated looking German and Swiss made woodworking machines with self feeders and LED readouts and 3 phase power. Funny, we get most of the high end work here. We have a couple of early makita chop saws, 2 table saws from yard sales (powermatic and unisaw), 1930's 6" delta joiner, a router table andthree ww2 vintage bandsaws, and a 20" taiwanese planer. Typical sanders and power planes, routers, with a drawer full of chinese bits from Grizzly. Oh and 2 really cluttered shops. Thanks for the continued support in my efforts. I'm making patterns and taking notes. I have spent more time researching, mocking up, re-doing and figuring and re-doing again than I have actually spent on constructing. Next time I will have full sized patterns, and the rear quarters will be completed and assembled on the bench, not one piece at a time stood up on the chassis!

[GB SISSON]

So the record temp for today in Seattle was 62 but we made 63 today. I told my employee I was workin on the woodie..... It does not look changed much but for the first time the maple exoskeleton is joined together with well glued 1/2" plywood splines, mortise and tenon joints and 3m 5200 marine adhesive sealant. No more mockups, no more patterns, no more movie sets. What I'm saying is there is no backing up now. The panels will be able to be removed from this structure and finished/veneered as I see fit. I made parts for both sides but this side is easier to photograph. The 3m is known by boatey types as 'pinky', 'bubblegum' and other names. It is a tan colored, rubbery, tenacious glue. This will be a very tough and resilient vehicle, although maybe harder to repair than an original. Tomorrow I can't take the day off, but I have the parts ready so at quitting time I can assemble the drivers side to match. After I find a 42-50 truck 3 speed tranny I should have this thing able to motor in and out of the shop for the upcoming good weather. I already have the brake parts and a choice of engines.....

[RalphM]

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Really looking good, ill bet 95% of the population will never know Henry didnt build it.
Are you going to cover the top with vinal as an original would be?

[GB SISSON]

Not into spending big money for a vinyl top kit from some woodie outfit. What would a small town company use if they were located near a resort in Colorado in 1947 and a resort hotel ordered a cowl/chassis from ford and hired them to build a 'depot hack' to pick up their clientle at the railway station? I envision an army tarp stretched very neatly and carefully and perhaps many coats of black paint. I think maybe roll on bedliner brushed fore and aft. I doubt this would leak. We need to keep in mind it's not what 'Henry' did here, it's what a small time boat builder/coachworks/out of work gypsy wagon builder would have done to complete the task in 1947.

[Snouts out]

You might use roll rubber roofing,painted with MP1 sealent.MP1 is flexible and won't leak!

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Snouts out

You might use roll rubber roofing,painted with MP1 sealent.MP1 is flexible and won't leak!

Thanks for the tip. Does the roll rubber roofing have a trade name I could look up? Have you used it before and would it conform to the compound curve on the rear corners? I predict that will be tough area to get right no matter what I use. Sorry if I sound like I'm always being super cheap on this build, but I'm still playing catch-up from the long recession in the building trades. It's better than it was five years ago, but not like what I'd gotten used to. Someone recently made a comment about his cars being 'rolling IRAs'. I liked that. Well, it's 4:30, coffee's on and it's out to work on the woodie til my employee shows up at 8 and reminds me it's time to go to work.

[Bill]

I've been following this thread with interest and commend your obvious skills! I purchased my top material from Ed Clarke the "woodieologist" in Larchmont NY 35 years ago. It is short grained vinyl over canvas similar to a Model A. I installed it per his instructions and it still fits tight as a drum today and still looks new after 50K miles in all kinds of weather. My point is explore the options but keep in mind that the top will show as much as the finish paint. Check Lebaron/Bonney they still stock the material. Sometimes you got to stretch a little...JMHO Bill

[GB SISSON]

Thanks Bill. I know there are areas where I can stretch a buck and some I can't. I bought nice Eastern maple for the frame even though I was tempted to use the softer and far less costly Western big leaf maple which is sometimes available from small local mills. I'm glad I spent the money now that time has passed. Roof material just might be the same.

[mhsprecher]

GB, the vinyl stuff might not be that expensive, compared to canvas and the coatings necessary to make it waterproof. The compound curves will be tough regardless of what material you use. Great project.

[flatford8]

Goodyear makes roofing rubber. I delivered urethane insulation for 20 yrs. it was used commercial buildings, mostly flat roofs. The rubber goes over it. I think it lasts 50 yrs right out in the sun. If you want to try it I have some pieces I think are big enough for your roof. Shipping is on me. If I ever get to Washington..... Take me for a ride.... MARK

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Goodyear makes roofing rubber. I delivered urethane insulation for 20 yrs. it was used commercial buildings, mostly flat roofs. The rubber goes over it. I think it lasts 50 yrs right out in the sun. If you want to try it I have some pieces I think are big enough for your roof. Shipping is on me. If I ever get to Washington..... Take me for a ride.... MARK

Wow! I just ran in from the shop to check email. I'll pm you at lunch. How thick is it?

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Goodyear makes roofing rubber. I delivered urethane insulation for 20 yrs. it was used commercial buildings, mostly flat roofs. The rubber goes over it. I think it lasts 50 yrs right out in the sun. If you want to try it I have some pieces I think are big enough for your roof. Shipping is on me. If I ever get to Washington..... Take me for a ride.... MARK

Mark, this was so incredibly generous of you! Well this morning I have spent about an hour researching a coating for an epdm roof. 99% of what's available is white. I had intended to apply sikaflex black marine sealant onto Mark's samples but I have read that most chemicals don't bond properly or else they react negatively with the rubber. There are coatings out there made for painting an epdm rubber roof, and from this research even 'flex seal' from the late night tv ads claims to be compatible for epdm and is available in a brushing liquid in black. The reason I would coat it would be to put a 'grain' texture to the surface as opposed to the smooth look of an inner tube. It seems the rubber roof would conform well onto the roof's compound curves. I think I will order a quart and if it doesn't work out I can always build a redneck rowboat out of old window screens and flex seal.....

[GB SISSON]

I got the front door stiles laminated up and today I got a few hours to rough out the driver's door side. There are seven laminations of 3/8" maple and there will be one more on the outer surface. This outer layer will extend about 1/2" forward of the post, creating the forward lip which fits into the cowl's rabbet. Using this method allows me to bandsaw the inner door's contours to fit the door opening, then fit the last outer layer that shows. The 'built in place' finger joints created by offsetting my material should be really strong while maintaining a fair curve to match the vertical lines of the pickup cowl. This is a very labor intensive project.

[38bill]

Loving your project. Cant wait to see how you handle the doors and windows.

PS: I like your idea of a canvas roof. I recently saw a restoration on a train car and that's just what they used. Whatever you go with I think you need to use something with a texture. The rubber roofing that I have used before just wouldn't look right IMO.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 38bill

Loving your project. Cant wait to see how you handle the doors and windows.

PS: I like your idea of a canvas roof. I recently saw a restoration on a train car and that's just what they used. Whatever you go with I think you need to use something with a texture. The rubber roofing that I have used before just wouldn't look right IMO.

If it would adhere, I could coat the rubber with bedliner applied with a stiff brush for the fore and aft texture. We know that whatever they use to glue the seams on this stuff will stick to it. I'd love to play with a scrap of it before shipping. I am open to helpful comments on my project.

[B-O-B]

Hi GB;
Been following your adventures from the git go. Not sure you would be interested but I have a 47 truck V8 & tranny 3 speed matching numbers that I would be willing to let go. The bad is the block has a crack about a 1" long 1/2 way down # 8 cylinder. I had the machine shop mag & pressure test it. They epoxied the crack for the test & it tested ok. This is torn down & cleaned & will need a rebuild & bore job. Not sure you want to fool with it but thought I would let you know. The other bad is I'm in Az now & won't be up to Oregon till some time in April. Should you want pics send me an E mail @ [email][email protected]. I also have a 53 merc block & 4" crank.They both(47 V8 & 53merc) have std. bore now & I have about $1100+, invested in both engines & tranny & machine shop the machine shop bill was $350. Lots of parts like flywheels,starter & timing covers,pans,clutch & PPlate,generater,intakes,& waterpumps&heads &stock cams & lifters. pretty much two complete engines & one tranny.
Beings that I'm 82+ I doubt that I will ever get to use them so they are going bye,bye.

Regards, B-O-B

[GB SISSON]

Thanks. I have a couple of decent engines that I'm working on, but do need parts and pieces and a 3 speed 1/2 ton truck tranny and driveline. I plan to go to the Portland swap meet in April. I went there 25 years ago, but have only been to two swap meets since. Raised 4 kids and weekends were always sports etc. They are all grown now and all live in Seattle, so now I can do what I want, within reason!