Milestone Achieved

GordonJ

Member
Well, after two years of disassembly, clean up and recreation of the wood structure, I am nearly finished with the woodworking on my 1931 Deluxe Delivery. Who ever said that you needed to be good with sheet metal to restore a Model A?

The picture shows the untreated wood pieces held in place with clamps and a minimum of screws in order to ensure everything is in the right place. Next will come disassembly and painting with DP40 to give it that satin black look. After that comes reassembly (hopefully for the last time), final fitting and installation of the large side panels. Then...it is on to the body work (finally). Hopefully this all happens before the end of Fall.

Just two more years to go...(ha!)
 

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Gordon, Is the hardwood white oak? did you have a dove tail joint between the bed wood? Excellent workmanship. What finish are you planning to use? Bob
 
Gordon, Is the hardwood white oak? did you have a dove tail joint between the bed wood? Excellent workmanship. What finish are you planning to use? Bob

Bob - the hardwood is a mix of white oak and ash. The main frame rails and floor crossmembers are white oak. The "birdcage" structure and floorboards are ash and the rear door is a mix of both. The floor boards have about a 3/4" wide lip on each board. One board has them on the bottom and the board next to it has them on the top so they sort of interlock.

The finish on the wood, sadly, will be paint. I know many people can't bring themselves to paint over the hardwood floor and end up with polyurethene, but I want to be more accurate. Of question right now is whether the floor was black or whether it was commercial gray. I have conflicting opinions from two people who are both very knowledgeable about these vehicles...
 
Gordon...is there something more substantial than just "paint" that would seal the wood to prevent moisture from wicking into the wood? I'm thinking something like Thompson's Water Seal...and then paint over that.

Just thinking...I'd sure hate to see your excellent workmanship get soaked on down the road somewhere and start rotting from the inside out...you've done such a good job.
 
thanks for the info. I wonder if the bottom side of the floor had the same treatment as the bottom of the floor boards. Asphalt base, or black wood preservative. I'm not a technical guy by any means, just curious. Bob
 
"The floor boards have about a 3/4" wide lip on each board. One board has them on the bottom and the board next to it has them on the top so they sort of interlock." GordonJ

Would be a lap joint, the same was used in mail truck floors, glued and some body manufacturers put screws thru the laps.

Nice work, can't wail till I have pics like that to post......
 
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