Woody Building

That's craftsmanship.

Rode a lot of miles in a Woody in the late fifty's. Wish I had had the good sense to buy it from my friends dad when he decided to sell it. Every time I see one it brings back a lot of memories of fishing trips in the Cascade Mountains.
 
That video doesn't show half of the workmanship required to build a woody body. Darn few pieces of wood on a 46 are straight!
 
Most of us who have restored a woodie will not be doing it again. See my public album of pictures. While not working on it continuously, it took me 40 years! There were no pictures of jigs or patterns either but the dude certainly can use a power planer. I admire ANYONE who can complete such a project.
 
deuce_roadster said:
I admire ANYONE who can complete such a project.
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My hat goes off to you deuce_roadster. Using your own words: I admire anyone who can complete such a project. Me too.


I can't imagine all the work you had to do.
Boy oh boy. 40 years? Man, thanks for sticking with it. I am going to go over to see the album. And that's why I come here every day--to read the stories and the advice of talented people like you. Thanks.

TM
 
Thanks for your kind words, I'm too old to start another project like that! Bought it in 1973 having NO idea how much work that would be!
 
That is fantastic! When I was much younger my Dad ( a pattern maker) took me to see an aquantance of his, Mr. Westmorland. He was a true craftsman when it came to wood bodied cars. He was working on a 1910 Cadillac and he showed us his 1975 or so Pinto that had been totaled in the rear. He tore it down and built a woodie wagon out of it. It was so nice it could have been factory Ford, and Henry would have complimented him on it.
 
His hands on methods remind me of Bob Brown and his 'Sportsman Shop' in Alger Wa. Are you folks familiar with him? I bought a 59 ab from him about 25 years ago and the visit to his shop changed my life. His tooling was for the most part homemade and or altered from something. A shaper made from a washing machine and a sears and roebuck gunstock duplicater come to mind. The work he did rebuilding Ford sportsman convertibles was impeccable. His cars do VERY well at Pebble Beach. He does not just do the wood. He does the paint and mechanicals as well. As far as I know it's just he and his son doing this. I'm sort of thinking this could be classified as a hijack. If so, I apologize and might start something about him in a new thread.
 
I haven't seen Bob or Junior for quite a while. My friend and I visited his shop a few times and his equipment was as described. Hard to imagine he made the nice finger joints with the drill press setup he had. We used a 1 1/8th inch shaft shaper with a 750 dollar carbide cutter made at Seattle tool, scary! My buddy suspected Bob had a big CNC machine hidden somewhere and just showed people the drill press!
 
Be careful of Alex Guerrero! He do can do great work but is really flaky! He has also been sued by a couple of customers who he has not paid.
I have dealt with him, and he will string you along and he always needs more money.
Currently he is shopless and looking for work. Same old song and dance, he'll do some work to show you and hook you, then you pay him some money and he runs off for a while. You come back to check your car and not much has been done.
He needs more money cranks out a few pieces to keep you happy, then runs off the job again. this is his typical routine.
Customer beware - I have warned you!
I wish he could just handle his business because he can do great work but is just too squirly.
 
My thoughts when watching the video is he's using a customer's brand new suburban garage to work out of and just returned from home depot where he bought a few brand new tools. Also I saw no shaper for the complex double and triple beaded belt lines in the doors and panels. That's some pretty crisp millwork in Eastern maple......Where I live, this is what a working shop looks like after 37 years of hard labor..... I will say that Alex's video inspired me to get started on something I have wanted to try all my adult life.
 

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After watching this Video, I couldn't help but notice that Alex wasn't wearing any Hearing Protection? Using noisy machinery like this without Ear Muffs is a sure way to loose hearing.
 
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