Don't get bent out of shape

It is not something that you notice until you start looking but the front of the roof is curved (Again more curves).  With the '30-'31 the door and the roof are the same curve.  With the '29 the door is straight but the roof still curves.  So naturally we had to find a way to make it curve.  To the dismay of my father and I we don't have a steamer box (although you think this would be a good time to finally make one).
My dad had to make these curves for the traveler but it was only one car not three.  What he did was just use an iron and it took forever for him to bend them. 

So we got a large pot of water and let them steam over it.  This allowed the heat and the moisture to get all of the way though the wood which is what you need in order to bend it.  It worked great.  After I let it soak for 5 to 10 minutes I took it out and hit it with the iron for a little while and then bent it.

This processes wasn't fast but it got the job done.  There are 60 some slats that had to be bent but they are done and it looks good.  Now we just have to get the rest of the roof done so that we can put them on.  We have more bending projects in the future so watch out for them.  We have to bend the side rails for the roof to match the front end.  These are much thicker and have to bend farther so we see how that goes.

We also add two more bags of sawdust.

I like cars with Curves

I know you are all thinking that it looks like a box with four tires. There cannot possibly be any curves on my Station Wagon. But indeed there are many curves. One of the most elaborate ones actually there is three of them that go over the fender. Lucky for us my Grandfather had us build a Traveler several years ago which allowed us to buy a bit to do the finger joints.

To help save the blade for another project we cut it out with a table saw and then finished it with the shaper. The bit is actually pretty big. I wish I had a picture to show you but it took some time to get it set up for each of the joints. So after all of that came the gluing. My engineer of a Father of course came up with a great way to glue it together.

It had to be glued together in pieces because there is three sections to at least the one that is pictured. Other parts had less sections. After it was glued together we had to cut it to fit the curve around the fender. My Father used a big piece of plywood to make sure he got the curve right for the fender and then transferred that to these pieces.

So the top picture is the round for the door side of the fender. The smaller of the two in this picture is attached to the fender and the larger to the door. The second picture is the back side of the fender. All except for the smallest of them get a groove cut out for the panel to sit in and the larger one will eventually get a v groove so that it matches the space in between the back door and the fender. This is what it looks like with the big one in the quarter panel.

Needles to say these curves have a lot to them even though they look very simple in the pictures. There will probably be a couple more posts about these curves, but enjoy what you got now.

How Firm a Foundation

Anyone who has ever built anything you know the foundation is hard work and it takes time. The floor on the Station Wagon was no exception. Many long man hours went into making this floor as beautiful as it is. But with a little happiness the floor is finished!

Once you get the main structure put together the rest is just putting decking on. Of course like everything else the floor is also black. I'm told that original was tar since this is a messy nor a very fun process we resorting to flat black paint. Although some research has shown that something similar and pretty close is a cement sealer. After talking with a few people it seemed that the best bet was to just paint it black.

Some of you will notice that our leaf spring is just hanging out there. This needs to be put in and then the floor goes around it. But this little piece is very difficult to find. We have found one but I would have to sell my kidney in order to get it. We also found a company that we think has it but they are waiting for the manufacturer to make some. The only one you can really find is the one for the Tudor Sedans which is squared off and I need one that is rounded. I will enclose a picture so if anyone wants to help me find one it would be greatly appreciated. If you do find one I am willing to add you to the list of people who get a ride (this is how I have been able to get help from many different people and it really works).

 It sure is nice to finally have the floor finished.

Fender it's more than a Guitar

First I must apologize to all three of my loyal followers.. it has been awhile since I have blogged. With finishing school and working diligently on the car it has just been overwhelming, but we are back.

The fenders that we have were not necessarily the same ones as the Station Wagon. Probably very similar but not exactly original. Of course when the price is right you buy them. When you get great deals often it comes with some issues. Our poor fenders were wider in one area by two inches. Now I understand that two inches is a small amount and in most areas of the fender it wouldn't make a difference so it was decision time. We either had to manipulate the fender or cut large chunks out of our floor. Since my Dad and I had put so much effort into our floor and it looked so darn good we decided to hack away at the fender.

This was not an easy task. We borrowed a welder from a very gracious brother in law. The welder was too hot and pretty much blew through the metal. So after some long hours of working at it and building and manipulating it we made it the right size. I know a few of you car guys out there may cringe but we had to resort to Bondo. I have to say I make take up a job in bodywork.

I know that I have shown you a picture of the fenders mounted but now they are permanently attached to the car. Here is a few fun pictures to enjoy...