‘41 K1 Woody Wagon Restomod

[Gudwood]

Yup, the thread title is true. Scout’s Honor! Rumors on the web seem to indicate that 18+/- of these woodies were produced in 1941by The Cantrell Body Company. A further cursory web search turns up 3 +/- beautifully restored totally drool-worthy wagons @six-figure prices. Suffice it to say that I’m downright giddy at the prospect of customizing one of these rare-ish depot hacks as my last great adventure. As this project unfolds on these very pages just let me know how much detail you want to see and I will oblige. Behold the Woody…….

Oooops! Sorry, this is one of the restored IH wagons. Spiffy, eh? OK, OK., here’s mine on the way back from Cape Cod to central Florida…….

That’s my report for now, thanks for stopping by.

 

[Jesse Stewart]

 

[Gudwood]

My current project, a ‘50 Willys Wagon on a ‘02 S10 chassis spent the month of September’25 at the electrical shop 2 towns over. This project developed nuclear mission creep while keeping me entertained for 5 years. A few pics…….

Today the Willys is running/driving/stopping and about 98% complete. Nothing much to do other than shake-down cruises to troubleshoot and fine tune.

So, while the Willys was in the field hospital I started getting familiar with the woody. A total strip-down was necessary to get a good look at the condition of the frame and a clear view of how the wood body was constructed……….

Next stop was the pressure washer to de-crust the 50 year patina. Dropping it on the trailer was the ticket………

The frame was washed while I was filthy. Future sandblasting will help in checking for cracks before rebuild commences……..

Don’t know why a thumbnail appeared but I’m old and lost in the ether. Moving right along, after washing the body was placed on the shop floor for the first modification………

Thumbnail again. Maybe I have reached the hogwash limit for one posting! Thanks for stopping by.

 

[Gudwood]

Moving right along, with the body on the floor the prime candidate was more easily accessible. The cowl vent won’t be necessary with the Classic Auto Air HVAC/DEFROST system in place. Step one was to remove all the paint in the vicinity. The macro plan is to strip all the painted parts to bare metal so the journey begins…….

OK then. A marine plywood filler was formed to fit the arched opening then glued in place with 3M 5200 fast dry adhesive. A skim-coat of body filler wrapped up the prep…….

Uggh! Looks a little better with primer…….

The wooden body will be fastened with carriage bolts so my intention is to use that feature wherever practical moving forward. A piece of 3/16” aluminum plate was formed to fit, drilled for a wad of carriage bolts, slathered with 5200, and bolted in place…….

But Claude, don’t carriage bolts have square shanks? Yes they do, so each drilled hole had to be squared out with a body saw. Now that’s my kind of tedium! Looks a bit better with primer…….

That’s all for now, thanks for stopping by.

 

[Jesse Stewart]

The cowl vent won’t be necessary with the Classic Auto Air HVAC/DEFROST system in place.

Nice ...

I thought about doing this on my R-100 ..
Did go with a 'Old Air' A/C unit, no longer the 60 mph factory air was needed ...

But, I thought it was a good idea to keep the cowl vent working just in case the A/C went South ...
Installed power on the vent cause of the pod I built from another R Series dashboard to houses the center A/C vent and switches was in the way of working the factory vent handle ..

1K views · 27 reactions | Batmobile ain't got nothing on this old truck .. Well maybe, perhaps a grenade launcher ! .. Lol | Jesse Stewart

Batmobile ain't got nothing on this old truck .. Well maybe, perhaps a grenade launcher ! .. Lol

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The button in the end of the tilt lever works the vent ..