Continuing with this series we’ll look at what Pontiac offered up in 1948 as a woody.
In a previous blog entry (Project Pontiac 1949 Silver Streak Delivery Van http://wp.me/pKHNM-Bx) I gave you a look at a Silver Streak owned by a co-worker.
1949 Silver Streak
Well one year earlier Pontiac offered the Silver Streak as a woody.
Side view...love the big fenders.
That is a lot of wood on that woody.
These were low production cars with most being build on the 6 cylinder chassis.
1948 Pontiac 6 cylinder power plant
These were the most commonly used power plants mated with an Automatic Hydra-Matic transmission. It spec’d out as follows:
Cubic Inch Horse power 1bbl carb
239.2
93 (68.45) @ 3400
Carter WA-1 (1)
A very limited were built with 8 cylinders engines. Interesting enough these 8 cylinders were called “Silver Steak”. It boosted the specs:
Cubic Inch Horse power 2 bbl carb
248.9 cu in (4,079 cc)
108.00 (79.5) @ 3700
Carter WCD 630 (2)
Total Pontiac production for that year was only 333,957 cars.
Does time fly or what? I started this series last year and this is the next installment.
As you know the US government asked and eventually forced the auto industry to contribute to the war effort. This series is to highlight some of the major contributions. This time is Nash.
As many know, Nash was a premier car manufacturer prior to the war.
Here is their 1942 Nash Ambassador
During the war Nash used it plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin to produce engines for (among others) my favorite aircraft of all time…the Corsair.
The WWII Corsair.
Nash build the Pratt & Whitney engines that powered this awesome aircraft.
Nash produced Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engine
Their work force consisted mainly of women.
Here they are being sworn in at the WI Plant
Later on Nash would morph into the American Motors Company (AMC).
WOW…I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long without finishing this interview.
Here is the link for Part I.
So while at first glance it did appear that there were just newly built vintage shaped bodies, placed on the C6 chassis, a really close look and you can see something very different about the shape.
The door is clearly still a C6 and the windshield is C6.
So you can tell that they didn’t just pull off that old C6 body and dump it out behind the barn.
You can tell this is the original C6 hatch. The rear end is has been changed but where the hatch meets the roof line is the same.
So how do they do it?
Well the make body panels that fit to the framework of the exiting parts. For instance, the rear hatch is striped of the outer panels leaving just the framework and the split window panels are fitted. The rear panel is pulled off and the rear panel with the split bumpers is placed on.
Jim showed me the shop photos of a C6 – skinned. They also retrofit C5.
C5 Rear hatch frame. The split window panel is manufactured by Karl's Kustoms to snap right on.
It is a pretty intense process.
They all the do is custom bodies? Oh wait until you see what’s next. (Yes I promise I’ll get right to it.)
When I first purchased my 07 Corvette and took my wife for a ride. I was pretty jazzed and noticed the noise emanating from the roof.
That was the first thing she noticed. I was so caught up in the handling and power I was ok with the noise. But after she mentioned it, I wasn’t able to ignore it quite as easily.
The squeaking was very profound and since our roads aren’t the best in the land, it crazy loud. So the search was on for a cure.
Lots of help on-line including resetting (releasing the front latches) and closing them again. This came with the sage advice “….I got the wife accustomed to helping me reset the top at stop lights…don’t do it while you are moving….” I wonder if that little nugget was from a first person experience?
And for a while I would reset the top latches (not while moving) when the noise got frequent. But that just couldn’t be a long-term solution……”ERRRRRKK….(braking noise)…..I brake for “soap boxes”!!!
I am frankly sick and tired of hearing for Corvette owners the following phrases…”that’s the nature of the beast”….”that’s just something you have to live with”…and the my favorite…”You’ll get use to it.” That is all BS. If things are broken…then they are broken. If doesn’t work like it’s supposed to, then it needs attention. I’ve heard that ever since I’ve owned my C6. Those tired phrases, were used for the squeaking roof and the odd activity with my gas gauge after filling it up and the cold weather shifting issue. No way dawg, I want this stuff fixed!!! .
So back to top issue. After checking with a few more Corvette buddies, I ran into to one that gave me this, every valuable tip. He used it successfully.
Get out the lube…Dielectric grease the rollers / contact point for the front latches and the pins in the back. Lube up the rubber moldings /contact points of the moldings.
Di-Electric-Grease
Lube the rear posts.
Spray a little on a rag and wipe down the rubber weather-stripping. You don’t need a lot.
I’ve only done one time and not since. But I keep the rubber clean and no problems.
For those of you aren’t familiar with the top (I’ve talked to a couple that didn’t know the coupe had a removal top.) see the video below.
My last post “Dodge Unveils Next-Gen Sprint Cup Car in Vegas…..” (http://wp.me/pKHNM-ZJ), invoked a few comments mostly on Facebook and at least one here that touched on something that ‘bugs’ me about where NASCAR has gone since the 60’s.
Here is an excerpt from Bill:
“….
I’m bittersweet about manufacturers participation in NASCAR, and have been since TOYOTA wrapped themselves in the American flag and joined the series. If manufacturers are to continue participation, then I would like to see rules such as motor sources must be manufacturer sourced, running pump gas, and back to body templates that must match their street versions.
Back when MOPAR was absent from NASCAR, the ideal was that there just was nothing to gain in NASCAR other than name recognition for Chrysler. Even TOYOTA admitted when they joined NASCAR that there was nothing to gain other than getting their logo on the field….”
In another post I talked about loss of innovation and brand loyalty and I have to expand on and disagree a bit with Bill.
When NASCAR started the templates and restricter plates and began the standardization of the cars that participated, I began loosing interest and a lot of other did as well. One of the biggest complaints I hear among the fan I sit with during a race and talk to is that the cars a so similar there really isn’t much to the racing part. Those rules are what killed the major benefits for the manufacturers. It killed individual innovation. The cars are now tube framed, bland sheet metal, sticker covered shell of what racing use to be, 200 per hour uninspiring billboards. Headlights and logos…. STICKERS… people!!!!!
The wooden frame was white ash (adding structural rigidity to the doors and deck lid), fitted with interlocking miters. Mahogany veneer plywood filled the spaces within the frames.
Now that is craftsmanship!!!!
The engine was the Spitfire Straight Eight with 323.5 cubic-inch displacement and 135 horsepower coupled to a fluid drive transmission.
135 HP
The convertible was the most favored of the Town and Country line with 8,368 sold. In 1948, the price tag showed $3,395.
I got this idea from our friend Joe in Florida. Thanks, Joe, for the pictures and the reminder of some these great iconic cars.
I’ve always admired the workmanship that went in to the older cars that had wood components and have always disliked the simulating wood on cars with plastic molding and contact paper stuck on the horrible quality 1970’s and 1980’s station wagons was supposed to be a retro look (but only at 15 feet away) and cool (well as cool a station wagon was back then). I recall working in my father’s body shop and how much “fun” it was to put that contact paper back on Ford station wagon. In this mini series “Gorgeous “Wood Vehicles” I’m going to pick a year and toss you a few facts about the cars that came ‘in wood’.
Wood was used a lot in the auto industry, from all wood wheels to just the spokes to entire frames and interiors (like dash boards and steering wheels). Some of the best uses known uses were on the outside and truck beds. They were often referred to as ‘Woodies” either correctly or incorrectly, be most of us know that the term relates to cars with real wood on the outside. These are the cars I’m going to look in this series. For no particular reason, other than this was the first picture Joe sent, I’m starting with the year 1948.
A major reason for using wood was the shortage of raw materials and labor issues for producing steel/sheet metal. This was the case in 1948, just a few years after the end of World War II.
Nearly all of the major producer had models that had external wood components. This 1948 Chevy was one.
1948 Chevy.
This is the two door Fleetwood Aerosedan, but Chevy also made an 8 passenger station wagon the Model 2109 Fleetmaster. This year’s model set the record for Chevrolet woody production with 10,171 wagons built. Both Cantrell and Iona built bodies to fill the demand for the last Chevrolet wagon with structural wood. The 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Station Wagon was the last true woody (structured wood) from Chevrolet. What type of wood was used? Ash the wood used for the structural base, while mahogany was used for the panels. Leatherette was stretched over a wood frame to provide the roof. Approximately 10,171 were built between February 1948 and January 1949.
Most of these cars were powered by the Chevy Straight 6, 216 CID engine.
The 1948 Straight 6 216 engine (The 235 was very similar).
Engine specs:
Bore and stoke 3.5 x 3.75 (in); Displacement 216.5 (CID); Compression 6.50:1; Max Brake Horsepower 90 @ 3300 RPM; Max Torque 174 Lbs.ft. @ 1200 RPM
Packard was another manufacturer that produced woodies. They released their Twenty-Second Series cars. They were Packard’s first totally new models were since before World War II. The wood used was northern birch for the frame and maple panels. This was purely for looks, because the overall structure was braced by the metal body shell which actually was modified from the Standard Sedan Body, only the upper rear quarters which were removed from the sedan body used the wood as actual bracing. On the door sides and window frames the regular sheet metal was cut away in order to allow the wood to be inlaid, rather than just bolted on top. These were powered by the Packard’s L-head straight 8.
Some engine specs:
Bore x stroke 3.50 x 3.75 (in.); Displacement 288.64(cid); Horsepower 130 @ 3,600 rpm; Torque 226(lb-ft) @ 2,000 rpm; Compression ratio 7.0:1; Main bearings 5; Lubrication full-pressure; Carburetor Carter 2-bbl
automatic Choke; mechanical Fuel pump
We have Chrysler’s, and Pontiac’s 1948 woodies as well as a Bentley woody and Willys coming up next in this series.
