deaddds

I'm looking at a 30 olds that isn't rusty but needs stripped and painted to make it really nice. I know the body frames were wood with metal wrapped around. Does this need a specialist to remove old paint and redo due to the construction or can most any body shops handle this? I'm pretty good at dismantling cars but have never messed with one this old. Thanks for any advise.

oldcutlass

The outer body is the same as all cars. As long as the wood is in good shape your all good. Post some pictures.

Tedd Thompson

Any of the pre 1937 GM cars had wood framed body panels and by now a lot of them are probably toast with dry rot. I don't think I would have a body shop do repairs on wood parts (thats more of a furniture restorer job) but they should be able to strip it without much problems.Is this going to be a chemical or media strip? If possible I would go for a media soda blast rather than subject the wooden parts to anything with harsh chemicals that could harm them.. Just my thoughts ...Tedd

WHIPOLDS

deadds - I have several pre 1930 Overlands. The wood work in all of them needed some replacement. I belong to the ****** Overland Knight Registry and they have all the original factory blueprints. Having these drawings make it a lot easier to repair the wood. A regular body shop is not going to be able to handle it. I do not know if any oldsmobile clubs have the blueprints. You could be looking at a lot of labor if you can not do the woodwork .
Rick

Don R.

The quick way to check the wood is the doors. Do they open and close easily? When closed do they line up with even panel gaps? If not you probably have wood issues. If you are removing the original interior you will be able to see all the wood and check condition easily. Good luck!

deaddds

I have not locked it in yet as I am wanting to get an idea on how difficult restoring may be. Floor wood looked ok and doors close but you have to close fairly firmly to latch. Once closed the doors look reasonably even to the outer frame. Do you mean literally remove the door panels and handle the wood? Would most sellers let a prospect do this?

Oldskeeper

Hi Pat, another option is check out a marine supply for the epoxy that gets injected into the wood (dry rot) on the old cabin cruisers, we used this on some of the wood on my dads rather than replace some of the boards above the water line.
Steve

Tedd Thompson

X2 I have used two different products (not on car wood though) that would take a dry rotted powder soft window sill and make it so hard that you can't stick a screwdriver in it. One was made by Minwax a single stage product much like a thin superglue. The other was made by Restor X and is a two part epoxy product. Both worked very well......Tedd

Don R.

I thought you already owned the car. Unfortunately if the interior is still in place there is no way to look at most of the framing wood. You can see quite a bit of the lower sill and frame parts along with the floorboards from under the car, try pushing on them with a screwdriver if possible to see if the wood is soft. Lift the carpets and look for evidence of rot. Other than that the door fit is the best indicator. One of the reasons you see very few surviving GM cars from the 20s and early 30s is that they used a lot of wood in their body structures with the outer metal panels nailed on top compared to Ford and Chrysler that used mostly metal.