My 31 model 619 has finally arrived at the replacement wood stage in its restoration. The body is the same used on models 614 and 407. The roof in my car had a fire in the distance past and I could use old roof wood to use as templates. If anyone out there has one or two pieces to loan out please contact me.
Since Lance rebuilt Charlie's 619, would he have any patterns ?
Yes same body as 407, 610, 611, 612, 614, 617, 618, 619, E 618, E 670. Rear quarter windows don't roll down in the 31 / 32 but wood pattern is still the same as 30.
Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 Dominion built 614 Sedan
Hey Norm,
I tried Lance the first thing, but I knew the 619 he had really didn't have much wood to begin with.
What little was left was n't saved and may not have been much use anyway.
Looking at the Pics, I'm wondering if their is enough left of your front header and or whatever original wood that you may have left, if it could be locked together with "Quick polly" ( http://kwikpolyllc.com/)? Quick Polly is a two part resin that will soak into wood (especially rotten wood) then sets up...Possiably those pieces could be saved for pattern?
I see that a fingerjoint was used, I have a cutter with that same profile that I made for making steering wheels, and have used it for body wood as well...(cutter must be used in a mill with pieces clamped securly!)
Where Are You From? Leavenworth, WA / Yuma, AZ
Do You own a car built by Durant? 2 Durants / 2 Flints
I have some old wood from the roof of a 32 Durant sedan. Its in the rafters of my garage and hard to get at but for you Rick it can happen. If you still need it Ill look for some free labour to get it down.
Not sure how much or condition.
I bought an old header from someone that had replaced the wood in their Durant many years ago as a template, but I'm not sure if it's a perfect fit or not until we take a closer look.
Your header looks like mine,just a row of bolts and someone looped the chicken wire round them to stop the canvas sagging. You have more wood left than I do.
Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 Dominion built 614 Sedan
It appears to me that their is a finger joint in the center of your front header and appears that everything to the left of center (Drivers side) is complete and in tact...You should be able to mirror everything to the right of center off of the left side even if your right side was totally missing...Don't have that weeny roast quite yet....Kwik Poly is good stuff, you may be able to save a header pattern in case that you don't come up with something better
Where Are You From? Leavenworth, WA / Yuma, AZ
Do You own a car built by Durant? 2 Durants / 2 Flints
Interesting .. I just checked what's left of my header and its a one piece board with no finger joint.
Note header is cut out the back half to sit on the metal cross piece, plus sloped upwards for roof slope as well as curved to match roof bows, with sharp curve on both ends to match tin work. Looks like an awkward piece to carve out with little or no pattern.
Even the side rails have no joints.
Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 Dominion built 614 Sedan
The header on my little model 40 coupe (one piece) had a profile that I couldn't mimic with the tools that I had in AZ a couple years back...I found that I was able to pull it off by milling the header in two pieces longintudinaly at an angle break, then glue laminating them together...Worked good and probably just as strong.....Norm, I wouldn't be suprized if Durants supplier was just using up short pieces of wood stock to make up the header is the reason for that finger joint?
Where Are You From? Leavenworth, WA / Yuma, AZ
Do You own a car built by Durant? 2 Durants / 2 Flints
Probably Bill. With the number of bolts across the header you could finger joint every few inches. You would think they were riveting plates on the Titanic with so many bolts in a row up there. You can see the bolts in Rick's pic.
When we trailered the 32 home I watched a cloud of header bits blowing out down the hwy. You can't touch what's left of mine its beyond wood.
Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont
Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 Dominion built 614 Sedan