treating top wood

[nreed]

Can anyone tell me how to treat the wood in the cab of my truck? All I've been able to find is that it should be treated before instillation but I can't find any place that tells what it should treated with. I understand that it is supposed to be painted the cab color and I don't want to put anything on it that will spoil the paint. Thanks in advance to anyone who will take the time to answer a question that everybody probably already knows but me.

[njcar757]

Hi nreed. I've read some where that the top wood was painted but I've never seen a photo in any magazine or on the web where the wood was painted. I plan to paint my wood black. Recently I've spoke to people who know wood. They tell me that hard wood like the oak in the top wood has a tight grain and you can't treat it. So I'll just paint mine . First coat will be thinned to get into the grain, the second coat will have less reducer plus a hardener. The first coat will be brushed on to work the paint into the grain, the second coat could be sprayed on.
good luck, carry on, nick

[Neil Wilson]

I have not heard of the 82-A or 82-B closed cab wood being treated. Nobody has nos wood to install today. So, the wood reproduction wood needs to be completely installed prior to painting so it can be fit to the body. The top of the cab must be square and this can take some effort (especially on the 82-A). I suggest that the wood be completely installed for fit first (with all hardware installed). The top wood can then be removed and the final installation done. The lock pillars should have anti-squeak installed between the wood and quarter panel (a thin felt was used originally).

I have not worked on an 82-B cab yet. But, I have found that the 82-A cab roof wood was installed with some type of thick pliable sealer between the metal and wood to make it weather tight. It appears to be a gray color after many years of weathering. I have used a thick roofing tar (it turns gray after several years of exposure to the sun). It will squash out when the pre-fit wood pieces are installed. After a few days, the tar will set up some. The excess can be cleaned off with a putty knife and the wood and metal can be cleaned with lacquer thinner. Don't do this before you fit the wood!

The wood was painted body color out of the factory along with the rest of the cab (cowl, gas tank, and doors installed). The majority of the folks doing a rebuild will finish the wood with a stain and clear coat. It's not original but that is what they like.

[E.Moore]

I don't know if the top wood was treated like the frame to body wood, or the floorboards, but some wood was treated with hot pitch. I have some NOS Model T wood that still shows the pitch that appears to have been applied with a brush. It did not penetrate the wood very much, but was useful enough to prevent the wood from quick decay.

From what I've heard from some Model A Judges, Tar was heated in kerosene or varsol and melted to a reasonably thin consistency, then applied with brushes.

Roofing tar is the same thing that was used, When old buildings are torn down, often large chunks of roofing tar is laying on the ground. That roofing tar can be cut into shavings, then added to warm kerosene. With continuous stirring, the tar will dissolve and when it becomes like thinned black paint, it is ready to brush on.

Here are some photos of the NOS Model T wood. These photos were taken from a floorboard that became broken during travel from the Ford dealer to my place, making it a good piece to remove the metal plate that separated the three pedals, to see if the metal trim was added before or after the wood was treated.

[SHELBY MESSER]

E Moore, the floorboard that is broken is very easy to repair (and it won't get miss placed)! If you have a small bottle of ELMER'S CARPENTER'S wood glue. A new or old bottle will do as long as it as it is liquid. Apply to both pieces make sure all glued surfaces are covered thinly with glue. Line the edges and make sure the grain of the wood is matched. using a wood clamp to hold th wood together, use a wet cloth or paper towel wipe off all the extra glue, make sure that all the glue is off. next use a couple short pieces of wood to clamp on both sides (bottom and top). Tighten the wood clamp to compress the glued joint. tighten the clamps on the wood pieces (C clamp-Vise Grips work very well for this. The joint will be stronger than the rest of the wood, Good luck!!!! Shelby, Louisiana.

[E.Moore]

Thanks Shelby, I've been using that method for over 5 decades. It still works well.

Take a sharp eye at the right upper corner. It is a jagged break and I know it could be repaired if it was the only one I had, but this floorboard was broken and the other piece became missing somewhere along the ride. Helpers these days don't have the same concern for NOS parts as I do and sometimes this kind of thing happens.

[Rob MacDonald]

Just thought I'd throw my 1.8 cents worth (the Canadian $ is above par as I write this) learned during 40-odd years of building wooden boats, with the occasional old car dragged into the shop over the years:

The problem with 'treating wood' is that most if not all of the chemicals are as bad for you as they are for the bugs. Many are also carcinogenic. A seemingly safe treatment* that I suspect was used at least on some cars of the 1930's is a mixture of pine tar and trupentine.

The second problem concerns 'bedding compounds': remember that you are only the 'latest' person to work on your truck, not the 'last' - and that someone is going to have to re-restore the truck at some point. If you've used an 'eternal' goop to bed the parts then he's going to be taking your name in vain as he wrestles with the repair! once again, Pine tar with turps, but this time mixed about 60/40 (wax to tar) with just a splash of turps has worked for me.

* I've been working with and breathing the fumes from this stuff since I was a boy: I'm still in good health and none of my kids were born with an arm growing out of his head....