Wood Framing Kit - Rod And Custom Magazine

Wood Framing Kit - Timber Time

If you're messing around with virtually any old car body, sooner or later you're going to have to tackle wood framing. Fords usually used minimal amounts of wood in their bodies, mainly restricted to roof framing and A- and B-pillar structures, but other marques used timber extensively, so much so that in some cases the sheetmetal couldn't support itself without the wooden substructure.

The Murray-built steel-back Model A Victoria body makes more use of wood than probably any other early Ford, mainly because the subrails and some of the floor are made from the material, and while the sheetmetal can support itself, after almost 80 years this example was in dire need of some assistance. Brought to the Jalopy Shoppe as a complete car that had been mildly hot-rodded sometime in the '50s, judging by the tuck 'n' roll and other parts, the new owner of this '31 Vicky wanted the body restored, which meant locating fresh wood.

Luckily, one phone call to MAC's Antique Auto Parts provided wood kits for the roof, header panel, and complete body wood, and reconstruction began once the bundle of boxes arrived from New York.