Major reconstruction of a 1936 Bentley Saloon by Mayfair

[jhery]

Mark you are welcome to visit anytime. I probably have 200 hrs in the car so far and to build the body and metal 700 to 800 hrs. I am a one man operation so my shop is like a prison, I rarely escape. I would love to find a young person who would be dedicated enough who would want to learn what I have to offer. I usually takes 2500 to 3000 hrs on a big project which means you don't have a social life but when the job is done the feeling of accomplishment can't be explained.

[jhery]

Norson: You are correct about the blight and disease. I am building a 29 Minerva and the sill plates for that are 8/4 x 12" x 82". That is one large piece of wood. White Oak is used for top bows and is good for steam bending but is not a stable wood for framing. Red Oak is prone to rotting however early US cars used maple and hickory for certain applications.

[norson]

Red oak was what I was thinking about.

[Larry4406]

Tin worm and wood worm all in the same project! WOW!

[mastuart]

Jim Thanks for your reply. It looks like you get a lot done in that amount of time. I ask questions like that to use as a yardstick on how I am doing. If I get a chance to stop by I will.

Mark

[Just Lookin]

Hello,

Thank you for posting this project. I have always wondered how the wood was sawn for the various parts. Is the wood

• All flat sawn
• All quarter sawn
• A mix of both?

Are the wood elements

• Nailed together
• Screwed together
• Bolted together
• Something else?

It has always interested me that the coaches were built so many years ago, yet they survive. There were no super highways to treat them nicely.

So many questions, so few books on the subject. Intrigued by the woodwork, can't wait for the metalwork.

Subscribed.

[jhery]

Just Lookin, The boards are mostly flat sawn. The wood is screwed together with Marine glue in the joints. The skins are either screwed or nailed on. They were just a carry over from the coach days. After WWII the methods changed.

[jhery]

I started with the left A pillar since there was more of it there to imagine what it should look like. A couple of the photos show the right side was basically non existent so once I get the left side figured out I can reverse it for the other side. Once the left side was close I cut a temporary right side from a 2x4 to hold the upper cowl band to figure out the placement for the windshield and the top header bow. There is a lot of trial and error before it is close. The windshield has to be centered left and right and up and down for the interior trim and the dash board to fit. Once everything fits it will be rabbited and relieved for the hardware etc.

[AWM]

all I can say is WOW!
As a hot rod guy, we replace the wood with steel. I have been involved with one wooden framed car body, a 32 Chevy, and we tossed almost all the wood for steel.
The folks that can reproduce these wood structures, especially these pre war European coach builds, are truly gifted. Not just in skill, but in patience and detail.
Good luck, keep posting

[jhery]

I finishied out the left side A pillar, installed the rain-gutter on the left side, shaped the upper A pillar to fit the skin and fit cowl panel to square door openings. The temporary right side A pillar was taken off and I cut a mirror image of the left side. The right side was 90% gone so I needed the left side to copy. There is only one flat side on the pillars so that is the only reference point to use. The original upper cowl piece was installed so I knew the height from the sub-frame to the bottom of the windshield and had to square the opening by using straps inside the body. The windshield is wider at the bottom than the top so it isn't square making it a little more difficult to get in the correct position. Everything is marked with center lines. The cowl skin was used to rough in the cowl vent gutters and drains. The next step is to fabricate the upper header over the windshield and figure out the joints necessary for the top of the A pillars. The windshield can then be attached and the old cowl band can be replaced with the new one and the windshield frame can be rabbitted and the windshield will close completely. I am putting a sunroof in the car so the front header will be larger than the original by 2".