Woodgrain Finish on '39 Plymouth

[Richard Coney]

Can anyone tell me more about the woodgrain effect on the dashboard and window mouldings on my 1939 Plymouth P7 Roadking? I originally thought it was hand painted, though friends have since suggested that it might be a decal (perhaps a water-slide type transfer) or a screen-printed finish. Either way, the woodgrain on my car is well past its sell-by date, so I'm wondering the best way to replicate the original finish. It's been suggested that it adds to the "patina" of the car, but my intention is to gradually improve the coupe, both mechanically and cosmetically. I don't want people to confuse it with a rat rod! Any advice would be apprecated. Thanks. Richard

[40P10touring sedan]

Patina is a big thing for those who follow it, but for those who'd prefer a new look..like me...I'd suggest a web site called woodgrain.com, They have all sorts of graining kits for all sorts of cars and even grains that you might want that aren't stock for your car...I'd prefer mine redone in burle wood than the factory painted{they weren't decaled} straight grain.

...edit, I'm sorry, the site is "woodgraining.com"

Edited July 1, 2012 by 40P10touring sedan

[greg g]

also check and see if you an an immersion transfer business in your area. you can google that to see the technique and patterns avaialble.

[Richard Coney]

Hi Bob.

Thank you. That is most helpful. I'll do some research. I quite fancy trying to woodgrain it myself. Regards, Richard

[desoto1939]

The wood graining was done via the use of rollers. The plate has the reserve grain and the soft rubber roller is rolled on the plate to pick up the pattern. The it is rolled on the dash.

Check out the grain it compnay in florida. I have done this and have used their kits.

Contact me.

Rich HArtung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Richard Coney]

Thank you. Clearly not a cheap process if you invest in one of their kits, but presumably cheaper than paying a professional to re-woodgrain your trim and dash. It appears there are some how-to videos available to watch. I'll find some time to sit and watch them. Perhaps the basic techniques can be replicated using more readily available tools.

[Joe Flanagan]

Richard, I did it myself and got pretty good results. See the thread I started here:

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=26646&highlight=woodgraining

PM me and I'll be glad to answer any questions.

Joe

[claybill]

it is a mystery on how they did it in the factory..i contend it was painted on before the stamping.. all you have to do is look at the edges and wraparounds and anyone can tell how it was NOT done.

to have the dash and window trim done is near

$1000, usd. by a professional woodgrainer. most people have good enough results doing it themselves. look thru past threads for specific coloring layers.

good luck. oyu dont need the kit , just a few good pointers will do.

[Ed Griffin]

Thanks for sharing that Joe. It was very informative. I've always enjoyed seeing how painted dash boards (wood) turn out. Yours looked good. I like burl most of all.

[Richard Coney]

Hi Joe. Thank you. Just read your woodgraining thread. Very interesting and excellent results. I'll see it I can get a shot of my P7 dashboard which shows the "patina" (crud) of over 80 years use. It's amazing how different the colour of the 'wood' is underneath the Plymouth name plate. Shows the ravages of time. In the meantime, thanks again.

Just a little background: The guy I bought the coupe from, (nice fella), was very keen to retain the patina of the car, which has clearly been much loved, but appears to have spent many years in a barn with successive generations of mice. I've found about a dozen skeletons up in the headlining and under the seat, together with half chewed nuts etc. However, for some reason they do not appear to have caused any real damage to the car. The original wiring was unchewed when we took out the loom the other week, just old and brittle. Nevertheless, despite the claim that it takes decades to build up a pleasing patina, I want to gradually improve the car, so that it looks like a clean, used example. Not concours by any means, but not a rat rod either.

The guy was in the British Armed Forces. He apparently found the car on eBay, somwhere in Indiana, bought it unseen, had it shipped to Las Vegas where he was working, and then to the UK when he was posted home. The car then appeared in Captain America, and then was sold to me. Regards, Richard

[blucarsdn]

In your thread you mention that your car is a 'P7'.. The P7 is the Roadking model which was Plymouth's economy line of cars for '39. The P7 has belt line trim that terminates midway on the hood. The P7 also has a floor shift in lieu of the column shift lever like the P8's.

I don't believe that the P7 had wood graining like the P8

The P8 convertibles did not have wood graining either. I like the looks of wood graining so I had the dash in my P8 wood grained... Of course several people have objected to the wood graining, I just shrug them off.... It's my car, I can do anything I want to it... Bill

[Joe Flanagan]

Richard, the best thing you can do is get some pieces of scrap metal and try different methods and see what you get. I had no success at all with woodgraining tools. I know they're good for other uses, but not for a car dash.

[38plymouth]

http://www.tarjac.com/index2.htm

This place is out by where I live. If you look at the patterns they have several different types of wood. I have thought about bringing the trim that goes around the window to them to see if they had something that matched it. Mine is worn where you rest your arm but the rest of it looks great. They do really good work, just not sure how the patterns they have would match.

[Richard Coney]

I can assure you that my business coupe is a P7 Roadking. It has the floor shift, the one piece side windows and rubber floor mats throughout. No radio, minimal trim etc. It also has a woodgrained dashboard and window mouldings for all the windows. I attach a picture of the radio blanking plate from the centre of the dashboard. Time appears to have altered the colour as evidenced by the lighter square which was covered by the Plymouth emblem. I've been cleaning that up as the edges were black with dirt. It will need painting in due course, but I'll keep it as-is until I have both the time to expend on this minor job and matched the paint. I've the floor to clean and paint first.

[Joe Flanagan]

Quite a different color and grain pattern from mine. Check David Maxwell on this forum. I think he has done something very similar to that.

[Richard Coney]

Thanks Joe. Will do. Richard

[Eneto-55]

I have read (some place) that the wood grain pattern (for the P15, at least) was copied after the grain of Sapele, a tree from Africa. There is a lumber yard near here that sells a lot of different types of exotic woods, and I have seen Sapele there. It doesn't really look much like it to my mind, but of course the wood itself varies a great deal in grain pattern, and I've never heard if the pattern on the interiors of our cars were meant to replicate a certain type of grain, such as quarter-sawn. That can also change the look of a natural wood grain drastically.

Neto

[Rusty O'Toole]

Somewhere on the net I have seen an article on how these wood grain parts were made.

Supposedly they had a giant camera that took a negative five feet long. They would get a board of wood or veneer, sand it, stain it, varnish and polish it, then photograph it life size.

This photo was used to make a printing plate, which was used to print or lithograph the grain onto flat sheets of metal.

The metal was then cut and stamped into an instrument panel or window surround.

[40P10touring sedan]

Thank you. Clearly not a cheap process if you invest in one of their kits, but presumably cheaper than paying a professional to re-woodgrain your trim and dash. It appears there are some how-to videos available to watch. I'll find some time to sit and watch them. Perhaps the basic techniques can be replicated using more readily available tools.

Oh yeah there's vids to watch...they'll show how they do window trim cornes{handy!} and alot of different grains on different dashes so you can see the actual technique- even a dual grain dash was shown.

Grain-it is supposed to be the same as woodgraining.com as I recall.

As you mentioned, the whole process isn't exactly cheap, but for close to $400 you can get a small kit and have the exact dash and trim that you want...stock grain or otherwise...maybe even have some supplies{paints} left over to do another car or something.

I kind of wonder how the steering wheel would look "grained"...I'll need to repaint mine anyway after I fill and sand the cracks in it.

[deathbound]

Can anyone tell me more about the woodgrain effect on the dashboard and window mouldings on my 1939 Plymouth P7 Roadking? I originally thought it was hand painted, though friends have since suggested that it might be a decal (perhaps a water-slide type transfer) or a screen-printed finish. Either way, the woodgrain on my car is well past its sell-by date, so I'm wondering the best way to replicate the original finish. It's been suggested that it adds to the "patina" of the car, but my intention is to gradually improve the coupe, both mechanically and cosmetically. I don't want people to confuse it with a rat rod! Any advice would be apprecated. Thanks. Richard

I've seen pictures of your car & it's anything but a rat rod.....or should I say the farthest thing from the "r" word.

[claybill]

HOORAY RUSTY..!! for a FEW YEARS THAT HAS BEEN MY THINKING..AND THERE waS ALWAYS 20 OTHERS WHO THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY.! having all kinds of thoughts of other processes. but if you look at the piece you can clearly figure out how it must have been done.

thank you for the info.....i would like to get a printed copy of that info..any luck?

bill

[Roadkingcoupe]

I don't believe that the P7 had wood graining like the P8........Bill

There were many differences between P7 and P8 1939 Plymouths.

However the closed cars had woodgraining (poor man's wood) on both the P7 and the P8 models.

In the picture of the OP the radio delete plate removed does show the original woodgrain pattern, as it was made from the Chrysler Corp.

Other differences between the P7 and the P8 include;

P7's were originally equiped with:

Only one tail light (drivers)

One windshield wiper (drivers)

One sun visor (drivers)

Floor shift

Radio Delete (radio grill and radio optional)

No belt molding (6" spear that stops at the front of the hood)

No 1/4 vent windows

The lowest MSRP of all major manufactures in 1939!

When they called it an economy car they werent joking!

Funny how the least expensive car of its time has remained so attractive and capable all these year later.

[Roadkingcoupe]

I attach a picture of the radio blanking plate from the centre of the dashboard. Time appears to have altered the colour as evidenced by the lighter square which was covered by the Plymouth emblem. I've been cleaning that up as the edges were black with dirt.

Of note in the picture is the simple fact that the radio "holes" in the radio delete plate are for earlier model years including 1937 and 1938. The 1939 Radio was the same as Chrysler Dodge and Desoto for 1939. The radio delete as pictured is for earlier model years and aftermarket "retrofit" radios. I would imagine it was later in 1938 that Chrysler decided to equip the 39 Plymouth with the new style radio.

The 1939 plymouth radio (Philco, Model C-1608) was a big heavy unit that had two vertical rectangles that held "preset" buttons and the radio dial with the speaker mounted in the center. Previous models had the radio "head" on the dash and the radio/speaker box on the floor. 1939 was the first year for the whole radio to be in the dash. It was so heavy that there is a thick bracket that anchors it to the firewall!

[Richard Coney]

This is all interesting, useful stuff. Thank you all. My P7 has a single sunvisor, though twin rear lights. The left hand, driver's, side has clearly been bashed and repaired at some point, because the taillight 'buckets', inner and outer, are homemade. Not bad either. I enclose some pictures of the rear of the car and the dashboard without the radio delete cover. The slots for the later radio as described earlier are clearly visible.

Roadking, I e-mailed you about the dashboard glass. If it didn't get through for some reason, perhaps you could PM me on the Forum. Thank you very much.

Regards to all,

Richard

[Joe Flanagan]

Very nice-looking car. What's the other one you have in the garage?