WOODY IN SURGERY

he said the news wasn't good.
‘its like cancer-- you don't know how bad
its gonna be until you cut into it.’
the rust, that is.

this is brandon, breaking the news.
my friend at performance auto on grand avenue.
he operated on one of our other wagoneers a few years ago.

in woody’s case, it had metastasized.

rocker panels.
quarters.
fenders.
doglegs (the piece between the rocker & quarter, shaped like its name).

lets just say that shes getting more cosmetic surgery than micky rourke.


as it turns out, one of the hardest colors to match are yellow. even harder to match is an old job that has become oxidized (chalky)

she has both.

jim (the owner) called in paint-matching specialist to color match the weather-worn yellow.

not unlike a dental surgeon, its a process of cutting out the decay, and replacing it with new (in this case, metal). wed sourced some replacement quarters & some rockers from another of our jeeps, and prayed for the best.

in sticking to our rule of 'found free and flea',
begging, borrowing and stealing to resurrect this ride for pennies on the dollar.
(when she's finished well post a breakdown so if you're crazy enough to tackle this kind of project too- you'll know what you're in for.)

this is our 5th wagoneer, so we're finally getting the hang of the restoration thing.

she is well on her way to recovery, and will soon be making a trip to the sign painter, who will letter her doors in the old-school method and hand plus brush.

(inspired by the truck lettered doors i remember from my childhood- back when grandpa had ‘surratt freight lines’)

checked off the list:
new headliner.- finished.
upholstered tartan wool blanket seats.- done.
collection of antique & obscure summer camp & fishing window decals- ready.


she’ll be making her debut soon...
stay tuned.