34 Chevy glass?

I resently aquired a 34 Chevy sedan that is basically the the shell of the car. All the wood is gone and I have no idea how they set the windowns in these old chevys. Does any one have any info, cross section diagram, tear down pictures that might help me. I bought the body manual but it was of little help when it comes to the windows. I plan on replacing the wood with an inter panel structure and need an idea on how to fab it. Thanks in advance

Matt


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If it is anything like my '36 Pontiac, GM used molded rubber channels to hold all the glass in. I can't get their on-line catalog feature to work but give these guys a call. They have all the rubber stuff you need for a 100% restoration.

Thanks Dewd, that was, or lead me to all the answers I needed

If you have an old GM car with no wood, you have a couple of options. One, buy all the wood as it is available, or two, replace it with metal. If you opt to replace with metal, I know of no patterns, you just do it.

As far as how the windows mount, heck, you could do it anyway you want if you replace all the wood with metal.

Brian

I am currently working on a 36 chev sedan and replacing all the wood with steel tubing, I tack welded the doors to the body, with the gaps the way I wanted them, then made a jig on the outside of the door, that would hold the door ridgid and keep it in shape, so I could remove the door from the car and work on it on the bench. I am using 1/2 X1/2 tubing and bending it to fit like a frame, it has to support the hinge plates and the latching strike plate, all the backing for the window garnish molding has to be made, [ at least in this 36] I am using power windows so all the bracing for those need to be made, I plan on making a inner panel from 22 ga,to stiffen it all up and hold the window mechanesims in place,,,I havn't finished one yet, and it ain't a easy task,, and I have 4 to do, , enclosed are a few pictures, hope they might give you a idea of the work involed,, there are several co.s that make replacement wood, but expensive and kinda complicated to install, as the wood was installed in the interior portion of the door then the outside skin was put on,, good luck,, BILL P'S' Pictures are too large,, I'll have to resize them and send them in another post

hope this works

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Bill- That looks like the way to go and probably very close to how I will tackle it. I plan on dragging out the metal brake and doing most of it that way but unless Santa brings me a shrinker/stretcher from eastwood, I'll most likely use the sqaure tube around the windows due to the ease of bending.

Big/good news... Brought home a donor car today. 87 Iroc, 350TPI, 700R4, posi rear diff w/disc brakes. I'm sure there is a ton of stuff I can use like the seats steering colum ect.

I have to tell you, I found that the tubing was very hard to work with. You just can't bend it where you want, it is DESIGNED to NOT bend after all.

On my brothers roadster we used a lot of angle or tubing that was cut to shape and then boxed in, worked very well.

Personally, after having a shrinker stretcher, I wouldn't even think of doing one of these old cars without it. The most beautiful job I have ever seen of replacing wood on a GM car was about 25 years ago on a 34 Chevy I was working on. The owner had made perfect reproductions of the wood out of sheet metal! It had champhered relief holes in it, all tig welded together, it was absolutely a work of art.

Bill, I would really think about your plans again. Looking at your photos and hearing how you did it, there is one big red flag that pops into my head. After you get these doors all welded together they are going to be STRONG, I mean STRONG. They are not going to bend a fraction of an inch. This could be big trouble being I seriously doubt they were perfectly hanging with no twist in them when you build the "jig". And even if you put some thought into that and had them perfect with the body, to have one of them or the body not change in some why during this project would be pretty hard to believe. I would really think about welding all that stuff up solid before it is all hung on the car with the cars structure all done as well before you finish welding.

Brian

Brian,, actually when I tack welded the doors on the body,, the body was bolted down to the frame, all the wood in the bottom of the car has been replaced with steel, [ the 2x6 piece of wood that is below the rockers] was replaced with a 2x 6 piece of 1/8" wall tubing cut and welded to match the design of the origional wood, that is the mounting points for the body to the frame,, if the body moves at all, I would be surprised, all the wood in the car is gone, it has a 1x2 rectangular tubing sub frame under the floor, with cross members for seat mounting, floorboard support, and the frame is also has cross members and braces, so I doubt it will move, or flex, but the doors will have a inner panel and if any change in the shape of the door happens , it can be adjusted with that panel, the inner tubing is mainly for hinge support,, That is a interesting point tho, what you see in the pictures is where the doors are at the present time,, This is the first one , I plan on getting all the tubing made and tacked together and then taking it all out for final welding,, then blast and coat the inside of the doors, to remove the surface rust, and then putting it back in that way the bracing is completely welded all the way around, I'll post some frame pictures in the next post so you can see what I am talking about,, Thanks Bill

crossmembers in body and chassis

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more pictures

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Bill, Nice work! The floor and frame work looks very strong IMO.

The chevelle in your second pic sure looks nice, lines appear straight, etc. Bob

Obviously my concerns were unfounded Bill, you got it handled. Great work!

Brian

Thanks Brian and Bob,, I really apprecate the complents,, I also really appreciate the concern that Brien brought up,, that is a very good point, because there is always something that can cause a body to change shape and cause the doors not to fit, and I really hope that don't happen. but we'll see,,, I just have to get busy on the doors and get them mounted so we can do the body work, I'm working on the hood now, making it into a 3 piece, where the top section opens like a regular hood and the side panels are stationary but removable, Thanks again Bill