7 replies to this topic

[soulslinga]

Hello - I have a '65 countryman that has an original (possibly factory original) wooden roof rack on it. One of the slats was badly cracked when I got the car and to my utter devastation it broke entirely in half the other day while i was washing the car. I found this particular piece of wood is rotted from water getting in. Its soft and spongy in the areas near the crack. I had a friend look at it, a professional wood worker, he said with the rot i should really replace the wood and not glue it. 

I am trying to keep this car original and unrestored, so I hesitate to do more work than is absolutely necessary. 

The original stain is long gone, but on the underside of the wood you can see it originally had a dark stain on it.

 

If anyone disagrees with the diagnosis that I can't fix this piece of wood,  I'd love to hear that. 

It looks like I should probably get a new piece, then stain everything, to protect the remaining wood and match the new one with the old ones. I do hate to change the look of the car though. 

 

Does anyone know what kind of wood this is? That's my main question if I need to replace it.

Is it possible to buy these wood slats on their own, or do I need to make these? 

Will I be able to bend the wood to fit into the rack, like the other pieces are? The wood is possibly steam bent according to my friend. No idea what I'm doing as far as steam bending wood :)

If I could buy an old piece of wood that would match somewhat, wow that would be great. 

 

 full rack.jpg   68.92K   20 downloads

 rack.jpg   38.79K   11 downloads

 wood2.jpg   83K   11 downloads

 

Edited by soulslinga, 28 October 2014 - 09:15 PM.

[alex-95]

Looks great, It'd be difficult to match a new bit to the old ones, I wood( ) say there is no harm in glueing it, if it gets alot worse then you can replace it or maybe just leave it off, it's just part of it's life.

[rally1380]

One solution would be this.....

 

Get your woodworker mate to router a slot (10mm wide by 9mm deep by 100m long) into the bottom of the two broken bits. Then glue the two rotten bits together and in the slot glue a nice new bit of wood (the original wood is probably Ash) that will brace and strengthen the joint.  And with it being on the underside you shouldn't see it too much.

 

Hope that makes sense?  But your mate is right - the wood is knackered.

[soulslinga]

it's just part of it's life.

 

yes indeed, i like this outlook haha. 

 

 

Get your woodworker mate to router a slot (10mm wide by 9mm deep by 100m long) into the bottom of the two broken bits. Then glue the two rotten bits together and in the slot glue a nice new bit of wood (the original wood is probably Ash) that will brace and strengthen the joint.  And with it being on the underside you shouldn't see it too much.

 

 

Yup makes sense. Kind of like a splint I guess. This might be worth doing as I won't be putting much weight on the roof rack if any. Cheers for the suggestion. 

 

 

So its probably safe to say i'm out of luck as far as finding someone who supplies this piece, eh? 

[timmy850]

Are they bent under tension on the rack? If so it might be hard to repair it and keep it bendy and strong enough to fit back in the slots.

 

Most woodworkers should have a big pile of old wood lying around and should be able to find you something pretty close, or be able to stain/distress a piece to get a close match?

 

You might be better off taking all the old wood off and replacing it all as it's all probably in similar condition (i.e. rotten) and holding onto the old bits in storage. That way you can use the rack without fear of damaging the rest.

[soulslinga]

Are they bent under tension on the rack? If so it might be hard to repair it and keep it bendy and strong enough to fit back in the slots.

 

Most woodworkers should have a big pile of old wood lying around and should be able to find you something pretty close, or be able to stain/distress a piece to get a close match?

 

You might be better off taking all the old wood off and replacing it all as it's all probably in similar condition (i.e. rotten) and holding onto the old bits in storage. That way you can use the rack without fear of damaging the rest.

 

 

They were originally bent under the tension of the rack, but now have taken the bent shape naturally. 

The broken piece just maintains the bent curve on its own, so the bend shouldn't add any pressure to the glue when putting it back.

The other pieces are still good, not rotten, and holding their bend on their own. I might be nervous getting them out, as you'd have to bend them out. 

However - not having them there to fuss over, does sound kind of nice ha.

[timmy850]

It looks like the rack could possibly unbolt looking at the photo? If those cross bars came off the wood should come out easily? Just a thought

[soulslinga]

It looks like the rack could possibly unbolt looking at the photo? If those cross bars came off the wood should come out easily? Just a thought

 Thanks I didn't notice that, will check it out.