PR: How much do they cost?

RM: The price for a new wood set varies depending the make and model. The basic price for a late 1950 or 1951 Ford wood set is currently $12,800 for ‘clear’ maple framing with stock mahogany paneling. That is the low end. The high end price would be for a 1949 Mercury, which has the super difficult double bend on the front door. That price is currently $16,300.

PR: Do you stock kits or are they all made to order?

RM: Virtually all of my wood sets, and I like to describe them as ‘wood sets’ rather than ‘wood kits,’ are built to order, even if they are completely stock. I do some mildly custom work from time to time, and many customers ask for some special touches: some ‘birdseye’ or other ‘figured’ grain, and some other things. I have a form I fill out for each job to make sure I know all the small details of each project, and what differences there might be in the set I will be building for the particular customer.

PR:How long does it take to ship, once a set is ordered?

RM: The work time on any given project also varies depending on my current work load as well as on just which model I am to build. Currently, the work time is only between four and six months.

PR: Do you sell parts separately or just entire sets?

RM: Yes, I do sell individual parts separately as well as beautiful paneling sets, some with absolutely outstanding special wood choices.

PR: Do you have any suggestions for people who want to save the original wood--that is, how they should go about restoring it?

RM: I have written a ‘how to’ article both on finishing wood and on bleaching wood, as well as some short notes on specific aspects of wood restoration for these cars. I do take regular phone calls from woodie people seeking advice on how to do this or how to do that, and what is the quickest or the best way to achieve some aspect of the restoration process.

PR: What was Ford’s wood care instructions for woodie owners back in 1949-51?

RM: Ford basically sent out a maintenance brochure that recommended yearly re-varnishing to maintain the wood on these cars. This was always a problem for woodie owners--especially when these cars had to serve as constant daily drivers in all weather conditions. Few owners ever spent the time and effort to do this upkeep work on anything close to a yearly basis. Most never did any varnishing work at all. But a few did, and their cars survived as coveted collectors items to this day. As an aside, Ford knew the wood upkeep was always a drawback to most people who were considering buying one of the wooden cars, so they came up with the not so marvelous plan to build and stock replacement wood sets so a customer could come in three or four years later and purchase all-new for their now tired wagon. Few folks bought into this program at the time, but the surviving NOS wood sets were a big seller for restorers over the years. As you might guess, few, if any, of these wood units still exist unused today.

PR: What do suggest for wood care today?

RM: Varnish, you never outgrow your need for more varnish. Marine Varnish: Epifanes, Z-Spar ‘Captains,’ Z-Spar ‘Flagship,’ Interlux, and Interlux ‘Schooner’ varnish to name a few great varnishes. There are others.

PR: What are you plans going forward?

RM: I turned sixty-four today, and I simply cannot say how much longer I will pursue the very difficult, and very time consuming, work of building new wood for woodies. For the time being, I will be continuing to seek, and take on new woodie work, but my retirement from this may be fast approaching.

See Part 2 (Wood Bleaching) and Parts 3, 4, and 5 (Woodie Wood Refinishing).

Continue to Part 2...