Removable Woody Panels for a Car

[Andrew Joiner]

I have been toying with making my car into a woody. It's a 2006 Scion in black. I want to make the panels real wood. I only go to the beach with it in our dry summers . The winters are wet so it would be great to have the panels removable, but really "locked" on in place.

I'm thinking magnets. Maybe there's an adhesive that I could dissolve and re-apply without harming the finish much? Actually I don't care much about resale value so even holes that are capped in the winter might work.

Any ideas?

[Joe Jensen]

I think the key is getting the wood contoured to fit well. If you did I would get large magnetic sheet and glue to the wood. I assume that would stay in place. But if you don't care about the holes then drilling and screwing is lots easier.

How do you plan to contour them?

[Ryan Mooney]

I think I'd want some positive connections especially around the leading edges. My fear with something like magnetic sheets would be if the wind got under the edge and lifted it off you'd have a flying panel which wouldn't be good.

No really good ideas other than maybe replace all the panels (maybe further than you'd want to go ) but interesting project idea.

[Rick Potter]

Looks like that would be a good car to play with. You could probably do it with no compound curves. It's still gonna be a lot of work.

Rick Potter

PS: 20 years ago, a friend rebuilt a 1948 Ford woodie. At that time there was a company called 'the wooden car', ;which made kits for redoing the wood. This kit cost $25,000 unfinished, uninstalled. Luckily, my friend had one with good wood.

[Michael Wildt]

Sounds like a fun project. That said I think its one of those where you have to go full out or just drop the idea.

Magnets sounds like a good idea, but as others have mentioned I'd be too concerned they would fly off at speed or hard braking. Could be some local laws would need to be consulted. Magnet wise, newer style rare earth magnets would be key, but then it could be a problem of getting the panel off again. If you do fasteners then it is hard to hide unless you leave the panels on all year. I'm thinking 'rivet style' fender screws like Dzus fasteners (google it for pictures). Real fast to replace a fender or other parts in a race. Not sure if they would work with thin wood panels, though they come in different types. Wouldn't be too attractive on the car unless the panels were mounted. Other rivet styles would be rivet nuts. Those you might be able to get a cover/plug for. Silicone or other adhesive could be another way, but it would be tough to remove at will unless heat can be used as a release mechanism. Velcro also came to mind, but with similar limitations as the magnet.

So that leaves me with the following ideas. Find one of those graphic places that does vinyl advertising on vans/buses. Have them add 'wood' look to the panels and then just enjoy it all year. When tired of it then just peal it off. You could also get the car painted with wood look if you wanted to make it more permanent. Who knows could be a 'overhaul' or similar car project. Of course the latter takes away the fun of doing it completely your self.

If you decide to do it with real wood then I'm thinking vacuum press the panels so they fit aka veneering and some marine coating to keep them nice all year.

Either way you go it sounds like a fun project. Keep us posted on what you decide.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I would use veneer bonded to magnetic sign material. I've used just the magnetic sign material for temporary ads on trucks and they stick at highway speeds. I wouldn't think that adding the weight of a sheet of veneer would change that. The trickiest part may be in finding an adhesive that will bond the veneer to the sign material. It is pretty slick stuff.

[Bradley Gray]

Might you settle for wood hub caps or a wood luggage rack?

[Larry Edgerton]

Andrew, that would be very cool. I think magnetic sheets with veneer, wood fit around the edges and clear hot melt glued around the edges should come off. Try it on your neighbors car first.

If that one comes out I have a 67 Volvo Amazon wagon that it would be cool on, so get practiced up!

Damn! Now you got me thinking about that...........

Larry

[Michael Wildt]

I wouldn't use hot melt glue. Use clear racer's tape or helicopter tape also clear on the leading edge of the magnetic sheets. That will remove the tendency for lift.

[Brian W Smith]

Probably shouldn't respond...oh well.

Might as well cut right to the chase.

#1-Look at where the panel/s interface with the door's hinging action.No point in going further until this notso small detail is worked out.

#2-You're probably looking at mechanical fasteners.......but don't think they have to be screws/bolts.Study up on some of the "trick" bits used in auto industry,think clips.

#3-Collision factor.Auto industry goes to some pretty far lengths to insure(haha) that their cars "wreck" properly.You have to respect this.Don't design something that exacerbates the effects of a fender bender.

#4-If you've taken the above steps....now the fun starts,you get to obsess over what species and what CC(clear coat).I'd be thinking Ash and epoxy.

[Bill Huber]

One thing to really think about is what will all of this do to the paint on the car. I used a mag sign on the side of my white truck for about 2 months, when I took them off I could see where the clear coat had be damaged in a few places where the sign was and it was a white truck, what would it do to a black one?

[Myk Rian]

I've been considering veneering my Rockwell 8" jointer stand. Not too sure I'd do a car though.

Construction adhesive would be the way to go, but that's more permanent than you're talking about.

[Rick Potter]

With a car that is already 8 years old, I would not be overly worried about taking it off to sell. I would be more worried that if I don't do it right, it will look comical. For me, that means attaching real wood permanently. Most of the originals used ash, with maple veneer for the panels. Self stick veneer, with well joined framing is, to me, the only thing that will look good.

Google PT Cruiser woodies. The factory did them for a while. You might get some ideas.

My 2 cents.

Rick P

[David Hostetler]

The good thing about your model Scion is it is more or less a simple box. No real extreme curvature. You should be able to use a thin veneer over a sheet magnet like they use for car body signs, and trim the edge with some thin formed hardwood. The hardest part will be making the vertical hardwood pieces follow the slight curvature of the body work.

The Woody look is pretty far out of vogue, which is actually a good thing if you are aiming for unique... Be a great thing for a beach / surf wagon sort of rig..

[Yonak Hawkins]

In a another thread someone recommended K&J magnets. I see they have disk-shaped magnets rated up to 718 lbs pull. It seems like you should be able to find magnets there that could be embedded into your panelling and would hold in a stiff wind and still be removable without the use of a pry bar. They also have nickel plated magnets that could be usable in the elements.