finally found the right inspiration: http://www.mikenchell.com/VintagePlans/ ... ntruck.pdf
will keep all posted... of course finding a pre war Packard may take up some time!
housecar build
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j_nigrelli
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That is a great article. I wonder how many people were inspired to build something like it at that time.
I've seen plenty of later model (70's vintage) Caddys with RV type trailers bolted onto the back but not too many house cars that look like they were built in the 40's. Does anyone have photos of such rigs?
I love reading old articles like this and seeing the materials available;
-the commonplace of tongue and groove stock (sure its available now but here in the northeast it doesn't come cheap)
-the "marine grade plywood" (I never would have thought that would have been that common on the 40's).
-masonite (do they even make it anymore)
Geoff
I've seen plenty of later model (70's vintage) Caddys with RV type trailers bolted onto the back but not too many house cars that look like they were built in the 40's. Does anyone have photos of such rigs?
I love reading old articles like this and seeing the materials available;
-the commonplace of tongue and groove stock (sure its available now but here in the northeast it doesn't come cheap)
-the "marine grade plywood" (I never would have thought that would have been that common on the 40's).
-masonite (do they even make it anymore)
Geoff
The 6Mb file size of that particular article prevented me from being able to view it (got all night? Good, you'll need it on dial-up ISP).
Here's a classic image of a plywood and mahogany housetruck from that era, courtesy of Craig Dorsey's Vintage Vacations web site:
The roof is built up of wooden strips, similar to the construction of a canoe!
T&G can be difficult to come by, which was a surprise to me. I needed some "car decking" T&G in 1-11/16" thickness to repair the kitchen floor, and none of the materials supplies had anything even close. Lucked out and found some 1-1/2" in a cast-off pile at the big home supply store.
As for plywood, it's been around for more than a hundred years. The headboard in my Housetruck is an ornately carved upright piano music shelf, which is constructed on a base of laminated plys - plywood. It was manufactured in 1886, so the technique was quite mature in the 1940's. In fact, plywood boats were quite popular just before and after WWII, owing to the availability of quality plywood and new low-cost boat designs. In the 1920's and 1930's, plywood was considerd rather exotic, and was a "selling feature" for furniture, housewares and the like.
"Masonite" is a brand-name. These days, ask for "tempered hardboard". I used lots of it in making templates for the Crown.
Here's a classic image of a plywood and mahogany housetruck from that era, courtesy of Craig Dorsey's Vintage Vacations web site:
The roof is built up of wooden strips, similar to the construction of a canoe!
T&G can be difficult to come by, which was a surprise to me. I needed some "car decking" T&G in 1-11/16" thickness to repair the kitchen floor, and none of the materials supplies had anything even close. Lucked out and found some 1-1/2" in a cast-off pile at the big home supply store.
As for plywood, it's been around for more than a hundred years. The headboard in my Housetruck is an ornately carved upright piano music shelf, which is constructed on a base of laminated plys - plywood. It was manufactured in 1886, so the technique was quite mature in the 1940's. In fact, plywood boats were quite popular just before and after WWII, owing to the availability of quality plywood and new low-cost boat designs. In the 1920's and 1930's, plywood was considerd rather exotic, and was a "selling feature" for furniture, housewares and the like.
"Masonite" is a brand-name. These days, ask for "tempered hardboard". I used lots of it in making templates for the Crown.
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j_nigrelli
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wow!
how many hours does it take to put something like that together?
anyone see HBO's John From Cincinatti? the next to last episode had a Very cool cadillac (i think) with a camper grafted to it for a cab.
and of course it was piloted by the immortal "Doctor Johnny Fever" aka Howard Hessman - from the 70's TV show 'WKRP in Cincinatti'.
how many hours does it take to put something like that together?
anyone see HBO's John From Cincinatti? the next to last episode had a Very cool cadillac (i think) with a camper grafted to it for a cab.
and of course it was piloted by the immortal "Doctor Johnny Fever" aka Howard Hessman - from the 70's TV show 'WKRP in Cincinatti'.
I haven't seen the one on HBO but here's the Caddy/Trailer/Truck I saw in a storage lot on Cape Cod in the early 90's. I never did call to see how much they wanted for it.
Craftsmanship is certainly not the finest but the concept is interesting. I think this is a front wheel drive.
I wish i could find some pictures of my uncle's old motorhome and his buddy's rigs. They were all bus mechanics or fabricators and they would put four wheel drive under 60's and 70's vintage motorhomes (in the 80's)for the sole purpose of going out on the beach and partying every weekend. They were so ugly they were beautiful (their rigs, my uncle and his friends were ugly
).
oh, sharkey thanks for the history lesson. i guess i'm stuck in the mindset that all the fancy epoxies we use today are new, but there were adequate glues back then as well. The thing about the "masonite"/hardboard that confused me was it was used as an exterior covering option and left bare. I would have thought it would have been more of a plasticized material.
I just finished an 11ft cedar strip canoe this summer, does that make me qualified to build a house truck like that?
Craftsmanship is certainly not the finest but the concept is interesting. I think this is a front wheel drive.
I wish i could find some pictures of my uncle's old motorhome and his buddy's rigs. They were all bus mechanics or fabricators and they would put four wheel drive under 60's and 70's vintage motorhomes (in the 80's)for the sole purpose of going out on the beach and partying every weekend. They were so ugly they were beautiful (their rigs, my uncle and his friends were ugly
).oh, sharkey thanks for the history lesson. i guess i'm stuck in the mindset that all the fancy epoxies we use today are new, but there were adequate glues back then as well. The thing about the "masonite"/hardboard that confused me was it was used as an exterior covering option and left bare. I would have thought it would have been more of a plasticized material.
I just finished an 11ft cedar strip canoe this summer, does that make me qualified to build a house truck like that?
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Phil Feinstein
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