MTFCA Forum

I read about various methods of treating bodywood in a forum discussion from 2017. More than one person suggested using a 50/50 mixture of enamel paint and turpentine to have what essentially is just a "stain coat" that will penetrate deep into the wood. However, when I tried this using acrylic latex enamel, the turpentine just floated on the surface and would not mix with the paint. I also tried it with mineral spirits instead of turpentine but got the same result. I assume that I am using the wrong kind of enamel. Any suggestions?

You are correct. Mineral Spirits and Turpentine are "Oil Base" or petroleum distillate products. Acrylic paints are WATER based and will not easily mix with petroleum products. You need an oil based paint to work with mineral spirits or turpentine.

I just treated the raw wood in/on our delivery truck with FLOOD wood preservative, actually designed for outdoor furniture and decks. It turned out wonderful. AND, it's water based so clean up with soap and water.

Good Luck,

Latex is a water based paint. Mineral spirits will only mix with an oil based paint.

Dang, You beat me to it.

Many thanks for your answers. Too bad I wasted $30 on the latex paint. I should have known better . . .

Always read the instructions on paint cans. It will tell you what thinners it is compatible with and what to use for cleanup. You should always prime bare wood with an oil based primer. Penetrol is a good additive that will cause the oil based primer to absorb deeper into the wood. You can use your latex paint as a finish coat once the primer has dried, so it is not a total loss. Jim Patrick

Penetrol can be applied neat to bare timber. It is an ideal sealer/preservative/primer for an oil based finish coat. I mix a wash of 50-50 black enamel and turps as a stain coat on timberwork. It penetrates well and leaves a nice black appearance without the full gloss of enamel.

Allan from down under.

This has come up before. My opinion is when Ford painted the bodies and especially the Tourings whatever paint drift that got on the wood was just that. If Ford treated the wood maybe he treated it before it was installed ? Is there any evidence if Ford treated the wood? He may have. We now may do that since it seems that would be the right thing to do.

I used deck stain. I figured that the reason would be to make sure that it didn't rot out so the next guy or gal didn't have to fix rotten wood. If deck stain works in the rain it should be good for the wood you'll never see.

I doubt if Ford treated the wood in any way. While we want our Model T’s to last forever, Ford did not make Model T’s to last, nor were they meant to. The goal of Ford was to manufacture as many Model T’ per day as possible and any unnecessary steps in the manufacturing process, such as wood preservation, were eliminated. If the owner had a garage or barn, their T would last longer, but most people did not have garages so their Model T mostly sat outside exposed to the elements. If the wood rotted, all that meant was that you would need to buy a new T sooner than later and they were priced so that this was feasible.