Buggy Restoration Continues

The rotted wheels were outsourced to Stutzman’s Wheel shop in Amish Country—Near Baltic, OH. They have quite an operation up there, and are widely regarded as experts on wooden wheels—(whether automotive, military or carriage). Noah did a wonderful job for us. The first photo shows the buggy seat bucket in the process of having all old paint stripped down to the original surface. It took an incredible amount of sanding to get the old wood straight and smooth again. Anytime you paint something black, it is difficult to hid any imperfections!

The second photo is the original dashboard to illustrate just how weathered this component was! All metal pieces were corroded and the leather really looked 100+ years old.

The third photo shows the seat bucket in the paint shop. It received 5 coats of primer which were sanded in between sprayed coats. This filled in all of the dried wood grain to make it look very close to an original surface. The final two top coats were black urethane for a hardshell, semi gloss surface to mimic what came from the Studebaker factory in South Bend, IN. The next photo is of the drop heel shaft assembly that also had to be restored (this is what the horse is harnessed to).