I am putting a top on my 1926 Runabout/Roadster. I have bows which I believe to be reproductions. I bought them at Chickasha many years ago. They are painted with a brown primer and came with masonite strips shoved into the curved areas of the bows. They came without the three wood sticks. The clamps that go on top of the windshield posts were tied to them with wire. I am having trouble getting them to mount to the car in a “relaxed” way. The drivers side seems to be in a bind and would need to be bent at the lower end where it attaches to the body. I don’t know if the forward clamps, where they sit atop the stanchions, go with the hollow side up or down. When I buy or make the sticks, I will need to know the measurements for the exposed part of the wood for all three locations. Can anyone help me. Thanks. Mike
1926/27 rear bows have a slight curve at the bottom. If yours are straight, they may be 1923 - 25 bows. The clamps on the front bow point hollow side up. Here is a picture from the MTFCA forum showing the bow dimensions. The “stick” in the front bow has to space the clamps the correct distance apart to plug into the tops of the windshield posts, of course. Install the clamps onto the windshield posts first, then adjust the front bow dimensions accordingly.
Mark, Thanks for the help. I had the front stick figured out. The clamp info will be helpful. My parts are correct for 1926/1927.
The parts book refers to ribs #2 and #3 being the same, but there is no mention of rib #1. I assume that these are the wood pieces that I am calling sticks. The other reference in the parts book is sockets, which would be the metal parts. Socket #1 is not side specific. Sockets #2 and #3 are listed as being side specific. This all makes sense, except that #2 and #3 are riveted together in real life.
My drivers side (#2 and #3) socket assembly does not want to set comfortably on the lower mounting stud and connect up to socket #1. It is in a bind on the stud so I am thinking it might need a little heat and twist at the tip. If I do this and get the desired result, there will still be enough side-to-side movement that I will need the exact, desired distance, right to left, between the sockets, before installing the ribs.
I have owned this car for 60 years. Most of that time it has been a running and driving strip-down. My Granddaughter has claimed it so I decided to make it into a real car again. Last spring we installed new upholstery from Classtique, with the help of a friend who is a real upholsterer. I hauled the car from Missouri to North Carolina so Nori could drive her friends and family around at her High School Graduation party. Now it is time for the top.
I was curious to know if anyone had experience with reproduced top parts from 30(ish) years ago, and if there were known issues with them.
Mike