Restorer took a short cut...I think.

31 Model A

31 Model A

Well-known member
Has anyone came across a coupe top that was missing the padding and chicken wire?
It's on the this winter's agenda to replace Sarah's top because the front edge has been cut but yesterday while wiping the top, I think the last owner or restorer put the plyboard directly on the slats and then covered the plyboard with rubber sheeting because I couldn't feel any wire or padding.

Shortcut to an incomplete top replacement??????????????????????
 
Likely it was not going to be judged and it suited his purpose at the time. If he was doing it for himself and not a customer it was no big deal ! Wayne
 
I dont think that is true. I have restore several coupes and pick up trucks and they all had chicken wire in their top
 
I'm almost positive that coupes and pick ups did not have chicken wire from the factory. However, it was common to add it when the roof fabric was replaced...which so many are.

My '30 coupe had no chicken wire when I redid the roof, just a layer of a muslin-like fabric. I do, however, know that it was not the original roof.

Ken
 
Well, I was just wondering what would be some of the reasons not to restore the top correctly. It will be done correctly come Fall. Until then she's not allowed outside playing in the rain, speaking of rain, a couple more feet and I'll be fishing for Mississippi River catfish from my front porch....again!!!
 
31 Model A said:
:D good one, Bill!!!
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31,
As a kid in Oklahoma, it was common practice to use old cars for chicken coops, as it kept them quite safe from CRITTERS!
Also, it was common to use rear fenders for wind breaks around the old cast iron, wood fired, wash pots. Chief spotted one using a Model A fender & traded him a USELESS Chevrolet fender for it. The heat didn't ruin the fender & was EASY to strip it to the metal!
Once he got 4 wheels, with tires like a ROCK, laid them on top of a huge rubbish pile, fired it off, it burned off the tires & stripped the wheel paint, in one EASY operation!!! I tole you we were PO' (poor) & had NO ELECTRICITY & BUTANE hadn't been invented, yet. Lots of us came from very humble beginnings, tell us about yours.
In the midst of this, folks were trying to lurn how to repair & service their cars & taking BROKEN stuff to the Blacksmith, in town, to be WELDED!!! As a sideline, the Smithy had a CORN grinder out back, with a HIT & MISS motor powering it.
My Great Aunt had a Maytag Washer with a SMOKEY old motor, she had it in a grove of small trees, AWAY from the house, so it didn't GAG out the house. She DIDN'T want to risk a visit frum the EPA!
Bill W.
 
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BILL WILLIAMSON said:
31,
Lots of us came from very humble beginnings, tell us about yours.
Bill W.
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As you have seen and I have said, my Texaco garage exist because since I can't go back to my childhood, I thought I'd bring my childhood to me including
14w5das.jpg

s2rx4h.jpg

For those here that has never heard Bill sing, this is his signature song!!!

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...&mid=37A13A97CA16A87210BE37A13A97CA16A87210BE



When I would visit with granddad, his radio in the corner was my only entertainment, Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Flash Gordon, Amos n Andy!!! That and gathering up the eggs...............helping milk the cow.

My only home with an indoor was the last house before I went in the Army. Although it being an inside latrine, they was open shitters, about 15 facing each other. :D
 
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31 Model A said:
The obvious answer, "do it right or don't do it at all". Did Henry have padding and chicken wire in his roofs when his cars came off the assembly line, that is the question.?
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My point is that you still have a fine automobile with or without the wire. It still drives the same and there are lots of cars out there that are not perfect or not exactly the way Henry made them ( turn signals, 12 volt, alternators, powder coating, white walls , etc )
Wayne
 
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C26Pinelake said:
My point is that you still have a fine automobile with or without the wire. It still drives the same and there are lots of cars out there that are not perfect or not exactly the way Henry made them ( turn signals, alternators, powder coating, white walls , etc )
Wayne
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It will matter when it comes to it's re-sale value. The question now is, since it was brought up is, did Henry put padding and chicken wire in his tops when they rolled off the assembly line, if not, I replace it and waterproof the top that way, if they were with padding and chicken wire, then that's the way it will be done.

What are the judging standards? Don't those standards go by what came off the assembly line?
 
31 Model a,
I loved the "BILLS' theme song video"!! I hesitated to get involved, as I could spend HOURS tellin' OUT HOUSE stories & jokes & might git myself in a HEAP of TRUBBLE here.
For the lack of a KEYHOLE SAW, one guy sawed 2 SQUARE holes!!! It felt "FUNNY" & even seemed to affect your brains' pondering processes, not to mention the SQUARE, RED line, on yo' butt cheeks!
Outhouses were your own PRIVATE place, where you could "think" out your problems & find solutions, & ponder your next "INVENTION"!! Then to be interrupted by, "AIN'T YOU THROUGH, YET"?
Bill W.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
31 Model a,
I loved the "BILLS' theme song video"!! I hesitated to get involved, as I could spend HOURS tellin' OUT HOUSE stories & jokes & might git myself in a HEAP of TRUBBLE here.
For the lack of a KEYHOLE SAW, one guy sawed 2 SQUARE holes!!! It felt "FUNNY" & even seemed to affect your brains' pondering processes, not to mention the SQUARE, RED line, on yo' butt cheeks!
Outhouses were your own PRIVATE place, where you could "think" out your problems & find solutions, & ponder your next "INVENTION"!! Then to be interrupted by, "AIN'T YOU THROUGH, YET"?
Bill W.
Click to expand...

A test question for you Bill.......................what is that hanging on the fence wall to the left of the outhouse in the photo?
 
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