28 ford roadster top

J

john kilby

Junior Member
the judging manual is confusing. it says most 28 standard roadsters used a cobra grain black top. It also says tan whipcord until September 1928. then it says black after june 1928. June is before september. My car has a 8-24-28 gas tank and a motor and title of 50921 which is march 1928. Lebaron Bonney says they no longer carry whipcord. Which is right for the car? John Kilby Yadkin Valley Ford est 1915
 
thanks for your reply. so if it had a whipcord top it would have whipcord curtains or black side curtains. Lebarron and bonney no longer carry whipcord. do you know who would?
 
Not sure if these side curtains are authentic or homemade but if authentic they ought to be great for patterns and for searching for the correct top material.

eBay listing number: 180570844212
 
I can't help with a picture but from what I've read about the rubberized top material known as whipcord that was used for the model As is pretty much made of unobtainium now. I've even read about a few restorers that horded the stuff back in the 60s & 70s and eventually used it all up on various restorations of folding top cars and Sport Coupes that used it originally in 28 & 29. Lebaron Bonney and others have substituted Stayfast and other materials for years due to lack of supply. There just hasn't been enough of a call for it for any textile manufacturer to make any as far as I know.

Whipcord has a course weave of heavy twist threads usually with a angular or diagonal pattern to it and it was rubberized on the back. The heavy weave kind of ressembles a corduroy material the way it is ribbed. From what I gather, it was extremely difficult to clean if it got a bad soil on it. That's probably why it was discontinued.

Kerby
 
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thanks for your reply. My dad is the second generation at our Ford dealership and will soon be 85. His mind, like my grandfathers was, is perfect. He tells of being around Model A's as a young boy and going with my grandfather to pick up allocation at the assembly plant in Charlotte when he was young. He remebers having rolls of top material that was used and how it was put on and can still quote part numbers. But he can not remember many things about them. He restored 2 in the 60s. We had new old stock parts until a fire in 73 destroyed everything. He worked here after school and in the summers for his dad as I did for mine (and my grandfather for a few years) until his WWII stint and then full time . He was recently interviewed about the delivery process of new cars to the dealership by a man writing a book. A retired Ford man referred the author to my dad knowing that we had been in business since 1915. We sold Buicks , overlands, Franklins, Indiana trucks, Fords , Mercurys, Lincolns and lincoln Zephyrs. We still have the original ledger with the serial numbers of the vehicles and the buyers names. It is interesting to see that in some cases, we have sold 4 generations .
 
john kilby
Man-O-Live, from flivers to fuel injection. I don't think there are to many, if any, Ford dealerships here in this neck of the woods that have been around that long. I've already seen some pretty old ones go away or get bought out by younger generations. I think Ol Henry would even be surprised.

Kerby
 
John,

Your post sent me on a chase looking for a piece of Whipcord, about a 2" by 2" square, that I know I used to have. I must have loaned it out and never got it back, as it was not in the drawer it belonged in. But, here are a couple photos of a small piece of Whipcord from a Roadster top, around a snap. It is a little bit faded. I couldn't find a way to show the inner piece that is less faded. I know a couple people who frequent the board have larger pieces of Whipcord, but they're probably enjoying the end of the Hershey meet about now, or just about to start the journey homeward.
There's a photo of a piece of Whipcord on page 79 of "The Model A Ford as Henry Built It," by DeAngelis, Francis, and Henry. It's a black and white photo.
For your August '28 Roadster, I would use the black fine long-short grain material. There is some overlap and you could likley use Whipcord on that late of a Roadster, but that's pushing the timeline. Additionally, as indicated in other posts, finding Whipcord now is nearly impossible. If you're dead set on having a Whipcord top, you could contact Bill Sturm in Neenah, Wisconsin. I believe he has a little bit left, but it is NOT for sale outright. He may do your top, but he has also spoken of not adding any more cars to the list he already has lined up, as retirement is being considered, so he may not be an option at this point, I do not know for sure. Just trying to give you a lead if you were intent on having a Whipcord top.
Again, I would advise going with the black material on an August car.
Just my two cents, which we all know is worth about a tenth of that!

Dave Lopes
 

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Most excellent henry494. The photo of the material in the "The Model A Ford as Henry Built It", is the only one I could fiind too and it mentions in the book that it was a brown color but in a black & white photo it doesn't matter much. Mary Moline mentioned in one of the old Restorer articles that the stuff was imposible to get then and that was a long time ago.

Your snap pictures illustrate how the weave looked though and a fair representation of the color too.

Kerby

PS: I was mistaken about the picture in the above titled book. The picture I was refering to was in Volume 5 of the "Restorer" series of books in the article about the sport coupes by Mary Moline. They could not find an example of the original "Tan" whipcord so they used a black & white photo of a replacement "Brown" colored whip cord but the weave is very similar to the "Tan" in the snap pictures on post 10 above
 
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