Installing top on 31 A coupe

R

Ron P.

Junior Member
I'm about to instal the soft top on my 31 A. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I understand the material has to be warn so it will strech and the wrinkles will come out. Looking forward to your input. Thanks
Ron P.
 
I have been told that if you isolate the chicken wire from the body of the car you can use it as a radio antenna. Has anybody out there done this?

Charlie Stephens
 
Just did this this week, have to go to work, but will try to write down my experiences with it. I can say you need 3 times the time you think, and if your wood is 80 years old like mine, finding places to nail it can be fun......... Took me 3 evenings after work to get mine done. First real drive will be today (60 miles round trip to/from work) will let you know if it blows off :)
 
Charlie Stephens said:
I have been told that if you isolate the chicken wire from the body of the car you can use it as a radio antenna. Has anybody out there done this?

Charlie Stephens
Click to expand...
our unrestored 31 Coupe had NO chicken wire under the factory original roof fabric, so we put it back the same way. fabric warmed in the sun stretches better, plus you might get the bonus of a sneaker footprint on it :-)
 
Marco's instructions pretty much cover it for the top install, definitely trim the extra off, too much makes it hard to see where the tacks go. My biggest problem was I had 80 year old wood, with a couple sets of tack holes. I ended up using the long twisted trim screws to nail in the top material so I could reach something to grab. Ended up taking 3 evenings or about 8-9 hours after the old one was removed and everything cleaned up.

No chicken wire as there wasn't any under the old top.

I did mine when it was about 90 degrees in the evening, was plenty warm to stretch top.

If it matters I used the Snyders top kit, worked well, and there was plenty of extra material, probably close to 2' all around.

If your using old wood that has seen a couple tops put on, get a pack or two of the twisted trim nails.

Oh yes, it survived it's first 60 mile drive just fine :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top