Phaeton roof irons question

[Artiki]

Hi guys,

Just in the process of repairing and making good my roof irons and have a quick question.

When the irons are folded down, how close to the body should they be when at rest? The main bow folds straight back on its pivot, but when the rest folds down, it wants to make contact with the rear quarter near the top. I don't know whether my irons are original or repro, though they appear to have led a life! There is no fabric on it so I'm in a position to make repairs, but I'm not sure how this can be rectified.

Anyone else had a similar issue?

 

[DougVieyra]

Yes, I do. On my '28 Phaeton, when lowered to the 'Down' position, both sides of the bows rub and chip the paint at a contact point on the body. Also I noticed that the same thing happens to Tom Wessenberg's '28 Phaeton, in his recent Feb 1, 2016 post ("1928 Phaeton Top Irons Pictures") showing his original top bows (post #3).

On my car the original bows did this, and after I restored the bows in 1979, the restored bows continued to do this. I think Tom's bows are original, un-restored, as is his whole car.

I can't imagine that they did this when the car was new, but, as an open car, after weathering for the thirty-five years before I got the car, it is understandable that 'wood moves', and the change has created this problem. I had hopes that by taking exacting measurements and replacing the aged bow with a new, corrected piece of oak, that the problem would go away. But, sadly, it did not; and after thirty-seven years since it was restored, I don't plan on doing anything about it now. I will 'just live with it', putting on some 'band-aide' on the bare metal. Additionally, now I slip in a piece of black cotton cloth in between the lowered bows and the body.

 

[Artiki]

Ah, thanks for your reply. Good to know, in a way, that it isn't unusual.

There is no cover on mine at the moment, so I'm going to try a few things over the weekend to see if it makes a difference.