Pic/Info Request: 1929 Special Coupe Top installation

[29Coupe]

I'm in the process of restoring/replacing the wood in the top of my Special Coupe myself.
Nest step is the top. I've searched here on the forums and online, but have not been able to find any step-by-step pics, or information, regarding the top material installation.

I'd like to install the top myself, but not sure where to begin...

Thanks!
Jeremy

 

[Gary/IA]

You should receive some basic installation instructions with your top kit.

Installing a top kit on a special coupe is a little harder than some top installations. The real problem is to get the puckers out of the material where it curves around the rear of the quarter windows.

1. I would recommend that you work in the hot sun and
have a hair dryer to heat the top material even more.

2. Leave plenty of extra material to grasp as you will have
to do a lot of stretching.

3. Heat and stretch material in the area around the
quarter window and temporarily tack. Keep repeating
that process in this area, first on one side of the car and
then on the other, eventually you will be able to
get all the puckers out of this curved area. It took me a
lot of repeated effort (several hours) to get this area
stretched in without any puckers.

Just take your time and keep working with it, you can do it.

 

[wrndln]

What Gary/IA said is the way I did it. You really need 3 people involved. One to tack the top material and 2 to stretch it tight. Doing it on a real hot sunny day is a must. It I hard to hold onto the material as it get very hot. I would shy away from a hair dryer as it can cause the top material to glaze over and look different when you used it if you kept it on a spot a little too long. I think I have a set of instruction that are pretty good that came with my Classtique kit. I think it is the same as what LB send with their kit. If you need the instructions I can mail a copy to you if you can't get them elsewhere (assuming I can find them). I wouldn't do the top without the instruction as I believe they are about 3 pages long and are quite helpful. My top turned out very well with no puckers where the top curves a lot. I have an extra set of quarterwindow trim pieces if you don't have them. They are very hard to find.
Rusty Nelson
Lakeville, MN

 

[29Coupe]

What Gary/IA said is the way I did it. You really need 3 people involved. One to tack the top material and 2 to stretch it tight. Doing it on a real hot sunny day is a must. It I hard to hold onto the material as it get very hot. I would shy away from a hair dryer as it can cause the top material to glaze over and look different when you used it if you kept it on a spot a little too long. I think I have a set of instruction that are pretty good that came with my Classtique kit. I think it is the same as what LB send with their kit. If you need the instructions I can mail a copy to you if you can't get them elsewhere (assuming I can find them). I wouldn't do the top without the instruction as I believe they are about 3 pages long and are quite helpful. My top turned out very well with no puckers where the top curves a lot. I have an extra set of quarterwindow trim pieces if you don't have them. They are very hard to find.
Rusty Nelson
Lakeville, MN

You should receive some basic installation instructions with your top kit.

Installing a top kit on a special coupe is a little harder than some top installations. The real problem is to get the puckers out of the material where it curves around the rear of the quarter windows.

1. I would recommend that you work in the hot sun and
have a hair dryer to heat the top material even more.

2. Leave plenty of extra material to grasp as you will have
to do a lot of stretching.

3. Heat and stretch material in the area around the
quarter window and temporarily tack. Keep repeating
that process in this area, first on one side of the car and
then on the other, eventually you will be able to
get all the puckers out of this curved area. It took me a
lot of repeated effort (several hours) to get this area
stretched in without any puckers.

Just take your time and keep working with it, you can do it.

Thanks guys! Great advice and tips!!

What about the material underneath? I've read about guys using cotton batting. Any suggestions?
What I'm also trying to understand is... does this "cotton batting" get installed everywhere that the finished top does. For example, around the rear window area.

-Jeremy

 

[Farrell In Vancouver]

Some will tell you that it only fills in the area above the cross bows. The company supplying the roof kits tell you to take the padding all the way down and around the quarter windows and supply the kit with enough padding to do so. The special coupe is a wierd beast and only made for a year probably due to the work involved. I followed the directions and istalled the padding top to belt rail. Others have spent great amounts of time smoothing the metal beneath with filler and sanding and have created beautiful tops. The advice preceeding is all good and extra hands would only up the fun and cost a bit more beer. The best advice I could offer is take your time. Do it in two days, in stages. You will get better results and a top you can be proud of. Its not rocket science but it is tedious work. I don't think I got "show quality" of a points car but it was my first roof. I did a Tudor after that and did a better job with what I learned on the Special.
Good luck!

 

[d.j. moordigian]

I was a Judging trainee In San Diego on tops. The above info is great, especially
Farrell's. Take your time, stand back and look, then look again. No lumps, puckers,
is the grain running the correct way, is it straight ! If you are unsure, stop and
ask. I'm confident Rusty's top came out nice, he's anal.

Dudley

 

[Dave in MD]

Jeremy,
In addition to the other great advise above, you want to make sure the two seams on the back piece line up with the two raised moldings between the quarter panels and rumble/trunk rain gutter. These two seams should be perfectly straight. I put the back piece on first and then the top piece as I wanted the top to overlap the back piece to help keep water out.
Dave

 

[Jason in TX]

A great Model A'er in our Dallas club did a Sport Coupe top almost by himself.

His tip was to get milk jugs, heavy spring clamps and rope.

Work in the sun, and align the top material on your body. Then go around the car and attach clamps on the bottom edge of the material about every16-18 inches. Tie the rope and milk jugs with water in them onto the clamps to help stretch the top material evenly over the entire top. Tack the now stretched material in place and then you can remove the weighted clamps and begin your finish trimming.

I thought it was a great tip!

 

[wrndln]

What was said in the instructions was to place some thin cotton material over the chicken wire (just where the chicken wire is). The material that come with the kit was kind of flimsy, so I bought some black cotton duck material at a local material/craft store to use in place of it. It has more body to it. Next you stretch the fairly thick cotton padding over the top section. The same thick padding then is glued to the rear section of the top. I used 3M 77 spray adhesive and it worked well. The thick padding goes into the recess (curve in area) of the rear window and trimmed to where the glass/rubber channel is. I installed the rear section first like the instructions said and then the front section next. Like I suggested in the post above, I would not attempt to install the top without some instructions. I would have screwed up for sure if I hadn't had and followed the instructions.
Rusty Nelson

 

[29Coupe]

Guys... wow! Thanks for all the great advice!
I hope to get going on my top real soon.

-Jeremy

 

[29Coupe]

What was said in the instructions was to place some thin cotton material over the chicken wire (just where the chicken wire is). The material that come with the kit was kind of flimsy, so I bought some black cotton duck material at a local material/craft store to use in place of it. It has more body to it. Next you stretch the fairly thick cotton padding over the top section. The same thick padding then is glued to the rear section of the top. I used 3M 77 spray adhesive and it worked well. The thick padding goes into the recess (curve in area) of the rear window and trimmed to where the glass/rubber channel is. I installed the rear section first like the instructions said and then the front section next. Like I suggested in the post above, I would not attempt to install the top without some instructions. I would have screwed up for sure if I hadn't had and followed the instructions.
Rusty Nelson

Hey Rusty,

Just got your emails. Thanks again!

-Jeremy

 

[loumo]

Is it possible to get reprints of Lebaron Boney's instructions for Special Coupe roof installation. Will be happy to pay for the cost of reproduction and mailing fees. They sure would be a big help to me in redoing my top. Thanks loumo. loumo1@comcast.net

 

[ModelA29]

Here is a pdf from an install I found on the internet.

 

[rotorwrench]

The Tudor sedan is a lot different than the OP's Special Coupe. Most Coupes of this type didn't use poultry netting. The soft top coupes like the Sport & Business Coupes used cardboard on the sides to hold shape. The Special at least had the sheet metal tacked onto the wood frame but that also required padding and the leatherette material to cover all the tacked areas. The hardest thing to source in the modern era is the frail belt molding trim that covers the lower edge of the top on all of the soft top coupes. The Special Coupe had unique quarter windows and back light window that can also be hard to source if lost or badly corroded.

 

[art ebeling]

Here are The Lebaron Bonney instructions for a Special Coupe. I also have some pictures of my recent install if you would like them. All the information that has been posted is good but I would add to do the stretching in baby steps over a few days time to avoid tears around the rear window corners. Also make sure the top and body wood is good in order to get the gutters and the rear quarter windows trim back on. It would help to put a strip of masking tape along all the outside edges with marks where the nailing holes are. Do not try to drill thru the top to create new holes, it will tear the vinyl and wad up the padding. If you do get a small tear or extra nail hole liquid electical tape is your friend. Art