Sport Coupe Roof

its definitively not getting an $1100 top either. By the time I get that to Canada, after duties and taxes I'm paying almost a weeks wages for the thing...
My neighbour does auto and boat upholstery and tops, so I'm going to furnish him with beer money to supply some vinyl and incorporate the glass plate thats in the wood currently.

thanks for the link Chudwah, it was exactly what I needed!!!!
 
Total running length main bow : 80"
Length of main bow leg to top of main bow
measured square : 27"
Length of curve,main bow top to leg 10"

Bow is set at 45° angle to the B pillar,the 'square' measurement give you the actual height of the bow to the legs, the ten inch curve is actual curve connecting the leg to the top. I lined my original bows with flat bar to stiffen them,old glue joints dried out..would be easy to fab rectangular tubing to replicate the bow
 
Here's some pictures of My 28. Hope it helps. A tough model to get info on. JP
 

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Tinbasher said:
Here's some pictures of My 28. Hope it helps. A tough model to get info on. JP
Click to expand...
Please correct the landau irons = they are on the wrong side & upside down.
I have a 1930 sport coupe retired show car that I have owned for 59 years.


Jerry
 
TinBasher - Those are a great help!!! any pics of the front? My car is missing the visor, will the front wood install ok without it?
 
The header wood is the tack strip for the top but there is a metal cover that fits over the front part of it and the visor fits forward of that. The visor is a removable piece with the screws on right and left side. The visor is covered with the top material on the 28/29 models.
 
A friend of mine has had his sport coupe for 50 years. He talks about a coating called something like "peroxiline". Anybody heard or know of some such liquid product used to treat sport coupe tops?
 
It's a form of lacquer like paint. I'm not sure what chemical properties were for certain but it's a lot like airplane dope except with more plasticizer affect. For fabric covered airplanes, there were clear nitrate dope for good shrinkage and the same with aluminum powder pigment added to reduce sun penetration. There was also a Butyrate form that was a lot less flamable and could be sprayed on for final color coats having different pigments added and more plasticizer to reduce long term shrinkage. The pyroxylin has less nitrate content and is soluble in a mix of ether and alcohol. This likely kept it flexible with a less tendency to shrink over time like nitrate dope tends to do.

The last use of pyroxylin was with book cloth used as book binding covers for hard bound books. This stuff is getting harder to source though.
 
I got the full kit top for a 29 from Classtique, Mike is the best always will to help, the only problem i had was the posts on the inside top for holding the rear window up, they didn't, Mike said that they were correct for judging but were not judged holding the window open as they were know to not work, so I cheanged the inside ones to some orginals I found that did work but had I know I would have had him put whats called a commen sense twist lock set in the top and the rail that holds the window closed, IF your not being judged.
 
The back light frame & glass is heavy. The Cinch fasteners are getting harder to find. A person would have to specify if wanting common sense twist lock fasteners for the rear curtain
 
The Ford Model A book by DeAngeles, et al has photos of the tops for various years. We did a '30 with the Le Baron kit years ago which only offered a creme color canvas material. The orig. '30 was a gray Pyroxline lacquer coated type drill fabric which was shiny. (marco tahtaras website show a sample.) For weather purpose, one might want to consider a vinyl or haartz type. Sometimes the top seams can leak so those may need attention. Also, the kits if used should have the original wire stiffeners under the top materials to keep the top taught from the center bow to the front..
 
They did use the wires on both sides to help support the curved transition area at the top edge of the cardboard formers. Thin springy strips of sheet metal were also used between the door top wood and the front wire and between the #2 bow side brace and the rear wire. My 29 had the rusty remnants of the strips still attached to the #2 side braces.
 
Here's my 28 Sport Coupe. It took me a long time to find the correct brackets for the top. But it is good now. Here's a couple of pictures
 

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Coming right along. Looks excellent so far. A person can always tell those earlier 28 models by the front corner braces above the windshield. Some didn't have the #2 bow side braces either but I would use them just to increase the strength of the structure.
 
I am working on my sport coupe also. I appreciate all of the pictures. Could anyone get the measurements of the 2 back straps that run from the beltline up to the #2 bow? I see they are supposed to be made out of 1 1/4"x1/8" strap, but I can't find the length. Also a measurement of the location from the center of the beltline. Thanks.
 
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