Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

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Topic author
Harvey Bergstrom
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2022 10:12 pm
First Name: Harvey
Last Name: Bergstrom
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1924 Touring
Location: Cayuga ND
MTFCA Number: 52256

Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by Harvey Bergstrom » Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:55 pm

Last spring when I started working on my T the first thing I did was to remove the top because of rotted out tack rail & front bow. Now I am wanting to put same top back on as it is in good shape yet & I don’t see any reason to replace it. Has anyone done this before, & if you have, I would appreciate any thoughts of it can be done with good results.


Allan
Posts: 5201
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:21 pm
First Name: Allan
Last Name: Bennett
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1912 van, 1917 shooting brake, 1929 roadster buckboard, 1924 tourer, 1925 barn find buckboard, 1925 D &F wide body roadster, 1927LHD Tudor sedan.
Location: Gawler, Australia

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by Allan » Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:58 pm

Harvey, it may help if you indicate whether it is a one or two man top. I can see greater difficulty if it is a two man top.
Help us help you.

Allan from down under.


Topic author
Harvey Bergstrom
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2022 10:12 pm
First Name: Harvey
Last Name: Bergstrom
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1924 Touring
Location: Cayuga ND
MTFCA Number: 52256

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by Harvey Bergstrom » Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:07 pm

Thank you for the response Allen.
I truthfully do not know, but I think it is a one man affair as I was able to put it somewhat in place before I removed it.


Allan
Posts: 5201
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:21 pm
First Name: Allan
Last Name: Bennett
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1912 van, 1917 shooting brake, 1929 roadster buckboard, 1924 tourer, 1925 barn find buckboard, 1925 D &F wide body roadster, 1927LHD Tudor sedan.
Location: Gawler, Australia

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by Allan » Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:37 am

Easy to tell. A one man top has just two mounting points, in the rear quarter panels. Two man tops have two pairs of mounts, two at the sides of the front seats and two in the rear quarter panels.

Allan from down under


Topic author
Harvey Bergstrom
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2022 10:12 pm
First Name: Harvey
Last Name: Bergstrom
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1924 Touring
Location: Cayuga ND
MTFCA Number: 52256

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by Harvey Bergstrom » Mon Feb 06, 2023 7:45 am

Allan ,
Thanks you for response again! Now I know for sure I have a one man top system on my T.

Harvey Bergstrom


Allan
Posts: 5201
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:21 pm
First Name: Allan
Last Name: Bennett
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1912 van, 1917 shooting brake, 1929 roadster buckboard, 1924 tourer, 1925 barn find buckboard, 1925 D &F wide body roadster, 1927LHD Tudor sedan.
Location: Gawler, Australia

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by Allan » Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:47 pm

Ok Harvey. I would advise waiting for the hottest day of the year. This will allow the most/ easiest stretch in the material. If you can hang it over a rail in the meantime, and hook up some weights on each end, that will reduce shrinkage. When it comes to refitting it, tack it to the front bow, having mounted it on the side body brackets first. There is a chance the rear curtain will still fall a bit short of the tack rail. The heat will allow some stretch and you can get more stretch in the longer top panel than in the shorter rear curtain. It is also easier to pull the rear curtain down than it is to pull the top curtain forward. Again, it may pay to clamp a timber across the bottom of the rear curtain, weight it, and give some heat a chance to add stretch to it.= before you try to tack it.
At the worst, a good motor trimmer can add an inch or two to the bottom of the rear curtain, and make it look like it was meant to be that way.

Hope this helps, Allan from down under.

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jsaylor
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First Name: John
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1921 Touring, 1927 Tudor
Location: Citrus Heights, Ca
MTFCA Number: 1695
MTFCI Number: 23870
Board Member Since: 1999

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by jsaylor » Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:52 am

Classtique Upholstery has some good videos on their website. https://www.classtiqueupholstery.com


KMcoldcars
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First Name: Keith
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MTFCI Number: 24767

Re: Reinstalling top on ‘24 Touring

Post by KMcoldcars » Wed Feb 08, 2023 12:13 pm

I did upholstery on collector cars for 35 years. Installing a top and having it look good is a difficult job. Reinstalling one with all of the holes in it from the previous installation would be something I would not attempt. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to keep the holes in the top from showing after the second installation. You would need to position it exactly as it was done previously and get the same amount of stretch on it as was done previously, or a little more. You can attempt it but be very careful. Do it on a warm day and have someone with strong hands and arms available to help you. Also, there is a special tool made for pulling top material tight. Buy one at the upholstery wholesalers near you. It will be very useful.

Do the pads first. Install the vertical ones at the rear first. Attach the bottoms to the car and then do the tops at the rear bow. Then do the long ones. Start by attaching them at the front and pull them very tight at the rear. Then install the rear curtain. As suggested, for the top start at the front with a few tacks to hold the front in place. Then go to the rear and pull the material tight, making sure it is lined up side to side correctly, along with how far you pull it. Good luck.
I own a 1936 Packard convertible sedan, 1962 Thunderbird, 1991 Corvette, supercharged, a 2000 Corvette convertible and a 1916 coupelet.

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