1927 Roof Wood Replacement

[ITDave]

I have a question about a 1927 coupe roof. Is the roof flat from back to front, or is there a slight drop over the back of the door to the front? I have never seen another '27 coupe so, I don't have a reference to go by. If I clamp the side rail to the top of the door, it sticks up about an inch at the back of the rail over the side window.

Thanks for your help.
Dave

[Les Schubert]

I would expect it to be crowned in both directions

[Rich Eagle]

I agree with Les. The arch keeps the roof from collapsing inward. I don't know how much but I'm sure others do. This discussion show a bit of it.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/59 ... 1466558308
"The fordor ribs are bowed about 1" from the front to the rear they become shallower. The rear rib is bowed aprox 1/2".
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/33 ... 1365324778
Some good info here too. I'm not sure I understand it all.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1395281518

[Humblej]

The top wood that goes along the perimeter of the roof is flat along the sides and has a crown across the front, I think the back is flat too, same contour as the body roof line. If your body is not flat above the door and quarter window something is wrong. There will be divots for fasteners, and other features in the body that will need a relief in the wood rails to clear, but the side rail should be flat and the body top edge should be flat. The four top bows are all crowned, more of a crown for the center two bows, almost 1.5", less of a crown for the outer two bows almost .75-1".

[ITDave]

Here's what I'm faced with. I don't think this is normal. Thanks for all of your comments.

[jab35]

David: The coupe in this post had the same issues. These posts by Don Booth give some solutions. jb
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/3 ... 1385415681
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/5 ... 1445627947

[ITDave]

James, thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I did some measuring and it turns out that my entire body has bent back and down to the rear of the car. I've got some work ahead of me to get it square again. Interestingly, someone put a new top on the car many years ago. Instead of squaring things up, they just hand made side rails to compensate for the problem. It must have been done 50 or 60 years ago. It was a really bad job but the side rails looked okay until I put the new ones up there.

[varmint]

My October 1926 coupe top steel is flat on the left and right...
crowned across the front 1/2"...
and crowned across the rear 3/8".

From front to rear in the center of my top wood is crowned.
My four ribs, from front to back, crown the following: 1) 5/8", 2) 3/4", 3) 3/4", 4) 9/16" but I am not saying that this is what you should use.
Put a straight edge across your 1) front and 2) rear metal.

[ITDave]

Vernon, thanks for the tip. I did buy the wood from Fordwood because I'm a mechanic and don't have access to woodworking tools. However, it would have been nice to save the $$.

My original plan was not to do a restoration. Now that the issue with the body has come up I've decided to restore the car. I have most of the parts I need. I've been collecting things the last couple of years and this just seems like the right time to make "Mod" new again.