Snow Broke the Top Bow

[Rich Eagle]

Some of you may recall the photos of my '14 in the snow for Christmas. We presumed the new top irons and bows would withstand any moderate snow we received. This is the story of making the irons:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/70 ... 1506904799
It turned out to be an unusually snowy Winter. The 11" or so sat for some time and absorbed a lot of moisture. While everything looked fine except for a lot of sag we didn't worry too much. Upon doing some other work this Spring I noticed a definite problem with the second bow.

That bow was perfectly vertical to begin with but somewhere in the fabric installation or shortly after it found itself at a slight angle. As wet snow can weigh as much as 20 lbs per cubic foot and that bow was supporting about 20 sq ft of it the 400 lbs was too much for it. I believe if the bow had remained perfectly vertical it would have withstood the weight. It is typical for oak to fracture some when steam bent but I have never seen them break like that. Then again I've never abused them that much either.

This would have been a disappointment but for the fact that this car was built with all kinds of battle scars on various components. I was more than happy to make a period correct splice like I have seen on tops before. A piece of 1 x 3/16 steel bar should be strong enough to last many years. It even resembles some of the top designs of more expensive cars of the same era.

I had to chuckle while drilling the bows for the wood screws. I was drilling through the "bow drill".
Well, you have to enjoy what you can.
I sometimes wonder why after 58 years of playing with old cars I haven't gotten tired of it. Today I realized that changing things up a little may be part of it. I enjoy working with the character of these cars as they evolved through the years with the dents and scrapes and makeshift repairs. This old top has a charming hole it the pad. I certainly wouldn't put one there but I kind of like that it's there.

[Angmar]

Ouch. Nice period fix Rich.

[RichardG]

RICH, IF YOU DOM'T TAKE BETTER CARE OF THAT LITTLE GIRL I'M COMING AFTER HER. I HAVE A NICE DRY AND WARM PLACE TO KEEP HER.

[Rich Eagle]

OK, I'm keep that in mind. Remember it was built out of parts I couldn't give away.

[Rich Eagle]

A little more about fractures. These are rejects from steam bending my Bus Bows back in the '90s. Even after selecting the straightest grained boards about every third bend would fracture critically. I would use pieces long enough to have one failure and still have enough length to make two more bends. A steel flat bar was placed on the outer side and bent with the bow to discourage the grain from splitting out. The moisture from the steam leaves the black color on the oak where the steel touches it. Needing 6 bows with two bends each resulted in about 24 bendings. This was with two spare bows while I was at it. The last photo shows spots in the black stain where the steam went through holes in the steel curved form the bow was bent over. Some fractures were suitable for gluing back together as the stress had been relieved. Others had a gap where the wood was too short at the break.

The bus took extra wide bows that I didn't want to special order. After the satisfaction of making them I have elected to buy bows for my Model T's. Making things always results in more appreciation for vendors and fabricators. When My '14 bows arrived I noticed very minor fracturing as I had allowed on my bus bows so I felt better about my attempts.
I have had no problems with the Bus bows. They have withstood several blasts of extraordinary winds that actually tore fabric. Likewise with 3 sets of T bows.

[tdump]

A old lean to shed would be a big asset for that little T when the heavy snows come.
IT is nearly a 100 years old,it needs a break from the heavy stuff!

[RichardG]

IM SHURE THOSE PARTS YOU PUT TOGETHER SEE A LOT WORSE WHEN THEY WERE LAYING IN A RUSTY WET LONELY DARK PLACE FORGOT UNTIL THEY WERE NEEDED TO BECOME WHAT WERE NOW LOOKING AT, WHEN I WAS A BOY THERE WAS A PILE OF T PARTS IN THE WOODS NOT FAR FROM WHERE IM SITTING RIGHT NOW, I WENT UP THERE A FEW YEARS BACK AND WHAT WAS LEFT THERE WAS BEOND SAVING, THE BIG PILE THAT WAS THERE I HOPE IS IN A CARS NOW RUNNING AROUND, IF IT WAS SCRAPED THEY WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT ALL. THAT IS A PURTY PICTURE. THANKS.

[Allan]

Full marks for having a go at bending bows yourself Richard. My attempts to steam bend bows using let-down steam from a chaff mill were a miserable failure. I had much better success when I laminated them, but when they are clear finished, lamination does not look right.

The breakout on the outside of the bend is really to be expected. As the timbers are bent, the outside of the blank is stretching, and it will only go so far. The answer is to bend the blanks under compression. The blank needs to be held between two fixed stops. When the bend is made the outside of the bend remains unstretched, and the inside is compressed. I watched a New Zealand wheelwright making wooden felloes using this method. His bending jig made the process simple. A similar jig could be used to make top bows, but it would mean bending one end first and then the other.

Traditionally, our colonial built cars had bows made using English Ash, the same timber used in body construction for many years. Our Blackwood, one of the acacia species was also used, as it was found to be an excellent timber for bending. I would have exoected US bows to be made with Hickory, given its flexibility and toughness.

Allan from down under.

[Rich Eagle]

The '14 does has rested under cover since it's assembly. The snow problem came from using it as a Christmas ornament. When it became apparent that the magneto wasn't working it sat there idle for 3 or 4 years. Having it in front of the house all winter gave me the incentive to tear into it this spring and get it in good running condition. So having it in the elements turned out to be beneficial.

After gathering '14 parts for 3 decades and not having enough to build a quality restoration I decided I should put the parts together as anyway. Over the years I had given many parts I could have used to others for their restorations. The fact that I had these pathetic panels and a genuine '14 frame all from one car seemed to good to let sit.

It had all the original latches but giving them away resulted in me modifying later ones to look similar.

I suppose that I treat this car with less respect than some of my nicer cars but these choices have kept me interested in the hobby. And I can always polish the better cars, put on my good clothes and go for a ride or to a show.
This touring and the rusty coupe have opened a whole new door to my interests.

[Duey_C]

That period style repair is perfect!