Things Henry did that my feeble little brain can not figure. No. 1 , how did he get the stainless on a 32 headlight bar? No2. Was the metal tack strip that holds the cloth on the roof stamped or bent ? Seems to me stamped would be logical because the holes in the corners are round. If the corners were bent the hole2 would be egg shaped. If stamped look at the amount of metal used, And Henry was a tightwad. Ok, carry on with your "how did he do that".
What I believe about the tack strips is that they were an Extrusion run through dies and a punch press much like the early Windshield frames. Ever wonder how those were made?
They are mild steel. I use to make the tack strips from aluminum extrusion, but can not find any these days
Yeah probably similar do a big *** pull max with dies just running it threw. Next guy cuts and stamps the holes. The stainless probably goes on before the ends? I haven't cut a 32 up but the model A headlight bars I’ve messed with the ends are solid and the centers are hollow rolled tube.
There are lots of threads on how to bend this stuff. Probably some here and Fordbarn. You have to make some tooling but it's not that hard. Probably make it out of mdf. Anneal the aluminum first.
Or start with untempered - Aluminum T1 temper is formed by cooling hot-worked aluminum (like extrusion) and allowing it to naturally age at room temperature, giving it a stable, moderately strong state with good ductility and workability, ideal for parts needing minimal post-forming shaping, but it's less strong than T5/T6 tempers . Working with T1 involves traditional metalworking techniques like bending, cutting, and machining, but avoid excessive cold working, which can change its temper
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