I have had many people Emailing me about the roof on my 28 Special coupe, so I thought I would start a new thread with my photos I have. I did chop my coupe 3 inches. Cut and glue all the wood back together. Hartz cloth covered roof. This is the shot when I first got the car. When there is no wood, there is nothing left to hold the steel together. This is the complete wood kit zip tied and clamped together to see if everything was there. This is with the top steel panel nailed on, and the quarter window side panels nailed on. Everthing from the beltline up nails onto the wood structure. The upper panel above the window is steel and makes the curve of the roofline smooth. In this photo, I have made some cardboard templates to fill the sides next to the window. I do not know if they originally had them, but it seemed like a good idea to fill them to me. Here is a shot without the cardboard templates Here is everything together, just before taking it to the upholstery shop Back from upholstery Finished car !! Originally there is a steel painted beltline molding that goes all the way around the car from door to door, mine was missing.The tack strips that go from the driprail behind the quarter windows to the belt molding were also gone. Along the roof above the windshield there was a nail on strip too. Not only were they missing, but they were ugly I had the upholstery shop put beads there. I used the drip rails were they are supposed to be, as well as the original upper corner joint covers. I made the "spears" that cover the bead corners at the beltline. Then I made the small painted molding pieces that go under the windows to fill the gap between the door and the fabric, where the original steel molding was. They also cover a nail line as these window sections have a gap there. I hope these photos help out others who are wondering what a Special Coupe looks like inside all the covering. Please don't condem me if I did it incorrectly, there is little info out there on the coupes, and the HAMB did not exist at that time. I did what I felt was good, and made pieces I could not find. Overall I like it!
I have the entire build from start to finish photographed, so if there is anything in particular you want to see, lemme know. The only thing I did not do one the car myself was the upholstery (but if I had a sewing machine, I might give it a whirl...) The car had a spread in the NSRA magazine StreetScene in June 2009, if you want to see the finished car.
Looks great! I need to do all the wood in my car this winter, as well as glass and the top. Not really looking forward to it haha. I replaced the back window section of my coupe with that of a 30-31 sedan, so with that and the chop I'll have to custom-fit some of my wood, mostly around the windows. -Graham
Here is an update, with some closeup shots. I have been asked about the "bead" and moldings on my coupe from a few Hambers, so here are some more photos The area above the visor the area at the rear of the roof and the rear beltline area I hope this helps. I do not know the proper term for what I am calling the bead, that the upholstery shop used, but it is the same Hatrz cloth as the roof covering, with a hard foam insert.
Once again. that is really nice looking. I think the Hartz cloth "makes it" anything else would not look as rich. I you showed me that blue in a color chip and told me what you were putting it on I WOULD NOT believe it.................but it truley is a stunning car. Thanks for the belated picture updates.
Thank Tman. When it was in the Detroit Autorama, a guy told me "if you would tell me you were building a blue car, with a black roof, and a tan interior, I would have said you're out of your mind!, but for some reason it works" I took it as a complement
I've done two Special Coupes, a 28 and a 29. The 28 is my avatar has a flathead V8 60, sold it years ago. The 29 is stock and still have it. There is a two piece band that nails to the wood at the bottom of the top and then has a cover piece that snaps on, it is painted body color. 28 -29 Sport Coupe uses the same part, don't think anybody repops it. I have attached a picture of the 29 that shows the trim. Sorry that's the best picture I can find.
The Jalopy Journal
