reason for non metal roof on A's and T's ??

Being from Pittsburgh,Pa. steel mill center at one time, I believe it was because there was no rolling mill that rolled a wide enough strip of sheet metal to do the whole roof until the mid 30s.



Ago

 

nah its so you could order from the arby's drive through lol sorry i couldn't help myself

 

Finally, someone has made some sense.

 

well... if you look at how much of a ship or locomotive is CAST iron or steel, not sheet metal, or how a ship used to be made one sheet of heavy sheet steel riveted to another, then you see why cars and trucks were made on wooden framing and covered in formed sheet metal and often canvas over wire and batting, well into the 30's... then you might see how the auto body industry followed traditional carriage building in it's methods. seeing as how Studebaker started off building wagons, Henry Ford converted a standard carriage design to build his first car, and following technology of the day it WAS cheaper and faster to cut THOUSANDS of wood structure pieces than stamp sheet steel with any continuous accuracy (ask the guys building really OLD rods how often they have to do an ***-load of fitting to get a part from ONE old car to fit another of the same design). making a body light enough and resilient enough was a constant challenge for builders running engines rarely producing 80hp. wood is simply lighter and stiffer than steel, and in some instances actually stronger. the roof section was unstressed and could be made very light.

 

the 50's model a guys deffently started doing it because the 90's mini truckers were.

 

Not sure about that, Henry Ford could have had anything he wanted at that time period, I think it was that he was too cheap to fund a bigger press to stamp out the roof as a whole sheet

 

<CENTER>Here's a good example of a automotive style transfer press. It would require something similar to create a roof section. For comparison's sake, this press is about the size of a large 2 to 3 story house with a full ba*****t...the support structure of this press is below ground level with at least 2 floors worth of height above ground. Regardless of Henry's deep pockets, the technology to produce this size of a press wasn't quite within reach. </CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER><CENTER>Size wise - put it in perspective of the forming die below. The die below is simply used to put mounting holes in re-pop morris minor fenders. Keep in mind, for old Henry a stamping die would have to be produced with precision without use of CNC, CAD/CAM, etc...just good old fashioned poured molds machined and lapped by hand.</CENTER><CENTER></CENTER><CENTER></CENTER>

 

I can see the technology being a factor in the 20s and 30s or maybe even power supply being the hold back on the technology. But my 1947 Dodge Panel Truck has a vinyl roof skin.

 

Dome,
That could simply have been due to low production. I don't know the volume of 1947 Dodge Panel's produced but I can't believe it would be very high. It simply may be it wasn't worth the cost to produce such a large panel.

 

i had read somewhere that they had issues with the first metal roofs shearing and buckling from stress because of rickety body and ch***is structures vs. the incredibly rough roads of the time.
it claimed the initial turret tops were tested before actual production way before the 30's with practically no success. with an insert made of whatever material it created some area to flex with the rest of the car.
but the huge press eating production costs sounds just as feasible to me too.

 

If you go to archive.org and check the "master hands" video's, one of them shows the tops being pressed for the '36 Chevy line. These are full tops. Chevy got them for 36 Ford got them for 37.
Mart.

 

that also sounds like a very feasible answer to me. weren't model T roofs just flat?? You can't tell me they couldn't have bent up four corners to make a T roof. It would make sense that the way the cars were designed to flex throughout would have made closing in that top panel a problem.

 

Chit...that definitely makes a lot of sense. There was a lot of give in those old ch***is...couple that with the rutted roads of the time....

Mart...awesome site. Thanks for posting it!

 

35 Chevy promotional picture. Probably taken in late 34. It was a big deal back then.

 

I'm sure the lack of technology was the major factor, but I understand Henry was skeptical of the "drumming" effect or "oil canning" that a full metal body might produce. The fabric inserts tempered this by absorbing some of the inherent vibrations created by the roads of the time.

 

Henry didnt have to tech to do it.........

 

Henry was obviously a very wise man.... Imagine how many more vehicles he would be able to produce with the sheet, which would have been used for the roof panel?

 

Henry Ford being a man of vision actualy forsaw the trend. While smoking opium he had a vision of mini-trucks with soft tops driving through the hood going boom baba boom baba boom. The next morning he sent out a company directive to cease production of metal skinned roofs. Thus the advent of the rollback roofed Ford. Later in the 30's when Baseball started being played on top of Chevrolets. Mr Ford seeing baseball would become an American pastime went back to metal roofs so the batters would have a more stable place to stand. truly making him a "Great Man Of Vision"

 

You are all wrong ,it took to long to beat a billit down that thin.

 

Freakin' hilarious!

Maybe that's where they hung the dryer sheets.

 

I gotta agree with Frank.

 

1935 Masters were their first turret tops for Chev., the Standards were still inserts. You have to remember that the technology then was in the infant stage and being developed as they tried to outdo the compe***ion. As an example mechanical brakes were the standard then hydraulics were developed and soon every mfg. would make hydraulics, now it's disc. Plate gl*** was used at first then safety gl***, wood spokes than metal spokes than solid wheels now alum. custom wheels. Solid rubber tires, then tube tires, then tubeless etc. Look at automotive lighting from kerosine to led now. Whats next?

 

a bit ot, but my 29 packard came with cloth insert. the diffrence being that from the body swage line up, the whole lot is aluimium.

 

It came down to speed.
The limit of the stamping capability at the time required making the roof from several pieces and the amount of time it would take for a worker to join all the panels together would have slowed the ***embly line too much. Wood & fabric was quicker.
But I do like the premise of a need for body twist - I wouldn't doubt that was factored in as well.

 

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Actually, Henway was the first auto manufacturer to come out with a true 'turret top' - as an option on the sadly, 'banned after less then one year', 1926 Henway "Deluxe 'Flaming Cajones' Sports Sedan"! Not only was it a true, one piece "turret top", the turret was cast steel rather than stamped and rotated a full 360 degrees! Plus, if you ordered your new Henway "Deluxe 'Flaming Cajones' Sports Sedan" with the factory optional "turret top", for a just few dollars, you could then also order the infamous dealer-installed "Don't Mess With Me" traffic clearing option, that depending on availability and your State's Motor Vehicle regulations, added your choice of either a 37mm auto-cannon or a flame-thrower to the turret!

Mart3406
(Official Henway Motors Corporate
Historian and Archivist)
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