My 5W 32 coupe will has a late 40’s style build up and its more street/race than desert or salt style. As I learned the hot-rod era was not from racing but came up from roots and take what you had by most young kids with no money. But as the speedparts industri was there and parts was aviable. Go faster trix was sometimes free. My idea is all Henry and parts pre 1950 and FH with E&S heads/intake 4 direct Stromberg 81, 4” machined Merc crank, 8BA rods, 8BA cam cover/Scintilla magneto, Lincoln 39 transmission, aluminium flywheel, Aburn clutch, 34 TQ tube, 37 rearend ( no QC ) and 4.44 gears, Splitted 32 bones, 4” dropped A-Ford axle or a 32/heavy, 4” x 16” Ford wheels on 4.50’Firestones, Halibrand solids 5” by 16” at rear on 7.50 Firestone , Lincoln brakes, std fuel tank, Wings gauge on a row, leather sofa, 32 shifter, 32 throttle pedal, Bell 15.5” steering wheel, std 32 steering box. Car will be black, chopped 3.5”, no fenders, no hood, 37 rearlights, smaller slimmed front lights low mounted. Most painted black on ch***ie but front axle chromed. -So that the set-up, but now the roof. My guess most used the soft roof. But did the filled it this early ? I like the soft roof deal but also the filled, but the filled for me feel more ’racy’. This body is a old race car so they had a aluminium plate and the std ends in hole was removed. I has this parts as spares but a puzzle. But get the soft parts there is not easy, I need do the work, wood construction, and material and work. Even if a filled roof look more slim - one told me its more street rod and feel like a gl***fiber body... and destroy all the early feeling. But its more easy for my body guy and body gets stiffer plus a more slim look. Ideas here ?
First let me congratulate you for having what you have, planning what you plan and sharing this here. ( now that's a run on ) Nice. Keep in mind that in those days custom tailoring, and back room sewing shops, were much more prevalent. Upolstery was plentiful. Tman offers the perfect solution to the look and structural security. Good one T
I guess the real questions would be “when did roofs started to get filled”. The next question would be “ was it a race only thing at that time, or what guys on the street did” I’ve no idea on either. But maybe the answers to those two questions would give you some insight.
Yes one way is make a plate and fill it. I has no idea here ’what was done ’ but to me personally I feel this ; If I had a car then with textile roof I should feel it loock old in the very early 50’s, I’mean car was out this roof design at 36 and maybe cracked by sun and maybe get lifted up by air inside the coupe at over 100 MPH. Little skill one removed the textile and made a insert. It must look way cooler/slimmer and price was zero ( a roof from junk yard ) -But should I cover it will textile ? Hmmm. If my body now was perfect I could not do it, but its not. Thats one factor. I can pay to get it back to std. Then now at 2023 one must say textile looks older/cooler. But again, I can’t say how they thought of this. Maybe they did not care, maybe it was more later years at B-ville, and louvered to get out the air in car. As I understand louvers was later in the 50’s, but here I see a roof from car yard just replace the broken textile and get it ’slimmer’. Maybe more ideas on it comes up !
In 1947, your '32 Ford would've been just 15 years old. That's the same as a 2008 Ford today. The paint, body, and upholstery would probably still be in good condition. Hot rodders spent their money on going faster and probably would've left those things stock, except for modifications to make the car faster (like chopping the top for aerodynamics or gutting the interior to reduce weight). So leaving the roof insert stock, or adding a vinyl covered aluminum insert like @Tman proposed, would probably be the most "period correct". Hope this helps.
I add up ; I guess the real questions would be “when did roofs started to get filled”. The next question would be “ was it a race only thing at that time, or what guys on the street did”
If you're going for a street style, then it should probably keep its insert. Street cars would have still had soft roofs in the late '40s. There were some serious coupe race cars getting built in the late '40s and early '50s, but even most of those still had soft roofs. From what I saw, it looks like filled roofs weren't popular until the mid/late 1950s. One of the earliest filled roofs I found in a quick search was the So-Cal coupe with its first (less severe) chop in 1950. Here's a thread with some good research material for you. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-coupes-and-sedans-of-land-speed-racing.868864
I am glad I got rid of my hole in the roof....The original tack strip material was hard to find and very difficult to replace....When someone else gets my car they can return it to a soft top because I left all that structure in place when I welded the steel panel in...
How cool is not that So-Cal coupe ! here is the roof. The structure is removed but I has allot of structure plates but the guy help me is not a spring chicken but said ohh my.. But he has turn garbage cars to show cars so he fix it. Whats next is all wood, trims, textile etc. Its s cool look, Yes but so is a smooth.
Yes, but my buddy’s tell me it will look like a fiberglas 80’s street rod fill it. Nothing wrong with that but soul might left it. But when I see this older race cars ( if early 50’s ) I think it look slim. This 34 coupe has a Walden filled pop off roof.
Very nice car and I agree with you on the top! What did you use as the "strip" around the edges? And is there anything under the soft top - other than the wooden bows, padding, etc.? Very nicely done - love it!
I raced my Anglia with the "soft" roof insert for almost 13 years with no body damage from any flexing. And yeah, there was no metallic insert under the cloth/canvas, whatever the material was, just the nice white material and wood bows for support. Mike
Late 40`s. I`d say no on being filled. The mid 50`s was light years ahead as far as Hot Rod advancement.
Some also made a sheet metal insert or filler and louvered the whole filler. Not sure when this started, but I always liked that look.
I stretched a waterproof canvas over the bows and stapled it down, then glued on a layer of 1/4” “landau foam” (very dense). I topped that with Haartz cloth and finished off with reproduction metal trim from United Pacific which I tacked on then finished off with OEM style rubber stripping.
I had the topics up here on where get material but topics was confused as I called ’pegamoid’ ( Sweden or European name ) but in US its soft tops ( I think people know what topics is about. Here I cant find canvas ( or maybe. I think most use vinyl. The material you found, how much does that look like material Ford used ? Who sold it ?
I used Haartz Stayfast. It does not look like the material Ford used (I don’t like the look of the original material). It looks like convertible top material you would find on a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche. I don’t remember where I purchased it but it is available many places, including in Europe.
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