[DougVieyra]

Al - can you tell me your source for causing you to think the plugs were painted black ? I have not been able to find anything that says the plugs were painted black.

On my '28 Phaeton, I fold the top down about two or three times a year, so my top bow rest-bolts & saddles are in an out quite a few times. I always put the body hole plug in when the top is up - it looks 'wrong' with a 'gapping' un-filled hole in the body.

My plug is metal and is an exact fit for the hole, which I got from a plumbing / hardware store. A good supplied plumbing shop will have scores and scores of different sizes and shapes of plugs - made of different materials - mostly chromed metal. These have the tension-holder tabs - much like the wheel hubcap - and snap in quite easily, and are quite easy to extract when removing. I painted my metal plugs the same color as my body, which I believe is proper, and draws less attention to the capped hole.

Both my bolt and saddle are painted black. I used to have the rubber grommet for the hole in the body, but it was a pain-in-the-but, as it hindered significantly, my screwing and unscrewing the bolt as it was taken out, and again as it was replaced. Working with the top-saddle bolt is MUCH easier WITHOUT the hole's missing rubber grommet.

I should mention that when I have my top up (90% of the time) I always remove the saddle/bolt, and replace the cap in the body hole. Some phaeton drivers do not bother, so for them, this issue is less of a problem.