The Ford Barn

Planojc · 12-16-2025, 11:12 AM

I have seen many 30-31 roadsters with this problem due to people pulling on the top rail to get in the car. The sheet metal was cracked at the area where the bend starts and curves around the back on my roadster. I used a all thread rod to pull the sides in until the doors fit. Then I took a piece of flatbar, laying flat, and did reliefs cuts on it so I could bend it the same curvature of the top rail. After fitting the piece under the rail, I welded the reliefe cuts, drilled several holes in the flatbar so I could then weld the bar to the under side of the top rail through those holes. This gave added strength and held the panel in place. The flatbar should run from where the top attaches, to past the curve of the top rail.

12-16-2025, 11:12 AM	#14
Planojc Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Plano, Texas Posts: 1,121	Re: Making Roadster More Narrow I have seen many 30-31 roadsters with this problem due to people pulling on the top rail to get in the car. The sheet metal was cracked at the area where the bend starts and curves around the back on my roadster. I used a all thread rod to pull the sides in until the doors fit. Then I took a piece of flatbar, laying flat, and did reliefs cuts on it so I could bend it the same curvature of the top rail. After fitting the piece under the rail, I welded the reliefe cuts, drilled several holes in the flatbar so I could then weld the bar to the under side of the top rail through those holes. This gave added strength and held the panel in place. The flatbar should run from where the top attaches, to past the curve of the top rail.