68B top install questions

[mrfirebird73]

I am installing a top on a 68B. I am looking for pictures on how to wrap the bows with the chrome hardware installed like Henry did it. This is my first Model A convertible top but not my first top as I have installed late model tops before. Any help is appreciated.

[Kevin in NJ]

I hope you did not chrome the top parts. They should be polished nickle.

The wrapping covers most of the brackets leaving only the bulging areas exposed. If you look in vol 6 in the How to Restore series of reprints you will find the factory 68C photos that give you some idea of what you are looking at doing. Also look at the photos/ search the Cabriolet forum the Bob Johnson runs:

cabriolet forum

Pictures

[mrfirebird73]

I didn't chrome them thats how they came to me. I took this project over from someone else. I have been on Bobs site looking around. I would like to find some pictures of it in the process of being installed if possible.

[Russ B]

After posting a very similar question earlier and being referred to Bob Johnson's cabriolet photos, I went through all the interior top photos of each car to see how the bows were wrapped. Unfortunately, the inconsistency in wrapping left me as confused as when I started.

[mrfirebird73]

Russ I agree

[Russ B]

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Originally Posted by mrfirebird73

Russ I agree

I sent you a private mail, a bit cryptic, but listing each car with photos on the Bob Johnson site in order by owner name and the results of my observations on how it was wrapped.

[mot]

bows have been covered in many ways
here is the right way
tom

[mrfirebird73]

I have looked at all the pictures I can find and still have no idea how to wrap the bows with no wrinkles and the seam on the outside of the bows. Is the material glued on and tacked? Just tacked? Do I have to cut 3 pieces and sew them together then tack it? Completed pictures are nice but I still need to know HOW to do it.

[Marco Tahtaras]

The strips used to cover the bows are cut diagonally across the roll or "on the bias". That allows the drill fabric to stretch and distort a great deal. The only reason the main bow (bow #2) is overlapped in the very center is the bow is too long for a single strip of fabric that is cut as described.

I'm assuming you are working with a kit. Were any instructions or sketches provided? I don't think I could put anything in words that would be of much help. I will say however that you will "massage" it quite a bit so plan on washing and drying your hands frequently so the surface of the fabric stays clean.

[mrfirebird73]

Marco it is a LB kit and the instructions are not very good. No pictures on how to do it. How wide should I cut the strips? And where should I begin on the bow?

[30cabriolet]

Have you read Marco's Top Tips on the Cabriolet web site?
http://cabriolet.modelahouse.com/cab...co/68btop.html

[mrfirebird73]

Originally Posted by 30cabriolet

Have you read Marco's Top Tips on the Cabriolet web site?
http://cabriolet.modelahouse.com/cab...co/68btop.html

Yes I have. More than once.

[Jerry Parr WI]

This picture is the original stitching on the bow. As Marco says the material is diagonal cut. The material needs to be cut at 45 deg rather than straight across the roll. The resulting tube of material acts like a Chinese finger and gets tighter as you stretch it's length. As I recall LB does not normally supply enough material to cut it on the diagonal.

[mrfirebird73]

So on the main bow how do you get the fabric to stay against the bow on the inside of the curve? This is the part that is giving me trouble. I have figured that the main bow needs to be done in 3 pieces and the rear bow in 2 with the material that came with the kit.

[mrfirebird73]

Jerry is that cover stitched all the way on that bow? Is that the #2 bow? Do you have a picture of the main bow as well? Do you have any more pictures? Thanks for the photo.

[Jerry Parr WI]

Yes it is the #2 bow and was stitched full length. The original cover was no longer on the main bow so no guess at it. I ordered extra fabric so I could bias cut the bow covers. I cheated and just stapled the fabric to the bows on the side where they had originally been stitched. The vertical portion of the main bow was covered over cardboard like a door panel and was not bias cut. It was nailed to the wood and over lapped the ends of the upper cover. Don't remember any problem getting the main bow cover tight but that was over 20 years ago. I may still have that bow upholstery as I do have the original seat, rumble seat and door upholstery as well as some other pieces. It was well preserved under the vinyl that shows in the picture. I never did get any fabric from LB that matched the original package tray. I have a number of pictures but not of the original upholstery. Pre digital camera era!!

[30cabriolet]

I just added an album with a bunch of top pictures.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/album.php?albumid=2129

[mrfirebird73]

Originally Posted by 30cabriolet

I just added an album with a bunch of top pictures.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/album.php?albumid=2129

Thanks for the pictures. They will help out a lot. Did you do your top yourself? How long did it take you?

[30cabriolet]

I did not do the top myself. After reading everything I could, I figured it was easier to have a top fit to my car instead of trying to get a kit to fit. Lebaron makes their top kits to fit one set of dimensions and I know that the dimensions I used are NOT the same as Lebaron's. My dimensions were based on my original wood and the wood drawings that I aquired.

[eystein]

I have been following this post with great interest, but still have several questions.

I do not understand how the bow covering can be stitched, I thought that the material was pulled around the bow and tacked on the top side of the bow, which will be covered by the top material.

Q1 : Is the bow cover material tacked on the top side of the bows or is it sewn into a tube which is pulled tight and made to contract around the bow contour because of the diagonal cut of the material?

Q2 : Is the center section of the no. 1 bow covered in the same way as the no. 2 bow ?

Q3 : Does the stitching in the photo posted by Jerry Parr, constitute the seam where the material is sewn to form a tube ?

Q4 : If the bow covering is sewn to form a tube, is the tube then turned inside out to get the border of the material, sticking out from the seam on the inside of the tube ?

For the left and right (lower) sections of the no. 1 bow, it is mentioned that the material is wrapped over cardboard pieces.




Q5 : Can anyone supply patterns for cutting these cardboard pieces ?


Q6 : Did the cardboard go only on the sides of the bow that were not covered by the external metal pieces


Q7 : How was the cardboard held in place ?


Q8 : Was the wrapping material wrapped all around both the cardboard and the lower parts of the bow, or was the wrapping material folded over the edges of the cardboard, and the assembly then mounted onto the bow ?


Q9 : Does the material get tucked under the external metal bow cover and under the nickeled plate at the bottom of the bow ?

Any details which will help me get this 100% correct will be appreciated.

This was a lot of questions, but as always a couple of picture of the disassembly of an original top or of the steps of assembly in a correct restoration will say more than a thousand words