Cowl Lace Rivets

[Woodie1]

I am changing the 30 year old cowl lacing on our 29. The piece on the gas tank was not a problem BUT the short strips on the sides of the cowl are a different story. The heads of the rivets are so small that they almost pull through the hole in the metal & the split legs are so short that I can't hardly get ahold of them to bend them over. What have you done to install the cowl lacing on your 28-29? Buy larger rivets? Thanks.

[jrelliott]

Made a tool from a pair of cheap pliers. On one jaw welded a piece of 1/4" dia steel rod about 1/4" long with a small recess drilled to accept the head of the rivit. On the other jaw welded a small wedge again 1/4" diameter steel rod about 3/8" long to split the rivit legs. Still took a lot of discussion with the rivits probably heard names that only an old sailor could dream up in some of the hard to reach areas.

[Marco Tahtaras]

It sounds like they didn't provide proper rivets. The rivets should be 5/32" diameter by 7/16" long (measured under the head).

[Roadster62]

For those that have seen original rivets, are they installed in a matching direction, or are the legs bent in ramdom angles? Guess this goes with lined up screw slots and cotter pins.

[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Roadster62

For those that have seen original rivets, are they installed in a matching direction, or are the legs bent in ramdom angles? Guess this goes with lined up screw slots and cotter pins.

The rivets were set vertically. I suspect their tooling to set the rivets required it.

[Woodie1]

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These rivets are definately not the original size then Marco. They are about 1/8" in diameter & maybe 3/8" long. It makes it very tough trying to get them crimped over.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Woodie1

These rivets are definately not the original size then Marco. They are about 1/8" in diameter & maybe 3/8" long. It makes it very tough trying to get them crimped over.

Where did this "kit" come from, --old repro or newly purchased inventory?

[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Woodie1

These rivets are definately not the original size then Marco. They are about 1/8" in diameter & maybe 3/8" long. It makes it very tough trying to get them crimped over.

Any chance you have a radiator shell lacing kit? If so the lacing will be too long and be the channel type which is thin down the center. The proper lacing should be thin and flat.

[wrndln]

Does anyone sell the correct "flat" lower cowl lacing material? I think I remember Dave Lopes telling me once he had to create the correct lower lacing strips as he couldn't find the proper type. The type in my kit has the thicker rounded edges and thin in the center.
Rusty Nelson

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by wrndln

Does anyone sell the correct "flat" lower cowl lacing material? I think I remember Dave Lopes telling me once he had to create the correct lower lacing strips as he couldn't find the proper type. The type in my kit has the thicker rounded edges and thin in the center.
Rusty Nelson

Rusty,

That "type" would be for the radiator shell.

Bratton's sells the correct type for the lower cowl section.

Pluck

[Woodie1]

The kit I bought came from a supplier I have bought from for years with satifaction. It was the original style with the wire inside for the gas tank. The old stuff I removed from the cowl sides was quite thin & flat. The material I got was not flat. It has a channel on both sides. I had to cut the material in half for both sides & still cut off maybe another 1 1/2" from each piece to get the length right.

[Steve Plucker]

Got to looking at my original early 1929 Tudor and darn if the lower cowl lacing is very similar, if not the same, as the radiator lacing except the cowl lacing rivets are bigger than the radiator lacing rivets as they should be.

Pluck

[newshirt]

Originally Posted by Steve Plucker

Got to looking at my original early 1929 Tudor and darn if the lower cowl lacing is very similar, if not the same, as the radiator lacing except the cowl lacing rivets are bigger than the radiator lacing rivets as they should be.

Pluck

Care to share a few photos, Steve? I'd love to see the original lacing, rivets, and how they are crimped over. Original photos could help everyone following this thread.

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by newshirt

Care to share a few photos, Steve? I'd love to see the original lacing, rivets, and how they are crimped over. Original photos could help everyone following this thread.

You bet I will later today...have some farming issues to deal with first.

Now one must remember that anything could of happened after 80 or so years but the material is worn as should be for a car this old but still resembles the radiator lacing and not the 1/2 inch "flat" lacing that the JS says should be there. I know for sure that my 1929 Standard Coupe had the original "flat" lacing.

As always...maybe the guy who put it on the car originally was having a bad day at the Seattle Ford Assembly Plant OR they had run out of the "flat" lacing and substituted the radiator lacing...who knows.

Hopefully there are others out there who can post some original material from other cars during this time period of early 1929.

Pluck

[Tom Wesenberg]

Here are 3 pictures showing the upper original lacing and how the wire is secured at the ends and center. The 4th picture is the original radiator shell and lacing on my 9-27-28 Model A.

I'll keep looking for a picture of the lower cowl lacing in question.

[dlshady]

Not trying to muddy the waters, but here are a couple shots of how the cowl lacing is terminated on a very early 1928 that just recently me home. This is the first time I've seen one terminated in this fashion, but both sides matched and I'm reasonably certain that it's original to this car.






Deron

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by dlshady

Not trying to muddy the waters, but here are a couple shots of how the cowl lacing is terminated on a very early 1928 that just recently me home. This is the first time I've seen one terminated in this fashion, but both sides matched and I'm reasonably certain that it's original to this car.






Deron

That certainly looks like it would be original, and I've never seen one tied off like that. Anyone else with an early 28 original?