I am watching Vince's video so I understand how to put the bow drill on the bow. It looks like you only need about 5-6 inches of fabric to cover the bow, but the fabric supplied is 8 inches in width.
Are you suppose to install the fabric and then remove the extra, or do you wrap it around and tuck it under to use up the entire 8 inches?
Thank you.
Dave, the exposed edge needs to be folded under to give neat finish which does not fray. How much you fold under is up to you. I would fit it with no cutting. Be sure to use stainless steel staples like the marine trimmers use.
Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.
What size staples would you recommend? 8mm?
Dave, as there is no load involved 6mm would probably do. All they do is hold the cover in place.
Allan from down under.
When installing bowdrill, make sure the tacks or staples are fully set, I've seen a top with thin places where "proud" staples have worn the fabric.
The material is wide, because it's cut on the bias to help make the inside corner smooth, sometimes you have to go one way or the other to keep the wrinkles out.
Actually, I'm a little confused.
Maybe I do it wrong, but I've never had a problem or issue.
I blind wrap the start with an under tuck having a little tension, and then under-fold the bow drill as I work across with the bias adding a little tension. Then I do the blind under fold at the end.
I then only use blue upholstery tacks where the bow drill covers the metal iron corners. (tacks in the split line). I use nothing in between the ends, the starting tension always seems to be enough.
Like I said, maybe I'm wrong, I have only done a few, but they always stay tight. My way really doesn't give the top material something to slap and stretch against...
I would cut off what you don't need, and do wrap on the bias. I leave about 1/2" extra on each end to fold over the sockets. I use a staple gun and staples that I purchased at a local upholstery supply. Something I use a lot of is contact cement. I buy it at Home Depot in a glass jar. It makes installation a lot easier for a lot of things.
The proper way to attach the bow drill is to
1. tack the first edge along the top center of the bow
2. wrap the material around the bow while turning under the edges at the ends and along the bow centerline. The edge that runs along the bow centerline, (2nd edge), should really extend BEYOND the centerline such that it covers the row of tacks!
3. with a needle & thread, stitch the 2nd edge to the wrapped bow drill using approx. 1" long stitches in a zig-zig pattern.
Now your tacks/staples are covered and the zig-zag stitch, when pulled tight, will cause the bow drill to wrap even more tightly around the bow.
Jerry's got it. I was a trimmer in a previous life.
This is how Classtique does it. While shown in video is a Model A, the procedure is the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-0SPH6_-vU
How about that...I've been doing it wrong all these years!
Good thing I'm not a purist...think I'll stay with my spiral 1/2 lap wrap way.
Jerry's way is relatively easy and gives a nice product. Here is a shot of my new top following his directions:
The first edge was tacked down using #0 tacks, about 1/4" long. THen wrapped the remaining cloth around the bow, tucked the raw edge under and stitched it as shown.
While you are doing the bows, don't forget to plug the old tack holes with glue and toothpicks.
Thomas
I like your example. It makes Jerry's method much more understandable. Get one side tacked or stapled down and then tuck the rest of it under and sew. Would you say the bowdrill you used was about 8 inches wide, or a bit less than that?
Thank you again for the picture.
Now I have to figure out what to do on the front bow. I think all I do is wrap it with the vinyl and I am done. No rain flap. This is on a 1919 touring.
The front bow is wrapped with the same material you are using for the top. Be sure to cut the material on the bias too. I use a fair amount of contact cement for this one. It's all one piece, and you are guaranteed to have sore fingers when you get done.
Nice job lacing the bowdrill, but I use staples, much easier, and they don't show.
Thanks Tom! That's exactly what I meant.
A fellow member suggested to us that, if using staples, pound them down with a tack hammer and then cover them with a thin strip of duct tape to help cushion them and prevent them from working a bump into the top material.
We used staples, not stitching, on the bow drill. Didn't see the need for contact cement. We were newbs to a top install, so the staples were all over the place and looked like hell when we were done. But you'll never see them anyway!
As for the front bow, Vince's kit came with three pieces, but we found the vinyl to be flexible enough for us to cover it completely with just the long middle piece. And despite reading and hearing horror stories about getting that piece on, we found it to be 10 times easier than getting the bow drill into place without wrinkles on the curves. We used a hair dryer and it was plenty warm enough to get the vinyl to work with us. A heat gun would have been too much for the vinyl we were working with.
The Truth About Factory Installed Bowdrill (for the purists)
This is based on the original factory installed bowdrill that is on my '17 roadster as well as what was on my dad's '17 touring. Further evidence is also on a set of 1915-17 roadster bows that I own.
While this is true for at least two 1917 Fords, this may also apply for all two man tops from 1913 through 1922 model years.
Roadster:
First or front bow: leatherette bowdrill is tacked to the bow.
Second bow: fabric bowdrill is sewn. NO TACKS.
Third bow: fabric bowdrill is tacked to the bow. NO SEWING.
Touring:
First or front bow: leatherette bowdrill is tacked to the bow.
Second bow: fabric bowdrill is sewn. NO TACKS.
Third bow: fabric bowdrill is sewn. NO TACKS.
Fourth bow: fabric bowdrill is tacked to the bow. NO SEWING. (Note that on a touring, there is a wood shim
A logical reason it was done the above way at the factory:
On both the roadster and the touring, the top material is tacked across the front of the first bow and along the top of the last bow. It is then covered with binding fastened with upholstery trim tacks. There is no concern that the tacks holding the bowdrill will wear through the top and cause rips/holes because the top material is firmly attached along the length of the entire bow.
However, for the remaining bows (roadster second bow and touring second and third bows) the top material is attached at only two points on each bow (at the sockets). The top material along the length of these bows is loose. Therefore, on these bows, sewing is the preferred method for installing the bowdrill because a row of tacks against loose top material will eventually wear through and create rips/holes.
RE: incomplete sentence regarding wood shim.
On the touring (at least with the oval socket top bows) - the fourth bow includes a wood shim - more details here:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/361072.html?1368324877