Are the top rest "L" irons on the torpedo specific torpedo-only part for 1911? The top on my car doesn't sit correctly in the "down" position. When I put the top down in my June 1911 Torpedo (OK, I know, you probably are asking who would do such a dumb thing... but that is another story...), the top assembly rests too low, as it sits on right on the top of the gas tank behind it (and the gas cap, which will likely cause the top to wear out there unless I slip a padding between the top and the gas cap. It also looks a bit odd to me from a side view. This means that the angle of the top assembly is too low toward the rear, and this is height problem is caused by the "L" shaped tip rest irons being too long. These were missing during the restoration, and I just grabbed a pair out of the misc. parts pile and used them, which were most likely off of an 1911 Touring body I used to own. It seems to me that the Torpedo L shaped top rest irons would have to be only about half as tall (or long in the perpendicular) as the touring L shaped top iron rest irons, to get the torpedo top to sit in a more correct configuration and not just sit on the gas tank. I think I will just chop and weld the L irons to a length necessary to make the top assembly sit up correctly, but wanted to ask first if anyone can tell me the 1911 Torpedo L top rest iron measurement or has a pair lying about unused. Thanks
In looking at the torpedo photos in old threads it looks like the all the later style torpedoes (with the round, not square, gas tanks) suffered from that problem, that is the top sets right on the gas cap. And I see the photo of Ed's roadster with the same length L irons there as on the tourings. So I think I have answered my own question and all the L irons were the same.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/395252.html#POST564350
The roadster L irons are shorter than those for a touring car. Not just 1911. No idea whether the 1911 roadster irons are the same size as the later roadster irons, but I used later irons on my 12 roadster and everything looks OK. See Lang's part nos. 3858RD and 3858TR
What is the measured length of the roadster L irons? That will help us determine if we are using the correct irons.