Need help with a top for a roadster. The car history is unknown but I believe it is one of those early 23 roadsters. The windshield stanchions are not leaned back as far other 23, 24 or 25's but I believe they are original to the car. Not sure how much this matters and definitely could've been changed at some point but it has a later (high) radiator. I bought a 1923 top kit and although everything fits it doesn't appear to be correct. I believe the center iron/bow should be higher than the rear bow. Ultimately the center bow is about 2 inches off. I believe I'd gain those 2 inches if everything was leaned back using the later windshield stanchions.

This leaves me with a few questions; was there a different top for early 23's? Is it possible the kit has the wrong parts? Do I have to make my own modifications to make this look correct?

Once in a while I come across some information that refers to a 2 man and a 1 man top for a 23 roadster, does anyone have any information about this?

Maybe this will help, found elsewhere on the forum.

http://fordfarm.net/23-5RdTopSockets.html

If your bow dimensions are correct, try rotating the rear bow forward a bit. This will raise the middle bow and the back of the front bow.

Hang a plumb line from the rear bow to see where it falls relative to the body. You want the top of the rear bow to be about 1 inch behind the rear of the body, like so:

J.

Look at the difference in the 2 angles of your top versus Mark's. Try to get yours looking more like Mark's by moving the rear bow up or down as needed.

Yours:


Mark's:

One other thing I just remembered - the clamps that I got from the vendors to attach the front bow to the windshield posts would not allow the back of the front bow to swing up to the required angle. I had to make the clamp holes oblong with a rat-tail file to give clearance for the rear of the front bow to swing up high enough.

HI J.

Here bellow a picture of my roadster 1922 I sold last year. Hope that will help.

Mark,
Could you elaborate on the oblong holes part? Still trying to figure this out. Also, I noticed you have a strap going between the rear and middle bow. Do you have a measurement for distance between those 2?

The rear straps are located to hide the seams in the rear curtain. You have to lay your rear curtain out flat on the floor, then measure the distance between the bottoms of the seams, then measure the distance between the tops of the seams (see crude sketch attached).

Mark the centerlines of the rear bow and the body, then measure out and mark half the previously measured distances onto the rear bow and body. Those marks are where you put the centerline of each rear strap. The straps will be wider apart at the rear bow than they are on the body.

The holes in the front bow clamps that the vendors supply are not oval enough, so when you attach the front bow to the slanted windshield post, the front bow hangs down at the back, not horizontal like it should be. To get it to be horizontal, you have to elongate the holes in the clamps to an elliptical shape so that the rear of the front bow can be lifted up (see second crude sketch).

First of all, I would never elongate a hole in an original part. If it was a reproduction, then I wouldn't care. Whatever the problem is here, it's the kit, not the original parts!
It is my opinion that Ford had a jig to set up the top bows with. How else would a customer expect to go to a Ford dealer and get a side curtain to fit exactly like the original?

I'm with Larry regarding the idea of a jig for the tops.

There MUST have been a jig (well, a lot of jigs for quantity production) used to insure that the top frame was correctly positioned for each car. As Larry points out, side curtains and even replacement tops would not fit unless there was uniformity in the alignment of the top bows and placement of the fasteners (Murphy, Common Sense, Anzo, etc)

I, too, Greatly Hesitate when confronted with the possible need to modify Original parts. I look for misalignment of other parts or other anomalies before I reach for a file.

I DO understand that there are situations when "ya gotta do what ya gotta do".