MTFCA Forum

I'm posting this on behalf of Mike Francis, the owner of Classtique. People in this hobby are unaware that their are TWO types of top material for Model T Fords. The colonial grain which is a nice substitute replacement type top material, and Turf Grain, which is as close to the original grain that is available today. Many years ago, Steve Coniff and I approached Eric Haartz about making Ford grain top material. Eric looked widely for the original Ford grain rollers, and couldn't find them. He did find the Turf grain rollers which is a very close substitute to the original. I have the Turf grain on two of my tops that I have made for my cars. It has a superior appearance to the Colonial grain, and has the luster of the original which colonial grain does not have.

Thanks Larry!
Would Turf Grain be correct for my 27 touring?
I haven’t ordered the kit yet.
Thanks!

Thank you!!!! I have been trying to figure out which was the closer of the 2 for the '15 - it has an aftermarket top (2 glass oval windows) which was damaged severely when someone decided it would be fun to sit on the lowered top... so it's time to retop the car.

I would be highly surprised if the original Ford rollers weren't "recycled" when the specs changed for top material... after all, if they didn't need them, why keep them... But we can still keep our fingers crossed...

I would assume making the rollers with the correct pattern with the Ford marker would be prohibitively expensive... then again, I wonder if they were used for the 2014 Ts? If so, dimes to donuts they're around. If one could look closely at the Greenfield cars... --grins--

Back in the 1950's and 1960's there was a top shop in Pasadena called Ken Sorensen top shop. He was getting his material, as I remember, from a place in Tennessee or down south somewhere. That material was very close too. I've asked them before, and they can't help. The shop is still in business too. If they saved all their records for that era, maybe they could come up with something? They made T top kits.

We don't have the same problem here in Australia. Many of the bodies built by the various maker in each of the states used canvas instead of black top material. Even some Ford factory bodies were fitted with "Colonial tops" of the same material. Today's 'light sand' colour is a very close match, and being woven with a small percentage of polyester, it does not suffer shrinkage to the same degree as 100% cotton canvas.

Allan from down under.

Larry, I know you have mentioned before that the “hidem” trim end pieces were finished in raven black in some years. Were the other fasteners on the top and side curtains finished that way as well ... or the standard nickel finish?

Larry,

Could you post a picture of a sample of the Turf Grain?

Thanks,
Dan

Here are comparison photos:

1917 top material
And here is original Ford material above and Turf Grain below, about identical.

This is the common Colonial grain

And Long Cobra grain, this is for Model A's

Dan: Where was that eyelet you posted used? Usually, that one would be for the back touring or roadster rear curtain for the top cover strap, but the stitching surrounding it has me confused!

Larry:

That's a photo of the eyelet from the original top boot from my dad's 1917 touring.

The black or gray woven material seen though the eyelet is the strap.

I posted the photo in this thread:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/11 ... 1284826007

I remember my dad was getting what he said was a close match from an Amish buggy maker.
Stuff held up well also. My top was done probably 30 years ago or more.
Unfortunately he left us 17 years ago, and bought his last bolt of material at least 10-15 years before that.

The photo of the center eyelet threw me off for awhile, until I realized the stitching for the reinforcement is what was leading me astray. Those eyelets show up once in awhile at swap meets, and used tops. I use a top boot on my '25 roadster, but couldn't get myself to install the eyelet in the middle of the rear curtain for it. So the middle of the top hangs down when the top is down.

Larry, i believe the middle strap was eliminated from the top boots well before 25, thus eliminating the need for the special eyelet in the top. BTW i recall being involved with the release of the new top material with Eric Haartz as well. I supplied Steve Coniff with an nos sample of the material that Eric also used to confirm the grain pattern. This was in the mid 90s as I recall. We have made and installed many tops since then, almost all using this material.