MTFCA Forum

I put a roof frame on my Model T truck and stretched the vinyl over it. It came out very nice and tight. I now notice that the vinyl has space, between it and the wood cross members,that could attract air flow.
My question is, has anyone used adhesive to glue their vinyl to the frame work.

Thanks
George

I'd consult with a good upholsterer about whether using glue is practical for what you're doing and what type glue to use. A sample of your material would probably be useful. I once glued some vinyl patches on a ragged old convertible top with contact cement. It worked, sort of, but the solvents in the glue caused the material to soften and swell and wrinkle.

My wife has a upholstery workshop, she uses a special high temp spray glue for cars. most glues react with PVC and the temperatures on the surfaces in and on cars can really reach high levels when out in the sun for even a few minutes.
I'm sure any car upholsterer in your area can help you with one or two spray cans of this stuff, they use it all the time.

Glue is not your solution. If there is a gap between the wood and the top material the wood is not the right shape. There should be no flat roofs or sunken roofs, they will collect water. There should be a slight curve of the top wood with the center being the highest point to allow water runoff. Without seeing a picture of your problem I am guessing the problem is in the wood structure, and glue will not fix that.

Sounds like structure glue is the answer then !

How fast are you going to drive a TT, that wind lifting the material would be a problem? If you think about it, all open cars, only have the material attached around the edge, so tops lift too. I would think that attaching to bows, as you are thinking, would not allow the material to expand and contract as it should.

Re-inventing the wheel, look to the methods used for flat standing tops back in the day. As noted, the profile should have some camber in both directions. Usually, light "chicken wire" was underlaid to support the fabric between bows. Next, a thin padding like a quilt batting is laid down before stretching the top cover and tacking it down - no glue necessary. The padding is to protect the top material from chafing holes over the structure, as the top will move with changes in temperature and the motion of the car. And yes, a span of top material will indeed "lift" even at model T speeds.

I don't think that Ford used any padding under truck tops, even for the Model A truck/pickup before the introduction of the steel tops in later 1931.

I don't think you'd want to glue or tack the material to the cross bows, even on a closed car. As mentioned, the closed car top material was usually installed with some type of padding between it and the underlying structure to prevent noise and chaffing. Some lighweight material, like chicken wire or thin wood slats, was usually used over the framing and under the padding to give support and shape to the material and prevent flapping. It also served to support cats. In the case of an open car, you would never want to attach the top material or padding to the bows or any other part of the top framing except exactly the way the manufacturer did it. Otherwise, when the top is lowered, it will destroy itself. If a closed cab TT truck top lacked any padding, I'd consider adding some to provide some sound and vibration deadening and insulation from the weather.