MTFCA Forum

Last spring when I started working on my T the first thing I did was to remove the top because of rotted out tack rail & front bow. Now I am wanting to put same top back on as it is in good shape yet & I don’t see any reason to replace it. Has anyone done this before, & if you have, I would appreciate any thoughts of it can be done with good results.

Harvey, it may help if you indicate whether it is a one or two man top. I can see greater difficulty if it is a two man top.
Help us help you.

Allan from down under.

Thank you for the response Allen.
I truthfully do not know, but I think it is a one man affair as I was able to put it somewhat in place before I removed it.

Easy to tell. A one man top has just two mounting points, in the rear quarter panels. Two man tops have two pairs of mounts, two at the sides of the front seats and two in the rear quarter panels.

Allan from down under

Allan ,
Thanks you for response again! Now I know for sure I have a one man top system on my T.

Harvey Bergstrom

Ok Harvey. I would advise waiting for the hottest day of the year. This will allow the most/ easiest stretch in the material. If you can hang it over a rail in the meantime, and hook up some weights on each end, that will reduce shrinkage. When it comes to refitting it, tack it to the front bow, having mounted it on the side body brackets first. There is a chance the rear curtain will still fall a bit short of the tack rail. The heat will allow some stretch and you can get more stretch in the longer top panel than in the shorter rear curtain. It is also easier to pull the rear curtain down than it is to pull the top curtain forward. Again, it may pay to clamp a timber across the bottom of the rear curtain, weight it, and give some heat a chance to add stretch to it.= before you try to tack it.
At the worst, a good motor trimmer can add an inch or two to the bottom of the rear curtain, and make it look like it was meant to be that way.

Hope this helps, Allan from down under.

Classtique Upholstery has some good videos on their website. https://www.classtiqueupholstery.com

I did upholstery on collector cars for 35 years. Installing a top and having it look good is a difficult job. Reinstalling one with all of the holes in it from the previous installation would be something I would not attempt. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to keep the holes in the top from showing after the second installation. You would need to position it exactly as it was done previously and get the same amount of stretch on it as was done previously, or a little more. You can attempt it but be very careful. Do it on a warm day and have someone with strong hands and arms available to help you. Also, there is a special tool made for pulling top material tight. Buy one at the upholstery wholesalers near you. It will be very useful.

Do the pads first. Install the vertical ones at the rear first. Attach the bottoms to the car and then do the tops at the rear bow. Then do the long ones. Start by attaching them at the front and pull them very tight at the rear. Then install the rear curtain. As suggested, for the top start at the front with a few tacks to hold the front in place. Then go to the rear and pull the material tight, making sure it is lined up side to side correctly, along with how far you pull it. Good luck.