MTFCA Forum

Hi All,

Looking at trim options for speedsters.
In the Orange field at Hershey were two 1922 Mercers. On the semi restored Mercer was a 1/2 oval steel trim riveted along the edge of the cowl. Looks like brass or copper rivets. See photos. This was typical for a 1920's era car and used on one of my original speedster bodies.
I anyone aware where to get this type of trim?

thanks

Restoration Supply has what you need.
restorationstuff.com

Pretty sure it is referred to as 1/8 Oval.

Here we call it a C moulding.

Allan from down under.

I used the molding from Restoration Supply on my ABC speedster. They have other neat stuff like the Klaxon horn button on the dash. There is wood underneath, so I attached the molding with small wood screws. Larry Sigworth and Mike Bender in the background.

A big advantage with the aluminium moulding is its maleability. Bending a moulding in one plane like that on the back of the speedster pictured is easy. Bending it in a semi circle 10' wide in the third dimension around a side window is altogether different.

Allan from down under.

1/2 ovals are available through wood boat restorers places. Used all the time in old boat resto's. Comes in several heights and widths and is all C35000 brass (old 350 for us white-hairs) so is generally bendable (and sometimes when going through a reseller for the product you can actually get it in dead soft annealed). For tight curves you would want the hardness of the final roll-out by supplier to be no more than 70 HRB---just ask before you buy.

If the supply shop does not have dead soft annealed, you can also dead soft anneal it yourself with a lazy flame torch if no one has a kiln nearby. Heat the area you want bent to somewhere around 1000 degree F, then let air cool...is now dead soft. This target temp can be by an IR thermometer, or old school visual blacksmithing - when your flame goes from yellow to orange up close next to the brass in the area to be bent, when it air cools it will be soft and less than 70 HRB.

Annealing this way will also cause the surface to oxidize and leave it black. I had had great success with Flitz cleaner followed by Flitz polish in bringing things back to a super shine before buffing out.

(For the purist, I used the term annealing as thats what most want to call it...technically it is tempering)

(West Marine usually has short pieces of some random sizes...buy a stick and play...then you will know what questions to ask the bigger supplier who can provide pieces pretty much at whatever gross length you are looking for.)