Touring Top Boot

[Oldav8tor]

I borrowed a top boot cover from a friend to give to my upholstery person to have her make me one out of sailboat fabric. I want to use it until I get my top installed to cover the top bows both for aesthetics and to prevent damage while towing the car on an open trailer.

My question - there were a couple of long straps attached to the top of the cover but for the life of me I can't see where they would attach to the car. No buckles, hooks, snaps, footman loops, etc. Can someone enlighten me?

The photo shows the strap hanging over the front of the cover and dangling down the back of the car. You'll see it really is quite long.

[Erik Johnson]

The top boots sold by the vendors (like the one you have with the shoe lacing in bottom center) are absolutely incorrect in every way, shape and form including the manner in which they are installed on the car which is unfortunate because it is an item that could be very easily and correctly reproduced. The original drawings probably exist and there are enough surviving originals to use as examples.

See these threads:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/198530.html

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/59 ... 1455820509

[DanTreace]

Tim

Those long straps on the vendor made top boot is to secure the boot top side to the rear seat.

Remove the lower rear seat cushion, the pull the boot taunt and pull those straps down flush with the rear seat backrest.

Then replace the rear seat cushion, that will pull those straps down and secure so the wind won't lift the boot top like a sail.

[Oldav8tor]

Dan - would they hold with no weight on the seat going down the road at 70 on an open trailer?

[DanTreace]

See strap with red line

For securing the straps for hauling, I used fasteners on the straps, put Lift the Dot screw bases into the wood tack strip at the lower part of the rear back rest. Then fitted Lift the Dots to the fabric strip, that holds the strips now nice and tight for eliminating the risk of the top cover lifting.

Then, I wrap bungee cords over and around the top boot too, that prevents the boot from leaving the T and flying off the open trailer!

[Original Smith]

Top boots are an interesting subject, and I have been studying it for years. I've also made at least three of them, from original used, and NOS boots that I have. I don't believe the one you have pictured above is authentic, due to the lack of welting top and bottom. There are three straps on every top boot to fasten it to the wood seat platform under the cushion. The middle one is fastened to the boot on the bottom side, and is pulled up over the seat back to be fastened to the seat platform. Starting in 1915, since the rear curtain no longer rolled up, they installed a special eyelet in the center of the curtain to feed the strap through.
I have a paper pattern for a 26-7 boot, but haven't studied it much, so can't comment on those. Beginning with the slant windshield models in 1923 Ford no longer supplied boots. I have seen no evidence that Ford sold them as an option until 1926.

[mbowen]

My ‘24 touring car came without a boot and I’d like to get one before touring season starts in earnest. I have a couple of questions:

1) Is there a recommended vendor for best fit? Absolute originality isn’t a huge deal as I’m fairly sure that the top that came on my car isn’t correct anyway. I just want something that will secure the top with the car on an open trailer, and look good to the untrained eye.

2) Should the boot be the same material as the top, or does it matter?

[John Heaman]

[DHort]

The boot does not have to be the same fabric as the top, but it does feel correct if it is. When the boot is on you cannot see the top anyways.

I would not drive 70mph on an open trailer. Even going 50, air gets under the boot and lifts it up. You could put something like a bungee cord all the way around the boot to help hold it down.

My boot was made by Cartouche and works fine. It has three straps attached to the front top of the boot. They have snaps on them, so I lift the seat and attach them to the board that is under the seat. They are the same snaps you find on a pair of jeans.

I also have the same murphy fasteners on the side that John has. Makes it a lot easier to install the boot over the top. I also have the shoestring on the bottom of the boot to help tighten the boot over the top.

I am not concerned with authenticity. I am not a trailer queen. I want a boot that works.

[Norman Kling]

I would say, just order one from one of the vendors who carry them and put it on the car. I have a 22 Runabout and ordered a boot and it did not fit. So I had them make one which did fit according to my measurements. They exchanged it. I don't think your car came with a top that color or with the oval window. A black boot would cover the top and should be fine. One of the problems that after 100 or so years, many cars don't even have the bows which came with the car and something else which fit was used. I put a snap on the straps to hold to the wood at the bottom of the backrest. There is also a draw string inside the boot to hold it tight where it fits against the back of the body.
Interestingly, on my 26 Touring, I had the top down with the boot on my open trailer and drove it about 300 miles home from a tour in the rain. When I got home I took it off the trailer and put in the garage. I immediately turned up the seat cushions which were not even wet through. The upholstery material is very waterproof! Then I took off the boot and put the top up and the top was not even wet! The car was not damaged!
I wouldn't recommend pulling it in the rain with the top down, but sometimes we get caught in weather conditions we weren't expecting.
Norm

[Upholstery Mike]

I have many original Model T top boots and all of them have piping on the top and bottom. For many years there were 3 different styles (like Original Smith said). Most have the 3 straps except for some of the Roadsters only had 2. With the standard rear curtain all 3 were on top. Most roll up tops had a top boot with 2 straps on top and 1 on the bottom. Some had the bottom strap go through a brass grommet on the top side. The straps the attach at the lower tack rail at the bottom of the backrest with a fastener. I've seen lift a dots, Murphys, and a few other fasteners used there on originals. Many of the straps originally had a buckle for adjusting length. Many of them also had a metal tip crimped on the end of the straps. In 26 and 27 the top boots had side arms that extended towards the front.

Mike
Classtique Upholstery

[Original Smith]

Thanks Mike: There are just too many misinformed people out there! All the originals I have seen have buckles under the seat to fasten the three straps to. I would like to find out if the original style buckles are still available.

[Original Smith]

Another thought! Tom Rootlieb has been posting old photos for many weeks, and lots of the photos show tourings and roadsters with original boots on them. That would be a good start for those who wish to know what a proper boot looks like. Another note. The flaps used on the sides of the boots were discontinued for the 1916 model year. I have two nos roadster boots to prove it. They still are using the welt thought on the top and bottom.

[Upholstery Mike]

You are right about the flaps and piping Original Smith. I don't know of anyone making exact replicas of the original buckles. The ones on ebay are a scam. I've seen some crazy things people have used instead like belt buckles and washers.

Mike
Classtique Upholstery

[Erik Johnson]

If you click on the two links that I posted in March 2019 at the beginning of this thread, you can see an original, three-strap touring boot and I explain how it is installed on the car even though the rear curtain does not roll-up. If you post on the second link, I also included a photo of an original 1917 rear curtain which shows the grommet that the middle/bottom strap passes through.

I also show a reproduction boot that my father made on his commercial Singer sewing machine, using the original boot as a pattern. The only concession he made was the straps. He could not find the proper width of cotton webbing for the straps, so he used folded and sewn leatherette instead.