black tar material under wood top rails

[NY John T]

Hi all,
Does anybody know what the black material is, under the wood side and rear pieces on a 27 Tudor? It looks like some kind of glass setting rubber material. I'm redoing my top and found this stuff between the steel top edge and the wood. It almost looks like some sealant/filler to cushion the wood. Maybe used to smooth out the surface for the wood to fit without having any gaps. Was this used from the factory? Thanks for any ideas.
John

[DanTreace]

Have seen only one '26-'27 Fordor with top wood off the metal, and didn't see any remains of material between the wood and metal. May be there from a patch or later restore.

Don Booth in MI is the go-to for wood on the late closed cars, here is an older threads by him with pics of new wood replacing old.

https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/5 ... 1445627947

https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/3 ... 1385415681

[modeltspaz]

Hello, John,

The sealant material that I spoke of in my posting was a material similar to Henry's Roof Sealant. The thick tar-like substance that is usually applied with a putty knife.

However, this was not found under the wood side rails, but on top of the wood under the top material, where the drip rails attach. I assumed that it was used to seal the edge of the top material where it meets the steel body.

I found no material such as you described in your post. But just to be clear, I didn't remove the wood outer top rails. I re used the original wood as it was in good shape.

Hope this helps,
Mike Spaziano.

[NY John T]

Thanks Dan and Mike,
It's possible that the tar like material was put there to repair a leaking problem. It seemed to be on most of the rear 1/2 of the top surface from the door on back. There was nothing in the front. It must have been used as a filler, as it had the contour of the steel surface it was pressed against. I've looked on line for asphalt crack sealer tape and I would imagine that stuff would be a great alternative. However... would you recommend using nothing? Would just doing a proper top installation suffice to keep moisture out? The car will never be driven in the rain, so I'm not too concerned. Thanks again.
John

[NY John T]

I think I've answered my own question. If the cars didn't leave the factory with this tar bedding between the steel and the wood rails, then I'll keep it that way. Thinking about the condition of the wood on the rear cross member, I can see it was split/cracked/repaired, so maybe the wood lifted off the steel a little and left a gap. Could also be a factory quality issue... maybe it came off the line when someone said: "Hey! Wait! That one has a gap. Pull it off the line and fix it."
Who knows.
Again, thanks!
John

[varmint]

Our October '26 coupe had the black rubber material between the wood and metal.

[John kuehn]

Maybe the dark cloth or substance came on the 26-27 improved cars. I installed a new roof on my 24 Coupe that was an original car and it didn’t have the dark substance or cloth. That’s my but car not sure about others in that year frame.