Stainless or chrome luggage rack

[bluedog]

i have a 1930 Phaeton with spare on back. Has anyone fitted the chrome or stainless rack as depicted in Bratton's catalogue. Any thoughts on the cost/benefit of stainless vs chrome?
Thanks
Greg

[Patrick L.]

I had a chrome one on the roadster. After awhile it started rusting/pitting. It didn't belong on it anyway so I took it off.
I may grind it down someday and paint it.

[C26Pinelake]

My chrome one lasted 2 years and it looked like junk with rust and peeling chrome. When I contacted Snyders they said guarantee was 90 days. I replaced with a stainless and it looks great.
Wayne

[racingrufus]

When you recive the rack, remove the nuts off the bolts that hold the strips on and put some locktite on bolts then reinstall the nuts. I found they come loose in about a month.

[newshirt]

Here is mine after three years. Dirty but not pitted. Needs some teak oil on the wood. Sorry I don't have a quick pic of the trunk mounted on it.

I was told it would look funny behind the spare, but it doesn't. Plus, the rack does not block the spare; it comes off easily.

EDIT: To address Tom's issue below (which is REAL), mine has no sag. In fact, it is slanted slightly in toward the car. Looks perfect.

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Unless you have a REAL need for the trunk I would not mount a trunk behind the spare. Most of them I see have a bad sag.

[29spcoupe]

I installed mine with extra braces to prevent sag. It has only been on the car since Hershey, so I don't know how effective they will be. John

[DougVieyra]

Tom is right ! I have one of these racks at the rear of my '31 Dlx Coupe - and it sags very noticeably.

- 29Coupe, can you tell us about the bracket you installed to prevent the sag ? I am sure many of us would like to know how to avoid the sag.

[newshirt]

These are the brackets I used. As stated earlier in #6, the luggage rack does not sag. I assumed the problem had been solved with these brackets.

http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/3295

[Mitch//pa]

i would go SS and have not yet seen the supplied extension brackets sag either

[DougVieyra]

NewShirt - My thoughts exactly.

When I had my '30 Std. Coupe, it had one of these racks BEHIND the spare. (requiring two additional 'spacer' extending brackets). It did not sag. It was chrome - and began peeling after three years.

Now my '31 Dlx. Coupe has no rear spare, and the luggage rack mounts directly behind the rear of the car - no extending brackets needed. And it sags ! And too, after several years the chrome is beginning to show signs of pitting and pealing.

The extra expense of STAINLESS STEEL is well worth the extra bucks.

I am hopeful that the extra braces that '29Coupe' speaks of will solve the 'sag' problem. Hopefully he will tell us more about these braces.

[29spcoupe]

I made a brace out of 1/4 inch steel, painted it black, and placed it between the luggage rack and the bumper brace. It has only been on since Hershey, but so far it is preventing sag. John

[Bob-A]

Originally the rack's, named "Handy-Dek", were made by The Bellevue Co. I guess Ford subcontracted them for the chrome racks for their 30-31 deluxe version cars. As an add on accessory the rack's were available in either chrome or black enamel. I've taken an old swap meet rusty repop chrome rack, sand blasted it and had it painted gloss black. With the NOS "wood"
grained steel strips and new stainless steel 1/4" carriage bolts. The rack
should look supper and not the same as most everybody else's. Dare to be different.

Bob-A

[29spcoupe]

Thanks for the compliment on my 'cheapo' brackets. John

[newshirt]

Originally Posted by modelAtony

ALL THE ABOVE ARE USING THE CHEAPO EXT. BRACKETS.

Not true.

These are 3/8" wide brackets that will never bend. They are not cheap. $39 a pair. They are positioned to place the rack at a slight angle in case any sag might occur, which it won't. Two fat guys could sit on it and they would not bend.

[bluedog]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. It sounds like stainless is worth the extra dollars. I will check out the rack brackets a bit more before I order.

[modelAtony]

Originally Posted by 29spcoupe

Thanks for the compliment on my 'cheapo' brackets. John

Your welcome but I didn't mean it to hurt any body feelings. Truly from my heart.

[modelAtony]

Originally Posted by newshirt

Not true.

These are 3/8" wide brackets that will never bend. They are not cheap. $39 a pair. They are positioned to place the rack at a slight angle in case any sag might occur, which it won't. Two fat guys could sit on it and they would not bend.

Sorry for giving out BAD INFO I WILL DELETE MY ABOVE POST.

[peters180a/170b]

Me and the way i think is,,,,,, you have a 1930 [Standard phaeton] Blackwalls ? Correct black top w/ black side bows ... dark color body color ???? i would go for the BLACK luggage rack that folds in the middle. Chrome or stainless will stick out and black will blend in and look AUTHENTIC with a STANDARD Phaeton... its Me...I have a original Deluxe Phaeton rack [CHROME] which i paid for the extra plating. I also have a reproduction the last A+L parts had.. and had that done again with extra plating.[not to many calls for a 180A rack] and different then the roadster.

[mshmodela]

So appears there is not a large weight limit with these racks.

[Model A Man]

The rack I have on my coupe is chrome but the wood slats are metal and wood grained to look like wood. Original or aftermarket?

[larrys40]

Originally Posted by peters180a/170b

Me and the way i think is,,,,,, you have a 1930 [Standard phaeton] Blackwalls ? Correct black top w/ black side bows ... dark color body color ???? i would go for the BLACK luggage rack that folds in the middle. Chrome or stainless will stick out and black will blend in and look AUTHENTIC with a STANDARD Phaeton... its Me...I have a original Deluxe Phaeton rack [CHROME] which i paid for the extra plating. I also have a reproduction the last A+L parts had.. and had that done again with extra plating.[not to many calls for a 180A rack] and different then the roadster.

Peter,
I have a couple of the repro luggage racks from the early 80's that were t he metal woodgrain slat units. Are they close to correct ( at least for reproduction)? I realize the grain may not be right.. how about the rest of them. I have one I would like to put on my 68 C ( I guess I'm going to put sidemounts on it) and one on my 160B Town sedan

Thx.
Larry Shepard

[Bob-A]

As far as I know (which to some people is not very far) the original racks
all had metal strips wood grained. In the book "Those Wonderful Unauthorized Accessories for Model A Ford" page 195. Is an ad. for Handy-Dek luggage racks for Model-A's. I am under the assumption that
The Bellevue Co., maker of the rack. Was subcontracted by Ford for the
chrome rack for use on 30-31 Model-A deluxe cars. The reproduced ad. in the book was originally posted in the Jan., 1930, issue of the "Ford Dealer & Service Field" magazine of the day. Where the racks are offered as an accessory for any Model-A Ford body style auto.

As far as reproduction racks with metal wood grain painted strips as opposed to real wood strips I do not know. I believe a company in Oklahoma reproduced the racks up until the early 1990's. They might have
had the correct original style metal wood grained strips. The new metal
strips that I have I acquired from A&L Parts years ago. I assumed that
they are NOS, but could be RNOS (reproduction new original stock) from
when ever.

Bob-A

[peters180a/170b]

Been in this hobby a long time and heard all kinds of things , good - bad - and never seen it before... I have been told there are 2 manufacturers of the Deluxe luggage racks and 1 earlier then the other on the 180A... True or not ,that's was i was told. I have not studied them all together and only the 180A i know is different then the Deluxe Roadster.[mounting holes on the side for your arms. / and arms too] All ORIGINAL racks had METAL SLATS. Most Reproduction had wood[except 1 guy in the 70's made a rack close to original's] and the ones A+L parts sold had Reproduction metal stats [ flatter then originals.] The Deluxe Roadster had a dark maroon wood-grain which is on the A+L slats which is a real bitch to remove... for the Deluxe Phaeton 180A had a mustard look [same as the """400A"""" wood-grain inside trim... In the 180A News Letter years ago is went into depth the different between both racks...nuts .bolts. lock washers and finish and total complete parts needed.That's all i know folks ..sorry i can't add more. 1 other thing you can tell the difference between original / reproduction racks...as you run your finger to the corners of the racks the original has a drop [like a dip in the metal ] maybe the whole corner 3/4 of a inch in both directions... Also 1 manufacture has a letter stamped under the rack dead center which the luggage box sits on.. not the stat side...

[Bob-A]

peters180a/170b,

Thanks for the correct info.

Bob-A

[ed s.]

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Bluedog , Definitely Stainless .. My chrome luggage rack after 2 years was rusted and pitting .. Stainless costs more but better in the long term ... Ed

[peters180a/170b]

That's why i had both ORIGINAL & REPRODUCTION racks triple plated and paid extra for more chrome.. Your reproduction luggage racks cost around $145.00 give or take a few bucks... Ask a plate shop what the rack will cost to plate.. Well over the reproduction rack price[ if its a good shop] . how much chrome do you think is on a reproduction rack??? that's why they rust out...flash chrome and not show chrome.. p.s. hope the stainless steel don't come from CHINA or Japan... Then you'll see rust too.... ever see stainless forks /knives from those 2 places rust??? i have///