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Old 10-09-2020, 03:35 PM   #1
Ford1930
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Default Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

I have to transport my 1929 Phaeton on a trailer. What is the best way to tie down the top?
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Old 10-09-2020, 05:45 PM   #2
Synchro909
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

Take it off and put it in the modern car doing the towing. It only involves undoing 2 nuts - preferably done with one person each side.
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Old 10-10-2020, 09:42 AM   #3
john charlton
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

Really depends on the weather . If it is an American built car the top is firmly fixed to the rear of the body so you cannot remove the whole thing . If it is a nice sunny day I would drop the top and secure it with the leather hold down straps and use large cable ties as insurance . If it is a rainy day install the sidescreens then put a durable tarpaulin over the whole car and tie it well down make sure the paint is protected against chafing . If no sidescreens do the same . You really do have to make really sure everything is well secured once the gale force winds get under the tarp it will rip off in seconds (trust me !!!)

John in sunny afternoon Suffolk County England .
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Old 10-10-2020, 09:28 PM   #4
Clem Clement
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

I have a friend who trailered a 31 with the to up. Destroyed it.
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Old 10-10-2020, 10:15 PM   #5
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

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I have a friend who trailered a 31 with the to up. Destroyed it.
For sure not a smart thing to do !
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Old 10-11-2020, 07:10 AM   #6
Mike Peters
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

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Synchro 909: According to John Charlton, American Phaetons are tacked permanently to the rear tack rail like mine is, while others are not. I didn't know that. I am curious as to how the top on your Australian Phaeton is secured to the body. Two nuts and it's off? Sounds like a better design than ours.
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Old 10-11-2020, 05:40 PM   #7
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

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Synchro 909: According to John Charlton, American Phaetons are tacked permanently to the rear tack rail like mine is, while others are not. I didn't know that. I am curious as to how the top on your Australian Phaeton is secured to the body. Two nuts and it's off? Sounds like a better design than ours.
Mike, I didn't know that about the American tourers either but now that it has been raised, I don't know how ours came ex factory. For as long as I have been aware, our hoods are done using a row of "lift the dot" fasteners across the back https://www.jclarkemarine.com/blogs/...-dot-fasteners
To remove the hood, I unclip those, undo the nut each side and preferably with the help of another person to prevent scratching the paint, I lift it off.
Merely for appearances sake, I have a valence across the back to cover the clips. All of those horrible Ford clips along the sides for curtains are also replaced with these.

I have also made a tonneau cover that goes from the back of the front seat to the back of the back seat. It clips onto press studs in the back of the front seat and another row of lift the dots across the back. It clips onto the lift the dot posts along the side and there are holes for the side curtain posts to go through at the top of the doors. Once it is fitted, the back doors can't be opened without unclipping at least part of the cover and people these days can't work that out so everything under the cover is out of sight, out of mind and secure enough that we have never had a problem. It also stops things in the back being blown out when travelling with hood or just side curtains off. For 99% of runs, I leave the LHS (Kerb side) undone just far enough to be able to open the door to access the rear seat area under the cover. Best addition I have made to the car!
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Old 10-11-2020, 07:16 PM   #8
Mike Peters
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

Synchro: I like your way of fastening your Phaeton top to the back of the body better than our way. We Americans can be a bit provincial when it comes to matters such as this, but in the spirit of open mindedness, let's compare the two.
You can see in these photos of our car that the rear curtain is tacked permanently to the rear tack rail. First, the curtain itself is tacked down, and then covered and tacked again with hidem welting to cover the first set of tacks. This is all very nice and lovely until such time that one may want to remove the top, as Ford 1930 does in order to trailer his car without damaging the top.
With your lift a dot system, it's a simple matter of unfastening the rear curtain from the tack rail and undoing the two nuts holding the main top bow to the body. As far as I know, all Phaetons sold in the US were all tacked down permanently like mine.
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Old 10-11-2020, 07:53 PM   #9
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

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Originally Posted by Mike Peters View Post
Synchro: I like your way of fastening your Phaeton top to the back of the body better than our way. We Americans can be a bit provincial when it comes to matters such as this, but in the spirit of open mindedness, let's compare the two.
You can see in these photos of our car that the rear curtain is tacked permanently to the rear tack rail. First, the curtain itself is tacked down, and then covered and tacked again with hidem welting to cover the first set of tacks. This is all very nice and lovely until such time that one may want to remove the top, as Ford 1930 does in order to trailer his car without damaging the top.
With your lift a dot system, it's a simple matter of unfastening the rear curtain from the tack rail and undoing the two nuts holding the main top bow to the body. As far as I know, all Phaetons sold in the US were all tacked down permanently like mine.
That makers a neat job of attaching the hood and it would be cheaper. That will be why Ford did it that way, IMO.
I have awful trouble uploading photos and my tourer is put away for the duration of this pandemic. Who knows when we will be able to use our cars again - not for the foreseeable anyway. Otherwise, I'd post a photo.
PS yesterday, we were told that it is unlikely that there will be any travel between here and the US or Europe for all of next year but IMO, it will all depend on t the arrival and administration of a vaccine.
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Old 10-13-2020, 02:05 PM   #10
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Default Re: Best way to tie down the top of a 1929 Phaeton

I tow mine with top up on my open trailer but only about 10 miles to and from the heated garage I store it in for winter. I was always told not to go faster than the car will go, so I stay at about 50 mph or so and it works fine. If I was going further at higher speeds, I would put it down, use bungee cords or straps to hold it in place, and make sure weather is good. (For those that ask why I just don't drive it there, I have a way back if I do it alone....)
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