The Ford Barn

Ordsgt · 05-07-2023, 12:39 PM

Time to embarrass myself. I took this car completely apart 1 1/2 years ago to rebuild. Running gear all done and body painted. Placed body on frame and am installing the top wood. I can not find the way the bows attach. I have taken a ton of pictures during disassembly but evidently missed that part. I looked through all I could but could not get an answer. You see in my pictures that I placed the 10-32 screw in from the bottom which looks fine and will not interfere with headliner install but even if I trim the screw on top it appears as it will be a problem with the top install. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

rotorwrench · 05-08-2023, 10:17 AM

Was the wood DIY or was it sourced from one of the vendors or fabricators? Did the fasteners come with the wood? The bows have to be flush with the side rails for the poultry netting to set flush prior to the covering process. The fasteners may be from the top down but I've not done a Tudor. My Sport Coup had fasteners for the top side rails that went in from the bottom but had special tapered nuts on top that are held with a special tool in similar fashion to a big screw driver since they were slotted. The fasteners have to be flush or below flush so that they don't protrude up. Some of the fasteners Ford used are not available so substitutes may be necessary. Perhaps some one with experience can help more than I. A lot of fabricators make the wood a little oversized which will require some wood work to get it where it needs to be.

Ordsgt · 05-08-2023, 11:02 AM

The top wood was commercially made and from my understanding he is the supplier to most of the suppliers. All the hardware came with the kit. There is very little literature or Videos on this and that is the reason for my posting. If I switch the machine screws to go down that would alleviate the problem of fitting the top bows but I am unsure if that would create a problem with the headliner.

Big hammer · 05-08-2023, 01:32 PM

No problem with headliner, the headliner hangs down away from the bottom of the bows. If you think it would be a problem cut the tails off of the screws after they are installed. Screw heads up , nuts down

31Tudor · 05-08-2023, 02:39 PM

The screws are too long. Originally, they had square nuts on them, on the top like you have it, but the original length of the screw was perfect, so the square nut was recessed in the wood, and then the screw just came up through the nut basically flush. as mentioned, you will need to get the bows flush where they rest on the side pieces. all of the wood joints need to be smooth.

Ordsgt · 05-08-2023, 04:46 PM

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Thanks for all your input. I believe the problem has been resolved. The ends of the bows that had the flat in it that mated to the rail needed to be sanded down about 1/4 inch. After that I reversed the screws and everything went in will only need light sanding. You are right the screws were way to long but it did help getting everything aligned. I will cut them off. Next is installing the gas tank without marring the paint on it and the car. Will get some volunteers to help with that.

Thanks

05-08-2023, 10:17 AM	#2
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,436	Re: 1930 Tudor topwood Was the wood DIY or was it sourced from one of the vendors or fabricators? Did the fasteners come with the wood? The bows have to be flush with the side rails for the poultry netting to set flush prior to the covering process. The fasteners may be from the top down but I've not done a Tudor. My Sport Coup had fasteners for the top side rails that went in from the bottom but had special tapered nuts on top that are held with a special tool in similar fashion to a big screw driver since they were slotted. The fasteners have to be flush or below flush so that they don't protrude up. Some of the fasteners Ford used are not available so substitutes may be necessary. Perhaps some one with experience can help more than I. A lot of fabricators make the wood a little oversized which will require some wood work to get it where it needs to be.

05-08-2023, 11:02 AM	#3
Ordsgt Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Yorktown Virginia Posts: 182	Re: 1930 Tudor topwood The top wood was commercially made and from my understanding he is the supplier to most of the suppliers. All the hardware came with the kit. There is very little literature or Videos on this and that is the reason for my posting. If I switch the machine screws to go down that would alleviate the problem of fitting the top bows but I am unsure if that would create a problem with the headliner.

05-08-2023, 01:32 PM	#4
Big hammer Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 3,131	Re: 1930 Tudor topwood No problem with headliner, the headliner hangs down away from the bottom of the bows. If you think it would be a problem cut the tails off of the screws after they are installed. Screw heads up , nuts down __________________ Don't force it with a little hammer tap, tap, tap get a bigger hammer tap done

05-08-2023, 02:39 PM	#5
31Tudor Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: North Carolina Posts: 611	Re: 1930 Tudor topwood The screws are too long. Originally, they had square nuts on them, on the top like you have it, but the original length of the screw was perfect, so the square nut was recessed in the wood, and then the screw just came up through the nut basically flush. as mentioned, you will need to get the bows flush where they rest on the side pieces. all of the wood joints need to be smooth.

05-08-2023, 04:46 PM	#6
Ordsgt Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Yorktown Virginia Posts: 182	Re: 1930 Tudor topwood Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Thanks for all your input. I believe the problem has been resolved. The ends of the bows that had the flat in it that mated to the rail needed to be sanded down about 1/4 inch. After that I reversed the screws and everything went in will only need light sanding. You are right the screws were way to long but it did help getting everything aligned. I will cut them off. Next is installing the gas tank without marring the paint on it and the car. Will get some volunteers to help with that. Thanks