Good day gentleman

Bill Hoaglan has been very helpful is supplying me with pictures , text and conversion.

But....how to attaching roof to front arch is still in question.

I understand "hidems" and there usage. I see lot of pictures with the roof material nailed to "top" bottom edge of front arch (i.e. the front of arch when roof is up) and there is the appropriate hidem as seen from front view of car.

But..
In my researching and accumulating hardware for the roof, I found many examples of material remains on old front roof arches. These showed that the roof material was wrapped around the front arch to be nailed to the bottom of the arch (i.e. these nail heads were directly visible to the driver).

My 2 points ????
1. I find the front hidem and its silver tips incongruent with my poor boy Star. Did the original setup tack roof of top of front arch, or did the wrap keep going to be nailed to the bottom (i.e. back when roof up and directly in view of the driver)? It seems to me that that old time pictures to be found of a plain 1926 Star Touring M with roof up show no hidem.

2. On an engineering note, to achieve roof tautness, with least strain on securing points, the effective friction created by the roofing material being wrapped to bottom of the front arch, would greatly relieve any stress put on securing points (i.e nails/tacks). Some of my sailor days are showing.


Any help/comments of any type appreciated.

guy

Where Are You From? Peace River Cda

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1926 Star Touring

Guy Get the book Model T Ford Restoration Handbook
It is a soft cover with a red brass era Model T ford on the cover.
Yes I know I mentioned the dreaded F word on our site

It has real good article inside on installing touring tops on a twenties car.
The article was written in the 1960s and is very informative.
A friend of mine used the article to make and install the top on his 1920 GrayDort.

Where Are You From? Guelph, Ont. Canada

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1922 Durant A-22

Guy,
As a follow-up on our discussion.
Click on our Special Interest page, then Lancing Durant Factory Circa 1923, then on row 3 enlarge picture #4 (for rear window placement) and picture #7 (for front bow top trim)...These are of the standard Durant as the tops were actually being made, It appears to me that there is a Hidem with nickel welting tips on the front of the front bow....Check out all the pictures, they are quite interesting, there is a Roadster and you can see how they layered the material as it fastenes to the back bow so the top will shed water...

Welting Tips are available in both Black and Nickel, If you are interested in a Hidem that matches your topping material, Lebarron Bonny can make some out of the same fabric, at any extent, you will need to use hidem to trim out your back bow as there will be a raw edge and tack line to cover, also keep in mind that the back bow recieves as much tension from the topping material as does the front bow and it does not wrap around.

Where Are You From? Leavenworth, WA / Yuma AZ

Do You own a car built by Durant? several

Thanks for sharing this to us but roofing arlington ma is more better for that. Will look forward on updating this community too.