Ever since the first one came flaking down on its owner's head, people have searched for the ideal replacement for the soft top insert in '30s-era cars. And honestly, we've come up with some pretty good ones over the years. Among other things, we've welded later-model top skins over the holes, and one company, Juliano's Hot Rod Parts, even offers a kit that rethinks the design altogether, replacing the antiquated cotton batting and chicken wire with modern materials. But we have to admit we're a little bit taken with this latest one.
Builder Bill Ross revealed it to us when we shot John Cherry's black five-window, the Deuce that appeared on the April '08 cover. It has a vinyl top insert, but it's not what you think: it's actually a durable steel panel that's just been padded and covered with vinyl to look as if it were a soft insert. It actually bolts to the car as if it were another body panel.
"I tried it first on my '35 coupe. That car had a white insert and I was afraid that I'd eventually screw it up," Bill said. "Changing a stock-type insert is a lot of work, so I thought it would be nice if I could just remove it if I ever did screw it up-or if I just wanted to change colors."
In the years since, Bill had the opportunity to try it on several more cars: his own Deuce sedan, John's Deuce coupe, Rich Greiner's '33 three-window, and his latest project, a '36 three-window. Though they're basically the same idea, the latter two cars' top-insert channel required Bill to rethink the design. Once he finished those, he said he'd tell us how he did it.
Sometime in its past Bill's...
Sometime in its past Bill's '36 got its roof chopped and filled, albeit poorly. But as luck would have it, its would-be restylist left the channel intact and cut the filler large enough to let Bill reuse it.
Top insert channels differ,...
Top insert channels differ, but one thing is the same: the new insert should land roughly in the middle of the channel and protrude more than halfway into it. Bill began by establishing the channel's centerline.
Bill intended the top flange...
Bill intended the top flange to protrude 1/4-inch into the channel. However, he trimmed the panel 3/8-inch beyond the centerline with the intention of trimming the edge after forming it.
He made a flanging tool from...
He made a flanging tool from a pair of locking pliers. He rounded the jaws and set his bending depth with a nut. He found that a 1/4-inch nut in these specific pliers gave him about 3/8-inch flange in 19-gauge steel.
Though this bending process...
Though this bending process is slick, it doesn't make a perfectly smooth bend. So Bill made it perfect with some dolly and hammer work.
By a series of many incremental...
By a series of many incremental bends, no more than a few degrees at a time and each bend overlapping the other, Bill broke the panel's edge. We showed a similar bend technique in the transmission tunnel story "Gettin' Over the Hump" in October '08. The same techniques apply.
Bill first used a dolly-off-hammer...
Bill first used a dolly-off-hammer technique to push the edge back down to where it's supposed to be. He backed the panel about an inch from the edge and applied many light/medium overlapping blows.
Correcting the insert reveals...
Correcting the insert reveals the problem: since the flange is too long, it will gather. A Lancaster Porto shrinker does a good job on flat sections, but its dies won't conform properly to such a curve.
Using techniques similar to...
Using techniques similar to those we outlined in the tunnel story, Bill shrunk the edge by carefully hammering the puckers down. It's fairly easy on aluminum, but 19-gauge steel can be quite difficult. Bill flattened and shrunk each corner numerous times.