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Cool article. having one one my car, I can attest to the overwhelming amount of work involved in building one of these tops.
Great article. I reread my Custom Cars Annuals pretty regularly... That cartoon that you lead off with always makes me think of the "mod" vinyl tops that Mopar offered in the 70's.
Sancho said exactly what I was thinking about the Mopars! Labor intensive job for sure. A guy with a '39 Ford I know is gonna have to let me take a close look at his now. The scariest thing about that job would be working on a painted car.
Amos(Happy) Carson built a fitted top for a Model A in the 30`s. Glen perfected the top which evolved into the Carson top. The name which Glen bought the shop from. He was a work-a-holic, working many late nights. He was always thinking. He was also heavily involved with the Davis automobile.
Having done a couple "Carson style" tops in years past we came up with a better way. All that 1/4" iron gets really heavy. Since many didn't consider underbody bracing on convertibles or cars where the top was uncerimoniously chopped off I can see the need for the iron, but how about when it's removed? Who will help you remove it, and indeed put it back on? And what about the missing support needed with a top gone? With or without the heavy iron use I'd still recommend some bracing under the car. Braced up. ready for a top, ladies n gents, I submit to you E.M.T. Yes "Electric Metallic Tubing" or what we now call conduit. You still need the header, you might still wish to use the "chicken wire" for profile support unless you want it to look like a folding top with bows. Imagine the weight reduction. With an electrician's "hickey" for bending the sweeps become really easy. Some thinking ahead you can even put a rear bow in place and perhaps modify a "box top" (pre-made top that comes in a box) to fit your new "Carson". In your fabricating process the only negative is grinding the zinc plating off the welded areas but that's a small consolation, no? The best part? You won't need 3 men and a boy to lift it off the car when the mood hits. Sure, you still have to store it but... Just a lil tip from your ol Uncle Highlander. Have fun, and good luck if you do one.
This top was most likely made before 1970 and has held up well in daily use since then. Some seams are starting to split now due to shrinkage. I'll replace it fairly soon. It appears that the builder moved the rear convertible quarter glass top frame forward to frame the door glass opening with the door glass curved to match. I'm pretty sure the stock rear convertible window was used. The headliner is done in black fabric to match the interior.
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