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Denny Finch (aka 5WCoupe) [ View ] [ dfinch2@neo.rr.com ] [ Car Ads ] [ Blogs ] Atwater, Ohio (330) 935-2601

Haven’t been too active on the site lately but I log in every few days to see what’s going on. Been pretty busy completely re-doing my ride, trying to get it painted and back on the frame before winter. But this time, I need some advice. The ’30 Coupe has a vinyl top (soft top) and there was an aluminum trim that ran across the front of the vinyl top and on top of the visor. The aluminum trim ran all the way from the gutter on the passenger side to gutter on driver’s side. I have removed all the top trim, vinyl top, and sun visor. Henry had a strange way of attaching the sun visor, using body nails across the top of the wood header. Where the visor meets the steel part of the roof on the front corners, there are a series of “teeth” in the visor and the roof that need to be aligned and the “teeth” on both the roof and the visor are nailed into the wood header. I do not like this arrangement and I do not want to run the new trim all the way down to the gutters. Also, the trim does not fit well in this area and I am concerned that water could get in under the trim. I would rather use “hidem” around the vinyl top only. I have seen other Model A’s where the visor appears to be welded and filled to the roof and I am thinking of doing it. Is this a common thing to do? I am concerned that this area may be a stress point and it could possibly flex causing the weld/filler to crack. I have attached a picture of this area (I think) so you can see what I am trying to explain here. I am hoping some of you have run into this dilemma with some of your builds and can share some of your thoughts and ideas. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Denny

Comments

Posted by boop coupe  -  08/12/2008 09:03 AM Denny, I ran into the same problem with my "A". You are right , it is a place for water to get in. I like the idea of welding that in permenantly. I would say it is not a stress point because you still have the piece of steel that runs from post to post under the visor. If you replace the top with new (Juliano's kit) or similar yo need to plan ahead for your aluminum track that holds down the vinyl. The technical person I spoke to at Juliano's told me alot of people do this same operation. The only other way to make it weather tight is to run a rubber strip under the visor from gutter to gutter. Having the visor welded in place will make attaching the windsheild a little tricky, when you raise it out to install upper screws, tape off sides of visor to keep from chipping paint. Frank Jones [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] clarksville, Maryland   Posted by 30 A pickup  -  08/12/2008 09:43 AM I filled my top completely. Welded visor solid. No cloth at all. Lynn 30 A pickup [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Cowpens, South Carolina   Posted by 5WCoupe  -  08/12/2008 10:24 AM Hey Frank, Is your paint Job done? Thought I would be hearing more from you over the past few months. How about posting a few pics so we can see the job. I am not buying a top kit. Everything you need is commercially available and I do not plan to use the aluminum trim. I am using the leather or vinyl trim product called "Hidum". It is available at upholstry shops in various styles, material, sizes and colors and is much easier to use that the soft aluminum. I've got the muslum cloth, chicken wire, fill material, and vinyl. I bought the close grain vinyl from LaBonny Baron. It is true that the windshield is a little harder to install with the sun visor in place but it can be done. I removed it with the visor and cowl in place and it is a little tricky but it can be done. 5WCoupe [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Atwater, Ohio   Posted by 29robert  -  08/12/2008 06:54 PM Boy, Henry's boys really missed the boat with Model A sun-visors. The top of the 28-29 visors mounted to the underside of the wood header which directed any water flowing off the visor directly under the header. Little wonder the wood headers are always rotted out. It looks like they tried to make some improvements in 30-31, but the engineering just wasn't there. I've seen a lot of Model A's with the visors welded and feathered into the tops and haven't seen any crasks at that location. Just make sure everything is well caulked on the inside and be sure you can still get your windshield in and out. You can't get the windshield in without removing the sun-visor mounted on a 28-29. 29robert [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] La Verne, California Charter Member since November 2004   Posted by APLUS  -  08/12/2008 09:29 PM Robert, I removed the windshield on my '29 Tudor that had the visor welded in years ago. Unbolted the hinged portion that the windshield slides onto to replace a broken windshield. This was over twenty years ago but that's what I remember doing. APLUS [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Austin, Texas   Posted by 5WCoupe  -  08/13/2008 07:26 AM Thanks for all the input guys, but I would like to see a little more. I think I am deciding to fill it and blend it in. Do you all think my painter will be unhappy because it will be a little tougher to paint the windshield garnish covering the header and the underside of the sun visor with all this stuff installed before painting? A question for you guys that fabricate all the time. If I decide to do this, would you just tack weld the visor to the roof and fill this area with body filler or weld a strip of metal over the tabs and then fill and blend? Denny 5WCoupe [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Atwater, Ohio   Posted by 30 A pickup  -  08/13/2008 08:45 AM I have 27 louvers punched in the visor. I cut all the tabs off the visor. I also bought new curved pieces above the door. I cut the center section out of a mid 90's Olds 98, cut the metal to fit (butt weld) & then welded the entire thing in one tack at a time, visor & all. It was slow. Lynn 30 A pickup [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Cowpens, South Carolina   Posted by 29robert  -  08/13/2008 11:32 AM APLUS - Yeh, you're right. I forgot that you can unbolt the top half of the windshield hinge from the header. 30 A pickup - seems to me that you should span the gap with sheet metal and use as little filler as possible. If you use only filler at that spot, it's backed up with metal in some places and wood in others. The two different materials expand and contract differently which can lead to cracking down the road. Do it right, do it once. 29robert [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] La Verne, California Charter Member since November 2004   Posted by 30 A pickup  -  08/13/2008 12:18 PM 29Robert, maybe I was not clear. All my gaps were spanned with metal, like a strip in places. Only filler I will have is to smooth the weld, 1/16" at the most. 30 A pickup [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Cowpens, South Carolina   Posted by 29robert  -  08/13/2008 12:36 PM Cool! 29robert [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] La Verne, California Charter Member since November 2004

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