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I run a small bead of sealant on the ridge inside of the tack holes, then I can peek under the fabric to see where the holes are.  Once you get a few tacks in, then finding the edge of the other holes is by eyesight.  Using a piece of blue painter’s tape isn’t a bad idea at all, I use that (and the green body shop paper) all the time when I’m doing upholstery work.

I’d be interested to know what people are using for final trim, if they don’t have the original pieces.  I know you can buy aluminum strips and bend them, is there anything more flexible out there that works?  I don’t want to use that ugly hot rod stuff that’s available, and I have a top to do right now.

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Most cars had oval shaped slots in the metal roof edge, usually the tack that holds top material goes in one end, the fastener for trim goes in the other end.

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It was common practice to coat the original top with a dressing to help keep it waterproof.  A lot of companies supplied these dressings.

As you mention, I think the original material had a slight pattern to it, but it was much smoother than the (what I call) heavy grain on current cobra materials.

I think the replicated Pantasote is possibly closer, it has a slight pattern but not much.

I’d be interested to know what trim you’re using.  Do you have some original metal trim, or?

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Appears to be a long grain cobra material.  Eric Haartz does have some oddball material stashed away, Bjorn could clarify exactly what he put on the car.

My opinion is that the original material was a very faint grain, and not the pronounced grain of most top material now found.  Not quite a smooth Pantasote material, but not the heavy raised ridges either.  That’s just my opinion.

Kudos to Eric, he’s a great resource for us early car guys, always willing to help in any way he can, when he could just as easily ignore that part of his huge business…

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That is the repainted car, was the one that showed up at, I think, Buffalo 100 year meet, painted purple.  Fellow sold the car and had it repainted in about 2005.  Very nice car to say the least…

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The car looks great in the side view!  I’m not a fan of all those lights, but to each his own.  At first I was appalled that someone driving it was smoking, then remembered no interior!  Hope your trimmer knows what he’s doing, no foam and the correct padding for the top…good luck!

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Great find, apparently a rare car from a very obscure maker. All aluminum, company only in business in the 1930s for five years….you scored a Pierce not often seen!

http://www.grandoldtoys.com/toydb_Detail.php?id=551

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One issue with Babbitt is when you go undersize on the crank, the Babbitt gets thicker. Babbitt doesn’t transmit heat well, so the thicker Babbitt tends to get hotter and start to come apart. Or, at least that’s what I’ve been told over the years.

I have inserts on two straight eights, my ’31 Pierce and a ’38 Super Eight other P car, and am very happy with them. On the ’31, the rods were built up slightly on the sides to compensate for no side Babbitt, if that makes sense. On the Packard, we just brazed three spots on each side of rod and made a jig to machine to size needed, and that’s what replaces side Babbitt. There’s virtually no side thrust on the bottom end of a rod, so all that’s needed is a spacer to replace the side Babbitt.

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What’s the feeling of Babbitt versus installing inserts? When I was at White Post Restoration, most Babbitt rods were sent to a place in California to be converted to insert…

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Guess he’s slowed down on build, I will say a lot of the painted parts were dusty!

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No doubt it’s a Pierce!

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These were reproduced years ago. Every now and then one shows up on Ebay, also search for “Pierce Bicycle”” as a similar decal was used on many bikes.

I’m not aware of anyone who has some in stock now.”

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I agree, great time, we really enjoyed it…

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I’ve been working closely with fabricator, and recently at his request spent a lot of time making an exact template. I feel, from our conversations and knowing his methodology, that these are going to be excellent mats. I have to feel that way, as people, myself included, have money in this. I’m doing everything I can to make a quality mat that looks great and fits.

Doing any project to replicate the original parts is scary, to some extent. I’m not making any money on this, but have hours and hours in the project. Not complaining in any way, I want one too, but a lot of people don’t get that these reproduction parts don’t just pop up out of nowhere. A few months from now, when these are done and happiness abounds, then someone might be able to just pick up a phone and order one (there are a couple extra being made, at fabricator’s cost}. Wish I could have done that….

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Yes, that’s the mat….note how accelerator pedal is offset from accelerator rod…

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For electrical parts (though not Pierce specific):

The Brillman Company brillman.com 2328 Pepper Road Mt. Jackson Va 22842

888-2745562

For top hardware, including specialty fasteners, mainly earlier tops:

Antique Auto Top Hardware Company, 30688 S. Marian St. Molalla Or 97038

503-8245888 antiqueautotophardware.com

For specialty zippers for tops:

Custom Zips customzips.com 203-8661540

P.O. Box 1200 South Norwalk Connecticut

For leather, I’ve been using the following company, they only sell wholesale but I was able to get my name on the list, if anyone needs help buying leather I’ll be glad to assist:

Coast to Coast Leather coast2coastleather.com

two locations, NJ and NC; 732-5258877 is NJ office

1 Crossman Road Sayreville NJ

It’s a shame, I have two local businesses, small shops, but they don’t do stuff through the mail. One is an old time radiator shop, repairs radiators and gas tanks and does a great job. Another is a one-man shop which repairs old starters and generators, as good as it gets and very reasonable, the last starter and generator I brought him were off my ’38 Packard Super 8, complete rebuild of both a little over $200. I’d be glad to be the middle man if anyone wants either service.

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Mats are in production phase, thanks to those who ordered and we should be getting the first ones in the next few weeks. Shown is the insert for the mat, copied precisely from the original….

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Think the removable emblem is 1932-33, for crank hole cover. 1931 had a solid plate with a quarter turn fastener, and 1934 up were all bolted on, stationary emblems.

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It’s called open seam tubing. It’s out there but hard to source. I’d make it if it were me, take regular tubing and have a metal worker friend grind or machine the slot.

The other method would be to cut your cover fabric to the exact circumference needed, glue to a solid rod with seam on lower back of rod, and hand sew the seam. I’ve done it that way on a few cars…..

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Car looks fabulous in the pictures. I’d say price is “reasonable” in the Hyman world, a lot of the cars I see offered there seem to be well overpriced, though they sell…

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