I have a 1927 DB Deluxe sedan fast four. The roof has a large tear/rip in the roof near the middle. It had been patched with what looks like very thick electrical tape (which appears to have been done before it went into storage in the late 40's.) This is a survivor car having only had the headlight replaced with sealed beams (in the 30's and I have the originals) being painted black and second set of tires (in the 40's before storage) and having the vacumm pump repaired and fan hub replaced in the last year. I would like to know if it would be better to try to replace the leather roof or just get it patched/repaired? If it's best to replace it, does anyone know how easy it would be? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Since it is a survivor and is in great condition I really do not want to do to much to it until absolutely necessary. Please help!!!! I know about and have purchased the fan hub from Myers Early Dodge who I highly reccomend if you need parts for a early Dodge. To see the car we have made it it's own MySpace page and is www.myspace.com/avintageride if you care to see pictures or watch a video of me driving it around the block. Thanks...John Cantrell Proud owner

The roof material is not leather as far as I know unless your car had it's roof replaced at some time with leather. The original material is linen impregnated with natural rubber. The calendered rubber is what gives it that pattern. Unfortunetly the natural rubber dies over the years and this is where the leaks come from. I've seen a roof that was completely intact but would not hold back ANY water.
The original material is no longer available, which is just as well, but is reproduced in modern black vinyl with a cloth backing. It's available by the 'running foot' and is 4 or 5 feet wide. I don't know what repro outfits are around Macon but I would start with body shops and shops that make convertible tops. They may have it in a catalog. The repro antique Ford and Chev outfits sell it. I think in your age of car it would be an afternoon's job to pull off the old 'skin' and nail on a new one.
When you do get the material and go to do the job, have a couple of tubes of black RTV silicone rubber handy to fill in any gaps on the edges as you pull the material down over the edge and nail it down. I believe the drip rail is the last piece nailed on and a little bit of RTV under it makes for a waterproof job. You have to be very good to get it perfectly water proof and the RTV makes up for any imperfections.
Also do not do it in the cold. In fact it's better you do it in some sun and heat. If you do it inside in room temperature, the material will not stretch enough as you pull it across the car and it will sag in summer sunlight and heat and look like hell. Make sure you pull it very tight from side to side as you nail it to keep it under tension later in the sun.
Yes you guessed it I am speaking from experience.
Good luck.

I was thinking it was Leather because that's what it looks like, haven't really taken that close a look. It's still very water tight (nothing leaks through even at the "rip" which has that thick electrical tape on it) which is good considering it's age and the fact that it was in storage from the late 40's till 2006-7 probably helped it out. I do know that you would stretch these out in the sun and heat so it would make an excellent tight fit. Guess i'll have to see about that black vinyl, it just looks so much like black leather.... (I also have thought about using elephant hide leather which is extremely durable but it's a little expensive)...Oh well thanks for the info i'll just have to see what I can find in vinyl that will fit with no seams...Thanks

I found a piece of the repro roof material left over from one of my restorations. This is an authentic reproduction of what pretty well 100% of the old vehicles had on their roofs. Is this what you have on your roof? The only difference might be in the length of the 'grain' detail. I've been told there was a 'short' and 'long' grain but I've never seen any other than this style for sale now.
This is what we all use to replace the cloth roofs in those old cars. The 'grain' runs from front to back on the car. Once replaced with this material it will almost certainly be the last time the roof will have to be recovered. One of my jobs is in it's 20th year and still looks new.

Actually on my roof you can't tell to well if it had grain or not. It's kinda fish scaled (or flaking up) but appears to be a smooth top. Is it possible that the orginal owner got/had some liquid rubber and "painted" the roof to keep it from leaking? I've looked at the "flakes/scales" and they appear to be very thin, and when I looked at the edge of the fabric where the rip is it is very thin and appears to be the original top. So I guess it has either been "painted" or either it was a short grain or even smooth top. I'll try to post some pictures later. also do you know of a website where I can get the material? Not much luck on my own, but have found several marine websites with black vinyl in that size which definetly wouldn't need anything for awhile unless it got ripped. Thanks for your help

Bought the material to cover our roof on our Graham (almost 12' long) from www.restorationspecialties.com. They have their catalog on their website. Fabric is on Page 105 at top of page. We used the long grain. Worked well for us. Used burlap and padding under fabric to protect against wood just like original roof was. Good luck.

Well after looking at mine I found that it has chicken wire (the big hole stuff) stretched over the wood frame (I guess since I only see it through the rip) and cotton batting over that. I'm guessing the wire was used to keep the roof from sagging giving it that extra support. I'll let you know more as I find out...Thanks for the website info, i'll be checking them out....

The chicken wire is correct and was used to the end of the days of fabric roofs for support. It is stapled on first to the wooden bows/slats. (In all later Chrysler product cars it was the antenna for the radio, a factory supplied radio connection lead dropping down the inside of the right window post and over to the radio. The center conductor at the other end was soldered to the chicken wire and the shield braid was soldered to the metal roof edge.I have and use this original antenna setup on one of my cars. The lead was still there,undisturbed,wrapped with a bit of friction tape.Left there long ago on the day the body was made. I often wonder if the guy wrapping up the lead ever thought some one would install a radio and use 'his' antenna lead. It did but it took nearly 60 years for it to happen.)
The 'batting' went on next,the original,I believe,was horse hair. I use a layer of thin foam that I buy at the ladies' sewing supply stores. It's used as a fill in liner for quilts. I found any kind of loose batting required a long lost skill to make sure there were no lumps. The modern layer of foam shows no lumps or waves through the finshed roof. I use STP Son of a Gun to keep it clean and supple over the years.
Good luck it appears you're on your way to a new roof. Thanks for saving an antique Dodge.

Here's some photos of the car, the wife has named her "Susie" but don't call her Betsy or old or ole, she don't like that. Hope you like and let me know what ya'll think......

More photo's of the car.......

A side note, by looking at the underside of the visor I can see the grain somewhat and it appears to have been the long grain. also do you have to remove the top from the car in order to put the new vinyl on? my drip rails run underneath the edge between the roof and frame (over the doors) so there would not be anyway you could nail it on after stretching the vinyl on the top. I'm just trying to see how much of a hassel this might be before I even attempt it, I'd hate to start pulling the roof material off and find out later that it's gonna be impossible to do without removing it. If you do have to anyone know exactly how many screws there are and where? I can see the ones under the visor and in the door frames but what about the back section? and how hard would they be to get to and remove? I can't see them or feel them because of the headliner and don't want to endup having to do both roof and headliner/interior just yet as money is tight and I want to do it in stages as I get more comfortable doing the work myself...Thanks in advance....doing my best to keep as much original stuff on the car as possible.....

Let me know if some of the photo's didn't go thru.... I get the box with a red x in it and it doesn't download them, so i'm not sure if it's my end or the sites end cause it seemed to upload just fine....

Here are some lower quality photo's of my car...hope these go thru....