Convertible Top - How Much to Replace?

[RansomEli]

I need to replace the convertible top on my 1921 Franklin 9B touring. I know it's going to cost more than I think -- the question is, how much more? I am looking for a ballpark figure on what are people paying for upholstery work nowadays. The first place I called wanted $2500.

[Reatta Man]

Eli,

I wouldn't be surprised by that number. Basically, your car is going to have to have a new top made from scratch by hand. And, assuming that every screw will need to be replaced, every tacking strip will be dry rotted and need to be replaced, a shop has to estimate high just to protect themselves.

Just to be sure, get at least two more estimates. And, if you are near a major city like Chicago, also you will be paying more just due to the high operating costs the shop will have to carry.

Joe

[RansomEli]

I am in the Austin, Texas area. I also would appreciate any recommendations.

[Restorer32]

A lot will depend on the condition of your bows and whether or not your old top is good enough for patterns as well as the quality of the material you want to use. Do the bows need to be wrapped? Is the rear window of a complicated design? It's all about the labor. $2000-$2500 sounds about right.

[Steve Braverman]

$2500 sounds cheap!

If you decide it's too much, I'm in the market for a Series 9 touring.

[JFranklin]

If you wait some months until the depressed economy sinks in you may find a shop that will be glad to do your job at a much reduced cost. As it was mentioned before you are mainly being charged for labor. I just took some parts to be plated and it was evident I made their day.

[RansomEli]

Thanks for the preliminary information. You know, I just might try doing it myself. Has anyone done their own top?

[Jon37]

Yes, it's possible to make and install your own top if you have a sense of adventure, a certain instinct as to how things go together, and a realization that the finished product probably won't win you any trophies.

When I bought a 1937 convertible in 1971 I had very little money to spend on the top, so set out to make and install my own. I obtained some good quality convertible top canvas, then -- armed with a reprinted magazine article entitled "Re-topping the Antique Automobile", by a top shop in New Jersey -- I got to work. I salvaged the torn and rotted pieces of the old top and traced them onto the new material with chalk. Noting how the pieces were put together, I connected them with pins and took them to a local canvas shop (that made boat covers) for sewing. Then I brought the finished sewn sections back home and pinned additional pieces to them, and returned again to the canvas shop for further sewing. Although the magazine article pictured a 1920's car like yours, the basic construction was similar to that of a late 1930's car. Finally, I tacked the top to the car, stretching here, loosening there, fitting, re-tacking, and generally feeling my way through the operation, until the thing looked reasonably good. I finished up with the hidem welting, to conceal the tacks along the front and back, and installed snaps in the appropriate places.

The result wasn't too bad looking, and it looked better the farther away from the car that you stood. I did the whole job for a song. I felt a sense of pride. And, the top stayed on the car for over 35 years.

[trimacar]

Hi- I have done upholstery (early tops and leather work) professionally, and now do it upon occasion as a hobby (to finance my own projects). I once owned a 1917 Franklin, so am familiar with the car and top. $2500 is a fair price for a top done with the right material and done correctly, and, in fact, is about right (or a little under) what I would charge for labor.

You do not state what material they are using, nor if the price included materials. Quality materials for an early touring top can easily run $800 to $1000. You can use cheap material, but remember that labor cost is the main expense, and you have to live with the result for as long as you own the car.

To do an early top correctly, from scratch, is time consuming. First, the bows need to be aligned and held in place; never assume that the position the bows are in now is correct as it could have been changed with other top applications. I have spent as much as a day (8 to 10 ours) just making sure the alignment of bows was correct, as if they are wrong, the top will be wrong.

The pads need to be fitted and sewn, then fit to the car and if done as original, padded, then hand stitched to close. The main top panel is then fit, the side panels fit and marked (and the stretching and fitting of the side panels is key to a nice fitting top). Then, sewed together, top stitched, and fit to car. Then the rear panel needs to be fit, cut, sewed, etc.

And, as in any craft, there are tricks to a correct job. The front corners of the top at the front bow are sewn large, for instance, so that they can be cut and the side of the top stretched tight. This is then hidden under front trim. The rear curtain should be tacked to rear bow first, with the main top tacked over it, thus shedding water to the back and not allowing it to run under trim. It goes on.

It is not difficult to put a top on. It is time consuming, and requires both patience and a knowledge of the steps to take, and the order in which to take them.

Take a look at other work that the upholsterer has done, and make sure he/she knows what they are doing.

Good luck. dc

[RansomEli]

Thanks for all the information and advice. I'm going to think about this for a while. The car has a usable but worn-out top and boot I can use as patterns; I might just try to duplicate the boot as a trial project. If I have a lot of trouble then I know not to attempt the top.

Working with cars makes you appreciate the craftsmanship required to restore each and every part. I really don't know how you professional restorers out there can make a living.

[trimacar]

Hi- my other advice is to use the old stuff as a guide, but when you make the new stuff, make it to fit. I have seen when old tops were carefully taken apart, each piece patterned, cut, and sewn, and then the new top does not fit correctly. The old material will stretch or shrink, and is not a good pattern. It is a good guide, however, to show how stitching was done, how panels were made, where snaps go, and all the little details. good luck! dc

[Guest windjamer]

I helped to install a ready made top for a 46 Ford. Never again.

[Friartuck]

I would add to trimacar's posts: Before you consider taking this project on yourself, what machine are planning to use to stitch this top together? You need a good walking foot machine that will handle the extra thickness and weight of the top material. This is the type of machine that has the upper & lower presser feet and the needle all moving in an oval stitch cycle. It should also have a reverse for locking the stitch. Then there is the presser foot attachments that are needed to make nice crisp piping and edges. While these attachments are become more available courtesy of the internet, they're not cheap.

If you start ruining $125/yard material with an inadequate machine and the edges look uneven, what have you saved? I would argue you may actually devalue the car. Choose wisely!!

[Guest windjamer]

I replaced both rear fenders on that ford, loosened and installed the webing on the fronts replaced all front shoes h/ware and cyls,brake lines, hoses, m/cyl,brake lines front to rear the gas tank and fill tube and lines rear to front. Installed rad. and grille. NO PROBLEM. Installing the top with two outher men took longer than all the for mentioned work. LET THE UPOLSTRY FOLKS DO IT. I learn hard, but I learn good.