1923 Buick Convertible Top

[Guest lostlakefarm]

I am looking for a replacement top for my 1923 Buick Touring car. Does anybody have contacts for kit producers for this year? I've tried LaBaron Bonney with no luck.:confused:

[unimogjohn]

No kits that I am aware of, and I looked and looked. Making the tops is almost a lost art. I was fortunate to find a "trimmer" locally in VA that did mine for me. Dave Coco is on the forum as Trimacar. You might contact him to see if he knows of anyone out your way. Here are a couple of pics of my 23 McLaughlin Buick with its new top.

[trimacar]

Off hand I don't know of anyone out in the Colorado area, but surely there's someone. It does seem to be getting harder and harder to find someone to do decent work at a decent price. John has a little bit of a hard time working on his Buick and Avanti, since I charged him an arm, but at least he's got both legs left........

[poci1957]

I am sure trimacar will agree that on a 1920s car even if someone would claim to have a top kit it is extremely unlikely it would fit anyway--that top has to be custom made. It can be done but you must find someone experienced, and if you do ask to see other cars they have worked on first, Todd C

[trimacar]

Todd is correct. Early tops must be custom fit. There are differences in top bows and irons, as they've been used and abused over the years.

The first step in putting a top on the car has nothing to do with fabric. You have to position the bows, and then see how they line up. Most tops are not symmetrical from the front'back centerline of the car, usually one side hangs over more, and that needs to be adjusted. Also, sometimes bows are twisted, so the top iron on one side doesn't line up with top iron on other.

I can give you an example. A friend of mine has a 1938 Packard super 8 convertible coupe, just like mine, but he lives 1000 miles away. We both needed new tops, so I offered to pattern one on my bows, then send it to him in "kit" form. Just to be sure, I had him send me his old top, and I trial fit his old top on my bows. It was off a good two inches or more in height. There's no way I could make a kit for his, without having his car in front of me.

The absolute best top work I've ever seen was on an early brass car, and had been done by an Amish craftsman. Perfect stitching, perfect fit........

[poci1957]

Yup, all correct, and trimacar will smile when I say no car resembles this more than a 1937 Cord. Hey Dave, what are the odds THAT one could have a top fit out of the box? Todd C

[Guest lostlakefarm]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am going to have the guy doing my upholstery do the top also. He has been in business for a long, long time. And has great references!

[trimacar]

Funny on the Cord, you're correct, Todd, and Cord confused it even more by having two different top bow configurations on the phaetons. There is a gentleman who makes kits for 810/812 phaetons, so there must be a way to make them fit.

I did a complete upholstery job on a '37 phaeton (not mine), and it wasn't bad. The worst (from a pain in the arse fabrication viewpoint) was a Packard Darrin. The Darrin top attaches at the front, with two pieces of sheet metal that clip into the windshield trim. To make a custom top for that car, I had to figure a way to temporarily attach the fabric to the metal, being able to take it off for sewing. It was a fun build.....