The profile of the convertible top on my late 1957 Speedster is not particularly sleek looking. The rear bow seems to be too high, so the back window panel drops down too sharply. Is this correct? Does anyone have profile photos or drawings of the high-bow and low-bow tops?
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This is a place where a picture would reeeeealy help.
Some info on Speedster convertible tops- http://www.abcgt.com/forum/4-3...?limit=6&start=6
A picture as well as replica make. Here's what the CMC build manual says - perhaps builder didn't read?
We’re out having dinner, but I can post hi/lo bow photos later tonight.
I have a low bow, and I think Bob Carley has a high, or if someone has a photo of John Hallstrand’s “Red Man”, that has a cabriolet high bow top.
Gordon
My car has a low bow top.
ALB posted:Some info on Speedster convertible tops- http://www.abcgt.com/forum/4-3...?limit=6&start=6
Great read. Thanks for that.
Becks have high bow tops. I’ll dig up a picture.
And here's a good High versus Low comparison from the Carlisle show field:
Great pic, Gordon! I was looking and couldn't find anything side by side.
Super low bow.
*for midgets.
Pretty cool looking, assuming you're under 5'5".
Maybe, Stan, but you have to admit that it looks pretty cool...
That's why I like the idea of using heim joints in the ends of the metal top bows. It gives you some flexibility in top height and adjustment. I'm guessing you'd get a good 2" up . This would also allow for wrinkles to be compensated for.
Like Mike McK's?
Yup, it's mine. I was looking for that picture.
Greg, I beg to differ. You can certainly adjust the frame and make the top tighter, but you aren't going to get 2" height difference with the same canvas/vinyl.
Yeah, if you use a low-bow designed top material (from VS, at least) with CMC high bows, the top will stop about 2" shy of the body (ask me how I could possibly know this....)
Stan wrote: "Pretty cool looking, assuming you're under 5'5"."
I take umbrage with that. I had to work really hard to get to 5'6".....Raw Cow's milk as a kid and everything! LOTS of over-cooked vegetables! (it was a 1950's thing.) Thought I was "average" height til high school graduation when they lined us up to walk into the auditorium in order of height. Who the hell thought THAT one up? I ended up fifth from the front behind three midget girls and "Pixie" Pelland, so named because he was, like, really "short"! Let me tell ya.....I grew like a weed up until the sixth grade. Jus' sayin...
And I can fit into a lot more Japanese cars than YOU probably can and I certainly fit into a Speedstah! (ANY frikkin Speedstah...) No "Looking at the windshield frame" for me! ('Course, I might have trouble looking over the steering wheel and dash eyebrow...Let's not go there.)
Even my biking friends look down on me (literally - But notice the Patriots hat!):
And now I have to put up with this!
I can see, I gotta go boost my standards.........
ALB posted:Maybe, Stan, but you have to admit that it looks pretty cool...
Lovin' it!
it does look good. I'd like a weency bit more rake / height on mine. I don't care what the top looks like, I simply can't get behind whitewalls on a speedster.
Pretty cool lookin, and I like the rear window too. Is that material "new" low slope shingle style 
DannyP posted:Greg, I beg to differ. You can certainly adjust the frame and make the top tighter, but you aren't going to get 2" height difference with the same canvas/vinyl.
My thought was to use the heim joint adjustment to raise the front bow and lower the rear bow. Currently Wombat's rear bow is apparently too high - so the ski sloped rear window. If his bows are in right position (taller in front and shorter in rear) then pain to add length so cutting threads in existing bow would perhaps be a quick fix. Maybe 2" up in front and 2" down in back -- plus a little extra for stretched canvas maybe. Granted the side curtains would have to be redone . Worth a try - if the adjustment doesn't change look, at least there would be less friction it raising/lowering top - and the heim joints look kool.
One thing that might not be obvious in my heim joint photo is that, at each pivoting location, I have a nylon washer between two stainless washers to kind of act as a bearing.
Isn't that Falling Water in the background?
It looks like it to me. If you are heading west upon leaving Carlise it is easy to stop there for a visit.
The first time I tried that was before GPS. I had a little trouble finding it and got there after closing time. I was still able to walk around outside.
It is, indeed! We took a detour (one of several, it seems) when we rode the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC. and that was one of the better side-trips, along with the Antietam Battleground in Sharpsburg, MD.
I like riding with Scott - get behind him and it's like drafting a bread truck.
This year, we're riding amongst the Colorado Rockies.
Lane Anderson posted:This is a place where a picture would reeeeealy help.
Finally had a break in the weather to be able to roll the car out for a photo. This is definitely a “high” top, and a clumsy looking one at that. But is it a period-correct “high top” as would have been seen on a late 1957 Speedster. I’m assuming that Porsche would have done a more elegant job. But as the top was so incidental to the Speedsters designed mission statement, maybe not. What say you?
Wombat, I think your top looks fine.
The original Speedster top did have an actual scissor frame (sort of), so it tensioned the fabric a bit better than say, a VS top. The VS top relies upon the two tube bows, a header bow, and pretty much blind faith in the laws of Physics to support the fabric.
As is often the case with scientific experiments, though, practical results often fall short of theoretical predictions.
Here's a web site that advertises recreations of the original Speedster top frames (at a mere $4500 a pop, sans fabric). I don't know anything about these folks, but they have some nice photos showing the frames and how a top looks supported by one.
My personal solution is to keep the top folded away except during the occasional hail storm or similar emergency. In 23,000 miles, I've used the top about five times.
If it's a trip of under five miles, I can usually walk there in less time than it takes to fit the top and side curtains.
I think it looks fine, too. Here are some real ones, although most of what I have for photos are cabriolets:
wombat posted:Lane Anderson posted:This is a place where a picture would reeeeealy help.
Finally had a break in the weather to be able to roll the car out for a photo. This is definitely a “high” top, and a clumsy looking one at that. But is it a period-correct “high top” as would have been seen on a late 1957 Speedster. I’m assuming that Porsche would have done a more elegant job. But as the top was so incidental to the Speedsters designed mission statement, maybe not. What say you?
Your top looks tip-top. Top of the morning to you also.
It looks fine - wonder why the back bow is so sharp an angle? Looks like it would cause wear there. Would a piece of 3/8" pipe insulation smooth it out? I never caught the make of your Speedster (assume VS?)
Mitch posted - Here's a web site that advertises recreations of the original Speedster top frames (at a mere $4500 a pop, sans fabric) . Raul in MX used to advertise a similiar folding frame on Ebay for around $500 with canvas - but I haven't seen it for years. A couple SOCers (Mango) bought them and said quality was not great. TJWard has a MX connection and his MX kit has a folding top so he may have a source.
I wish I had pursued this $300 folding top frame a few years ago!
Whether or not you pursued it only matters if you are going to finish your Speedster. :-)
WOLFGANG posted:It looks fine - wonder why the back bow is so sharp an angle? Looks like it would cause wear there. Would a piece of 3/8" pipe insulation smooth it out? I never caught the make of your Speedster (assume VS?)
Mitch posted - Here's a web site that advertises recreations of the original Speedster top frames (at a mere $4500 a pop, sans fabric) . Raul in MX used to advertise a similiar folding frame on Ebay for around $500 with canvas - but I haven't seen it for years. A couple SOCers (Mango) bought them and said quality was not great. TJWard has a MX connection and his MX kit has a folding top so he may have a source.
I wish I had pursued this $300 folding top frame a few years ago!
Yes, it's that back bow making the sharp angle that bothers me. Is that standard on true high bow tops?
Michael McKelvey posted:Whether or not you pursued it only matters if you are going to finish your Speedster. :-)
Bingo!
I'm going no-bow...
There's not a cloud in the sky all day and suddenly on my way home from work (stop and go traffic) a severe (very heavy) rain squall will roll in...get home soaked and all the rain and clouds are gone as if it never happened.
Wombat posted: "Yes, it's that back bow making the sharp angle that bothers me. Is that standard on true high bow tops?"
Yeah, pretty much, although you'll see some variation depending on the height/length of the rear bow. To be honest, all of the other high bow tops look just like yours.
I like it. And I think a lot of older convertible tops had that kind of sharp-edged batwing look. It looks right.
