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A Look at Roof Rails

The RAIL ROOF SIDE ASSEMBLY gives structural integrity to the top of the car. It provides a superstructure to screw the uprights to as well as provides a platform for the top, when the roof RIBS are added. There are four assemblies: one for each side of the car, one for the front, and one for the rear. We are discussing only the side assemblies in this post.


There were several makers of bodies for the "Center Door" Sedan. Wadsworth bodies are indented at the front lower corner of the front quarter panels. Fisher Body Company bodies are smooth in this area. There is also speculation that Ford made some bodies, but this has not been independently confirmed by this writer. What is known is that after 1926, no bodies were made by Fisher for Ford. They were GM exclusive at that point.


In the following pictures, we can see the remains of my original roof rails. They are made of two pieces of wood sandwiched together with the appropriate mortise placements to coincide with the tenons on top of the Pillars. No parts of the original RIBS remain.


This picture details the way the two pieces were put together. The screw indentations along the side are from the attachment of the wraparound drip guard (for rain).



The following series of pictures shows comparison of the original rail to a modern reproduction kit rail.


One of the first things to notice is that the original rail only has only THREE attachment points for the RIBS: one rear quarter, one door opening, one front quarter. The reproduction kit part has FIVE Rib attachment points: two in the rear quarter, two in the door opening, and one in the front quarter.


The Ford Parts Book from March 1927, the wood part drawing only shows three RIBS in the car, which is exactly what my car has. There is another drawing floating around out there that shows at least five, but I think it's for an earlier Sedan.

The above photo shows how the mortises were cut in the original piece: a forstner bit and then squared out by a chisel. The reproduction is clearly two pieces of wood that have been glued together.


The above picture shows locations of the RIB attachment points. Notice the original paint. In the picture below, notice the remains of original fabric.


It is worth noting that the body parts book says that when ordering parts to specify body maker. Although one body from a particular Model T Ford could be swapped out with another body, those individual body pieces would not necessarily fit another.

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