Re-roofing a 29 Town Sedan

Unknown

I'm about to tackle the installation of new roofing material on

my '29 Town Sedan (Briggs body) and -- as with so many issues -- as a

new owner I have lots of questions.



Here's the situation:



I got the car with a swatch of new roofing material (the "right

stuff," from what I can tell). I also have three aluminum nail-down

strips for the sides and the back of the roof fabric area. In

addition, I have two rain gutters that go along the "seam" between

the roof and the sides of the car, set into a shallow depression

about 1/2 inch wide. The gutters are in two pieces -- a nail-down

strip and a piece that "clamps" itself onto the naildown strip.

There's also a two-piece strip that goes across the front of the

roof, about 3 inches behind the very front of the roof. (The sides

and back also have about a 3-inch steel border between the edge of

the fabric and the bottom edge of the roof.)



Lastly, I have a fragment of old canvas, painted very dark grey or

black, that has holes in it exactly aligning with the bolt holes for

the exterior sun visor ("eyebrow").



Here are my questions:



1.a. My working assumption is that the roof fabric material is

trimmed to match the dimensions of the four nail-down strips, leaving

about 3 inches of painted metal exposed on all four sides.



1.b. But if that's the case, what is the role of the canvas that is

clearly associated with the sun visor? Is the visor cloth-covered?



2. The three one-piece nail-down strips for the sides and rear of the

roof covering have nail holes that go right through them. Is there a

reason for concern about water leaking around the nail holes and

getting into the structural wood? Or does painting over the nails

after putting the strips in place solve that problem? What about

water that flows under the nail-down strip and then "around" the nail

and into the wood? Might a thin bead of silicone caulk under the nail-

down strip (but atop the fabric) be helpful? How about caulking under

the fabric as well?



3. When I re-install the rain gutters, should I put some kind of

rubber gasket under them? Again, I have only small fragments of

prior material to guide me: torn strips of rubber material that was

clearly nailed under the rain gutters previously, and appears to have

been hand-cut from a section of rubber tubing. This appears not to be

OEM. I'm thinking that the best water seal would be provided either

by a thin strip of rubber that would match the width of the shallow

channel in which the rain gutters are installed (probably about what

was OEM), or a bead of silicone caulk, or a combination of the two.

Does anyone know what was OEM here?



I'll try to post some photos to clarify the existing situation, if

anyone thinks that would help.



Thanks for your help.



Lew Phelps

Pasadena, CA

1929 Town Sedan