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Show GOOD OLD TOP; . PIT IT'S BACK "Do you recall that day, two years ago this coming Bpring, when you ran Into that terrific thunder storm up in the mountains?" asks a writer in the March number of American Motorist. Then continuing he says: "It just rained and stormed and stormed and. rained. But you put up ' your top. hustled on tho side curtains , ari'l buttoned 'er up tight, until you . were as snug as the proverbial bug in the Axminsler. "That was one time when you had ;.a good deal of respect for your top ; and felt like patting it on the back and ; calling it 'good old lop.' "Later on the top went down, liter-; liter-; ally as well as figuratively. You probably prob-ably didn't trouble to lay it into even folds. Perchance you carried an occasional oc-casional grip or other appurtenances on the folded-up top in the rear when front space happened to be al a prem-; prem-; ium. Maybe you didn't wait until the top was dry before folding and cover-' cover-' ing it if ybu did cover It at all. "So today that slick, spic-and-span, smooth car roof, the one thing that will stand between you and a drenching, drench-ing, Is wrinkled, flabby, and unsightly; unsight-ly; it hangs down In mournful folds ano l- embellished with a number of small holes at least one of which is ; always located with such nicety that It I directs a tiny streamlet of rain down your neck band."- After cautioning motorists that in the mattpr of top care, as in every-i every-i thing else, that has to do with the conservation con-servation of automobile accessories, It J is well to bear in mind the old adage laccording t.o which , a stitch "in time saves nine, the writer gives some ad-i ad-i vice on top. care and says among oth-I oth-I er things: "The first thing to do with your old top is to open it and give it a thorough surface cleaning with a stiff brush, the stiffer the better. If yours is a mohair j top which shows stains and is other-jwlse other-jwlse dirty it is a good plan to take a i pail of lukewarm water In which you I have worked up a substantial lather jof ivory or some other neutral soap. :Then you go over the top with a jspongCj, taking care to remove all tra- cos of soap with another sponge pross-icd pross-icd out from time to time in clean waiter. wa-iter. j "If the top has been up a good deal j during the season it is apt to sag in the middle; this may be due to the fact lhat the windshield supports have worn loose through constant vibration so that when the top is fastened to the windshield stanchions the entire frame is pulled backward and the top consequently left to sag. By tightening tighten-ing the nuts with which the wlnd-' wlnd-' shield is fastened to . the cowl the frame will assume its proper position and not only will the top be tight but a number of mysterious squeaks and j tattles for which you have looked in : vain will disappear at the same time. I "The next step is to close the small leaks, the location of which is usually betrayed by discolorations on the inner in-ner side of the top fabric. The most efficacious remedy is found in tho use jof Ambroid. If the hole in the top is ( fairly small, dip a toothpick or point-ed point-ed stickof wood'. In to, tho-Vmbroid and let a drop fall on the exact spot to be mended, it will set almost immediately immediate-ly and will be dry within fifteen or twenty minutes." |
