[Dads41superdeluxe]

Please accept my sincere apologies if this should have been posted in "exterior" section...

I am a newbie to this forum but by reading some of the posts there seems to be more than just a few extremely knowledgeable folks here, so here goes.

Dad an I built 3 cars when I was growing up (32 Ford, 48 Chevy, and a 65 Mustang) but after college I got away from cars. Dad built his last car, a 41 Ford Super Deluxe Convertible, after I went to school. Subsequently I have had very little knowledge of how this car was put together (since I usually helped in the dismantling prior to assembly). He passed suddenly four years ago and the car sat in dry heated storage during that time.

Last weekend and a couple of hundred miles later, it sits in my garage. I changed all the fluids, dropped the gas tank and purged the fuel line, changed the battery, and of course Henry would not be surprised to hear that the flathead started and idles like a kitten.

Two questions: 1. How does the top go down? I know there are two top motors in Mom's basement that have to be rebuilt, so they are not installed on the car as of yet. I also know that Dad had the top down because there are pictures of it! There does not seem to be ANY corrosion on the top linkage. Should it not just lift from the front bow and collapse back? Or is there a release latch somewhere I am not aware of?

2. It seams to run hot....the temp gauge works, and the top hoses are hot to the touch so I think fluid is circulating but how do I know the water pumps are actually working?

Thanks for any information that you folks can give and I will be posting pics as soon as the girl gets a well deserved bath....

[DanTwoLakes]

Hi and welcome to Hotrodder's. Exterior is for painting and body work questions, and Interior is for seats and other parts of a car's interior. Lets put this in General Rodding Tech to answer the hot hose question.

The top should latch in the front by the windshield, and if the motors are not connected, you should be able to just lift the top manually and it will fold back with no problem.