At 03:55 PM 8/27/05 -0400, Jim Ferguson wrote:
"I am attaching pictures of top wood bows. The darker new bow is the Moss type, the light colored wood is from Classic Wood Mfg. in Greensboro, NC, the third is the original that came off the car.

"I was not satisfied with the Moss bow as it didn't match the original and required some trimming to get the socket to line up and crimp properly. I got the Classic Wood bow on approval and found it much better. Better wood at a lower price and the correct profile."

Well, now you have me confused. The Classic bow appears to have the hole positioned too far from the front, which might get back to a misalignment situation similar to the one which came from Brown and Gammons (see faulty part report). If this one actually fits it must be wider with more front overhang.

Addendum Oct 13, 2005:
At 05:07 PM 10/13/05 -0400, Jim Ferguson wrote:
"The top bow from Classic does indeed have about a 1/4" EXTRA overhang on the front of the windshield compared with the Moss. Like the original bow it does not have the rear overhang to fit the top frame. It does fit the pegs and frame with minor trimming ~1/16" or less.
"I think the Classic is an accurate copy of the original 1500 bow. I feel the Moss bow MAY be copied from a 1600 bow. I don't have a 1600 to check. I base that on the presence of the back side inset on the Moss bow which will facilitate mounting of the center clamp on the 1600.
"Since I may install the center clamp, I did glue a wood extender on the top edge of the wood to make it flush with the inside of the frame."

Looking at the end views above, apparently the 1500 wood bow was thinner with no step on the back. The later one for the 1600 is thicker with a protruding flange at the top/back where the 1600 type center latch can attach.

I made a replacement bow myself in 1969, a copy of the original on my 1500. I know there was no step in the back of that one, as I cut it out with a coping saw and finished the shape with a disk sander in an electric drill.

The part I bought from Moss in 1986 (and still use 200,000 miles later) does have the thicker profile with the flange at the back. Good thing too, as shortly thereafter I installed the 1600 type center latch (which would apparently not fit on the thinner 1500 style bow).

If a vendor is not offering two different parts for 1500 and 1600 style, I suppose the later part should supersede the earlier one so it can be used for all cars. This is not something which should suffer deduction of a point in a concours car show (unless you put the 1500 type part on the 1600 car).

About that "minor trimming", ....
At 11:35 AM 10/14/05 -0400, Jim Ferguson wrote:
"The trimming was done with a Dremel and involved very slight relieving of one side of the peg holes in the wood. Less than 1/32 inch on one and about 1/16 inch on the other. Also the frame plate where the screws go hit the radius of the recess in the bow which kept it from going completely tight against the bow. This involved trimming the wood radius to square in one corner to match the frame plate. The peg holes all matched up after that and the trimming. I notice the old original had very oversized and oval holes which gave it a lot of slop the get a fit."

For more information on the faulty wood bow see FT-015.

For a tour of plugging and re-drilling to correct the position of the hole, see Patrick Mulholland's photos and notes at www.mga1600.com.au/restoration_part_4.php .

For more information about different lengths of the wood bows see next page.