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What is a peaked roof?


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"Peaked" means it has a peak or ridge, usually running the length of the body area in question.Here's a Shoebox Ford with a peaked hood:

20040901.jpg

On a scale model, it's usually done by adding a small piece of brass or styrene rod down the centerline, then blending it into the surrounding area.

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And roofs rarely get peaked because they're rarely noticed in full-scale cars. Hoods were the most frequent target.

One reason in the 1:1 world for peaking a roof, by the way (the shoebox Fords, and many others, were peaked in front from the factory due to the split, flat-glass windshield) is to counter severe oil-canning brought about by inexpert metalwork after the roof has been damaged or partied on. Only a true metal wizard can correct that kind of damage and get it right, but forming a gentle peak in a badly deformed panel goes a long way towards saving it by faking it.

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Thanks guys, I re-read the various articles on The Grasshopper and I think I mixed up in my mind two different techniques used by the Alexander Bros on the truck. The area that was peaked was the 1932 radiator grill enclosure and now when I look at the photos I can see what Casey mentioned. Sorry for my confusion.

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And roofs rarely get peaked because they're rarely noticed in full-scale cars. Hoods were the most frequent target.

One reason in the 1:1 world for peaking a roof, by the way (the shoebox Fords, and many others, were peaked in front from the factory due to the split, flat-glass windshield) is to counter severe oil-canning brought about by inexpert metalwork after the roof has been damaged or partied on. Only a true metal wizard can correct that kind of damage and get it right, but forming a gentle peak in a badly deformed panel goes a long way towards saving it by faking it.

Somehow, I doubt that "repairability" was frequently taken into consideration during the styling process though. Rather, I suspect that the short "crease" above the center of the windshield on say, the 49-51 Fords or Mercury's was anything more than a bit of a styling cue.

"Peaking" any body panel refers, I believe, to the customizer's practice of adding what stylists call a "windsplit", or a pronounced, raised crease running some length of say, a hood, trunklid, the tops of front fenders or rear quarter panels, even the full length of a roof. At the extreme, some customizers were known to "peak" the headlight bezels on cars such as '55-'56 Fords and Merc's, often drawing that peak out forward, even curving it downward a bit, before leading in the sides of it for a finished appearance.

Art

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Somehow, I doubt that "repairability" was frequently taken into consideration during the styling process though. Rather, I suspect that the short "crease" above the center of the windshield on say, the 49-51 Fords or Mercury's was anything more than a bit of a styling cue.

"Peaking" any body panel refers, I believe, to the customizer's practice of adding what stylists call a "windsplit", or a pronounced, raised crease running some length of say, a hood, trunklid, the tops of front fenders or rear quarter panels, even the full length of a roof. At the extreme, some customizers were known to "peak" the headlight bezels on cars such as '55-'56 Fords and Merc's, often drawing that peak out forward, even curving it downward a bit, before leading in the sides of it for a finished appearance.

Art

I didn't say it had anything to do with repairability. What I said is that panels that were too difficult to repair to the original contours AFTER being damaged got peaked in order to save them, and avoid replacement costs. A look through the annals of the customizing hobby makes it extermely clear that MANY MANY customs were built from wrecks. As an accomplished panel-beater myself, I know from personal experience what can be done, and how it's done, and peaking a mashed hood or roof CAN save it.

The "styling cue" you refer to was a necessity (and found on virtually every car with a veed, flat-pane windshield and a steel roof), as integrating the flat windshield panels, joined in the center in a V-shape, into the rounded roof-header REQUIRES something in that vein.

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