I have a vandercook # 2 serial #3046. After taking a short coarse on Letterpress at the South West School of Art in San Antonio on there #14 , I have a question on the #2 having two tension bars for the packing—Is this for a double tapered packing or maybe a felt pad? Ratchets on both bars and they turn in opposite directions
http://s99.photobucket.com/user/frameteam2003/media/vandercookcyl_zpsdea730ce.jpg.html
The tension bars are called reel rods. Here is a description of how the tympan is secured from a ca. 1927 sales sheet (I will send a pdf):
It appears that the clamp bars are missing. This shouldn’t be difficult to replicate. They are two pieces of flat stock. The holes should be slotted to aid screw alignment. While I have seen this arrangement before, I don’t know the specs. The screws are socket head cap screws and the thread pitch is likely 5/16-18.