Comparison: Interior Room in 40A vs. 40B Roadsters

BRENT in 10-uh-C

BRENT in 10-uh-C

Well-known member
Jeff had recently PM-ed me about the interior room, ...and others have
made comments about how 30/31 Roadsters have more leg room.
LukeDalinger keyed up the the one thing that I think is critical to most
people saying they are uncomfortable in their Model A. It really isn't the
reproduction seat springs as much as incorrectly installed upholstery!:eek:

Thought you you might like to see this comparison... :D


Steering Wheel to Seat Backrest: 40A: 13.250 ... 40B: 12.875

Pedal to Seat Backrest: 40A: 37.750 ... 40B: 34.750


Seat Cushion Height: 40A: 12.4375 ... 40B: 12.50

Seat Cushion Width: 40A: 44" ... 40B: 47.50


(If images are too wide for viewing, download them to a separate browser window.)


28-29RoadsterSeating.jpg


30-31RoadsterSeating.jpg
 
I might be mistaken, but is it not the depth of the cowl, from one model to the othe,r that makes the difference ?
 
Brent-

I said nothing about incorrectly installed upholstery, altho there are alot of cars with poor interior installation, I doubt that's the cause of no leg room, etc.

What I was referring to was that reproduction seat springs are not like the originals. I have noticed this is in my personal cars as well as friend's cars.

Reproduction seat springs tend to sit higher, are more firm, the backrest is thicker etc. I assume you know this already.

One more point to ponder- When using Snyder's seat springs- some demensions listed on the original drawings are no longer valid. It could be interesting to measure a car with new seat springs and compare the measurements to the original numbers.

All I know is based on personal experience, the 30-31's have more leg room and are more comfortable to drive for long distances. Your opinion probably differs, as it should.
 
At 6 foot 230 lb I find the leg room is not as much an issue for me in my 40A. I find issue with the distance from the steering wheel to the door edge of the quarter panel. I would swear, over time, this measurement is shrinking.:eek:
 
Brent and/or Pluck,

Somebody yesterday made the statement that MORE 28-29 V/S 30-31 roadsters
were built. Is this a true statement? Do/does anybody know.

Thanks,Dudley
 
The seat adjuster that connects the seat back to the package tray will make quite a difference in the interior room on the 40B roadster. I am 6.2 and ours is comfortable. The only problem for me is getting my size 12's between the cowl and the seat riser when getting in or out but this holds true for any body style of the model A.
 
LukeDahlinger said:
I said nothing about incorrectly installed upholstery, altho there are alot of cars with poor interior installation, I doubt that's the cause of no leg room, etc.

What I was referring to was that reproduction seat springs are not like the originals. I have noticed this is in my personal cars as well as friend's cars.

Reproduction seat springs tend to sit higher, are more firm, the backrest is thicker etc. I assume you know this already.

One more point to ponder- When using Snyder's seat springs- some demensions listed on the original drawings are no longer valid. It could be interesting to measure a car with new seat springs and compare the measurements to the original numbers.

All I know is based on personal experience, the 30-31's have more leg room and are more comfortable to drive for long distances. Your opinion probably differs, as it should.
Click to expand...

Luke you are correct, you didn't say anything about that (nor did I say you did) but just so we are all clear, the way the upholstery material is installed has everything to do with the height and room of the passenger.

Snyders will make me any seat spring that I want. For example, if I were to order their 'off-the-shelf' seat cushion for a '29 Roadster, it likely would not fit properly inside of the seat riser however if I give them the proper measurements, then it fits. Now even if the springs are setting too tall in your opinion, when they are tied to the proper height and the covers installed, then the occupant room is back to how they were intended to be. Most people who install Model A upholstery do not tie the seat springs to the proper height. Then some feel like the springs need to be suplemented with 1½" of cotton padding over the burlap!

Luke, it is unfortunate you have never had the opportunity to sit in a 40A Roadster with the interior installed correctly because it is surprisingly comfortable.


Steve, you are correct about the narrower door opening being more difficult on the 40A but 'hey', ...maybe that is why many driver's back then entered the cabin from the passenger's door! :D


Dudley, two things.... With '29 being Ford's biggest production time Roadsters would have been popular seller but most 40B Roadsters that were built were Standards (--that now have been converted) plus by '31, the buying public as a whole was wanting a car with windows.
.
 
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Brent,

I've sat in a 28-29 Roadster with ragged original upholstery. Once I was in the car it wasn't too bad, but ingress & egress was the issue. My problem is height & foot size. ( weight too, but we're not getting into that-- haha) The one that was an absolute b**** was the Roadster Pickup. No matter how you sat there just wasn't a comfortable position.

I too notice alot of cars with poor interior work(see post you quoted), but never thought about the increase of padding and foam crazy upholstery guys. My mistake.

I have a set of 'custom' Snyder springs in my Pickup that were made to my specs and those are absolutely wonderful.
 
Luke, I agree that the egress with the shorter doors can be an issue, but to me the doors has nothing to do with leg room once I get inside. Now the 76 pick-up is difficult because of the back panel. Several years ago Marco illustrated this superbly here with the illustration that I have posted below which show the difference in length. Basically, the pick-up cabin is 6" shorter than the Roadster counterpart, --and Henry made up for about ½ of that by using a thinner back-rest, ...however when size does matter, 3" is HUGE!!:D

.
 

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BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
Luke, I agree that the egress with the shorter doors can be an issue, but to me the doors has nothing to do with leg room once I get inside. Now the 76 pick-up is difficult because of the back panel. Several years ago Marco illustrated this superbly here with the illustration that I have posted below which show the difference in length. Basically, the pick-up cabin is 6" shorter than the Roadster counterpart, --and Henry made up for about ½ of that by using a thinner back-rest, ...however when size does matter, 3" is HUGE!!:D

.
Click to expand...

That definitely explains it! :)
 
Re: Comparison: More to the story....

First, I agree that ingress and egress is the real issue. The shorter door openings of a '28-29 are quite restrictive. If you add to that a side mounted spare you better be small AND agile!

Second, Ford redesigned the seat cushions in mid '30 (after that drawing was made) enhancing the interior clearances. It DOES make a difference!

Third, Loosely fitted seat trim (upholstery or cover) only affects ingress, and not that much. A tighter cover primarily collapses the perimeter of the spring assembly. The results of the particular "sprung weight" remains the same. Someone weighing 230 pounds will always collapse the particular spring to the same depth regardless of the tension on the seat trim. Someone weighing 175 pounds will collapse it less, but always the same. For this reason the common suggestion of tying down all the coils of a pickup backrest to gain leg room is only functional if you tie each coil down beyond it's natural collapse under your current weight, Then you may as well be leaning on a board! It's MUCH better to get a thinner spring unit.

Yes, many of Snyder's springs are too stiff. Over the years I've seen changes (for the worse) that I suspect were done to satisfy their largest customer (L-B)
 
Marco is right about Snyder's springs are made for LB. kits. As i said 2 years ago when Bill Sturm installed upholstery for my 180A. ,Bill did tie all the springs down and ADDED 2 inches to the back seat spring. Snyder's makes this spring 2 inches less for LB's rear inside panels.
 
I thought this is why they made slim fast.
Going from the 31 vicky to the 40a is a feet but once in not so bad in leg room, I found getting out with size 13 feet is fun, still love the car,
 
You all need to buy a 1930 cc pickup, according to Henry it seats 3 comfortably.
 

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Two is tight in the Victoria. Once we rode the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a couple laps with my wife and then 12 year old daughter also in the front so she could see and take photos.

Very memorable!
 
Brent,

For someone 6 foot 2 inches and getting ready for upholstery on my 1929 roadster, please describe the best route to take to get the most comfortable seating.

Thanks
Loumo
 
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