more 34 coupe seat questions

[cas3]

ok, so in the 1st photo of the complete seat, the bottom is an original, the top is new and supposedly correct. when the top is placed where i thought it should be, visible leather strips to hang on in the second photo, then the bottom attachment strip is not even on the bottom board, see the strip near the orange screwdriver handle, lower left. also note that in this position the two cushions are already touching, so to go lower means forcing it. now in the second photo, the leather strap seems to be all there, i can see the bottom is worn and curled where the springs must have hung, and there are no signs of how it was attached on the bottom. no screw or nail holes on either of the two original wooden backs i have. also, on the two backs one has tack holes all across the top edge, while the other has none there, but instead was tacked on the back side all the way across. so questions are, location of the springs, and which tack method is correct? thanks, skip

 

[cas3]

added a better photo of the lower mounting strip

 

[TJ]

Just flip the mounting strip downward so it can be tacked or screwed into the wood.

 

[cas3]

yes, i certainly could just flip the tab over and move on. but questions still remain. is it even the right spring? is it in the correct location with springs touching? where was the fabric nailed down on the back? i suppose if i bought an upholstery kit some of these may be addressed in the package, but i plan to have a local guy do it and he probably wont know either. thanks, skip

 

[TJ]

Move the bottom spring out a little closer to the front of the seat. The top spring should be even with the top of the wood. Your upholstery guy should know how to make it all fit. The upholstery should be tacked along the top of the frame. There is a piece of material that goes from the seat to the package shelf that also tacks to the top of the seat and then the package shelf. Tacks are hidden by some hidemwelt. I would recommend the you find someone in your area that has a coupe and you go look at the upholstery to see how it goes in the car. Also if you have the V-8 Club's 33-34 book that will help you.

 

[cas3]

thanks TJ, that answers some things. i will move the springs around a bit and see how it looks. been cleaning the old sewn bags out of the springs tonight, thats a nasty job. so the fabric going to the package tray is a separate piece, how about the bellows, or fabric up the sides to allow the seat to move and seal off the trunk, separate piece too? thanks also, no cars close by, 3-4hour round trip

 

[DavidG]

The attached Ford archives photo may be somewhat helpful, at least with regard to the positioning of the bottom cushion.. Note that the bottom spring frame front edge is at or nearly at the front edge of its wood base. Note also how high the top of the upholstered seat back cusion appears to be. Un-upholstered, the bare back spring bottom and the top of the back of the bottom spring must not touch one another as when upholstered, the the back of the bottom cushion slides underneath the bottom of the back cushion.

There was a transition piece of upholstery attached to the top of the wood frame and to the package tray as Tom indicates above. Both it and the top edge of the seat upholstery are tacked on to the top of the wood frame as Tom indicates and not tacked on the back of that wood frame. There were no bellows on the sides as the seat fits closely to the upholstery on the quarter hinge panels.


Typical of Ford archive photos, the one I wanted to post is finely in focus and at 39 KB, beyond the capacity of the this site's download capability. Sorry about that and I don't have time right now to cut the bytes to fit the site, perhaps later today. In the meantime, please assume that I am not making up the above details from the photo.

 

[JSeery]

Want any help with it Dave?

 

[cas3]

thank you David, and JSeery for your offer. i have the clubs 33-4 book, but no photos of the naked springs in place are in the book, so your photo from the ford archive would be very nice to see. at any rate, your input above provides more clues to solve the puzzle, thanks again for your effort. at present, i have lowered the back spring enough to use the mounting tabs, which then makes the two springs touch where they meet. my original bottom spring does not lay down perfectly flat while just laying there, but will when attached, and when pulling the fabric tight i assume some more clearance can be obtained. the new crisis is now that i have removed the burlap bags on the two rows of springs, they are all "kiddy-whompus" !!! the bags control the finished height, and location since the main frame does not crimp on to the spring in those two rows as it does in all the others. my upholstery guy might give me a funny look when i tell him we are making a bunch of bags, so i will see if i can come up with a different plan. thanks again, skip

 

[TJ]

There should be clips that hold those center springs together. If you don't have the clips I've used wire to hold them together. If they are close enough to each other you can also use hog rings.
I would not have lowered the backrest spring. Your photo shows it to be just about the right position. Adjust the mounting tabs accordingly. Don't adjust the spring to accomodate the mounting tabs.

 

[JSeery]

My email address: jseery@ymail.com

 

[JSeery]

DavidG photo:

 

[DavidG]

Thanks!

There's some interesting (at least to me) peripheral information contained in this photo beyond the seat. Note that except for the chrome-plated male dovetail and the rubber bumpers at the front, everything attached to the door jambs is painted body color, including the door latch and the female dovetail. This practice dates back to a running change made in 1932. Previously only the door latch was painted body color and both halves of the dovetails were installed after the body was painted. Before that change, the female dovetail was black regardless of body color.

 

[cas3]

thanks for the photo. thats a deluxe 34 5w, and has the button tuft things in the fabric, do all body style 34 deluxe have this? in the club book some 33's have it, and some 34's dont. only 33 coupes in the book, mine is a 34 deluxe 3w. thanks, skip

 

[DavidG]

'33s were pleated and not tufted, whether standard or deluxe. Tufting was added in the '34 model year in the seats of deluxe closed cars.
The entire front seat in a '34 deluxe five-window and a three-window coupe (all of which were deluxe models in the U.S.) are identical in all respects and carry the same part numbers. So the above photo is relevant for your car's seat.


P.S. There is a reason why the book is being rewritten from cover to cover.

 

[cas3]

thanks again, a new book sounds wonderful !