Standar Roadster seat

[Tony Hillyard]

Good afternoon everyone,

Does anyone have any pictures of a seat removed from a 1928 Standard Roadster? My car is June 1928, the seat has been recovered by a previous owner but the fit seems very poor. I am not sure if it is even the correct seat. There seems to be a gap between the bottom of the back and the cushion. You can put your fist in it.

I almost get the impression that perhaps a wooden sub frame is missing.

 

[wrndln]

There is no wooden frame on a roadster, phaeton or OCPU seat cushion like on many closed cars - only the padded and upholstered springs. The seatback is the same - no wooden frame. There are some slats mounted to the seat riser and the beltrail wood that should have some pointed clips to secure the seatback.
Rusty Nelson

 

[Tony Hillyard]

Thank you very much Rusty, that is most helpful. I think this car came from your part of the world. See picture of the original bill of sale!

 

[wrndln]

That is quite unusual to have an original bill of sale for an 89 year old car. Hawley is a small town of about 2000 in northern Minnesota. It may have been a little larger in the model A days. Many small towns in the Midwest USA have been shrinking, as farming is being reduced to much larger farms, with fewer farmers, thus shrinking towns. How the roadster got to France is probably a mystery. Maybe you know how it happened.

I am attaching some pictures I have of roadster seats. I have a 28 roadster, but I have not got to restoring it yet. It is in rough condition. I need to finish restoring my 29 phaeton and 29 CCPU first. I am not sure the red roadster seatback wood frame is exactly like original, as it is from a hotrod friend, but it will give you an idea of how the frame for the seatback is constructed. I might have a few more picture if you need them. My email is wrndln@hotmail.com. Good luck with your seat work.
Rusty Nelson

 

[100IH]

I have to wonder if a previous owner was too tall to fit in the seat comfortably. It is possible to tie the springs back to shorten them in an effort to sit lower, same for the back cushion. Of course, they could be wrong or worn out. Most of us are taller and wider than starving original depression era drivers.

 

[springerpete]

Does the front, bottom of the cushion fit the metal frame correctly ? ( just above the seat frame kick panel ) Maybe the cushion needs to be pushed back more. Also, is the back held too high on it's wooded frame ?

 

[Tony Hillyard]

Re: Standard Roadster seat

Good afternoon everyone,

See attached some pictures of the cobbled together seat layout in my car.
I get the impression that the base has been raised to try and cover the gap as the back cushion seems to me too short. As for the holes hacked into the floor for the back cushion, looks like a major bodge to me.

I am almost certain, from the comments received on the barn, that the seat springs used in my car are from some other make of car. Anyone have any original ones available? I am happy to recover them with the correct style - without pleats.

Any comments would be gratefully received.

 

[Gunmetal blue2]

In 1970 I bought a 1929 town sedan. the front seat was from a school but.

 

[cbeckman]

Question for Wrndin: You have a nice example of the 28-29 open car seat cushion with the original darts at the front corners and also the original way of attaching the lower skirt into the outer bottom metal groove by crimping the enclosed cord. Most re-upholstery jobs simply hog ring the skirt to the undersurface of the springs. I am trying to upholster my springs, which have a rod just behind the front row of spring coils to which the welt crease of the top upholstery is fastened on slight downward tension. From your upside down view, can you tell if the burlap layer is divided to allow attachment of the welt tail that is sewed around the rod or is the bar above the burlap? With my bare metal springs, the rod is about 1 inch below the top of the springs within a U shaped valley. This rod is removeable by unbending the ends and then the free lower edge of the welt can be sewed around the rod before the top is laid over the padding. The rod is then reattached to the spring valley. Then I cannot figure out how the burlap can be stretched across the top surface of the springs unless the burlap is divided, or more likely only stretched after the rod is reattached which would leave the burlap with a v shaped depression at the rod. I didn’t have the benefit of seeing an original set up like you have. This welt is only present in 28 and half of 29. Thanks Charles Beckman CT Model A Restorers Club.

 

[juke joint johnny]

Snyders makes and sells the correct dimension seat springs .
Worth contacting them IMO. O'neils could get them for you I imagine

 

[Tony Hillyard]

Thank you Juke joint johnny, I will look into that.

 

[Purdy Swoft]

I used seat springs from Snyders in my 31 standard roadster and was well pleased with them .