MTFCA Forum

My '27 touring has a board under the rear seat. It not attached, just inserted into both sides.
It was taken out about a year ago to give way for a little more storage. To my best conclusion this board is not really needed.
Like everything else on the T. Henry put it there for a reason. It might not be apparent at first. But there always seems to be a reason.
What is the reason and is it really needed?

My best guess is support for the rear seat spring assembly.

The only time I find a board member under the rear seat is when their wife is looking for them!

That's exactly what it is for. If you have two or three people in the rear seat, it helps support their weight. It also keeps the cushion from coming into contact with the side curtains.

Over time the board under the seat in Touring cars was taken out just as the engine pans were. They got in the way for various reasons but generally to give more space. The under seat board and engine pans were installed for a purpose. I didn’t know Touring cars had the under seat board when I restored my 21 Touring until I noticed the holes in the seat frame that were evenly spaced. A search on past forum posts showed what they were for!

My '17 Touring has boards under each seat with the seat fabric wrapped around and stapled to the underside of the board. I assumed that was they way they were supposed to be but Mike at Classtique told me that for my car there was no board and the vinyl was just hog-ringed to the springs.

I'm getting ready to install new upholstery and plan to put the boards back in, regardless of whether they're correct or not. I think it makes for a cleaner installation and does provide some degree of support. Both of my seats have a metal lid that the board rests on - the front over the gas tank and the rear over a small storage compartment. The boards evenly spread the weight over the lids.

This is a very interesting thread!

Did 1925 Touring cars have a board under the rear seat springs? I know that the front seat did not have a board, I guess Henry figured it was OK for the front seat springs to sit on the gas tank. On my 1924 cut-off touring (now a pickup), I didn't like seeing witness marks on the gas tank from the front seat springs rubbing on it, so I cut a piece of corrugated cardboard to fit between the springs and the tank. Eventually the springs wear through the cardboard, so I cut another piece and slip it in.

If there should be a rear seat bottom board, can someone post a picture of an original, along with a measurement of the board thickness? If there was a board originally, am I correct in assuming that it would have been built up from random width scraps with a couple of cross braces? Would it have had a finger hole to make it easy to pull up for access to the tool bag, tire pump, and oil can?

Original seat covers were crimped in the channel on the bottom of springs. Dan

Concerning under seat rear boards you can go to Fordwood which has wood structure body drawings for most but nor all Model T roadster and touring cars.
If you look at the 23-25 drawing you will see under seat board shown. I have a 21 Touring and I assumed that the evenly spaced holes in the seat frame was where the under seat board was screwed to.
But the Fordwood drawing doesn’t show a under seat board for the earlier black era Tourings.
Also Classtique said that the earlier Tourings didn’t have the under seat board as the post from Oldavator said.
Maybe they were added later by the owners since it would make the seat a little stronger.

As I remember the black era T bodies were made by 4-5 body makers who probably had some minor differences in the bodies. Some makers maybe had the seat boards and some didn’t.
Maybe?

Can someone who has a '25 Touring with under-the-seat wood installed possibly post a photo? Last summer I had some *full grown* adult guests riding along and the metal ribs under the seat got bent - badly.

My 26 touring has three boards 3/4" material one narrow and two wider, the car was never finished but it runs I have owned it for 56 years. I have done about 60% restoration, I replaced all the wood that was originally in the car and the boards were under the rear seat. I cut the new wood the same as the originals. I can see that there would be more support with the boards. I can't see that there would be any difference in storage space, the boards would only raise the seat higher.

David,
Can you send me a picture of how the cross board is attached?
Right now is just sits in the slots.
I don't have any holes for screws.

Thank you,
Steve B.

My 14 touring has a board under the rear seat, hinged at the back, about 1/4 inches thick. From the look of it, it was added at some time in the past life of the car by a PO. I drilled a "finger" hole in the front edge to make it easier to lift up. The area is really handy for small item storage. Ya'll have a good day!!

Here is the '25 touring rear seat support board:

Original '25 , Board rides flat, horizontal surface. Side seat riser panel has slot for board, and a wood screw from the top secures it. (cardboard lining is original for keeping side curtains nice or keep tool roll rattles away.)





1927 touring:

Original '27, the seat riser panel has slot to fit the board, and note the hole, single hole for a screw to fasten the board to the riser.


1927 touring, with replacement Howells seat riser panel, no slot, so you make some way to fasten the horizontal board

My 1925 touring body rear seat area currently looks like Dan's pictures, a single 3/4 inch thick board that fits into slots in the sides of the seat pan and is held with a single slotted wood screw on each side. The board is placed so that it will provide support for the seat bottom springs. It is shown in the Fordwood picture for '23-'25 touring car wood.

http://fordwood.com/images/tour23new.jpg

My interest in this thread centered around whether there was a more substantial cover under the springs, one that covered the whole seat pan opening. For the '23-'25 cars, apparently not, the single 3/4 inch thick board is it.

After re-reading my post, it is not clear that my board is a solid piece covering the entire area under the seat. Works great!

Most of our cars with locally built bodies have wooden frames to which the seat springs are assembled, so the seat cushion has a firm foundation. The seat covering is attached to this wooden base. A simple way to solve the sagging problem would be to fit a 1/2" plywood base to the wire frame of the seat cushion. It will not be seen when in place in the car.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

I think you have your answer but here is what my 26 looks like. In my earlier post I mentioned two additional boards but I had fabricated a temporary seat for a wedding. I don't know what the large hole is for in the seat frame?

David

Believe those pair of holes on the front edge of the seat rest frame are retention holes.

The open cars, at least from '23 have those pair of holes in the front and rear seat risers, the original seat springs have two prongs that wedge into those large holes, keeps the seat in place.

Reproduction seat spring bases for these later T's don't have that feature, so you have to rely on butts to hold them down , or remove those seat spring cushions when open trailering to keep from loosing them

Note the spring steel prong on underside front edge of original seat cushion.


Those 2 holes on front riser of a '23 touring.

Original seat springs had retention prongs? I learned something new today!

Now I am going to have to look all over the country for seat springs with retention prongs, can't wait for the swap meets to open again.

Think hose retention holes were in closed cars too. My 24 Coupe has 2 for each front seat cushion.