1929 floor plans?

[1crosscut]

Now that I have Bill capable of getting out on the road I probably should put a floor in him. Anyone have plans or pictures of the floor for the 29 with the service brake on the left side?
Dave

[Neil Wilson]

So, does your AA have the dual high?

[1crosscut]

Yes it does.

[Neil Wilson]

At some point, I need to figure out how to make the early style floor board which are made up of multiple boards and put together with a a sliding dovetail (not a tongue and grove). The A and AA boards are the same except for the opening in the AA board for the dual high pedals. Later boards are plywood. Boards for the AA with 4-speed are a separate subject.

Attached are shots of an original. If you are going to duplicate making up this design. I am interested in finding out how to make the tongue and grove. A wood guy would know how to do this and what tools to use. I could use several sets of these boards for my '28 to early '29 projects.

Attached are pictures of an original I have. Only those wanting to be original are going to want to make this style of board. All of the straps were originally attached with flat head slotted wood screws. Note the orientation of the battery opening. The shift tower opening is just a single hole.

BTW - There is a seven page article on the AA floor boards in the April 2007 Double A'er newsletter. And the Judging Standards has some information (under the A information).

[Bob C]

Neil,
Here is a link to router bits to make tongue and groove.
http://www.amazon.com/Freud-99-036-Adju ... 511&sr=1-4

Bob

[Drew Mashburn]

Floorboard fans:

Would it be possible to buy tongue & groove house siding, then cut it to whatever size is needed? Just a thought.

-- Drew

[SHELBY MESSER]

You could use house siding or hardwood flooring, cause it is almost impossible to find the original lumber, type of wood yes? The original floor boards were made from the wood crates that the engines were shipped in is what I've heard all my life. Someone may know different!! Shelby, Louisiana.

[Drew Mashburn]

Shelby:

Now that you mentioned it, I've heard the same thing about the floorboards being made from the crates from which engines were shipped. Though, I don't recall where I heard that info. Has anybody else heard this story? If so, do you recall your source(s)?

-- Drew

[bud valerius]

I was told that Ford told his suppliers how to make the shipping crates and what type of wood to use . I saw a Model T with original wood flooring with the part numbers that were shipped still painted on the flooring

[Hershey Truck farm]

I have not seen shipping crates or gear box wood used on Model A floor boards, but I do have a 25 Model T Fordor sedan that is all original that has misc. wood for the floor boards some are cut at a angle you can tell they where something else before, possible shipping crate's...

[1crosscut]

Neil,
The right side of my floor has rotted away so your pictures helped solve the mystery of what was missing. I don't have any of the original wood that is forward of the floor board up into the firewall gas pedal area. The previous owner replaced that with plywood. Do you have any pictures that would show that area?

Got to looking at the joints in mine and they are a small dovetail that slides together. I did notice one thing I thought odd was that one of my boards has two male dovetails on it where the others have a more standard male dovetail on one side and femail on the other side. I'll do some checking to see if I can find someone who could cut those joints.

[Neil Wilson]

Dave,
The photo posted above is the second version of the #2 floor board as follows:

AA-82162 (with cutout for clutch plate) – brake lever on the left side of steering column – May 1928 until brake lever moved to center (then became AA-82162-AR)

I don't have a photo of the second version of the #1 floor board (which carriers an A part number). It has a cut out for clutch access. The May 1928 service bulletin explains about this cut out for both the #1 and #2 boards.

The attached picture show the version one of the #1 board (i.e. not clutch access cut out).

[Neil Wilson]

After looking at the ends of the floor boards, I can see that the boards are assembled using a sliding dovetail (not tongue and grove). This is also pointed out by Don.

So does anyone have information on how to construct this type of joint along the length of two boards and then slide them together? Tools and procedure if possible.

I believe that some individual boards (used to make up a floor board) were actually first made from smaller variable width boards assembled with double sliding dovetails. This allowed scrap material to become a wider usable board. These assemblies were then cut into individual floor board boards with a single sliding dovetail on one edge and a grove on the opposite edge.

As an example - the #1 floor board shown above is made up of two boards jointed with a single dovetail. Each of the two boards may have been made up of smaller boards jointed with double dovetails.

I have seen this on other Ford wood parts like the floor boards for my 79-A panel delivery.

[SHELBY MESSER]

In todays market I thank those groves can be made using a router with a dove tail bit. You will also need a router table with glides. After some try and err it should be able to slip the boards together. This is my idea but I'm sure it will work. I've made short dove tails that slipped together. Anyone doing this be careful with the router and keep your fingers Hope this helps. Does anyone know what type wood was mostly used in making the floor boards. I would guess maple since maple is widely used for flooring!!!! Shelby, Louisiana.

[Chris Haynes]

A router is the tool. You will need two different bits though. One to cut the male and another to cut the female.
http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_ ... ockType=L1