1924 Dodge Touring Interior

[Guest JaD]

Does anybody have pictures of correct period interior for 1924 Dodge? It would be great if I could see what and where all the oak is in the car since this is where I am at right now but any and all pictures would be great.

Thanks, Joe

[jan arnett (2)]

Joe:

You will need to supply more information. What oak do you speak of. I am not aware of oak being used at all by dodge. If you are talking about bows they were covered in cloth and are made of ash. Do a search as there have been pictures posted before of the underside of a touring.

Edited September 14, 2009 by jan arnett (2) (see edit history)

[Guest JaD]

My Grandpa just informed me that it is called a business sedan. Sorry for the bad info. He told me that it is oak that is used as the floor panels and when I look at it the grains seem to be oak but it could have been replaced before. My issue is that I only have about 50% of the wood left in the floor and I am replacing it and having the upholestery done as a suprise for my Dad but I want it to be as close to OEM as possible. It seems impossible to find pictures of the floor boards since this is not the most popular view of the car. I have a really good idea of the rear floor panel with the heater since I have most of that along with some of the front floor boards. What I would mostly be looking for is the pieces around the transmission and hand brake and the pedals. I would also really like to see the underside of the seats since most of that wood is long gone. I hope that is the information you were thinking of, if not please let me know and I will send you better info.

Thank You!!!

Joe Davis- Prescott, AZ

[Guest JaD]

Her are some pictures, if I did it right

Thanks, Joe

[dwollam]

Here are some pics of a 24 Business Sedan I had, maybe they will help. Seats are leather, door panels are oilcloth/early vinyl type stuff. Floors had planks, front lower was broken so I replaced with plywood as a temp fix.

[keiser31]

Dave....I think that the gentleman needs photos of the bare wood floor to determine it's construction. John

[Guest JaD]

Thank you everyone for your help. I do need the pictures of the bare wood floor and the wood structure under the front and rear seats. I would also like to know if this perticular car would have had any kind of carpet in it since it would affect the finish of the wood. I do know that it had mow ( I don't know if thats the proper spelling ) hair interior original to the car since I still have some pieces- Grey with black stripes going through it.

Thanks, Joe Davis

Prescott, AZ.

[dwollam]

Yeah John, I realize he wanted floor pics but since I no longer have the car this was the best I could do. I am surprised the car in question had mohair as I thought all the business sedans had leather. The business sedan has a hinged front seat (at the bottom) and the rear seat and side panels are made to pop out quickly so the traveling salesman could get stuff in and out easier. Appears to me from your pics JaD, there is enough of the wood left to duplicate.

[Guest JaD]

I have enough existing wood to guess and get it close but I wanted to try and make it as close to orginal and perfect as I can. Dave's pictures will be super helpful for making the door panels and showing my interior guy what it looked like. Did this car come with carpet??

Thanks, Joe

[Guest JaD]

I think that you guys and gals could have been a lot more helpful to me since you have great expertise and knowledge that you could share. But instead you decide that my project doesnt fit into your little internet club and group of friends. There are not a lot of places to go for information on these cars and all I was doing was looking for your help, Thanks a lot. I am going to make my best guess' and follow any real peoples advice that I can find to finish this out to the end. So next time you people are sitting in your little circle and judging how somebody restored something remember me and remember how your knowledge could have helped someone who was looking for answers and advice to do it correctly.

Have a great day,

Joe Davis

[nearchoclatetown]

This is almost laughable. You ask a few questions and get answers the same day and still aren't happy. In rereading this I see that no one passed any judgement on your skills or project. If you think this is a tight knit group, you are right. That's how the Dodge Brothers Club is. If you have questions ASK, but if you don't get the answers you want don't act like a baby. It could be that no one that read the question knows the answer. Remember, your title says you are looking for info on a touring car?

[Guest 1930]

Id hate to think any of what you said was true, I myself know nothing about D.B cars outside of my bodystyle or I would have helped. I would try and contact other members thru the members roster, it is going to maybe be difficult to convince someone to tear apart their car to take pictures or dimensions but maybe you will find someone with a car already torn down. I cannot think of anyone that posts regularily here that would not help you if they could. I can give you scaled drawing of a 29/30 Dodge floorboards but that will do you no good.

I have also learned that sometimes you have to be persistant and ask more than once, alot of the people that own these cars are getting up in age and its not easy for them anymore.

[Bob Zetnick]

Hey JaD, I looked at all these posts and no one was ever nasty or had an attitude towards you or your car. We all try to help each other, but no one is an expert on an auto that is 80+ years old. We all are learning here and sometimes there is no definitive answer to a question. In what I saw I think you had enough info to help rebuild your floorbards with what you had and the extra info people gave you. I saw that no one had an attitude and you should not deride those trying to help you. I hope you continue to ask questions regarding your car and just remember we are all trying to help each other. Good luck with your project.

[Guest JaD]

Maybe I went a little overboard......... But how frustrating is it when this is the only place where information is even possible from people that have had these vehicles in their hands and are very proud of thier knowledge and experience. These cars dont have badges or emblems telling what model they are, how am I sapossed to know what I even have besides what I have been told by people that dont have half the knowledge as most of you. In my opinion this knowledge will die with the older generation if you dont share what you have learned with people my age. Most kids dont even know how to change oil in their cars let alone that cars were even made in 1924. This is the first time I have ever put my hands on a car this old, I have very little to go on besides the pictures that were posted and the small amount of wood that is left in the car itself. I am throwing darts in the dark with the questions I have already asked hoping that it would generate questions back to me to help figure out what I have, what I need, how to do it , and where to get it. When someone asks me about modern diesel trucks I give them as much knowledge as I have or can at the time because I have studied them and love them much like I think many of you love these older cars. I am and have been asking for any knowledge possible......finished interior........paint colors........carpet or no carpet................underside seat structure............parts............door handles and pulls..........anything everything..........

Chocolate town..........WHOA.... breathe......Maybe in the future you can teach me the secret handshake.

Thanks,

Joe Davis

[Guest 1930]

If you dont mind J.D I will try and learn a little here. My first suggestion as I mentioned is to join the D.B club and that way you will get a roster of all memebers that own the same car that you have. Some of them may not have any time for one reason or another to help you but chances are very good that you will find a couple of guys that will be willing to help. I would defanitely not get my hopes up that you will find someone that would be willing to tear up their floorboards or tear apart their car so that you can get the info you need but I bet their is a chance that maybe someone will have one of these cars laying around that can maybe give you the info, you need to analize EXACTELY what info you need and ask them VERY specific questions because of course time is precious to most people if you get meaning.

I know you dont want to hear this but something as seemingly simple as wooden floorboards can quite possibly take YEARS to duplicate because of a lack of info depending on how anal you want to get. Even for my own car when I purchased it the floorboards were replaced with unoriginal boards, I searched for quite a few years and NEVER thought I would ever have them because my bodystyle is quite rare but I was lucky enough to find a set from a guy that was rodding his car.

Seems even E-bay is drying up as a good source of parts so people have to decide just how correct they want to be, I have had to myself purchase entire parts cars just to get the little minute details that I wanted. I have had to pay some people 10-20 dollars for their time to remove a screw sample and send it to me from some relic that they had sitting in their back yard. I was very lucky to find these people who did not care about what they had but had and were willing to allow me to pay them for their troubles.

It seems to me that Jan Arnett and Dwollem are VERY knowledgable about your particular bodystyle. I have talked with Jan persoanlly in the past and as far as I know he will do just about anything to help anyone but if neither of them can give you what you need then you WILL find someone that can if you look hard enough.

I know that the floorboards you have seem to be in pretty good shape considering what I have seen in your pictures and what I have seen many others cars to have, you should feel lucky that you have what you have, study closely what you have, write down what you notice such as how your boards are all held together, IE the joints ect. Determine how you can use this info to possibly replicate what you are missing. It looks like you have a toolbox as part of your floor??? I may be wrong though as your pictures seem sorta dark to me.

Mine also has a toolbox as part of the floor, you should prob. consider yourself very lucky to have that, as far as I know they can be tough to find.

The floorboards originally in my car are all solid wood except for the toe boards ( which is the boards furthest forward ) these boards were originally plywood believe it or not. You need to determine what wood your used, I bet your boards are originally all solid wood.

I bet that your boards may have originally had an anti rattle felt around your underside perimiter to stop the boards from squeeking as you were driving. You can learn if you had this and MANY more things from the purchase of a parts book, I am just guessing that they are avail either thru Romar or Myers early Dodge parts.

I am also guessing and pretty darn sure that you are lucky enough that your car does have service manuals, ( mine does not because of the clusterfXXX at Dodge during Chrysler takeover. If you were to find a complete set ( which I bet would not be overly difficult ) than they would have a world of knowledge including but not limited to pictures of your original floor. I have a set for 27, I will look and see for you tonight, maybe there is something there that will help.

One thing that you have to realize is that you need to search and gather as much info on your own as you can and you can start that here by reading old posts pertaining to your car, then you can look in AACA library, then you can contact the Detroit Public Library, they have a wealth of info, go to your own library and see what is avail. You might be surprised as to what can be loaned thru librarys.

I will agree with you that there is alot of info out there that some guys are not willing to just throw out there and share openly and I figure that is because they have spent years looking for it and well that is all that I am willing to say here now.You are also right that alot of older gentleman are not even willing to consider helping a younger guy because I guess they wont take you seriousley which is a darn shame because it turns of the younger guys to the older original cars. I am also alot younger than most of the guys here on this forum probably so I have had to learn ALOT of the info I have now the EXPENSIVE way but because of that I am gratefull because it has allowed me to gain some really in depth knowledge that alot of other guys just dont have and alows me the opportunity to be able to hopefully fill the gap where some of the others wouldnt bother.

Get a parts book, join the club and talk with other same owners, try and find your service manuals, ect ect ect. Except the fact that this will not happen overnight, learn to enjoy that fact because you are not a follower and doing just the opposite of what most other guys your age are doing with your type of cars. Follow e-bay religousely and start a disk showing just photos of your car, collect as many as you can. I can go on and on. I will do what I can to help. I guess you need to know if your car came iwth carpet, Dwollem already sorta answered that with a question, read his post again, post here a picture of what you think might be a piece of the original interior and go from there. If you can post a pict. of your car that would be first step so we can detrmine exactely what bodystyle you have and then go from there. Hope this helps.

Edited September 26, 2009 by 1930 (see edit history)

[Bob Zetnick]

Joe, we're not all experts; I am certainly far from it. I wish I had the model you have so I could help. First of all how many 1924 Dodge buisness sedans are there? Second, how many of those owners are a member of the DB Club and out of those how many use this forum? One poster had your model, but sold it; he sent the pictures he still had on file, but he had no others. We are all learning here. I have a '29 and I've found out there were 3 upholstery choices for my car and then combinations of those. Last week, I found out (by having the wrong size) that depending on what 6- cyl. engine I had there were 2 different sizes of spark plugs....who knew?

My 2 cents if there is no one in this forum that can help is to check the Dodge Brothers registry and see if someone has your model. If so, contact them personally. Secondly, find out any info from ads, brochures anything you can find on the model. If you can go to one of the DB meets. Lastly, sometimes you just need to make an educated guess....if you can't find someone with your same model you may have to do just that with your floorboards.

Have patience; this is supposed to be fun. It can get frustrating at times, but look at the big picture; what a cool car! This may be your first effort at an antique car...if you're like me you will be amazed at what was created 80+ years ago in workmanship and simple technology. Good luck with it.

[nearchoclatetown]

Join AACA and the Dodge Brothers club. The AACA library has a few Books of Information for a '25 DB. They will copy one and mail it to you for a few dollars if you are a member. The one printed closest BEFORE the manufacture date is the one you want. DBs changed throughout the year and Books of Information changed when there were enough changes to warrant the a new book being printed. All of the three main parts dealers in the DB club newsletter have serial number /manufacture date charts in their catelogs. The Book of Information is the owner's manual for DBs. My '06 DBC roster shows at least 29 1925 Sedan owners, if that's what you actually have. Someone should be able to send you pics of what you need. There is also a four cylinder advisor in the club newsletter that has lots of information at his disposal. The Dodge Story, a book by Thamas Mcpherson, is one of the few books that covers early DBs. It's for sale all the time on ebay. The Dodge Brothers website has a gallery with hundreds of pics. Maybe you could find some of the things you need there. You weren't born knowing the diesel truck info you say you have. Don't expect to understand Dodge Brothers by asking one or two questions here either. Do some research. The secret handshake comes with time!

[Guest JaD]

I am still trying to digest all the information everyone has shared recently. Meanwhile I thought I would show what I have, and what I have done already.

Thanks,

Joe Davis[/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[Guest JaD]

And some more

[dwollam]

That looks to be a beautiful job on the wood!

[Bob Zetnick]

Looks great!..especially the front seat support frame....really like that body style too with the disc wheels!

[Guest 1930]

Sure does look like you are doing a nice job, you must work with wood for a living. I am sure that someone here can verify wether the car had carpet in the rear and rubber up front now that we know what bodystyle you have.

[Guest JaD]

Thanks! I dont know how perfect to oem the front will be but the back is as close as I can get it. I need to make one more piece for the front then decide where to put the braces and wiggle it around till I like it. Do you think it would be helpful to put up measurments and pictures when I am done? I have most of the brackets that hold things in place too so I guess I am really lucky on that. I am curious about the bolts though...... the back floor was held in with carriage bolts and square nuts..... the front floor was held with slotted head bolts with hex nuts. I would tend to lean torwards the carriage bolts but I am not sure. Would these be zinc plated bolts?

Thanks,

Joe Davis

[Guest 1930]

I think it would be a fantastic idea to document everything you see and do as closely as possible. That is what I have always done myself, it will allow you to share with other people what you know or have learned along the way.

Just think also when you are done with your floors you will know the floor better then most people prob. do. Maybe or hopefully you will decide to stick around here and share what you have learned with other guys that might just be starting out. Please give us measurements and photos, those last ones were great, alot of guys wont bother to mention it but you and I would prob. be amazed at the # of people that have and will see your pictures you have posted here and save these on disk as I have for future referance.

All of floorboards are held in place by a slotted pointed screw approx 1 1/2 long, they were pointed so that the screw would pierce the felt underlayment that was used on the backside of the boards to help stop the squeeking. I have steel tabs that are threaded coming off the side of my frame rails that the floorboards are set onto and then the screws are passed thru and into.

I dont believe the screws were zink plated.

Again if you were to purchase a parts book for your car it would tell you by part #s cross referance if there were more than one style of bolt used on your floorboards, it will prob. also tell you (as my 29 parts book does) where else on the vehicle the screw may have been used which will do one of two things and they are clarify what they may look like ( because maybe their location has still remained untouched and original ) and the book may also ( as my parts book does ) detail the type of fastener giving its approx measurements and possiby coating if there was one.

[Guest 1930]

I did look thru what I though was Dodge only info for 26 to see if anything there might help but it turns out that it was generalized info so cant help with measurements on floorboards as you had asked.

[Guest JaD]

" There is no such thing as a stupid question"

Time to ask a stupid question........ or two.......

Now that you have seen the pictures exactley what body style do I have?

I briefley checked out Zomar and Meyers, what a incredible resource!!!! I dont know if I used the wrong terms or the wrong search engine but I never found either of those in hours of searching. I think I will be able to fit and finish the front be early next week, I will take pictures of what was left and what I made and post them.

Wood working is one of my favorite hobbies but not what I do for a living...... You might laugh but I am a landscaper by trade.

Thanks, Joe Davis

[Guest 1930]

Trying to upload what info I have on the 26 vehicles, wont let me upload, says I am missing a security token, have no idea what that means, I will try again tomm, I am not familiar enough to tell you what exactely you have, they are several years very similar so dont want to steer you wrong, hopefully someone else here will recognize and relay some info.

[Guest 1930]

Here you go JD I guess they were too large, I guess I ahve been told you can print these out by right clicking and then it will be readable.

[dwollam]

If the front seat is hinged as one whole piece and the rear seat comes out easy as will the rear side panels, then it is most likely a type "B" or Business sedan. They would of originally had a little placque over the windshield by the mirror stating so. If not all those things, then it would be a type "A" sedan.

[jan arnett (2)]

Joe:

Did you check out the next link in the forum. There is a gentlemen looking for information on a 1924 sedan. He has a complete floor in his sedan.

[Guest JaD]

Thank you again to everyone for all the amazing information. From what has been posted I am positive that it is a Business Sedan. Everything in the back seat area is held in with easily removable wing type bolts, and the front seat hinges to the front side with a storage area underneath. I didnt have as much time this week as I thought I might have this week to finish and post the floor plus I had to order more white oak.....Ouch. The front is roughed in but not finished and fitted, I will put the picture at the bottom of this. A lot of the front boards were missing so I tried to imagine what a 1920's era craftsman would do and pictured a well fitted smooth tight floor. Maybe I am totally off but Igot it in my mind and went with it.

I have another mystery to solve...... Grandpa remembers these pieces of wood but does not remember where they came from. I have spent a lot of time wandering around the car and have some guess' but no definite ideas.

Thanks,

Joe

[Guest 1930]

Beutifull job

[Guest Ed_Joyce]

Since it looks like you have roof insert framing I'm guessing possibly rear sheet metal panel framing behind the back seat? I've seen a number of cars of this era with wood reinforcement for the body panels. Just a guess

[Guest 1930]

I did not understand or see that as a question on your post but I would guess Ed is right, also there is alot of wood inserted in between steel framing referred to as tack strips for the upholstery on my 29. I would consider this also although I defanitely cannot say for sure your earlier car used these.

[Guest JaD]

Thanks guys, I really need to get all the books on this car. Maybe there is a reference to these pieces somewhere. I have looked at all the books from Romar and Meyers plus everything from DB club. Is there a better (cheaper) route? Im going to go stare at that rear seat area for a while and see if I can make any sense of it.

Thanks again,

Joe

[Guest 1930]

I bet you wont find a referance as far as appearance in any book, again I would suggest finding someone that has taken this model apart and knows it inside out, they will prob. instantly recognize the pieces. There is no other route other than buying all that you can but just remember to not get your expectations too hing on literature, it was skectchy at best back then but it is all we have now, you will gain the majority of your knowledge by talking with other similar owners. There is nothing quick about any of this, just imagine what some other guys go thru when restoring even more obsolete cars, you again are on the right track, just have plenty of patience.

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

Hello JaD,

I just read the full post I see you are wondering what the floor cover was.On the business sedan the cover was Battleship gray linoleum.We can supply you with such.

You did a real nice job on the floor,each panel should be edge with a alumuin angle strip after the linoleum has been layed down.Also I beleive there's a metal curve peice that fits where the floor board meets the toe boad.just ahead of the tranny shifter.

Also the opening such as the hand brake, brake and clutch paddel should have a alumuin strip too.

Vern from ROMAR

Edited October 13, 2009 by Backyardmechanic (see edit history)

[Guest 1930]

Vern, was that covering used on entire floor front and rear or are you just reffering to the front half like I think should be as such?

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

Jason,

On the business sedan Linoleum was used on both front and rear.On the "A" sedan carpet was use in the rear and Board cloth was use for the seats and door panels with leather being used for the Business sedan The kick panels were imentation leather on both

Vern

[Guest 1930]

Thanks