1925 Commercial Car Upholstery

[W MacDonald]

I'm working on putting the correct upholstery in my 1925 DB wrecker (screenside sans top) s/n A-204645 (Oct 1924 build). Vehicles after A-250060 had springs added to the seat backs ("Antique Automobile" May/June 1968). An original I measured was 3 inches thick from the wood back where the hinges attach to the welt. Question: On vehicles built prior to adding the springs, how thick were the seat backs, and with what were they stuffed? If anyone is willing to measure their pre-spring seat, I'd appreciate it. And while you're at it, the original I measured had a 5" x 8" diamond pattern in the leather on the back rests. I have not seen an original seat cushion. What size are the diamonds? A 5 x 8 pattern gets the front and rear rows of buttons very close to the welt.

Thanks,

Wayne MacDonald

[jan arnett (2)]

Wayne:

The seat backs were stuffed with curled horse hair so anything you measure today is going to be incorrect. Do you belong to the Dodge Club? Several years ago an article was written on redoing the seats and it is excellent. I can take a picture of my seats for a 1923 if it will help.

[W MacDonald]

Thanks, Jan. I have been a club member for the past three years, since I bought my truck. I purchased the 1983-2000 back issues of the Club News on CD. I have not found any relevant upholstery articles there or in any issues during the last three years.

Photos would be great. Also really helpful would be a measurement of the width of the band of leather (leatherette) that goes between the front tufted portion of the back-rest and the wood board the hinges screw to. Regardless of the condition of the stuffing, this dimension shouldn't change and will let me know if the back-rest got thicker (to 3") when the springs were added, or if earlier vehicles just used a lot of stuffing to make a 3" thick rest. That's really all I need - how thick should a back-rest without springs be?

Wayne MacDonald

[jan arnett (2)]

I need to get the seat parts from another location but will post them for you.

[jan arnett (2)]

Here are pictures of my 1923 seat backs. The seat is 1 1/2 inches which is the stuffing and leather. The wood is 1/2 thick. The pleats are 4 inchs wide.

Here are the pictures.

[W MacDonald]

Jan:

Thank you very much for the photos. Maybe a dumb question, but what is the purpose of the flaps that hang down from the back rest? Do these just cover the gap between the bottom of the back rest and the top of the body? They look like they might be just long enough to reach the seat cushion.

Wayne MacDonald

[jan arnett (2)]

absolutely. They keep the breeze from going up your back.

[Guest DBAcadia]

I just acquired a '25 screenside which came only with the folding pass seatback (w/springs), no bottom cushion(s) or drivers seatback. If anyone has any......I'll

be at Hershey. Anyhow, I will measure the seatback and post pic should it help.

Pics of earlier seat cushions appear even thinner than the ones shown, and mine

thicker again.

Tom Alley