'29 roadster seat

[wduprez]

Hi Experts, a friend asked me if I knew of any method of moving the seat back on his '29 Roadster. His son wants to drive it, but he is 6'2".
Is it possible ?
Thanks in Advance.
Wayne

[springerpete]

Change the wood frame the back rests on both wood thickness and position and you will gain some space. If you thin the wood add a few more pieces for strength. Bill

[wduprez]

Thanks for the advice!!!!!

[wduprez]

I hope you are planning to attend the New England Meet in September

[DKnapp]

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Here is an article my son wrote about modifying the coupe seat for more room. Enjoy, Dick Knapp

Making Leg Room in a ’29 Business Coupe
By David Knapp
You could feel the excitement in the air—Dick Knapp was about to give his Grandson a Model A driving lesson. Mind you, this driving lesson wasn’t in just any Model A—this particular Model A was Dick’s very first car! Dick happily climbed into the passenger seat and then watched in horror as his Grandson, Preston Knapp, attempted to fold his 6’1”-plus tall frame into the driver’s seat of a 1929 Business Coupe.
Preston did finally manage to get in, but once the driver’s door was closed, it was pretty obvious there would not be any driving. Preston was wedged into position by the seat, door, steering wheel, dash and shifter which would not allow him to work pedals and steer. (See Figure 1) This was going to be a problem!
When Model A’s were new it is quite obvious that people were shorter. So how do we continue to
enjoy these fine vehicles when the driver can’t get comfortable or might not be able to get all the way
in? In our case, we had to do something. When Dick was a teenager, his Grandfather (Preston’s Great, Great Grandfather) had given this very same 1929 Business Coupe to him as a first vehicle. Now 70 years later, Dick wants to pass this car on to his firstborn Grandson to continue the generational skip. However, if this car is going to be passed down, it is time for some serious ingenuity so Preston can actually enjoy it from the driver’s seat!
Our search for legroom answers began on the internet. The success stories seemed to focus around sliding brackets in Tudor’s, thin back cushions in pickups, and occasionally someone with a Coupe who had moved the seat back support rearward by modifying the package tray. The package tray modification seemed easy enough, so we pulled the seat back out and took close a look at how it was mounted. We then removed the package tray and the lower L brackets holding the bottom of the seat back rest. After some measuring and time to think about our options, we decided to test fit moving only the seat backrest rearward by about 3” (see figure 2). New extended “L” brackets at the bottom of the seat and a temporary upper brace where the package tray normally sits allowed moving the backrest rearward by 3”. Preston was able to get in, but with the seat bottom cushion still in its original position,
it was a bit awkward and likely would not have been comfortable for very long. This also left an
unsightly gap between the seat bottom cushion and the backrest. Somehow the seat back AND the seat base both had to move.
We took the seat back and bottom cushions back out and started to really study the floor structure and seat base. We now had to commit to some more extensive surgery. We decided to start removing seat support panels followed by making a strategic cut in the floor behind the seat. Doing this would allow moving both the seat back and the bottom cushion rearward. Once the rivets were removed the pieces started to come out. The curved panel that served as the seat backrest lower support was, in its original position, riveted to front edge of a body crossmember. Our plan was to mount it somewhere behind the crossmember to get the whole seat backrest into the right position. This would also allow us to make a change to the position of the seat bottom cushion, but we will discuss that shortly. Once the curved panel (see Figure 3) and its side supports were out, the next step was to cut the floor. This took some courage as it was a really nice solid piece of original metal and – gasp, we are going to cut it up! We cut the floor panel about 4” from the back of the floor pan. (See Figures 4, 5 and 6).
We now have four panels out of the car—the curved seat backrest support, the two side braces, and the section of rear floor pan we just cut out. These parts were then reassembled into a single unit that
could be placed back into the car. The key here was the cut in the floor and the body crossmember mentioned earlier. Instead of placing it in the original position on the front side of the crossmember,
the curved back rest support now sits on the rear edge of the crossmember. That moves the seat backrest assembly back by 2 3/4” total. The rear edge of the assembly was simply slid underneath the remaining floor pan (see Figure 7 & 8).
The package tray was our next project. We didn’t want to modify it, but it is a complex part and re- making the part did not seem an option, so modifying it was necessary. We cut the package tray out at the edges allowing it to have a downward bend (see Figure 9). This was done to lay the seat back by about 3”. Of course, with the lower part of the backrest moved by 2 3/4” the backrest angle remains close to the same position. At the ends of the package tray the metal layers were brazed together to
offer a bit more support of the metal remaining where we had made our relief cuts. The seat back could now be installed securely in its new position about 3” back (see Figure 10).
The next issue was moving the seat bottom cushion and seat base. The rivets holding the metal seat base in place were first removed freeing it from its current position. Once it was out, a filler needed to be installed as moving the metal seat base back would place its front edge into the underseat storage well with nothing to secure it to (see Figure 11). We chose to cut a trapezoid shaped 3⁄4” thick wood support for the front of the seat base that measured 2 1⁄2” wide x 33 3/8” long at the rear edge by 33 1/8” at the front edge. This wood support was secured to in the front of the underseat tool storage well (see Figure 12). Once in place, the metal seat base support could be mounted in its new position 2 3⁄4” rearward to match the seat backrest (see Figure 13). In front of the seat base a new void was created behind the wood floor and where the seat base previously had been mounted. This area was filled with another piece of wood cut to shape so that the floor was flat from the toeboard to the newly positioned seat base.
Assembly was accomplished using bolts with square nuts where-ever possible to make it look like something Ford may have done originally. To make the metal seat support assembly removable, we chose to use riv-nuts for final installation (See figure 14). While they don’t look correct, they can be changed later if we want to use original style rivets or bolts. Riv-nuts are a threaded tube style rivet that crushes into position using a special setting tool. Once in place, the top side of the rivnut is essentially flush allowing two pieces of metal to be screwed together flushly. Figure 14 shows the backside of the riv-nut installed in a small piece of sheet metal. The other side of the riv-nut in figure 14 is flush. One additional benefit of the riv-nut and screws is this can be disassembled easily for other work on the car or to restore the car to its original seating position.
Upon reassembly—it was time for a test fit. Preston climbed into position and closed the door (See Figure 15). What a difference! Roughly 3” makes a remarkable difference. This modification should
work with early Sport Coupes and Business Coupes. It may apply to other models such as the Standard Coupe with some variation in execution. If you need more than 3”, you may have to add a filler panel in the floor and install another crossmember, but this project turned out far better than we could have anticipated. Now—about those driving lessons...