VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 31 Sport Coupe Rumble Seat Hold-down

I posted an image with questions under Member Photos a few days ago. While I received helpful responses, I still am unable to determine the route of the straps that hold the seat down…or what the straps look like for that matter.
Any help would be appreciated. I have the blocks and one of the pins that the strap hooks on but that's all. Originally I thought that the strap must just loop over the front piece of the spring frame but the upholstery prohibits that.

I am amazed that 100 people have looked at this and not one can give me an answer. There must be someone out there with a coupe rumble seat intact.

If the coupe is like a cabriolet rumble seat, the top of the back cushion is held in place by two tabs that fit into slots in the inner frame of the deck lid. At the lower corners of the back cushion there are two bolts into the frame of the lid. A wooden rail keeps the bottom cushion from sliding forward.

David, The sport Coupe is the same as the Cabriolet.

I do not believe so. The 2/1/32 parts books lists different seats for the cab and the sport couple with different prices so I strongly suspect they are not the same.
Cab back: 4009360 $9.50
Cab seat: 4006121 $7.50
Spt Cp back: 4006124 $12.00
Spt Cp seat: 4009358 $8.00

My seat has loops on the back metal that slide into slots in the floor and the fron rests on top of the blocks pictured under my pictures posted on April 3. the seat somehow ties to these with what I have been told is a 1 inch web.

I think you will find that the difference is not in the dimensions but in the upholstery covering the seat. That is the reason for the different part numbers.

Agree...Joe

I also agree!

Did this question ever get answered? I have one of the blocks intact and the other with the tab broken off. I have a seat cushion spring from Snyders and it has no bottom wood frame. The springs have the two loops that fits into the back support rib of the pan but I'm not sure how the front of the spring will be secured to those blocks. Does the cushion sit on top of those blocks or just behind those blocks? If it sits behind (to keep the seat from sliding forward?) are there loops of fabric, like what was already asked here, that are fastened to the front of the cushion and go over the tabs of the blocks?
On the rumble seat back, I assume the four tabs on the springs (Snyders) get screwed into the wood frame to secure the spring set to the wood frame. I will have to look at Hampton Coach's instructions for mounting the interior. Possibly it explains it all.

I would be interested in seeing pictures of those springs and mounting.
Regards

I believe that the loops are correct but I never got any pictures of them nor was I able to figure out how and where to fabricate and place them. As it is my frame sits behind the blocks but there is nothing preventing it from bouncing up.

You would think someone one here could tell us how that seat bottom is held down as those wood blocks have a specific shape and there’s got to be a reason why they’re made that way. Do you have any pictures of your seat rumble seat cushion and seat back with their upholstery on? Looking for pictures of the back or bottom sides.

I can pull the bottom one and photograph it. I don't really want to go through disconnecting the back. It will be a few days until I get the chance.

The seat cushion upholstery interests me more as I have the Hampton Coach instructions and while they explain some, they are also very vague in some details. I realize how the seat back for the rumble lid has its upholstery fastened to the wood frame and has a wind lace cording around the edge to finish the cushion to lid gap. I’m not sure if the bottom cushion is hog ringed to the springs or tacked as there is not much wood framing on the Snyder bottom cushion spring set to fasten the upholstery to.

I have not forgotten you but the weather has been just too cold for me to spend much time in the garage.

Gachap sent me pictures of his rumble seat cushion, his wood hold down blocks, and a pin nailed into the face of the front floor pan, directly in line with the notch in the wood blocks. Based on George’s pictures, conversations with Joe pirrone, NAOC 32 Olds technical advisor, and the hold down straps supplied in the Hampton Coach interior, I believe we have determined the purpose of the notched blocks and how the straps are fastened. It appears the straps are looped around the cushion frame and the end of the strap fastened either buy stitching or tacking. The end with the grommet would pass under the notch in the block and then the grommet would be put over the end of the pin. Of course the strap needs to be fastened to have the correct length so there’s some tension as the grommet is pulled over the pin.
George is going to try a slightly different approach and make up a strap with a grommet at each end. He’ll loop the strap around the lower frame then put both ends under notch and both grommets over the pin.

I need to take George’s photos and reduce their size on my computer so I will post them later. Haven’t figured out a way to do it yet with this damn iPad!

Good info, I was wondering how all that was suppose to work.

Thanks Dave

Try emailing the pictures to yourself, they should arrive in your inbox smaller in size.
Then copy them and see what the MB are

mike lynch

Here is a picture of the block and pin in question

Looks like my advice worked for you on the picture re-sizing.

Now about that foot area of the rumble seat that's really beat up.

When I took my foot area floor pan out of my roadster , I took it too enviro tech strippers to have it chemically stripped. It was covered in bondo, fiberglass mat, tar, outdoor carpet and who knows what else. What I got back looked like a SLICE OF SWISS CHEESE. I was shocked. to say the least, but a solution was at hand.

I took the panel to Metal mart and asked them to duplicate the main foot area with the flat area at 0 degrees, then both ends at 10 degree bends, duplicating the factory piece. For the drop down area for rumble passengers feet I had them do 2 lengths of 90 degree bend 2" wide each on the 90, of same material.

The area that sits over the rear end, I was able to salvage slicing it across so the floor panel where its 10 degrees rise would mate up. This was MIG tacked then welded. The 90 degree side parts were cut to rise up the 10 degrees and tack welded. The 90's were welded solid and the excess material zip cut away. Do the welds in small short stages to avoid warpage.

If the ribbed floor stamping support ribs are still attached to the original floor panel, use a spot weld bit to remove the ribs. Fill all the spot weld holes then drill new holes using 10/32 button head allen heads with nylock nuts.

Take some oil , water and gas proof paper and cut material to sit under the ribs paint and attach them for a great finished floor panel

mike lynch

The front and rear pans for the Cabriolets are being reproduced by American Muscle. My rear floor pan is original and my front pan is a AM reproduction. The pin in question is not shown in that picture. I will try and see if I can shrink the picture by emailing myself.

I had to open the picture then save it through "paint" in my laptop in order to post it here. As you can see, there is a pin in the vertical face of the front floor pan which is in direct line with the notch on the cushion stop block. The pin resembles a simple push pin used on bulletin boards. Investigation of my original rumble pan front cross sill shows this pin was not a screw but a nail, much like the size of a 16d one. There is a skirt on the bottom of the pin, then the recessed area, then the head. It seems many of us have the holes in our pan but the pins themselves are missing. George is the first one I know of to still have a pin in place. I believe he stated his other one is missing. Unless someone can verify that the strap and pin theory is wrong and tell us otherwise, it seems like the notch in the block has been solved.

The pin is there you have to look close to see it.

Yes, I see it now. I would really like some close up pictures of the pin and possibly some miked measurements so I can make some up.

Here you go, let me know if you need something else.