VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1916-1922 - Model 490 Original Floor Boards

Are there any 490 owners out there with their original front floor boards? I am interested in seeing pictures of the top and bottom of the original floor boards. Also, what is the correct wood that was used? I would appreciate any help.
Thanks,
Gary

Due to not very good wooden material I have changed the angled floor board in front with new material. The old one was rather oily and brown-reddish colored. It might have been redwood. I am pretty sure Chevrolet, ust like F**D, used all packing materials (i.e. the big wooden boxes) in the car production, and it must have been very convenient as to make the floor boards and the running boards.

I will put some few pictures here to help you. As to my knowledge the wood was originally covered with linoleum, (Battleship Grey) and framed with aluminium (L-shaped). It has a jute layer on the back. The running boards had the same covering. I bought a piece of the right type/color here in Oslo, originally made by Armstrong, for Solan.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-battleship-gray-linoleum/
Ad from 1919:
http://www.adclassix.com/ads/19armstronglinoleum.htm

Coming back soon.

Here are the pictures of the floor boards and runningboards.











:vcca:

Solan,

Thank you for the pictures and the info. I knew I could count on you. You have been a big help.

Thanks,
Gary

If you need more pictures or measurements, just ask. But I leave for a 8-days tour to Sweden on Monday. The wire arrangement under the passenger floor (4th picture) is made to fasten the seat belts (for hips)in front.

Solan is ready to go, as we washed, rinsed and polished him this evening. He is shining like a real star, and really is looking forward to the vacation.

Hi Gary

Yes, I believe that the floor boards on my 1922 490 are original. I can confirm what Solan writes. I do not know what kind of wood was used. I will send you a couple of pictures in a day or to by e-mail, so you can have pictures with quite high resolution.

The front floor board on my 1928 sedan is made like this one with the fairing strips screwed to the planks. I was told that it isn't original because the original wood is plywood. If that is so it is strange because that would be the only plywood in the car. My car appears to be mostly original.
Was plywood even very plentiful back in 1928?
After all they are called floor boards, not floor plywoods!

:vcca:

http://www.apawood.org/level_b.cfm?content=srv_med_new_bkgd_plycen
According to this site, while plywood was around back then it was not until the mid 30's that it became waterproof.

Larsson,

Any pictures you could provide would be great, especially the back of the angled front floor board. The measurements of the separate boards would be nice too if it's not too much trouble. Is the wood 3/4" thick?
Say, are you near Stockholm? I saw the Vasa Museum there last year. Nothing short of incredible!!! Cheers, Gary

Mack,

It is my understanding that plywood did not come out until sometime in the 30s also.

Gary

Hi Gary

Now I've got some pictures, but I haven't got your e-mail adress. You can find my e-mail adress if you click at "Larsson", then "View profile", and the send me an e-mail. Or you can post your adress here or/and add it to your profile.

The wood is 5/16" (16 mm). The boards has tongues and grooves (do you call it matching boards?) that you'll be able to see on one of the pictures. The grey linoleum on jute is approximately 3 mm thick.

I live on the west coast of Sweden, in Kungsbacka, a small town 18 miles south of Göteborg. Stockholm is really a nice town. I have visited the Vasa Museun a couple of times with my wife and my kíds, and yes - it is magnificent.

By visitng the biggest supplier of floor covering material in Oslo they told me that when I was looking for Battleship Grey it mostly would be a linoleum type, as that still is a color delivered by linoleum manufacturers.

I started seaching and found Armstrong/USA making the cover already in 1909. Invented already in 1860 in Great Britain:

http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventions/a/linoleum.htm

So I searched for Battleship Grey, which was ( may still is) used by the Navys onboard the battleships in huge quantities.
That makes the price quite low also for the car makers. Specially as it must have been very convenient to use only one color to most brands/years those days, black on bodies, grey on the floors. (I bought the stuff there as well)

Here is the story about Armstrong:
http://www.armstrong.com/corporate/corporate-history.html

Today I am pretty sure about the original use of the linoleum and the color used on my 1916, even if Solan had vinyl cover before I changed.

I can verify it was in fact battleship grey linoleum on the floor in front and on the running boards. My Dads 21 490 touring still has the original linoleum intact with aluminum trim. It was backed with jute similar to burlap. I also remeber it was a thin linoleum, thinner than some replacements I have seen. The material was so thin that even with only 10,000 original miles, there is a hole worn in the linoleum on the driver side running board. Muddy boots would have caused that to happen faster than just wear from clean shoes and his car was a "country car". No doubt Chevy used the thin stuff to save costs. It was almost like a very thick "oil cloth", but stiffer. One thing is I can't remember exactly what was in the rear floor but I think it may have been a wool type short pile black carpet, but again I can't remember positivly on the rear. I also can't remember if the rear carpet or covering went over the toe board/tool box behind the seat or not. The floor boars are not plywood in 21, but are yellow pine tongue and groove planks with the stiffener boards screwed on.

According to the F**D and Chevrolet needs for low cost on all parts to get the price as low as possible, I feel they both would have used the wooden packing materials from sub-suppliers first, not buying any extra wood before really needed. In Solan the original wood remaining is wood, not plywood on the floor boards. As to the wood in the running boards they have been replaced, so I don't know, but they could very well have been of same plain wood, not pluwodd as used there now.

Yes, running boards were of yellow pine also and two boards were used with the wooden cross ties to hold them together inbetween the running board brackets if I remember right. I got to thinking about the rear compartment lid (rear toe board) on the floor behind the front seat and I don't remember anything covering that but black paint. I think it may have just had a hole drilled in it so it could be opened with a finger. How is that for cheap! Bear in mind it has been 20+ years at least since I have seen the car, but hope to dig it out this Christmas and get pictures.

I saw Dads original 21 490 yesterday. It didn't have 2 running boards, only one. I also found the original linoleum for inside and on the running boards. It has a reddish color to the back side. The tool box lid also didn't have a finger hole. I must have been thinking of something else. I couldn't see any trace of anything have ever been on the rear floor covering wise, but it was hard to get in good enough and really look good. I took a bunch of pictures and will get them posted when I get time today.

My new 21 490 15K miler has the original linoleum on the upper floor board. It also has the original floor board but only has 2 furring strips on the back and looks to be yellow pine. The rear has snaps for some kind of floor covering, but it is gone. There are snaps on the toe board lid also and the lid has a key hole and lock like used on old dresser drawers. I have a gut feeling it had carpet back there. My passenger side running board is weak and has two boards.

Anybody finding it difficult and lots of trouble to remove and remount the front floor board?

To be able to control, oil and grease the clutch parts quickly I have rearranged the fastening of the floor boards by not using the screws to fasten the starter knob, only to fasten the knob to the V-shaped rod fastening the rear of the engine. Instead I use one wing screw at each corner of the floor board. Much easier to remove and replace the floor board then, but may be not originally done.

To re-oil (or reduce slippery) leather you have to remove the floorboard.

You see at least one screw in my picture at beginning of this subject. Hope this makes it more convenient for all.

Wing screws area good idea, but the screws that hold the toe board in on my car are angled about 45Deg (like toe nailing) and tie the toe board to the angled body sills to tie the front body together for strength. The wings might hit the floor on my car and not let them tighten all the way.

Solan - I'm not sure what you mean by "not using the screws to fasten the starter knob". My starter switch was not fastened to the toeboard. The switch is bolted to the transmission support and the switch post sticks up through a hole in the toeboard - like yours. I've posted photos of my toeboard here:

1920 Chevy 490 Toeboard

My toeboard appears to be the original pine boards with factory linoleum. It is fastened to the body with five screws along the outside edges. The previous owner used modern deck screws to make it east to zip out with a power screwdriver.

I noticed your toeboard doesn't have the heel rest attached below the accelerator pedal, and the pedal is located much lower. Was that done to fit RH drive?

Don,

Not sure if you know this already, but the round flat gas pedal pad unscrews from the gas pedal rod. Just thought I would mention that if you weren't aware.

regards,
Gary

I found a video of a 1921 490 on youtube. It shows some good shots around the car including what looks like faded carpet in the rear.

When I bought the car, the floor board was fastened to the V-shaped rod and with the starter knob fastened with the same screws on top of it. I found that if I fastened the starter knob directly to the V-shaped rod and let the floor board be fastened to other screws, I would make the removal of the board much faster. OK?

Wing nuts work quite well but they need to be fastened securely due to the fact you need the board to stay absolutely FIRM, to be able to fully trust the service brake in the car. A loose floor board would mean real trouble, I think. After you have screwed the (wingnut) screw tight into the wood, you may bend them to angle 90 degrees to the floor. Then you will be able to put the floor board straight into position and fasten the wing nuts thereafter.

Until recently I did not know about the heel rest to the accelerator pedal. I was able to buy a spare from my friend near to Oslo, so it will be in order before spring. The different mounting may have to do with the heel rest missing on Solan. Something to improve, my friend.

And, YES, you have to unscrew the accelerator pedal pad to remove the floor board. Remember to put the accelerator rod into the hole in the floor board before you fasten the board again. Then fasten/screw the pad to the rod.