Floor Boards

While most of us never think about what is under the carpet in our modern cars, this is not so for the Model A owner.  We've always called this subsurface "floor boards," and with good reason!  In the older cars, they had a lot of wood in them.  My little roadster just happens to have very little wood.  There are a couple of pieces in the sides just behind the doors, one in the rumble seat area, and the most important two are where you put your feet - the floor boards!  Well, Model A floor boards are very important in that they not only are the place you put your feet, but they cover the battery, transmission, and the back of the engine.  Every time you need to connect or disconnect the battery or oil the transmission, you have to remove the larger of the two floor boards or a trap door in the floor board.  It just so happened that I noticed that Miz B's floor boards were looking a bit sad and very warped.  The car is supposed to have a 7 layer Birch plywood floor board.  Miz B's were 2 layer particle board.  No wonder why they were warped!  

So it was off to Smith & Jones for a replacement set.  Unfortunately, they only sell left hand drive sets.  No problem!  The larger and flat positioned board is exactly the same as the left hand drive.  The trick was going to be fitting the top, slanted board.  The pedals are on the opposite side of the car, naturally, but they are not configured exactly the same way.  Left hand drive cars have the gas pedal to the right of the brake and clutch, while right hand drive cars have the gas pedal between the clutch and brake!  So, we flipped the board upside down, cut a circular hole for the gas pedal and made one of the slots, for the clutch, a bit wider.  Simple!  I have a few extra small holes, but the floor mat and carpet cover it all.

Little by little, this car is getting put back together the way it should be.  

Most of the packing is complete for the Blue Ridge Parkway Tour.  We are trying out a new way of packing clothes with this trip.  I've packed a days worth of clothing per person into a 2 gallon zip lock baggie for each and put them into an easily accessible bin.  That way, we can grab out toiletries and a change of clothes to take into the hotel each night and not have to lug in a big suitcase.  We are going to be staying in a different hotel for 7 of the 8 nights we are on the tour.

Saturday morning, we are meeting the Prince's and the Austin's at the Starbucks in Trenholm Plaza at 8AM.  We will then travel up Percival Road and meet up with the Cockerill's near Clemson Road.  The weather is supposed to cooperate on Saturday and Sunday as we travel up to Charlottesville, Virginia.

Next post will be from the road . . . .