Original floorboard?

[Russ T. Fender]

This is the kick board on my 2 owner 30-U rumble seat coupe.  It has the remnants of a chevron pattern mat that is glued to the board and what looks like a guide or support for the accelerator button.  The missing foot rest screws into a threaded plate under the kick board and there is felt like material tacked to the perimeter.   I am trying to figure out what is right here.

[frankp]

I'll say the wood is and the the foot rest plate.  The U shaped cut is for the manual starter pedal. The accelerator support is not familiar to me. Here's '29 set up with Bendix starter so you see similar layout.

[Russ T. Fender]

Thanks.

[kimmc]

Hi Russ.  I am attaching two pics of the floorboard from my '29 coupe.  I think this is probably the original.  It has been in my family since new and has not been driven since '57.  I am in the process of restoring it now.  The board is 3/4 inch plywood (5 plys).  I at first thought this might not be original but the other floorboards are the same (old) 3/4 inch plywood.  Is yours plywood as well?

On the top of the board, the foot rest for the accelerator still remains.  To the Left is a "u" shaped slot for the accelerator.  The hole to the Right is for the starter switch.  The notch at the bottom edge is, I presume, to fit around the transmission.  The large "v" slot on the left is for the steering I guess; I wonder why this is so large (must be for fit but I don't remember now).  There are also several machine screws near each corner that I presume held a floor mat in place.  Maybe you know. 

On the back of the board, one can see the plate that holds the foot rest in place.  Also, apparently the hole for the starter switch was drilled in the wrong spot, then patched, and re-drilled.  Like your board, this one has felt remnants around the edges to seal air leaks I guess.  I don't know if this was a stock item.  The car had no heater and I remember that my grandmother would be well bundled up against the Nebraska winter cold when my grandparents made the 80 mile drive to our farm for Christmas.  Hope these help.  Kim Mc

[kimmc]

Hi again Russ.  Just found a pic of the floorboard in place in the car.  One can see why a felt seal was used to fill the gap around the edges of the floorboard.  Big hole around the pedals!  Kim Mc

[Russ T. Fender]

My floorboards are plywood which is what  made me suspect they were not original.  Now, after seeing yours it may well be that they used plywood as opposed to hardwood.  The real puzzler for me is the remnants of the chevron pattern mat.  The mat is thick rubber and was clearly glued to the board. It does not look like someone added it later but I always assumed there was just a removable mat in the front compartment. I guess we will never be sure of what is correct until someone finds a totally unmolested car somewhere.  Both the kick board and the  floorboard are secured by screws on my 30-U and were clearly not designed to be removed often.  Accessing the battery for anything other than adding water is impossible without either removing the floorboard or crawling under the car.  It sounds like your car, like mine, was used over a long period of time and as a result a lot of things were modified to keep it on the road. Trying to get things back to original has been a real challenge because of the lack of information.  I have more information about my 1908 Autocar than I have for my Plymouth.