New floor boards for the "Red Flyer"

   I went back to Comries old saw mill in Ledyard and bought more old oakboards the same as I bought for the frame work for the seats. Originally Model A floors were made of plywood.  Henry Ford had a great idea to save a buck, he insisted that the floor boards for all Model A"s be made from the plywood that crated around the Model A 4 cylinder engines for shipment to the next factory.  Of course plywood did not stand up to the weather in a open tractor, so my father built some from pine 3"boards that after 60 years also rotted out.

                                                                   

New oak floor board Photos

                                                                             

                                                                                   

                                             This is what the oak boards were made from.

   

                The boards came out great after I cut them to size and drilled out for the shifter
                  hole.  Its amazing how 70 year old wood will come back to life if its been kept dry.
                                

   

Next I made templates out of cardboard for all 3 sections. This was the top section marking clutch, brake and gas pedal cut outs. 

 

I braced the 3 sections the same way the old ones were made.

I made sure I signed and dated the back side before I put on 3 coats of Marine Polyurethane. 

            Top section installed and holes were correct.  Installed new steering column inclosure brackets and made sure I put in the gray cloth padding that you can see up in the left corner.  That is so no engine fumes come into the cab.  Ha,Ha, right ..its a tractor.  padding protects the paint and wood from scratches, so I put it in anyways.                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                       

                                       
                              The finished floor boards match up with the seats and rear frame work.

                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                             

New dash Board

For the first time since I've owned the tractor everything on the dash works like it did in 1930.  I replaced everything even the courtesy light, really need a courtesy light on a tractor right?   When I was a kid, the ignition switch was splicing two wires together, a smashed ammeter and I had to guess how much gas was in the tank because the gas gauge was shellacked to the bottom of the gas tank and wouldn't move.  Finally the speedometer, of course it doesn't work because of the added transmission and La Salle rear end, so I took it apart cleaned it up , replaced the glass lens then I  permanently set the mileage to 12-4-12,  my Dad's birthday-December 4, 1912.

upper dash panel

The upper panel above the dash was in pretty good shape.  After I had it sand blasted, I only found a couple of dents and was able to hammer them out and metal file smooth.  Next, prime, water sand, paint and clear coat.  I was able to use the original brass oval head machine screws to mount it.  The screws cleaned up great on the wire wheel.  Installing this panel sure finished off the cowl and dash area.