MTFCA Forum

I have looked at many things on my 1921 coupe that make me think that it was a solid original car with not a lot of use when it was "restored" in the mid 1980's. It was carefully stored in 1987, and saw light of day next in November of 2018.
One thing I wonder about is the upholstery on the seats and the window straps. Headliner, door cards, etc were clearly replaced in the mid 1980's.
Could these seats and straps be original original? Note no holes in straps, I made the strap retainers, and the mounting should be under the door fabric.
What do you think?

I agree with Steve. But the strap sure looks like it is original.

If you contact Classtique upholstery they probably can tell you what type of upholstery and design was used in your Coupe. They probably have made interior kits for these cars.
I have a feeling that the door panels were striped wool material like the seats.
Don’t know about the earlier Coupes but my original seat and panel upholstery or what was left of it was striped. I have a 24 Coupe.
Yours looks good but I don’t think it’s original.

The strap looks 100% identical to the ones in my late Dad's unrestored '23 Canadian coupe.

This is the original interior of my '22 Centerdoor. Don't know if it is the same for your coupe but it is clearly striped.

I know that our 1922 coupe still has its original interior. For 1922 the lift straps were no longer used on the door windows,- only on the quarter windows. The door windows have a lift lever that locks into a series of notches in the side of the window frame. I am surprised that they used braided cords and woven trim to detail the door panels and headliner of a common Ford coupe back then. I do not think that the interior kits from the vendors have that.
Jim Dix, If you lift out the seat cushion and see how the upholstery was attached, you should be able to determine if it has been redone, or original.

Here are some photos of our original interior.

Underside of seat, tacks, no staples.

With the tacks, rather than staples, it looks original. If you can not see any old tack holes under the edges of the upholstery material, it must be original.

I have a 1924 T Coupe. The upholstery was done in 1984.

It is starting to show some wear, especially on the drivers side seat cushion.

What can be done to help protect the seat from getting any worse?

Don't drive it or go on a diet!

Maybe loose covers?

Reinforced seat covers to protect the upholstery. Maybe Classtique can make you some out of the proper material.

JimDix wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 05, 2019 12:35 pm

I have looked at many things on my 1921 coupe that make me think that it was a solid original car with not a lot of use when it was "restored" in the mid 1980's. It was carefully stored in 1987, and saw light of day next in November of 2018.
One thing I wonder about is the upholstery on the seats and the window straps. Headliner, door cards, etc were clearly replaced in the mid 1980's.
Could these seats and straps be original original? Note no holes in straps, I made the strap retainers, and the mounting should be under the door fabric.
What do you think?

Are the picture dates correct as September 2017?
Since you said it was restored in the mid 1980's there is an excellent chance that both original materials & skilled knowledgeable Model T craftsmen were available. Then carefully stored between 1987 to 2018, 31 years, they would have only seen 7 years of use. So they can be original, but my guess is that they were restored with original materials that were still available in the 1980's