MTFCA Forum

Hello.
During my restoration of my front door, one suggested if such pockets couldn't be reproduced.

I want to contribute. As I was confirmed by »Humblej« in another thread, my door pocket appears to be an original one (100+ years old), so I took detailed measurements and made a technical drawing before I glue it to the 1.5 mm plywood (= cardboard replacement). Gluing it to thin plywood will give it the necessary stability because the textile inside this artificial leather is very limited. So if one wants to reproduce them, at least the dimensions are not lost.

Here a link to the ZIP file (I have no idea if such file can be uploaded here):
http://www.hantsch.co.at/_Model-T/Front-Door-Pocket.zip

The drawing is available as AutoCAD R14 .dwg file. All dimensions are in Millimeters, the drawing is made in Millimeter Units. (So one can easily open it and pick all dimensions also in imperial, if desired.) I also converted it into PDF format and added it to the same .zip file, so one can open and print it without needing a compatible CAD program.
I have placed each part on a separate layer (also in different color) to make it easy to turn visibility of each part on and off.



Humblej was so kind and showed me this "Western Auto Supply 1928" catalog page. The shape of all parts (back material, lid and pocket) of my door pocket differs a bit, as you can see ... Especially the radius below the door latch is extremely different. The catalog shows a radius of estimated 50mm, while my door has a radius of approx 90mm. Also the pocket lid has different shape.

I hope this is helpful to others. If one decides to produce some, I will be happy to know about that (in case that mine falls apart). If interest is bigger, let me know, then I can look for a company in China for producing some.



Geetings,

Rainer

I take it the "pocket" replaces the whole door panel. I've never seen one, does anyone have these on their car?

Not necessarily a replacement Jim, it is an add on, so it could be installed over the factory door covering, and that is how Rainer's door was configured.

take it the "pocket" replaces the whole door panel. I've never seen one, does anyone have these on their car?

Think that accessory pocket is just tacked onto the factory door panel. One thing to check in the design is to have adequate 'gussets' so that the pocket can expand and hold the necessary goodies you want to carry.

I added a new tool pouch to the door on the '27 touring, to carry sunglasses or whatever. Except it really doesn't open up enough to reach to the bottom, since the bag is attached to the door panel, and can only slightly expand one direction, as the bag sides are sewn flat.

On this aftermarket Model T body, the two rear doors had 'flaps' that open to store items inside the door compartment, very roomy way to haul tools or other stuff! Made sure to replicate these flaps when redoing the upholstery./b]

Is there really no-one in America capable of making such an item? Such an item for limited production would keep a craftsman in work, rather than lose his/her expertise.
Allan from down under.

Just a question on "Artificial Leather".

On one of last pictures I see this material tacked to the door frame (it is not cut along borders).

1. How thick is this material? Should be really thin to not thicken inner panel too much.
2. Does it look like natural black leather, or like "plastic"?
3. I will have to find a store in Austria or Germany. If I can't find one here, where was this material bought? Price?

Background:
My Lizzy looks a bit shabby inside. All cardboard panels in front area are warped by humidity, also the cloth is very close to become exposed. A bit worse than on last pictures of rear doors, but warped in addition above and below the rib in half height. So it is more or less a question of time...
But I don't want to make a brand new car. It shall look authentic.

So I am looking for an extremely thin "artificial leather", not much thicker than the cloth underneath, and with a similar wrinkles. If it is not "dead black" but a little bit brighter (like graphite), it would match better.
No idea if such material is available.

Rainer, the cards over which the fabric is fixed/glued can be made from 3mm MDF. This will give you a nice flat panel. A good upholstery sewing machine will even sew through it, so the fabric can be stitched around the edges of the card.

A better solution to matching the covering material and keeping some patina might be to use second hand fabric. Because they are relatively small pieces they can be cut from used tonneau covers from modern utilities/pick-up tricks. I used some when recovering the seats on my barn fresh buckboard. Here the material was used to extend the older used material which was the face on the covers. The newer, but still used part is largely unseen on the sides of the seat. My motor trimmer saves any covers he cannot repair. Once he has made the new cover, the old pattern is mine!

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

The aftermarket pocket is listed for use with the 9-25 T’s with wood doors using tacks to attach it.
Was there any of the aftermarket door pockets made for the 26-27 T’s. Dan shows his that he made. Surely there were some made for the later T’s. I think those would have to be attached with screws since it’s a metal framed door?

The attached picture is of the right front door of my 1917 Touring. You will see that the only places to tack a pocket would be to the edges or the bar across the middle. I would think if you really wanted to secure it your best bet would be to remove the panel and sew the pocket to it.

Some I did a few years back but again.., no one wants to pay very much to a craftsman! Just Sayin'

Right now I finished the restoration of my front door, so I want to post a final picture.
I think I will not paint the tacks black, this decent brass looks nice.

What I did was gluing the original door pocket to a sheet of model-airplane plywood (thickness 1.5 mm), using a permanently elastic PU glue. The plywood was protected first by several layers of parquet paint. The edges are covered by a stripe of new "artificial leather" to hide the extremely bad edges of the door pocket. Because sewing does not work through plywood (at least I don't want to ruin a sewing machine), I glued the ribbon to the edges.

Now the door looks lots better but still matches the overall look of my Lizzy.

Nicely done, Rainer

Wow, turned out great.