Upholstery Project

Upholstery Project Annual Report - March 2006

MAFFI's Upholstery Project has been ongoing for several years.  An abundance of relevant data and samples
have now been collected, and this information is currently being organized in sample books and on a master list.
The overall Upholstery Project purpose is to collect and authenticate Model A Ford original, factory-installed
upholstery samples, and also to document some of the currently available "better" reproductions. A master list,
including relevant information and documentation, is approximately half done. However, this effort involves the
organization of a huge variety of details, and it is reasonable to foresee that modest amounts of new
information may well come to light for many years to come. Nevertheless, current research and consultation has
provided us with an impressive amount of original and "best available" reproduction materials, and a goodly
amount of supporting, original Ford documentation has also been photocopied.

In the past year, Gretchen and Howard Minners have spent significantly more time with Bill Sturm in Neenah,
Wisconsin and at the Benson Ford Research Center (so-called Ford Archives) in Dearborn.  Bill has continued to
provide advice and samples, both original and reproduction. The Archives staff continues to help with relevant
Model A documentation.

Much of what we heretofore have known about upholstery is stated in the Model A Ford Judging Standards and
derives from original Model A body parts price lists, from source books such as that written by George
DeAngelis and Ed Francis, and from the abundance of experience accumulated by restorers such as Bill Sturm
and Marco Tahtaras. To this existing body of knowledge, in the Upholstery Project we have sought
corroborating, additional Model A documentation such as obsolete Material Specifications, Engineering
Drawings and Engineering Releases.

The M-Specs identify materials that Ford sought for Model A production. An M-Spec is usually a 1-4 page
document that includes a unique number, e.g., M-5072-C and a Ford-given name, e.g., "Drab Top Material
(Roadster Deluxe)." In addition, it usually has a date when the M-Spec was written, sometimes a date when the
named material was adopted for production, a date if and when changes might have been made during
production, and often a date when a material was no longer used in production but remained available for
repairs. We believe that, from a private source and also from the Ford Archives, we probably have secured copies
of most of the Model A Material Specifications that still exist. For reference, these have been organized in a
substantial, 3-ring notebook.

Materials such as fabrics almost never have a Model A Part Number, robe cord and window cord being
exceptions. Nevertheless materials are sometimes identified on relevant Engineering Drawings, e.g., a drawing for
a door panel or a seat assembly. The Archives has about 90,000 film negatives (70 mm) of Engineering Drawings
for the Model A, and MAFFI is close to completing an index of essentially all of these. But it is necessary to visit
the Archives to actually visualize these drawings. Alternatively, for a price one can order copies. However for
research purposes, ordering becomes rather impractical because one needs initially to screen and often
cross-check any number of different drawings before you can know if the relevant information still exists at all.
Finally, Engineering Releases, and their associated Engineering Information, indicate when an item may have
been adopted for production, modified in one of many ways, and finally removed from production.  Preserved on
microfilm, the Engineering Releases (like the Engineering Drawings) are each identified by part numbers and are
filed in numerical order according to their part number.

Coordinating all this information should give us rather precise information about what original material looks like
and when it was used, changed, and discontinued. MAFFI will then collect this information in 3 sets
of identical notebooks, one ultimately intended for MAFFI, another for MARC and the third for
MAFCA.  Meanwhile, at national meets MAFFI plans to have a table with examples from our Upholstery Project
notebooks. We invite all Model A'ers to stop by, ask questions, look at original and repro materials, and by all
means challenge our assumptions and provide new insights.  This is a research project for all to appreciate, to
learn from, and hopefully to contribute to.

Update as of March 2005
One of the Model A Ford Foundation’s important projects is the collecting and authenticating of original factory
upholstery samples from Model A Fords. The project has been underway for several years, slowed by an uneven
inflow of samples, and the difficulty in obtaining agreement as to the authenticity of some of the samples. The
current focus is to seek authentication of as many of the currently held samples as possible, and then to seek out
additional samples to fill the gaps. In previous years, MAFFI representatives have met with Marco Tahtaras, a
widely recognized restoration and upholstery expert, in Pleasanton, California to review the upholstery samples
and plan future activities.

In early December 2004, Gretchen & Howard Minners visited Bill Sturm at his upholstery shop in Neenah,
Wisconsin. Bill is a MARC senior judge, long standing MARC JSC member, and keenly interested and
knowledgeable about Model A upholstery and related materials.

An extensive collection of materials and documents were taken to Wisconsin for review. These materials
included existing MAFFI upholstery sample books and other loose upholstery samples. (There are three identical
books, one each intended for MAFFI, MARC , and MAFCA.) Also taken was a 13-page master listing of 63
Model A upholstery materials based on a variety of sources:
· The current Judging Standards,
· Previous information received from a one-day visit with Marco Tahtaras (which included Doug Clayton and
Ross Milne),
· George DeAngelis' book
· Several personal visits with George DeAngelis
· Several visits to the Ford Archives
· Extensive previous discussions with Bill Sturm in Green Bay, Dearborn and Hershey.

Each material had one or more names attached. For each sample, a name was derived from the Judging Standards,
and sometimes a somewhat different name from the corresponding Ford Material Specification. The list included a
description from the Standards of how/where the material was used, and occasionally additional information such
as composition, introduction and end-of-use dates, etc.

This list contains 63 different upholstery materials used in the Model A Ford, model years 1928-1931. To date we
have identified 3 black materials (Black Mock Twist, Black Duck Cloth and Black Drill Cloth) plus 7 blue materials,
17 browns, 11 grays, 8 greens and 17 tans. The most varied and challenging body style/upholstery associations
involve the Sport Coupes followed by some of the Fordor Sedans.

The overall approach was to document each Ford fabric organized within trim color schemes, e.g. brown, tan,
blue, etc. The goal is to complement and supplement the Standards, not to replace nor supercede them. Restorers
should continue to use the Standards for correct applications relating to a given body style.
The upholstery review involved an intense, 8 1/2 hour day with Bill Sturm on December 2nd and an additional 7
1/2 hours on December 3rd, and finally 8 more hours on December 4th (a Saturday)... for a total of 24 very
focussed hours over 3 days.

Significant accomplishments were made during the visit. Before the visit, some of the samples in the 3 different
MAFFI Upholstery books were satisfactory, original, agreed-upon-correct examples of Model A Ford upholstery.
After 3 days of intense effort, 75-80% of the sample pages were filled with good quality, original samples.
Frequently, Bill cut samples from materials taken out of original cars and subsequently preserved at his shop. In
many instances we also obtained samples of the "best available" reproduction sources.

Bill Sturm was extremely interested, helpful and accommodating, and we are now at the point where we can go out
to the Model A community at large to seek the samples still missing. However, clearly our remaining needs
represent upholstery materials that will likely prove to be elusive. For example it may be hard to find many of the
green colors, and some of the weltings, top materials and leathers.

MAFFI should be able to produce a "sufficiently complete" set of books in another year or so, i.e. with
documentation for the great majority and most commonly used materials. Work remaining, in addition to trying to
locate some of the rarer materials, involves adding Ford Part Numbers (from original Body Parts Lists) to our
master inventory. Also, questions regarding varying names, and start and stop dates, can possibly be answered
from Engineering Drawings. George DeAngelis has also raised the question of deriving additional information
from the Engineering Releases. But fortunately the M-Specs, in those cases where we have them, often note this
data. Further research at the Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn will be required.

Bill Sturm has been in the antique car upholstery business for almost 37 years, and was more than willing to share
this knowledge with us. It is important to tap his knowledge, since it is hard to duplicate. He has found it hard to
get and retain apprentices, so it is important that we record for future generations the kind of expertise that Bill
represents, knowledge about the "software" on the Model A.

Update as of March 2003

The MARC Judging Standards Committee gave unanimous support to The Upholstery Project following their
review in Temperance, Michigan last Fall. In addition, after the team visit with Marco Tahtaras in California, Bill
Sturm reviewed many of the MAFFI samples during the MARC National Meet in Green Bay, and provided his
comments.

In the Ford Archives at Dearborn there is a 7-box collection of Obsolete Material Specifications containing
information about Model T's, A's, and later Fords. Howard and Gretchen Minners spent several days reviewing a
portion of this connection. One purpose behind this effort is to determine the nomenclature actually used by
Ford for upholstery materials, for example, "M-5003-AR-Body Cloth Brown Stripe".

It was hoped that the boxes would contain original upholstery samples but no samples have been found to date,
however, 5 boxes remain to be searched. On an interesting note, it is apparent that Ford assigned M-number to
virtually anything that went into or was used to produce his cars. An entertaining find was "M-6113, Wax paper
for wrapping spark plugs".

Update as of March 2002

Several years ago, former MAFFI Trustee Bertha Haueter saw the need for a reference set of original upholstery
materials, and this idea developed into the MAFFI Upholstery Project Subsequently, Bertha worked diligently to
move the Project from conceptualization to reality. By obtaining and organizing upholstery samples contributed
by many different Model A'ers, Bertha created an extensive collection of fabric and trim materials. She prepared
three copies of a large upholstery book, each with almost 60 samples, plus seven display boards with trim and
associated items. It was truly a great effort with valuable results.

MAFFI agreed that it would be appropriate to seek a broad consensus concerning the collection of cloth and trim
samples. Therefore in November 2000, the MARC Judging Standards Committee reviewed a MAFFI upholstery
book and the seven display boards. Excellent recommendations were made concerning their quality, correctness,
originality and the need for additional items.

Then on November 17, 2001, a MAFFI team of three individuals visited upholstery expert Marco Tahtaras in
Pleasanton, California, in order to secure his views and recommendations on the upholstery books. The team
consisted of Doug Clayton, Ross Milne and Howard Minners. Fourth member Mick Isbell was unable to attend.

Marco not only reviewed the upholstery book in detail, but also had spent considerable time in advance
preparing a detailed Master List of Model A upholstery materials. His list made it possible to correlate dates of
application with specific body styles. In so doing, it was possible to identify which materials are still needed in
the MAFFI books.

But additional work remains to be done. Careful correlation needs to be made betweenthe MARC JSC's comments
and Marco Tahtaras Master List. Possibly, there will be a few areas needing further discussion, analysis and
research.

Also if at all possible, a number of the current MAFFI samples will need to be upgraded and relabeled, i.e.,
replacement samples may be needed to correct for color/fading, and samples found to "fill in the blanks."

It is expected that later this year the same MAFFI team will visit Bill Sturm in Wisconsin to further refine current
understanding, needs and judgments. Also, it is possible that others will be brought into this process to develop
broad consensus on the samples.

Clearly, this is an undertaking that needs to be done quickly before the availability of original, well preserved
materials and trim is lost over the coming years. The ultimate goal is to preserve and present original and
agreed-upon correct Model A upholstery and trim materials for reference by restorers, judges, and of course,
future generations.

Nailing Down the Upholstery
December 2006
by Howard A. Minners

Many of us are handy Model A mechanics, but when it comes to upholstery and top materials, a bit of
"mystery" seems to creep in. Which upholstery is correct for my car and how can I be sure, what does it
look like, and where do I get the "best available repro" are a few of the questions that come into our
minds. After all, unlike a spring hanger or even radiator hoses, you are not very likely to locate NOS
Model A upholstery material that is still fresh and in good enough condition for installation. Besides,
original fabrics tend to fade much more rapidly than modern color-fast, reproductions.

It is sometimes challenging to nail down upholstery specifics, but one can often research this area as
deeply as interest and time permit. First and foremost, one needs to look at Areas 9 and 12 in the
Judging Standards. There you will find specific listings (arranged by body styles) for trim schemes and
also a helpful series of charts and drawings. But what if you still have questions or may have a very early
Model A, for example a December 1927 Tudor? What choices of fabric might be correct for your car …
and how can you be sure? So what follows is a tour of available information and archival resources to help
you pursue such questions. Hopefully this will help you follow through to nail down specific, definitive
Model A documentation … indeed, upholstery related or otherwise.

Model A parts books do not include upholstery, although they obviously do list a wide assortment of
mechanical parts. In fact, upholstery only rarely has a part number, but it does have Material
Specifications. However, Body Parts Price Lists do identify many partially or fully assembled parts that
were upholstered, such as door panels, seats, complete window curtains, etc. But we need to remember
that Parts books and Body Parts books were essentially intended for repairs, i.e. they were not issued to
convey a definitive, totally specific relationship with production start and stop dates.

Getting back to the assumed December 1927 Tudor, the very first Body Parts Price List for the Model A
is dated May 1, 1928, and for example, it lists three different materials for Tudor seats, door upholstery,
etc. So can you safely assume that as of May 1st, all three were available? But wait a minute, one part
number, A-57408-AR on page 11, indicates that already by May 1st, one material (Gray - wool stripe)
was available for repairs only (that's what the "R" in the number indicates). So a May 1928 Body Parts
Price List is a bit late to indicate what may have been used in a December 1927 car.

Where might you go from there? Likely, the next step will lead you to a records search at the so-called
Ford Archives in Dearborn, MI. It is a good idea to contact them in advance. Their formal name is now the
Benson Ford Research Center (BFRC) at The Henry Ford, telephone 313-982-6070, or visit their website
(www.thehenryford.org/research). You need to go to Dearborn to view the Engineering Drawings
themselves (on 70mm microfilm), but take your Body Parts Price List with you. or plan to use theirs,
because there may or may not be an Engineering Drawing for the particular part you initially have in mind
… so you may need to move on to a related part that might possibly show the material you are looking
for. That is, you may need to look for a different drawing of a part that would be upholstered with the
same material, for example a seat or a door or a quarter panel. MAFFI volunteers have compiled an index
of the Engineering Drawings which is used by the BFRC staff to help guide research. You can contact
them to try to determine in advance if the document you want is actually available

There are two other documents in the Archives that, if they exist for the purpose you have in mind, may
help you nail down production start and stop dates. One is called Obsolete Material Specifications or
M-Specs. This written document contains the information provided to prospective suppliers back in the
Model A era who might have wanted to compete for Ford's business. Not only does an M-Spec define a
material in technical detail, but it may or may not show an "Adopted" date (adopted for production).
Sometimes it also shows dates when a material may have been modified or was no longer in production
(when designated with an "R" suffix meaning available for repairs only).

In addition, there are so-called Engineering Releases and the included engineering information which
specify production information, including when production was started for a given item, sometimes which
body styles it was used in, when there were changes, and finally when a part or material was removed
from production and designated with an "R" for repairs only.

So, pursuing your early Tudor trim, you discover that there seems to be no available M-Spec for "Gray
Cloth - wool stripe." Frustrating, yes, but not uncommonly the M-Spec you are looking for is "among the
missing." But don't give up just yet!

Undaunted, you next focus your search on some of the potentially relevant Engineering Drawings, and
you might then happen upon a drawing for part A-46510-AR. This drawing lists six different "body cloths"
used for door upholstery along with their M-numbers, but interestingly that particular part number does
not appear in the May 1, 1928 Body Parts Price List. Next, since the Engineering Releases are
organized by part number, you immediately look up A-46510-AR and "Bingo," there is a Release stating
that "Door Upholstery Cloth (Wool Stripe)(M-5003-DR)" was adopted for production on 9-8-27 (EI#2457),
the width was changed on 2-2-28 and more significantly on 2-11-28 (EI#7193) it states: "Added 'AR' to
symbol number denoting repairs …" Parenthetically, it may help reduce confusion to know that the EI's
are not (yet) indexed, they seem to be in no coordinated order, and thus the EI Numbers by themselves
are of limited value.

So, not only have you determined when use in production started and stopped, but also the Release gave
you the M-Spec number (even though you could not find the particular M-Spec for Gray Cloth With Wool
Stripe). The Release in this case also indicates that on 2-11-28 new materials (Body Cloth - silk stripe
and Body Cloth - checked) were introduced, and furthermore they were specified for the Tudor and Coupe
on 3-14-28. So you decide to look one more time for M-5003-DR, but alas you will only reconfirm,
regrettably, that this particular M-Spec is still "among the missing."

Hopefully, you will now have a feeling for where to pursue questions related to Model A "software," and
will have a realistic sense for what may be involved and what your chances of success might be. The
Archives have a true abundance of information and you may often be temped to go off into different
directions, but if you keep your focus and do not give up easily, you may well find precisely what you
wanted to know.

Once all the decisions were made in the engineering department, and on the assembly line, the
documentation was finalized. Today this documentation provides us with clues as to how the Model A
was built, and when each variation took place. But it takes some patience to track the clues from
document to document, and it often takes some assumptions and deductions to fill in the blanks where
documents are missing. Nailing upholstery down is easier said than done.