Tom,
The wooden channels that the seats sit in should be mounted flat on the
floorboards between the two crossmembers that you listed. There should be
a cut-away in one end of the channels to go over one crossmember (the front
I think). With the seats sitting in the channels, the bottom tubes or
runners should be about 1/2 an inch higher than the top of the
crossmembers. I believe there was only one clamp plate for each seat and
that this was bolted to the front crossmember. Sorry if this sounds a
little sketchy -- this part of my car is not yet reassembled.
Ten years ago the wooden channels were still available from the factory,
though its nothing one couldn't make with a table saw and a router. Let me
know if you need measurements. The new factory channels came a few inches
longer than the originals, which may allow mounting the seat farther back.
I sat in someone else's 4 str with the seat all the way back and found that
I could use a little more leg room -- I'm 5' 11".
By the way Tom, what type of floor boards did your car have? Mine had
solid pitch pine (Georgia pine or hard pine) tongue and groove boards.
I've seen this in one or two other early (and original) +4's. I asked the
oldest-timer in the wood department (his photo was in one of the recent
brochures) what type of wood was used in the early floorboards, and he said
"pitch." Interestingly the same material was used for the decking of the
USS Constitution...
--Steve Manwell
'54 #3192 cowled front
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