The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Drainage Hole Under Seat 54 3104

Was there a rubber plug or grummet for this hole under the seat ?

I've never seen a hole that shape.
Maybe it's a later model thing,but my 50 just has a circular hole at the lowest point in the truck floor under the seat,like you say I imagine it's for drainage,but why the unusual shape in yours...?
I stuck a grommet in mine.
Personally I would seal it as you also don't want any exhaust fumes etc to enter the cab from the underside.
Let's hope you don't ever need it as a drain!

My '54 3100 has that hole. Mine is open. I think Denny Graham mentioned that he was working on a plug for it.

Not sure if I will cover mine. Got thinking the other day & wondered if perhaps this hole doubles as a drain and a vent to help reduce the air compression generated when shutting the cab door. My daily driver Nissan pickup has a sort of vent at the back right side of the cab and the front of the box. Just a thought, what do you guys think?

That hole in my '54 suburban had a squarish rubber "plug" in it (in 1971) that did not completely cover the hole. It looked to me that the hole (as suggested above) was cut for drainage and the plug was designed to allow drainage and to also help to keep small items from falling out a fully-opened hole.

This will work for now...

That'll work!

http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/toolbox_drain_grommet

DG

Now that's impressive Denny.
That's way above my level of talent,what are you trying to do? Put Duct tape out of business?
BTW do you have any theories regarding the shape of the hole?
I'm curious.


P.S.
Do you ever consider doing a small production run and marketing some of these obscure parts to a select few?
i.e. The Stovebolt gang.......
This may offset some of your pre-production expenses.
Just thinking....

Turned out to be just another exercise to see if I could do it John. Way to much time in
effort and material to think about producing them for a reasonable cost. It takes about an
hour to cut material, prep and stuff the mold, it has to bake for an hour and then there is
the disassembly, clean up and the trimming of the flash which takes another 10-15
minutes. So you see, it’s very labor intensive in these quantities.
Besides, I've been put down way to many times by the moderators here for even
mentioning that I might offer things like this for sale just to offset the cost. In fact even
the hint of that now might get me censored and pushed off into some obscure part of the
forum where only cobwebs and dust exist.

But anyway, that was my solution and my thoughts are that the "keyhole" was a drain and
should be plugged just as was done with the drain holes in the automobile wheel wells.
I’ve never seen an original AD with a plug in it and I’ve never been able to find anything
in the parts books. But then again I haven’t had the opportunity to see under the seat of
very many original ‘54-‘55 AD’s.
So, I can’t say for sure if that hole was plugged when it came out of the factory, but if not,
they should have been.
Oh those little details.
DG

FWIW... my 53 has the same hole.

If it is a drainage hole why plug it? It's not like we are going to pull the cushions off to check to see if there is liquid in this concave area to pull out the plug.

Why is this area below the seat formed like a bowl anyways?

It's considered the "tool box" Dennis. These trucks were work horses, on the farm and at
the construction site they picked up a bunch of mud and such. It was easy to pull the seat
and hose down the whole inside of the truck. As you noted, the "tool box" is formed like
a bowl and there is no place for the water to run out of. The doors and back corners of the
cab had drain holes for those areas. Also I think it was mentioned that the "keyhole"
might have been for venting when a door was closed. I doubt if these were ever from day
one that tight but the corner drains were advertised as part of the ventilation system, "The
Truck That Breaths" sort of thing.
As fur as the "keyhole" goes, I would think that a lot of water would have been kicked up
under the floor boards while driving in the rain or slush and it would have let in a good
bit of moisture. It just may be the front door for all the mice that we find nesting in the
seats.
DG
Trying to picture how Minnie would have walked on the celing to get in the front door though.

Denny, your talents are always impressive...

...wouldn't you like to be Denny's neighbor? I'd have to have a truck the SAME MODEL as his

Denny, I don't care what anyone says. I speak for myself but probably others. I'm glad your here!... .and yes, there should be a forum for "inventions" or "some better ideas)

Hey Denny, the only thing missing on those nice plugs is the now famous DG engraved in the mould. Keep up the good work.

Aw come on now Alvin, my ego isn't quite that big. I just get a kick out of making things that the vendors don't offer. There very well might not have been plugs in those later AD's but it just seems logical to me that it should be plugged up with something. When I got it, it had a round rubber plug stuck in the middle and black electrical tape sealing up the wings. That was a clue to me that there had been problems with something getting in thru that hole, most likely water being splashed up thru the hole.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL