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My 1928 526 front floor consists of a plywood base with a jute backed lineolium top. What treatment does the bottom of the panel have? My Ford Model A just is painted flat black. Also does anyone know of where to obtain the aluminum edging and the lineolium for the top surface?

No help on the color but you might try Restoration Supplyrestorationstuff.com for both items you need. Their catalog lists several different shape aluminum trim pieces as well as linoleum in various colors.

Hi rrhorton,

The linoleum you're seeking is often referred to as "battleship linoleum", and the best resource I've found for obtaining it is www.battleshiplinoleum.com .

When I first purchased my 5-26 I assumed the material, which didn't look very period correct to my eye, was inauthentic. The research I've done, however, suggests that the burlap backed material is in fact what originally came on the running boards and front floor of our cars. There is some debate it seems though about the originally available colors (some say black or gray only). Mine was a light orangish / brown, which I didn't particularly care for, so I replaced it with black.

No help on the aluminum I'm afraid. I believe that I've seen it somewhere, but can't find the link in my bookmarks.

I'm certainly no authority on this, I've seen both the tan/orange and gray on original cars of the 20s, but can't say I ever made any correlation of color to year or model. Can't say I ever saw black on any original car.

I'm certainly no expert either, and am just relaying what I discovered when making a similar decision last year--mostly based upon a few threads on AACA discussing the material and specific to 20s Packards.

I do wonder if the tan/orange option may have been an original color though, if for no other (unscientific and unverified) reason that I can't otherwise fathom why I've seen it featured on so many 5th series cars it clearly doesn't match. Image search for Packard 526 on Google and you'll find several examples. The only exception in my recent memory is the dual cowl 526 currently listed on eBay. In that application it looks good I think.

That said, you'll also turn up a lot of images of black running boards--the majority I'd say--both in corrugated rubber and linoleum. Considering that all production 5th series cars supposedly had black fenders and frames when new (disputed), it seems likely the original color would have been gray or black. I own a 5th series paint chip booklet, and _none_ of those darkish and neutral color schemes would have been flattered by the tan/orange. I just can't imagine classy, understated Packard doing something that garish. As a data point in support of this theory, there's a supposedly unrestored 326 currently for sale on eBay that clearly shows weathered black linoleum on the running board in the 10th picture (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Packard-3rd-Series-Sedan-Limo-/131492013345). Someone with more expertise than I have, however, would ultimately need to speak to original equipment.

28Pac526, apologies for not expressing myself completely, FWIW I have seen black running boards of course, but not black floor boards.

The error is mine for not reading more closely. The OP and everyone else is talking about the front flooring, while I'm nattering on about running board treatment in isolation :)

My flooring is a brown color with specks of material throughout that look kind of orange but the overall color is a grey brown. Any help with the edging and bottom treatment of the plywood panel?
I have sent for samples from RestorationSupplyCo.

The edging for the floor panels and the opening in the surrounding support timber is a folded aluminum angle of about 1/4" x 3/4". Very easy to make or have made, the edging was not an extruded angle section with a sharp corner.

Not sure what you mean by the bottom treatment of the plywood panel, the remnants of original flooring that I have seen seemed to have been either originally painted with a light coat of black paint or black stain. I simply primed mine with wood primer then painted them with a couple of coats of black paint.