Sorry if this had been a thread in the past.

I was thinking about this earlier today and wanted to share it.

As I've said in other posts I'm a youngin, 25, and I've just had this fascination with old technology for as long as I can remember. Might have something to do with being ahead of the game when the world ends in 2012 .

I remember when we first got internet at home, around 10 years ago, some of the first things I looked up were old cars. Then I stumbled across Model T's and that was it hands down, I just couldn't get the car out of my head. After I read through its history and how it worked and all the engineering feats Henry had made with it, casting all cylinders in one block etc, I just had to learn anything that was available on this car.

Then I started reading about how you drive it. Now, at that time I was fairly mechanically inclined since I was gearing up to become a mechanic, but when I saw "Pull the throttle lever down about halfway or so and depress the low pedal until the car is going about 10mph, then release the pedal to engage high gear while opening the throttle a bit more and advancing the spark in time with the throttle." my mind was literally sprained. How in the world did people drive these things when most only had a horse and buggy up that point. I'd actually read about people getting in the driver's seat and yelling "giddyap!"

Of course, after I read a little more, I figured out how it worked. Now, I come from a poor family, and the chances of us getting a T were next to nothing. I'm working on getting one, but that's now this was then. So at that point I tucked away the dream of getting to drive one away, along with the other of getting to drive a steam locomotive, hehe that's another story , and went on with my life trying to get by.

About five years ago, I was attending the local community college taking an automotive course, I was still going to be a mechanic, when low and behold a student in the auto restoration course brings in a Navy issue 1925 Roadster that belonged to his great grandfather. I was all over it.

The car had been sitting in his grandfather's barn for at least 30 years, and was in really good shape with 90% of the original paint still on the car, a seat in excellent condition and all the wood parts in place. The only thing was it didn't run.

Now, there was maybe two people in the entire shop that knew anything about these cars, myself and the instructor, and the instructor knew that I'd done a lot of research on this car so he turned me loose with the kid and we tore into it.

Cleaned out the carburetor, checked all the coils individually, cleaned all the plugs and topped it off with water. He had to take the gas tank home and clean the dog food, of all things, out of the tank. Don't ask how it got in there.

We did very very little to it before we were ready to test fire. The starter engaged, and it turns and turns and wont hit a lick. We go over the entire ignition system, cleaned the timer, checked the spark at the plugs still couldn't get it to start. The wires for the battery side of the switch were broke and all we could do was run current to the starter and had to rely on the mag to power the coils. So we checked the voltage at the coils and saw it was low, then I pulled the mag pickup out and cleaned out the rats nest under the lug, and when we tried it again she fired for the first time in three decades! Boy we were happy.

So after we get it running good, the kid looks at me like what next? I told him this ain't no car show we gotta take it for a spin to check the driveline. I could tell he was hesitant, I told him to trust me, just out in the parking lot there weren't any cars there and there were plenty of trees we can use as emergency brakes. He laughed and then said why not.

So I'm sitting there with him in the car, the instructor is watching him in the driver's seat and we're explaining the controls. After the tenth time, he had a faint idea of what he was doing. So I tell him to hold the left pedal while he releases the emergency brake so it wont pop up, he nearly floored it from shaking so bad, and then give it throttle and push the pedal down and out the door we went.

I can't tell you what a feeling it was, I'm sure most of you know, that car was four times my age and running like a top. The parking lot was relatively flat so we went pretty easy and tried the brake a lot to make sure it worked. We just ran around in low gear until he got comfortable then I told him to let his foot up. "What?" he asked me. Gotta do it sometime or another, better here than on the road with traffic, he nervously eased out with his foot and she took off without miss, man it was awesome.

We didn't have much fuel so we went to put back in the shop. Now I need to mention that we really hadn't tried full stops yet, the brake was doing well enough at slowing the car for turns that we didn't think about it. So we start into the bay and he presses on the brake and his eyes go wide, "It wont stop!" "Yeah it will, you gotta stand on it." He took me literally and put all his weight on the pedal and I nearly went through the windshield!

He was planning on restoring that car, they took it to the restoration building a few days later and that was the last I saw of it, but that day will never leave me. I often wonder if he's still got it, or if he wants to sell it. I'd never seen one that was a Navy issue, it even had a brass plate on it with his grandfather's name on it saying the Department of the Navy had issued it and the date.

Anyway, didn't mean to be so long winded, just wanted to share. And I was wondering if any of you boys would be willing to share your first experience with a T.

Yup! You've got the bug. You'll get your own, it's just a matter of time.

Long winded??? Ha!!! You'll get no complaints about being "long winded" from THIS group! That's a great story! I hope you've prompted a few others to relate some of their "first" Model T experiences. Sure makes for good reading; thanks for sharing Robert, and I hope your first T comes soon,........harold

Well ma, I think he's a gonner. I can feel the fever from here. Only thing can hope to save him now is to cover his hands in 88 year old grease, put him in the garage, surround him with T parts, and close the door.

Great affliction if I do say so.

Well said Erich, I've been covered with soot and grease from a 70 year old locomotive. That's the one thing the boys at the yard have said about me, "That boy ain't afraid to get dirty."

Well you asked for others experences so heres mine in 1942 I was driving down this dirt road with a frend near Buchanan Mich when we spotted this 1917 T touring with its wheels sunk in the mud up to it axles we stopped and told the farmer we would haul it away He said he would take 10 dollars for it I said I only had 5.00 He said``he would take the windshield off and put it in his chickin coop I barrowed 3.oo from my friend and we towed it home It had oil in it we added gas and water turned the switch on gave it a couple cranks and it started We didnt know how how to drive it but we learned in a hurry I was 18 at the time

Great stories Robert and leefrostpierce. Thanks for telling them.

The only T I had seen in person was the old dead one sitting in a friends moms garage that was all apart just as his dad had left it when he died 30 years before. Years passed and my mind was filled with ideas of 53 chevys though I never bought one. I always had a strong interest in old things and anything mechanical. I just love to fix machines.

One day my friend took me to a place where some T club guys were meeting and thats when it hit me like a sneaker wave. There were actual living model T fords that ran and were so mechanical. I realized that this car was right up my alley in many ways. As it turned out, these guys helped my friend start rebuilding his long lost T.

When I get an interest, I dive in with all brain cells to learn as much as possible. I had a few false starts, but the guys in my club led me to a car that became my very own. I love her and know her intimately now. I learned so much on my car, I was able to help my friend at critical times. We got his car running for the first time. That car he bought with newspaper money at age 14 in pieces. Now it is a real model T again and makes him and his mom happy.

I just go for a drive in my T sometimes to relax.

Now model T fords are just one more thing my friend and I have in common.
It does not go fast. It does not even stop fast. But it is something I enjoy so much.

Only thing is, I want another, and another. We all know how that goes. I like it that it takes days to wash off all traces of working on that car. I love the history it represents.

It really is my own personal time machine.

In 2004 my grandpa died and we were going through his estate cleaning up the house ect..
he was very much into cars and he had a couple high end makes such as Packard, pierce and hupmobile, but my favorite was his 1915 T touring.

one day while we were working on his house my dad and I decide to take it for a spin and drive around Bonita Ca for a bit.
we were half way up the steep hill that grandpa's house was on when the T stalled due to lack of fuel.
I run all the way up the hill and up the driveway to pop into the house
"MOM! we went for a drive and were not back yet... wheres the gas can?"
well I get back to the car, we fill her up and my dad offers me the drivers seat. it was a private road so all was well, but I got to drive the T for the first time that day and I'll never forget it.
now I'm 16 and putting the old girl back together. after 2 years of being in pieces I'm more than ready to drive the T around town

My cousins uncle had a '19 Touring he bought during WWII and it was where I could be found on visits to their house. It was on blocks. Get out of there it's time for dinner! Many years passed, the uncle died and my cousin got the car and completely restored it.We had lost toutch over these years but to steal Everet Sloane's line in Citizen Kane: "In all those years there never was a month I didn't think of that girl".We were in his area for a wedding about 10 years ago and I called in advance to see if we could visit which we did. After the hello's and how you been's it was out to the garage. The thing was a joy to see. Done to the ears.He didn't ask me if I wanted a ride. He just went up front, choked, 2 pulls, felt compression and hit the battery switch and off it went. And off we went. (I drove it back).Thought my book learning over the years was enough to drive it. Fooled again! That 30 minute drive sealed my fate. 2 T's (and alot of years)later and I still get a kick every tmie I go into my garage and see my car.

Outstanding experiences, young'uns. Thanks for telling your stories. Keep 'em coming.

I fell into the Model T world totally by accident. I was driving down a local street I used every day and saw an old car for sale that wasn't there in the morning on my way to work. I knew what a Model T was but nothing more. It had a "For Sale" sign on it that said "$5,000 and it runs".
I said to myself "Oh what the heck, I can make a cool Hot Rod out of this". The old guy that owned it started it up and I wrote him a check. It was "for sale" for less than a day. I got a friend of mine with an auto transporter to pick it up, and took it home. I bought a Model T manual and spent a couple months going through it like I would any of the other old cars I've had in the past, checking things like the brakes and other safety related items and along the way got it to the point where I could drive it. That was also about the time I came to the conclusion that it was just too complete and original to make a Hot Rod out of. It was in really nice looking shape inside and out, I haven't done much at all to the cosmetics, short of having to put a new roof on it but it was completely worn out in the mechanical department.
Well 3+ years and a lot of cash have gone by and sooner or later, I'll get it mechanically rebuilt from bumper to bumper.
I still think it would be cool with a V8 Flathead 60 in it, a 39 Ford trans, and 40 Ford juice brakes on all 4 corners but I've got so much money in the original running gear now, that ain't going to happen.
I guess I'm just a Model T guy now.

Awesome stories, I love reading them.

"I guess I'm just a Model T guy now. "

And we are glad for that.

Herb

I sure didn't plan it Herb. Restoring an antique car was the last thing on my mind when I bought it. This is my first. I've had plenty of Hot Rods.
I don't know where I'd be without the help and encouragement of all the folks here.
Well yes, I do. There would be a "thing" in my garage collecting dust.

Personal story on first?

I was a young college kid with a wife and child. One July 4 parade I'm sitting on the curb and this car goes on by as the lead car in the parade. It says FORD and it's a Mr. Magoo Roadster car. Nice shiny brass radiator, brass hubcaps, little brass circles on the cowl lamps, pulling along so slow you could darn near hear each cylinder firing one at a time! Wow, did that grab my attention in awe!

Did a bunch of checking over the next few months,I was entering my senior year and was going to find myself a personal graduation present , subscribed to Hemmings for a bit...and...pffft...learned I'll be an old man myself before I can ever own one of these Ford T's!

The 'bug' was always there though and 3 years after graduating saw an advert for a 'Brass T' and it was only a mile from where I was living at the time. Made a call, I went over, and danged if the price didn't seem to almost have one too many zero's on it! Guy must have seen my disappointment as he said 'If you want something for less, I have a Black T Ford back in the back barn'. I thought it was ugly at first when he opened the barn door...Fordor Sedan...paint looked dull gray, upholstery all sun bleached and torn, a wall of spider webs that he knocked down to even get to it. I was not at all interested...until. Until he insisted on pouring some gas into the tank, and ask me to give it a tug in his pickup truck while he handled the controls. Spitter-sput-purr-hummmmmmm. "Wanna driving lesson in the field?" That's all it took, it came home with me that night and a good wash job turned it shiny black, the upholostery tears were small in reality, and some tinkerin' was all it took to make it a 'happy' car and me and the family 'happy' too.

All these years later (college was 4 decades ago) it's still in the stable...it will be in that stable for as long as I do the tending and the mucking about. Over the years it has had brothers and sisters too, there's a rumor about that T's like to form litters and I guess that's true. Most of the brothers and sisters grew up and went to new households of their own, but there is one brother who came along about 15 years ago and I don't know, must be an Irish kid or something because this brother shows no inkling to ever leave and thats fine with me.

That brother? That same brass 1915 that I had seen that July 4 parade so many years before! The exact same one, and it took me over 25 years to get it! I've had it for 15 years and it still purrs sweet at idle...a Singer Sewing Machine on steroids at about 40mph. Feels kind of good...you know?

Great stories,