Attached,with luck,are pictures of a radiator cap I ran across in my junk awhile back when looking for something else.It has thin,solid fins.The fins meet in the middle,no 'bald'spot like a later high hollow fin type I have around here somewhere,and the one Lang's shows as later '09-12 high fin.Lang's catolog shows a repop of this,and says made from original drawings for first 2500 cars.Is that what this is?
Someone can correct me on this, but I don't think the originals were cast. Weren't they pressed?
I looked at one yesterday on an unmolested '11, it was cast.
Yes, the early ones were cast. I'm not any kind of an expert on early T's but I believe the very earliest caps didn't have the four "wings" pointing up so high. I think the top edges of the wings were somewhat horizontal or flat.
Here is another picture of this.And a little more of the story.About a year ago,I sold one of these on fleabay.When I ran into that one in my junk,I thought,jeez,I don't remember this thing being this bent up.That one had the fins battered pretty bad.Then,the other day I ran into this one,which is in the shape that I remember it being in.I think I remember where these came from-a real haul of early stuff,wood coilboxes,two piece drive shaft tubes,etc.But,I still have trouble believing I came up with TWO radiator caps from the real early cars.That is why I ask.
Hi Jim
A tip if I may (I'm no camera expert) - Looks like you are using the camera zoom
to fill the screen, so perhaps try the macro setting for sharper close ups.
(I notice a few members do not take advantage of this camera setting.)
Regards
Art
Thanks,Art.I will try that.I am not using zoom,but I am using a landscape,I guess it would be called, camera for close ups,and that is probably bad.
Thanks Art for the info on the Macro setting. It was a big "Duh!" moment when I tried it out and found I could focus much closer than I thought the camera was capable of.
I BELIEVE THAT RICHARD GOULD COULD ANSWER YOU QUESTION very well. Excuse that darned caps key!!
Thanks,Joseph.All my early posts and emails were in caps till my daughter explained that was 'yelling'.I talked to a friend of yours last weekend,John Carlin.He said to say hello.
Is that the Iowa John Carlin I know?
Haven't spoke with him for quite some time (not trying to steal the thread )
Rob
Rob,that is indeed the Iowa John Carlin.Long story,but I get a kick out of helping to solve mysteries,especially when they involve old cars.A while back, there was a thread about an unknown brass car,and I solicited aid from Mr.Carlin.He owns a couple of the cars that were 'maybes'.Unknown brass car remains unknown,even to the owner.As of Tuesday,anyway.
Jim,
Are they Coles?
John is a great guy. I haven't seen him for a few years. Maybe he will be at the speedster reunion in Lincoln this year,
Rob
Rob,Mr.Carlin has a couple Colby cars,which match some of the specs of the unknown brass car.He also has a Regal or two,which also matches some.I thought all Regals were underslung,but I thought wrong.
Jim,
That's right, Colby's.
We have some friends in Branson. If I get down there in the future, I'll give you a jingle (or email).
Rob
I wish I could be more informative on the cap. All the early high finned caps I have seen look like the ones pictured above. In my limited experience those look like the ones used thru the bulk of 09-10. I bet Kim Dobbins would have some input. He is probably still in Bakersfield as I write.
A real '09 is lower than the one pictured.
Took this picture of a real '09, early 2 pedal Ford at Hershey in 2009.
This is what the early pre 2500 caps look like.
Rather low in profile as Larry posted.
Ug. I didn't mean two pedal, I meant 2 lever, but you know, you can see the crank upright, this '09 has the water pump too
Here are 2 different pre 2500 radiator caps and 7 different 9-12 cast caps. All the cast caps are different in some respects, some have fins of different shapes and some of the fins are real thin.
Wow, I am impressed! I never would have guessed so many variations existed. First I've ever seen of the earliest 09 style. Quite a difference. Thanks Kim, Dan, Larry, and everyone who has added to this great post.
Thank you,Mr.Dobbins,and all of you for posting this information.I get a big kick out of the variations in all the different T parts.I'm actually relieved mine is relatively common.About the time(same day,maybe) I brought the stuff home that probably had those radiator caps in it,I had a little brush with some lightning.I thought if a guy like me,without trying to find real early parts,had come up with two 2500 caps,that meant the odds were I'd get nailed again by a bolt from the blue.