http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qDYoEupI28&feature=related
It has a distributor...........
OK. It was interesting but he gives the impression that the T was specifically designed to run on alcohol and gas. Not sure how correct that is. (actually I don't believe it) It may be just serendipitous that it works with a few adjustments. (if it actually does). Also I'd fire his camera man. And what make was that cog belt drive distributor? Never expected to see that on display at Ford.
You have got to be joking !!!
How does Ford display a modified T as an original Factory Spec vehicle !!
A little good background work before you video presentation would probably be a good first idea, in your story book line....
"History is bunk"
Who said that?
This video has been discussed before on here.
Read some of the comments regarding the video. They are below the video on youtube.
Who ever was making the correct comments was being dismissed by others who must have a different view of what actually happened in the past.
It is scary to think that what I thought I knew is wrong.
There are a lot of misinformed people out there, and they vote.
The opening remarks say that the car is a 1911 Ford!
If you are going to make things up, I guess it is OK to not even disclose the fact that the original engine is not in the car and the ignition is not even as Ford produced it!
Herb
What a load of crap!
It has a Vega distributor.
Any fool can see the two clips holding the distributor cap on are GM.
The car has a home made speedster body on it and who is the guy that does not know diddlily about a model T?
He talks as if the spark lever is only there for adjusting for changes in the type of fuel being used.
I'm quite sure that guy has never driven a model T Ford.
1911---generator? modern nut bolt and chain on the fuel mix?? Could not watch more!
Many comments under that video are disturbing. They must be fanatics... i wish they would look at the facts instead of burning history books and writing their own, Then forcing people to believe their version.
The distributor is wrong, The spark lever is for timing and the early carb'floats would malfunction soon. Yes making fuel would be nice but is not always practical.
Yes, the Ford Model T was specially designed to run on ethanol fuel. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, Henry Ford thought that ethanol fuel would be far more abundant and low cost for a fuel. It wasn't until the war that oil drilling increased to the point where gasoline was more readily available across America. Remember, in 1911 and 1912, there was no such thing as the gasoline station in America- fuel was found in gallon jugs sold at a local store.
In 1896, Henry Ford built his first automobile, the quadricycle, to run on pure ethanol. In 1906, the liquor tax was repealed, and Ford declared ethanol "the fuel of the future." Ford designed his model T to run on a mixture of gasoline
and ethanol- either/or. It was the first "flex-fuel" car specifically able to use either fuel.
During World War I, ethanol use increased rapidly, not only as a fuel but in the manufacture of war materials also. The year 1919 brought Prohibition, and a denaturing process was developed which made ethanol poisonous and undrinkable. By then, gasoline was becoming cheaper and it eventually won out as the fuel of choice, in part because of the legislative lobbying of Standard Oil company in the late teens and early twenties.
That's right- big oil has been influencing legislation since the 1910's and 20's.
How can a carb float sealed with shellac be "designed to run on ethanol?"
Does someone have a link to one of the old brochures that mention ethanol or alcohol?
Or do they mention gasoline?
Herb
Jim,
Do you have any references for your statements?
The only authoritative reference I can find for Henry Ford and alcohol as fuel for the Model T at Benson Ford Research Center is an article in the Detroit Evening Journal for December 5, 1916. In that article Ford says he ran an unmodified 1916 Model T on alcohol. He also found that 160 proof was the best for running. That would be E-80 in today's terminology. For those new to the Model T, that is six years or so after its introduction.
Ford was a teetotaler but when prohibition was to come to Michigan two years earlier than the rest of the country, he was worried about the impact on farmers who grew the grain used to make beer and alcohol. He also thought is was terrible to waste the investment in the breweries when they could be converted to distilleries and make auto fuel. He believed that oil was running out.
Henry Ford and Alcohol as a Motor Fuel Interview_between_Henry_Ford_and_the_Detroit_Evening_Journal-154514.pdf (89.1 k) |
David Blume is an "ethanol expert".
We discussed that last year and the conclusion was pretty much as Thomas states above that it is an urban myth that the T was specifically designed for alcohol.
Its designed for gasolene, but due to its low compression and the ability to adjust mixture and ignitionpoint, it can run more or less on anything that can float and burn. Some better than others :-)
I watched that once. I laughed during the entire thing.
Stephen
I am not doubting that the cars were designed to use alky but saying there was a spark lever there just so it could run on either fuel is nuts.
And why not show a T with an ignition system that came from the factory on the cars not a Vega distributor driven by a toothed belt?
Those Vega kits were made up and sold by a guy in the central valley of Ca. named Jess Blaker.
He died about 3 years ago. I have worked on cars with that set-up. There were several around. Still are I s'pose.
Another thing, alcohol needs a very high compression ratio to run decently. In 1916 the compression was lowered but even the 11-'12 models were too low to run well on ethanol.
And don't tell me the ethanol in those days was lower octane.
These prats won't be influenced by truth and engineering. They're probably paid shills for the corn lobby. Look at all the corn subsidies for ethanol, an inferior fuel.
rdr
Never trust a man with a ponytail.
i have an oringinal boyco gas water and oil cans in the holder for model t very good shape, make offer$