So was there a specific tool box for the T's running board or was it just any tool box you had that would fit? Also were they bolted on or clamped on like other accessories?
Lonnie -- They were all aftermarket, so they were pretty much generic for all cars. Some were wider than others, to fit wider or narrower running boards. They also varied in height and length, so just about anyone could find one he liked that would work with his car. Most of the ones found today are wider (front to back) than Model T running boards, so it takes some looking to find one that fits well.
I forgot to answer your second question. All of them I've seen are bolt-on. You need to drill holes for them in your running board. Lots of other accessories were clamp-on, but I expect the car owner didn't want his tools to walk away.
Since the word go-Hayes! Bud.
Not thrilled with the idea of making extra holes in my running boards, I plan to make clamps for my tool box.
Steve:
Mark Cameron and others in my neck-of-the-woods take the clamps from accordion/pantograph luggage racks and mount them to the bottom of tool boxes.
I like the clamp on idea, don't really want to put holes in my running board.
I have seen people take a wood board and bolt it down with the running board bolts and then bolt the box to it for another choice for mounting
I just took out two of the runningboard bracket bolts and drilled holes in the toolbox. No need to drill the runningboard, Don.
By using a board bolted to the running board with the existing bolts, no holes need to be drilled. By making that base board a little wider to suit a wider box, you have a wider choice of boxes to use. The one on my roadster, which was given to me by an old gent whom I respected, is an inch wider than the T running board. The base board supports it well and makes the fitment look proper.
Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.
I had to weld up the holes the former owner of my '13 roadster drilled. What a terrible thing to do to an original running board!
“Epistle” to the Michiganites according to Bob:
A show-car is a show-car and a driver is a driver. The two get treated differently and never the 'twain shall meet. Any Model T built between 1908 and 1912 is a show-car. Period (“Period?” Where have I heard that before?). You don't drill holes in such cars because they're just too darned rare and precious for that kind of treatment.
You can drill on Flivvers built between 1913 and 1914, but only to install period-correct accessories such as hand-Klaxons; for vintage doo-dads of that type are part of the warp & woof of the Model T's history.
And now, a little blasphemy:
Tin-Lizzies built from 1915 on up are fair game for the Black & Decker treatment because they're numerous enough to ensure that there will always exist a large enough number of correct originals to serve as historical reference. Them’s the rules. Who says so? Well, nobody—I just made ‘em up.
A little more heresy:
I've learned from experience that being shy with the drill and, instead, using half-way, temporary-mount measures involving Velcro and duct-tape make for unsatisfactory, amateurish-looking installations. In my humble opinion (and I can be wrong—just ask my wife), fastening a running-board toolbox with clamps would look very wrong. Once you’ve got one of those handy-dandy boxes installed and have used it a while, you’ll realize what an indispensable item it is and you’ll never go back to a bare running-board, so you might as well mount it permanently. The important thing to remember when you drill is to place the holes close enough together to accept the smallest available toolbox. Once you’ve done that, you can get as many different size boxes as you like and mount them according to your need without having to drill more holes through the car (Not being a complete barbarian, I did put a gasket, cut from a rubber welcome mat, between the toolbox and the running-board).
By the way, my personal preference is for the small “battery box” because when located in the center of a touring car running-board, it will still leave plenty of room for size-13 boots on either side. In spite of its smallish size, a battery box will hold anything you need to keep handy, with room to spare.
For the purists with pre-1913 cars, I would suggest an accordion luggage rack (the mounting clamps of which you can pad by gluing on strips of rubber—and you can pop milk-jug stoppers onto the swivel-discs, thus saving your paint job from scratches).
.
The accordion luggage rack will hold just about any size wicker basket, which can be purchased inexpensively (between $35 and $40) at most arts & crafts stores). Besides its big capacity, the neat thing about a wicker basket is that you can’t tell its age, so it looks perfectly at home on anything from the running-board of a Stanley Steamer to the roof-rack of a Toyota SUV.
It's only a running board for goodness sakes. If you want a tool box on it, go for it. You will probably never take it back off anyway and if you do, no trouble to tig up. You will wish you had some tools and parts on board when you ever break down in the middle of nowhere. Course maybe everyone don't drive their T as much as I do. KB
I guess i was lucky because when our 14 came from the dealer it had a tool box,robe rail,and hand klaxton installed.Hayes-From the word go.Bud.
Another thought to consider, many of us "T-nuts" have more than one Model "T", and a well thought-out clamp-on, or, board mounted tool box (with period tools and spare parts) might be easily transferred from one Model "T" to another, depending on which "T" you're driving at the time!
Harold -- It sounds like you need some more tool boxes.
Bob, I know what you're saying about the rare T's and the dime-a dozen T's, mines a common one, but it's still my first one so I don't want to do something with it I'll regret later and more than anything I want what I put on it to be correct for the era. Thanks for all the input.
Lonnie
Either way to mount is fine, I just drill and bolt on. Let someone in another life weld up the holes
But do get the correct size, too big a tool box looks silly on the Ford, and the Ford running board for '25 and earlier is narrow, so you need a tool box with these dimensions.
Accessory tool boxes can be found at swap meets in all kinds of sizes.
But only the correct size ones will fit properly on the Ford running board.