...without showing you guys my car. I've shown a few pictures during the restoration when I needed some help, but now she's done enough that I can show her off. What do you think?
She's a bitsa car, but most of the parts were 1923 runabout. I've tried to correct what I can, but I know she's not 100% accurate. She's close enough to perfect for me, though. Maybe my next project will be a 100 point restoration, but for now I'm glad to have my toy back together. I still have to finish restoring the correct 30 1/2" demountable wheels and tires, but these 21" demountables are holding up just fine until then.
Looks awesome Jared. Body and fenders look great and so does the top. Show some pics of the bed! Small note: looks like you got the affordable spring shackles like I did - apparently there were some problems with those and they are prone to breaking. The silver part you can see in the pic just isn't strong enough. Get some of the more expensive ones that won't break on you. I'm trying to find the thread talking about it to show you.
Looks great- having fun is what it is all about.
Jared - It looks great!!!! That picture would be a good one to put on as your profile picture.
Just a suggestion...
Keith
Great job Jared! I second Keith's suggestion to make that your profile picture.
Looking mighty good.
This may be the shackle discussion Seth mentioned: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/408729.html
Very nice, Jared! And looks like a perfect day to have it out and about.
If it runs:
Every drive is a Parade!
Every time you park, it is a Show!
Enjoy
Jared,
That's really nice! Wishing you many happy miles!
Well done Jared, another Lizzie back on the road. She looks great from all of us from Down Under.
As Tony the Tiger would say, "That car looks grrrrrrrATE!!!"
A great looking couple in a great looking car
Thanks guys. I'm not crazy over the restoration, since it's not perfect. But then I remind myself that she's a Model T and they're more fun to drive than to look at anyway.
Seth, Thanks for the tip. Being on a budget, I went with the cheaper option. I will probably switch them out for more original parts as soon as time and budget permit. Rebuilding the front axle and steering column are the only mechanical parts I did, as she was a running driving car when I got her. The brakes are next. Bought new drums when I sent my wheel parts to Noah Stutzman for rebuilding, and bought a brake rebuild kit with the fancy lined brake shoes. Just gotta find time to do it all.
I'll try to get some good pictures of the bed. It's not finished yet, as I don't have latches built or installed. I bought a set of the reproduction latches, but I don't like the look and I can't mount them to the bed as it is. So I guess I'll have to get creative.
Jared,
Great looking T! By the way, Henry Ford built them so they could easily be upgraded. His personal 1920 coupe was updated until he stopped driving it full time in 1931. It had been upgraded to wire spoked wheels, 21 inch tires, nickel radiator shell etc. So if Henry was not that concerned about upgrades, I don’t think we need to be that concerned about them unless you are trying to have the car as close to the way it came off the assembly line. In that case sure – make the changes as you can. But for just the fun of driving the T the 21 inch tires are an easier ride and tend to cost less than the clincher tires.
Again, great looking car and it looks like you are having a lot of fun with it.
Respectfully submitted,
Hap l9l5 cut off
Outstanding Jared....this car is what the future of MTFCA and MTFCI is about. I'd rather look at any project that a guy built himself, than a pro restoration any day. That car didn't look that good rolling out of Michigan, so pat yourself on the back Sir....well done.
Regards,
Scott
I had to look for a while to see the car...
Both are beautiful!
Michael
Michael I thought the Girl was pretty too... 7;^)
Jared's being modest. The car is great! He most recently finished the top and upholstery and they came out very well.
Best of all, he's out driving it and having fun!
Hey Jared, I saw it in the shop at Mcpherson during the tour on may 2nd at the college It looked good keep up the good work. I hope I get accepted to Mcpherson college next year, by the way how did the teams do for the model t assembly contest, did your team get the free steak dinner?
Spencer
Hap, I'm creeping towards originality. Perhaps I'll get a set of 21" wheels of my own someday, but these are loaners. I had a set of 21" wheels that were not safe to drive on, so a friend of mine loaned me his roadworthy wheels. I put new tubes in the old tires and rims and went from there. I've got the proper demountable clincher wheels now, and by the time I get them painted I should (hopefully) have new tires and enough rims to switch them over. I'll experience the old clincher ride while I'm still young enough to shake it off. haha
Roger, Michael, and Steve: Thanks. And what's even better is she wants to learn to drive it. Looks like I'll have to keep her around awhile.
Spencer, I'm officially retired from the McPherson College Model T Team. I was the last member of the team you've probably seen on Youtube. This year we had eight new guys who divided up to do two builds during the show. Both teams did great. President Schneider owes them all steak. Chris, we should start bugging him about that. Come to think of it, he made a similar promise when I was doing builds....
I am waiting for more pictures of the car, especially some from the back and under the hood.
I'm with Aaron: MORE PICTURES!
No worries on the shackles, I did the exact same thing and didn't think anything of it until I saw that thread. I got some correct shackles for my speedster for my birthday. The brass twist oilers look WAY cooler anyway.
Beautiful RPU. Well done !!
Sorry it's taken so long, but getting ready for graduation has kind of slowed down my picture-taking time. Here's a few pictures of the bed.
I still need to fabricate the tailgate latches, thus the bungee strap.
Unfortunately, the side boards sit too tall, so I can't really lay the top down. Guess I'll have to do some custom fabrication to make it work.
I also had some requests for shots of the engine, so here it goes:
Ignore the alternator and the 26-27 water inlet/fan hub. I'll swap them out at a later date for the correct parts.
Jared, my car is a cut-down touring car, so the geometry back there is a little different, but you might want to consider bending the side board brackets so that the side boards sit flat, like this:
The flat side boards do make handy shelves for temporarily holding tools when I'm working on the back area of the car.
Looks nice! You will be amazed at how much lighter the car feels driving on 30 X 3 1/2 tires.
Hey Jared is this the same car?
If it is, you did great and I hope it gives you and your lady many miles of happiness.
Awesome. Looking fantastic. Looks like a summer of fun ahead.......
I do miss the bungee cord though......
Great job, great looking drive.
Wes, that's the one. The left front fender looks a little different now, doesn't it?
Mark, I've thought about it, but I'm liking the look of the 45 degree flare. We'll see what happens.
Royce, I've heard the 21 inch balloon tires give a nicer ride, but the idea of not dealing with split rims is definitely appealing to me now. Maybe I'll change my opinion after mounting tires on clincher rims, but for now I'd rather not have to deal with getting a rim split and popped back into shape.
I found that installing clinchers was no big deal after I laid them out in the sun to warm up.
Jared........will you have any more FUN with a 100 point job?
Yours is already so beautiful I can't imagine what "POINTS" have to do with anything anyway.......
Steve, I've heard that too. I've had some T guys tell me they'd rather deal with nondemountable wheels than split rims. I guess demountable clinchers is the best of both worlds. I'm probably going to build some sort of tire carrier like yours, since the running board is my best option for carrying a spare.
Craig, having a 100 point restoration would probably help my peace of mind. Everyone else sees the good, and I see the bad. I guess I'm just too into the car.
I got my running board tire carrier from Jack Daron, it works very well. The tire is cradled in the bottom part of the carrier and the tire is secured with three leather straps with buckles that I bought separately.
Jared, since my spare tire is currently flat and I'm waiting for some spare tubes to arrive, I took a couple of pictures of the spare tire brackets that Jack Daron makes as mounted on my car. The brackets come primed and ready for paint (or in my case, gloss black powdercoat). The little loops made of steel rod are for locating the leather straps.
You have a beautiful car, please keep posting updated pictures as you make further improvements!
Made a purchase this weekend for the car. Hopefully it's a good one.
I was at the Herb Wessel Collection auction in Hamptead, Maryland this past weekend. Herb was an avid JI Case collector, among his other collecting passions. Dad had known Herb for many years but had never been there to see his collection, and decided he needed to go before the collection was dispersed. It was a great auction, and most of the cars and tractors brought at least what we thought they would. Some brought many times over.
Anyway, Herb had a small assortment of Motometers among the collection that he hadn't mounted on any cars or tractors. This little beauty was one of them. The ones you see behind it are original and reproductions. I bought this Midget Model with cap, along with a Universal Model, for $35. Both have the red liquid trapped at the top of the thermometer. I will try the tire bounce technique and see if I can get them back into working order. I hope this works, since I don't have a working lathe yet to try the lathe method. I'll keep you guys posted!
A note on shackles. Bring micrometers to swap meets, and find yourself a pair of good used ones. I haven't had a problem finding NOS Ford script ones either.
Jared,
Food for thought--here's a close-up of the latches I made for my Hack. Just angle iron and a grinder--only thing simpler is your bungee cord.
Mike, those are pretty nice and simple. Two of my favorite ways to describe Model T's.
For everybody who's wondering, thumping the Motometer on a tire did knock down the liquid. I haven't had a chance to run the car yet to see if it will come up when the coolant heats up. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have some good information. Seems like every time it's nice enough for a drive it's also the day I have to do other stuff. I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles!
My car came with a Motometer when i bought it, but like many here have said , its useless because the tip that is supposed to contact the coolant is much too short. If i add enough coolant for the gauge to work, it just gets pissed out of the overflow hose. I wonder if its possible to add on to sensor somehow to make it accurate when the coolant is at its proper running level, it seems an inch or two beneath the neck of the radiator.
John, the tip isn't supposed to touch the coolant - it's designed to measure the temp of the vapor above the coolant.
Well Rodger that's news to me, and i stand corrected..my meter does very little with air contact, except look good.
I would have thought a sensor made sensitive enough to monitor vapors would have shot the temp through the roof when totally emerged in hot anti-freeze, yet it only went up to the middle of the summer lines...I guess i wont trust this and will monitor it the old fashioned way.
Mebbe your car isn't running hot enough. That's why thermostats were invented.
Are you screwing with me Ralph?..I may be new to T's but I've been wrenching all my cars for over 30+ years and it seems you are the one person who likes to try to piss me off, any reason for that, or is it because i am new here?
Ralph's post is nothing but good advice, why do you think otherwise, John?
Mostly old Ford's worked OK without a thermostat, but there is a reason why every modern car has one - you make sure the operating temperature isn't too low. Too low temperature causes higher fuel consumption and more wear.
The coolant likes to short cut directly from the water inlet on the side of the engine to the outlet in the head, thus the front cylinder gets colder than it's colleagues further to the rear. A fouled spark plug on #1 from running too cold seems to be common, that's why many Model T's works best with Champion X plugs that runs hotter than most other plugs.
The vendors offers a thermostat to use without any water pump - and as usual, your mileage and operating temperature may vary
http://www.modeltford.com/item/A-TH60.aspx
I have no problem with overheating, so this argument is basically moot. My original argument was about the ability of the Motometer to properly read and inform the driver of the temp of the motor...Does it?
No one talks about overheating, we're asking you if your engine might be "underheated" - that's also bad.
For your info on motometers:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/255003.html?1324520815 http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/315957.html?1349817785
There are more threads to read, just google motometer mtfca
Yes, they do work.
They are slow to register from cold but once warmed up they rise and fall to match the grade of any hills climbed. I never fill my radiator to the top; as long as I can see water in the top tank I don't add any so my motometer is just registering the temp of the air above the water. It normally operates in the top 1/4.