How tall will my '23 Touring Car be?

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: How tall will my '23 Touring Car be?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Howe on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 07:15 pm:

After more than five years of slow work my '23 Touring car is nearing completion. Starting out as what was left of an original touring car with the rear removed and a homemade pickup bed attached, it is finally road worthy and awaiting the addition of a top.

I'm looking for an enclosed cargo trailer which will be used for both storage and transportation of the car. As recommended in some other forum threads I want to try and purchase a trailer with an opening large enough for the car to be put in the trailer without having to put the top down.

I can't find any height dimensions for a '23 Touring Car. There is a drawing floating around that shows the height of a '26 / '27 Touring with the top up and some comments that the earlier Touring cars are taller.

Can anyone tell me how tall my '23 "T" will be?

Tom Howe
Flying W Ranch
Hotdhkiss, ColoradoFlying W Ranch '23 T Touring - awaiting top


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wes Nelson ........Bucyrus, MO on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 07:52 pm:

Thomas, on standard 30 inch wheels and with the top raised, your car will stand 7 feet tall. I am 5' 7".






Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Howe on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 08:16 pm:

Wow! That's tall. Most 'over height' trailers seem to have a 78" (6' 6") opening - and finding a used one in western Colorado is near impossible.

So you're telling me I will probably need a trailer with a 84" opening.

Hmmm....

Tom Howe
Flying W Ranch
Hotchkiss, Colorado


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Howe on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 08:21 pm:

Wow! That's tall. Most 'over height' trailers seem to have a 78" (6' 6") opening - and finding a used one in western Colorado is near impossible.

So you're telling me I will probably need a trailer with a 84" opening.

Hmmm....

Tom Howe
Flying W Ranch
Hotchkiss, Colorado


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike_black on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 08:50 pm:

Thomas,
Standard is a 6'6" opening. Get one 8' tall with an opening 7'6". This will cover you as your "fleet" grows. A 24 footer with a V nose will carry 2 T's!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Hylen- Central Minnesota on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 08:53 pm:

That's kind of how it works; you either put the top down before putting it in a regular height trailer, you buy a trailer that's an extra foot tall. The trade off, is that the shorter trailers are easier to pull and use less gas, the taller trailers let you leave the top up.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Saylor on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 09:39 pm:

hm, I don't know anyone who trailers with their top up. I think the tiny inconvenience of putting the top down is vastly outweighed by the shorter trailer.

On an unrelated note, that car is absolutely stunning. I love the disc wheels.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike_black on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 10:34 pm:

We all have to do the best we can with what we have. You have to consider what you can afford, what you have for a tow vehicle, where you have to park it, and most important--what your wife will tolerate. I've had an enclosed trailer for a few years that handled my needs, except for my TT. Then, I built a hack that I had to partially disassemble to haul. Then, I built a 15 that I had to let the top down to haul. The first time I forgot resulted in a broken front bow. The second time resulted in the front 2 bows broken, a broken windshield and frame, both straps and a ripped top and trim. I'm currently having my new trailer built! I realized I'm not smart enough to remember to put my top down each time. Also, if you plan to use it for storage, You'll always have top wrinkles if you store it with the top down. Only you can decide what's right for you.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John P. Steele, Montana on Saturday, June 21, 2014 - 11:48 pm:

Hi Tom,
The car looks great and so do the Disteel wheels!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Claverie on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 09:20 am:

When I had my trailer made, I went through the same decision (also a '23 Touring).

I looked at the car, and saw that the one-man top was "humped" quite a bit forward of the rear axle.

I looked at the trailer, and saw that when the "hump" passed through the doorway, the rear wheels were still quite a way down the ramps.

That allowed me to get by with a door height that one would assume would not pass the car with the top up -- but it does.

Of course, if the trailer were positioned so that the rear ramp is level with the floor, it wouldn't pass the car, but I've never come close to that.

I never put my top down to trailer the car.

I don't think I could live with a trailer where you couldn't drive in with the top up. And, what would you save? The windshield is only a couple of inches shorter than the top, and it doesn't fold on a '23 Touring.

One thing I would caution you about -- be sure that with the car in the trailer, the trailer's side door is positioned such that you can get in and out of the car easily! That means, it isn't all the way at the front of the trailer.

Lots of folks will tell you to get the trailer substantially wider than the car, so you have room to get around it to secure the car with straps, chains, or whatever. Well, I made my trailer only just wide enough to clear the car (the doorway clears the front hub caps, the widest point on the car, by only 3"), then I put together a method of securing the car in the trailer, that does not require me to get to the front of the car. I'll send you the pictures and the thread about it if you want -- email me at peteraphra@bellsouth.net.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 10:22 am:

If it eats its vegetables and doesn't smoke, it with grow up nice and tall. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Danuser on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 11:18 am:

Beautiful set of DISTEEL wheels, as John Steele says, I have new reprod DISTEEL tags that glue on to the inside or ? , originals were pinned and metal. danuser88@ktis.net


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Howe on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 11:37 am:

What great help guys!

I've been looking at 12" over height trailers and from what you've all said here, it appears that will do the trick. As you all probably know, finding used ones is tough but I'm looking.

Fortunately I have plenty of room to store the "T" in my hangar here on the ranch but the dust level and rodent population can be damaging - so I plan to just store the car secured in the trailer.
I'll probably try a 16' X 7' by 1 foot over height.

I'll follow up with Peter Claverie on his tie down scheme and "Hey" to John Steele in Big Sky country. Yep John my four Disteel wheels look pretty good but one is still blemished. I'm always in the market for a fifth wheel good enough to use on my car so I can take my blemished wheel and make it a spare. Keep me in mind if you find a good Disteel wheel. Then you and I can negotiate on the Disteel Spare carrier you have - unless you've sold it!

Thanks again to everyone for all the support!

Tom Howe
Flying W Ranch (Airport LLC)
Hotchkiss, Colorado


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Howe on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 12:16 pm:

John Danuser -

I purchased a set of your Disteel tags a few years ago. They're on the shelf and will be one of the last items to be put in place as we complete the car.

Tom Howe


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Val Soupios on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 01:08 pm:

I put the tops down on all my cars when I moved to Florida 10 years ago and they have never been up again. I also got rid of my 24' trailer and got a standard height, beavertail V nose box trailer which is great for a T. I rarely took 2 cars anywhere so dragging the long trailer around made no sense. Just be sure to put the windshield down on the early cars or the trailer will do it for you and that ain't pretty on a '13.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Greg Whaley, Georgetown Ontario Canada on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 02:14 pm:

Tom,

I ended up having to order mine. 8.5 x 16 foot with an extra foot of height. Works perfect. You could get away with a 7 foot wide one, but I'm a big dude and like being able to walk around the car when it's in the trailer.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Howe on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 02:32 pm:

Val Soupios -

I'm amazed your tops haven't mildewed and rotted off your cars!

My five years in Florida (Treasure Coast during the race to the moon - lets see that would have been almost 50 years ago - YIKES!) convinced me you don't fold anything you don't want mildewed and if you live anywhere near the east coast don't expect anything metal to last very long without special care. Supposedly the only place on the planet with higher corrosion indices than Patrick AFB is the Canary Islands.

A top is nice here - at 7000 ft. elevation the UV gets a little "blistering".

Thanks for the heads up on the windshield.

Tom Howe
Flying W Ranch
Hotchkiss, Colordo


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