Late fenders on an early T??

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: Late fenders on an early T??
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Daniel Kraft on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - 05:12 pm:

I'm building a 1916 model t on the budget. I have a set of 1919 fenders and was wondering if it would hurt the value of the car if I tried to sell it along the road. A model t book I have shows late model fenders in an add sold as an accessory. Do wrong year accessory or updated parts deduct from the overall value?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker in Sumter SC on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - 06:37 pm:

Daniel,

Yes, the Ford dealer and others sold the later fenders as replacements. I.e. for collision repair of just to make the older model look newer.

For a low budget build I don’t think it will matter much. For a speedster you can even leave them off.

Value -- it depends on the car and on the person who wants to purchase it in the future. There is seldom a nice "One rule works all the time" for most Model T Questions.

In general, having all the same year range parts on a car is better for most folks than having as many parts from as many years as possible. But fenders are an item that would be relatively easy for the next person to swap out if it mattered to them.

But lots of people like the 1919-1926 30 x 3 1/2 inch demountable wheels on their 1918 and earlier car -- especially if they drive it a lot. Same for hopping up an engine -- the 1926-27 engine tends to be stronger / can take the additional horsepower better than the very early engines. They are also less expensive to replace if the go south.

My suggestion would be try to find someone with the 1915-16 style fenders and trade with them. Or purchase the 1915-16 style fenders and sell the later fenders. By the way the fenders are generally broken down to 1917-1923 and 1924-1925 with the lip car and 1924-1927 Ton Truck (same as 1924-25 car with the lip. (There is some overlap when the bead ran under the splash apron and when it did not for the 1924 - 27 Truck Fenders). On word of caution -- because the 1915-16 fenders have a lot of flat surfaces -- they are much harder to remove dents etc. and make them look really good compared to the later curved and crowned 1917-1925 fenders.

And if you are building a speedster -- it probably doesn't matter -- folks built them anyway they wanted to back then. If you are doing a very low budget driver, it probably doesn't matter much either.

Note the 1917-1923 fenders will fit, but you will also need to have the later splash aprons or add an extra piece to the front of the 1915-16 splash aprons.

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - 06:50 pm:

Hap do you know if the fender irons changed after 1916?
Just wondering if they are the same but not sure. I have 3 17-25 T's and haven't been around the earlier T's that much.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Frank van Ekeren (Australia) on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - 07:36 pm:

Parts book will give you what fits what, note at the bottom shows that it would be period correct for the later fenders as that was all that was supplied for repairs.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - 07:48 pm:

If you can fit the fenders to the car without modifying anything, and you already have the fenders. Go for it. It would be an easy fix to change them later if you or a subsequent owner desires.
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joseph Geisler on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - 09:02 pm:

Daniel,
If you have the Sept or later 16 then the fender's will fit fine! The fender irons are all the same basically then. Fenders would be correct.
You are wondering about authentic then worry no more. I have built up many T's in my life from PARTS!!!! That is ALL they have ever been!
Having worked in industry in the 60's and for major corporations as an engineer trainee and a mjmt trainee. Production scheduler, ALL our assemblies were from parts! Just the same for ALL the manufacturers did in the early Ford days. Not the real early cars but starting around 13 Ford was well under way to build cars from PARTS!!!!!
Where the rub comes in is getting the correct parts to fit the correct
year of car you are building.
Now where the real pudding comes from is in photographing an original unrestored car as I have done in my life. Many of you guys have seen me at shows. And Laughed!!! That's ok! I am under the cars with a camera and tape measure in hand. At home I was viewing old photos and books with a magnifying glass and converting divider PICKED measurements against known objects and finding a constant multiplier to size up needed points. This included my first T's in the 60's and 70's. Parallax was the biggest problem then, I found, was my worst problem to overcome. Making all the drafted drawings was the next step and filing those findings was the next step. I still have MOST of those early attempts. Measuring the REAL objects was next and I found that to be the BEST way to get stuff correct. You had to find guys with the real parts and a trust had to be established that their parts would be taken care of and returned. That was how I got my start as a young I.A. teacher then. It grew from there. As you get more known in circles (then) you are able to become someone who gets calls and allowed to BUY the old sheet metal and wood. If you are poor like I was and HAD to MAKE what you needed then finally you find ways to get really exact on your restorations. Even making parts for other owners. They are grateful when they SEE your work.
I have known MANY a T owner who will TELL you that their car is ORIGINAL!!! When it isn't.
Build your car!
Drive your car!
Make it sharp whatever you do and make it dependable!
It WILL sell if you do that!
I got into restorations after learning that Hot Rods wouldn't bring me what I had in them in the early 60's. Dads had the money. Their sons wanted my cars. Had NO money! If I had an untouched A or T I could get my investment AND even a profit. That's how I got to doing the originals. Today, it is a toss up which way to go. May have even reversed in trend.
Have a good time making whatever you decide on doing.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Daniel Kraft on Friday, October 10, 2014 - 01:50 am:

Thank you all for the advice! It is very helpful and I am grateful for it. I think I will just leave them as is.
God bless,
Daniel


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep on Friday, October 10, 2014 - 03:02 am:

oh ok i'm too dumb to figure out how to compensate for camera very well.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charley shaver on Friday, October 10, 2014 - 08:07 am:

kep. you a not the only one!!!this is the only site on the Webb this way. charley


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Saturday, October 11, 2014 - 10:37 am:

Joseph the note on the bottom of the parts book page to use the later fenders is a good indication that even Ford started using later parts on older models to keep their cars 'COBBLED' together!
I wonder how many purists know this.
very interesting.


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration