Or at least I thought I did.
Took it to town yesterday and on the way back, I thought the exhaust system blew out. Just bought it. My first T. And within 80 miles of ownership I broke it.
Turned out it was just the pipe nut had loosened off and the exhaust pipe fell away from the manifold. Pull out the floorboards, a little anti seize, channel locks to tighten it and we were done.
Took it out today with the the dog sprawled on the back seat for a 40 mile jaunt. The next couple of days are supposed to be nice, so I'm going to put some miles on it.
I love this car.
best wishes for you
Graham:
If the exhaust pipe is clamped at the muffler inlet then the twisting of the frame as you drive causes the muffler to twist the exhaust pipe and the nut will eventually work loose again. Ford never clamped the muffler inlet so the pipe didn't twist and the nut seems to stay tight. Funny stuff.
Graham,
The loosening of the manifold nut is a common problem. The vendors sell a device to lock it in place and it is not hard the make one using a standard tail pipe clamp.
https://www.modeltford.com/item/3061L.aspx
Good luck,
Jim
John: it surprised me that the muffler had no clamp. I wasn't sure if it was missing or one of those things that Henry thought was a frivolous expense. What you say makes sense though.
Had to laugh at it though. Looks like a plumbing fitting. Probably started life out as such. Adapted to suit a need.
Just add it to the list of things to check periodically.
Channel locks are not capable of tightening the exhaust nut sufficiently. You must use an appropriate wrench. It must be tightened while hot. Otherwise it will get loose again and might even fall off while driving.
Here's the exhaust pack nut wrench my grandfather made using a hack saw and a file, copying an original KR Wilson tool. He had a piece of scrap 1/2" steel plate and lots of spare time:
Thanks Royce for the info. I don't have a wrench with a throat that big, so I'll get a monkey wrench out and next time I have the car out, I'll snug up the nut when I get home.
Graham, Just get the correct tool for the job. You will be glad you did. http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/573 Here is the pack nut locker http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/4810
Thanks John. I'll add these items to my gotta have list.
Or, if you have the right piece of scrap metal, a cutting torch, and some grinding tools, you can use the Peterson Method. Nothing wrong with making your own.
just a note FYI, I was driving my '26 touring car one day last summer and began noticing a "wood burning" smell, I pulled into a parking lot and noticed smoke coming from the front floor boards on the passenger side! luckily I keep a small fire extinguisher clamped to the front of the rear seat . It turns out that the packing nut had come loose and I had the muffler clamped on which allowed the bend in the front pipe to turn almost upside down and rest against the underside of the floor boards right where they come together which allowed some wind to blow on it and "fan the flames" so to speak! It only caused smoldering and made a small area between the crack look charred, but could have been a disaster!something to think about!
den