Have always been a model A man and still work on a few of them for friends from time to time. Have not had an old car for several years and when I rode in my friend 1915 touring I was hooked. I bought this 26 coupe 3 weeks ago and have really enjoyed working on it. I learned quickly that the left foot is not the clutch when I first pulled it into my garage. I almost had a drive through garage but it stalled and saved the day.
I'm trying to upload a picture which I have downsized, I think. What in the world are pixtels and bytes?
Welcome! That's a great looking car and a great job resizing your pic!
Pixels are small gremlins that live on this forum. If you try to post a picture that's too big, they will byte you ! ;o)
PS Nice looking car!
Bob, as you'll hear again, "welcome to the affliction". I got my start with a Model A, but quickly gravitated to the T's, ending up collecting four of 'em in a years time! I know all about the "left clutch syndrome" too, and you're not the only one, and not the last, to attempt to turn a garage into a drive-thru!! Myself, I decided to just try and drive right off the front end of the trailer while my "new T's" newly former owner watched on in horror! She had no damage, just my ego!
Enjoy the toy! Nice looking car you got.
You'll get another one!
I got her for $7453 with an asking price of $10K. I drove from Tennessee to Indiana intent on buying a 26 Tudor. I'm sure you all know pictures are sometimes deceiving and certain colors hide a multitude of sins. Car was not what I wanted to start with. My days of air tools and spray guns are long gone. We left Indiana and headed to Georgia where I knew of this car. I told the man when I got there I had $7453 in cash and my trailer on my truck and if I was too far off don't even show me the car. One hour later we had it loaded on my trailer and on my way home. I told the Lord, if there's a T out there for me, help me find it and He did. I think God might have a soft spot for Model T's. He's teaching me to drive it right now and I sure call on Him a lot.
If you have any spare parts or when you get a few, be sure to keep them well separated as the little buggers seem to breed other parts and soon you have another T.
A real nice car and I know you will enjoy driving it. Does it have a name ?
Oh yeah! In learning to drive it, I've called it all kinds of names. My wife says it has to be a name I can repeat in church. Still working on that one.
Nice looking car with tires Hecho en Chile. Those are about the best wearing tires you can put on a T. For those who don't know Spanish that means Made in Chile. The brand is INSA. I don't think they are available anymore. I got a set in 1992 and they are on the T I have driven the most of my fleet and still on the car. The sidewalls have not cracked and I have not had a flat tire.
Norm
You have an early '26. No tie bar. That's the year I started out with. Enjoy it.
Bob,
Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of Model Ts! You have a great looking coupe. It appears to be an early 1926 based on the headlamps that were initially used in the 1926 model year production without a cross bar and later had several different versions of a cross bar and finally during the same 1926 model year arrived at the final design of the lights and cross bar that was used the remainder of the 1926 production and continued to the end of the 1927 production. See Bruce McCalley’s (R.I.P.) On Line Encyclopedia at: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/hl23.htm and http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/hl23d.htm for the 1926 evolution of that lamp and tie bar. Note the early style lights like your car has, have a right and left so the fluted lens are vertical to the ground. The previous 1915-1925 as well as the later 1926-27 have a single lamp that fits either side. The introduction to Bruce’s On Line Encyclopedia is located at: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/intro.htm and the big contents/index is located at: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/index.htm and the section on the 1926 cars is located at: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1926.htm ; http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1926-27H.htm and additional information is scattered in other locations such as 1925 year – as they were introduced in Aug 1925 and the 1926 year as they continued into 1926 see: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/doc25.htm and http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/doc26.htm . If you enjoy learning more about how the cars originally came from the factory (or typically came from the factory as there were often variations) Bruce’s 1994 (please note the date) book “Model T Ford” available in a soft cover at: http://modeltstore.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/model-t-ford-the -car-that-changed-the-world as well as an updated CD version that includes many years of updates since the book was originally published. It is available for order from: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/333725.html?1357665853 And if you could care less about how it came from the factory – that is ok also – as many folks just enjoy driving them and having fun with them.
I would encourage you to check out the local Model T Ford club(s) near you. See: http://www.mtfca.com/clubpages/chapters.htm and http://www.modelt.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=15 They can be a real source of encouragement and help you as you learn to maintain the car. Steve Jelf has an excellent set of books he recommends for new owners on his web site at: http://dauntlessgeezer.com/ with the T section at: http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG52.html and the recommended books listed at: http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG80.html Note there are also free “how to books” on the internet such – see: http://books.google.com/books?id=uKVAAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:xR 56bbT2W68C&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tdpWVMi4PMOjgwSAhoC4Ag&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=fa lse and there are others – but I didn’t see a 1926-27 one. And the Ford Service is online at: http://mtfci2002.readyhosting.com/manuals/Model_T_Service_Manual/mtsm.html and does include the 1926 -27 “Improved car” features.
I also try to include some safety items for new owners. Getting an experienced Model T person to help you learn about your car can save you lots of frustration and possible expense. For example if you fail to retard the spark and you push down on the starting crank at the front of the car to start the car, you could easily break your arm. That is a known safety issue with Model Ts. And it isn’t dangerous as long as you understand what causes it [spark lever advanced [that is the left hand lever on a left hand drive car] it should be pushed up], commutator adjustment rod installed wrong or bent improperly so that even with the spark lever up, the spark is still too far advanced, shorted wire on the commutator, etc. . And if you use the electrical starter that your car should have – if the spark is advanced and the engine back fires – it can damage the starter and/or bendix drive. For additional details please see: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50893/68644.html?1224126132
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50893/69444.html
and there are other related threads.
Some other safety related items:
And be sure the car is in safe working order. An engine that burns oil is not a critical safety issue (at least not in my book) but the front end castor if it is set up negative can flip the car. If the rear axle still has the original babbit thrust washers you can lose your normal service brake. Those and similar items are well documented "oops" for the T. But if you have never been around one -- they are probably new "data points" for you. Some of them are listed below – not to scare you but to let you learn from others rather than discovering all the lessons on your own.
Safety Glass is nice: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50893/72116.html
Use safety wire and not lock washers or cotter pins on the two studs holding the wishbone to the underside of the engine.
Lots of safety items http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50893/69429.html
Over center steering – shouldn’t happen on the later Ts (yours is a later T)– but if someone replaced your later teens steering gear housing or rebuilt it without the lock pin – or installed the wrong length drag link it might happen: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/86345.html as well as: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/300409.html
Types of safety wire: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/41859.html
Example of loss of brakes caused by drive shaft failure: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/47804.html
Top T tips – many of them are safety related also: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/85208.html
Tour safety check list: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/44331.html
And if you have a gas hot water heater in the garage – be very very careful. The float in a Model T Carb will sometimes stick (or trash in the valve) and the carb will leak gasoline. Not too bad if there are no sparks – several homes, garages and cars have been lost when a gas hot water heater was near by and someone started the dishwasher other item that caused it to turn on the burner at the wrong time. Note gas fumes tend to be heavier than regular air …. so they tend to hug the floor. If you adjust your garage door to let the mice in and the air out – that is a temp work around. But replacing the gas fired hot water heater with an electric heater or having the gas one relocated away from the garage is the best thing
Even with a perfectly good and properly adjusted front steering system – if you back up quickly, the front wheels can go full left or full right and pull the steering wheel out of your hand – so remember to back up slowly. It is caused by the caster of the front wheels similar to the casters on the front of the shopping cart – designed to be stable in one direction but not so stable in the opposite direction. Since you have already been driving the car you probably do not have the following problem – but you might still want to check. If someone rebuilt the front axle and it is was really difficult to keep the car going straight they may have inadvertently swapped the front spring perches. There is a left and a right spring perch that tilts the axle so the bottom of the axle is slightly ahead of the top of the axle (5 1/2 degrees positive caster – although there is some discussion that it is a little less but still positive for the balloon tires like you have). If it has negative to neutral caster it can cause a wild ride and also could cause the car to flip even at a slow speed see: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/80333.html?1233523419 that shows the spring perch installed incorrectly and how the front axle looks then. Also see: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/40382.html Note even with the spring perch installed correctly a bent or shortened wishbone could cause neutral to negative caster.
Also the rear axle thrust bearings if they are babbitt (originally bronze in the 1909-1915 cars and then switched to babbitt on the cars during 1915) can fail with minimal warning leaving the driver without the normal transmission brake (the main regular brake on a stock Model T). See the discussion at: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50893/78685.html?1233159025 If you loose the brakes and you are on a flat area with minimal traffic – it is not nearly as bad as loosing them while going down hill towards a busy intersection. See the rear axle babbitt discussion part way down in the following thread: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/277093.html?1332591272
Again a T is a faithful servant but it has some known issues that the driver needs to be aware of and to take proper precautions about.
Folks will gladly help with any questions you may have. Again welcome aboard!
Respectfully submitted,
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