OK, so team work and friendship does work
About a month or so ago I received a call from a friend of a friend asking about buying a 1913-1914 era T Touring. As it turns out, this friend of a friend lives just about a mile North of me (oh goody, a new potential Model T buddy just up the street!)
Well, I first invited him to our local club events and then went right in to "Model T 101" orientation showing him the differences between different T's and even giving him a Model T driving lesson.
It was Go-time. He was ready & we had to find the car... what to do?
Well, about ten years ago, my dad (Fast Frank) sold a 1913 Touring. Could we buy it back?
I called my dad & got the buyer's info... was it still around? No, but he did have another friend with a nice green 1913 which hadn't been driven for a few years and needed a new home.
Well, after several trips up to see the car and some back & forth negotiation, a deal was struck
See below Ken Blankshain's new 102 year old Model T:




We'll have our work cut out for us over the next few weeks getting it back on the road. It should continue to be a fun adventure

Oh, and it does have the correct 1913 engine... just a later ignition (but that can be changed back

I see you have attached your tie-downs to the frame and not the axle or spring.

Looks like a nice catch.
George n L.A.

Looks like a good one! I expect to see videos soon of it from your cars.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

You keep finding good ones Bill! When I need another one I think I will give you a call! Great for you to have a new Model T buddy close by. I love having another 1916 T Touring near me and we go driving together regularly. 1913's are one of my favourite T's.

Bill,

Thank you for helping someone who sort of was interested in Ts to becoming a T owner. You could have easily just dropped it after you said you didn't know of anyone with a 1913-14. But by taking some additional time -- inviting him to the club, sharing the Model T 101, and some driving lessons and even helping him locate a T, you obviously helped him decide in favor of Ts.

Thanks for being such a great ambassador for our hobby!

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off

Great story Bill, and now the both of you are all set for years and years of enjoyment.

Happy motoring,

Warren

Bill,

Great story and what a way to put one back on the road for everyone to enjoy. We all look forward to seeing more photos of this one.

Ken in Texas

Good going, Bill -- It's great that another T will be back on the road after languishing for several years.

Way to go, Bill! And what a great car—it really looks great. When someone like you goes to this extent to help out a new guy and even teach him the arcane art of driving the Model T, that's about as wonderful a thing as can be done for the health of the hobby. I salute you, sir!

Bill,

Did you get a chance to change the front axle in your coupe and, if you did, did it cure the steering issue you were having?

I did finally get those stubborn headlamp rings to come off. I stood in the middle of my garage full of c*ap and did a 360 deg. scan of what I had.

Suddenly, there it was. An 18"x6" sheet of 1/16" thick neoprene that I use for stamping out replacement Coleman filler cap gaskets.

Used that to grip those slick, polished nickle rings. Just in time too!

I found one headlamp had a blown filament and the other side had a fried contact in the Bakelite spool. I now have two working headlamps.

Mike.

Bill, That's a terrible story.

Ya, Only because it was your friend Ken and Not me that scored a really nice looking brass touring.

You guys have fun getting it back on the road and as always holler if you need some help. Looking forward to meeting and congratulating Ken.

Outstanding, Bill. Gotta keep these cars on the road. Just make sure Ken is ready for the people who will tell him his car is the wrong color...
Best regards. BE

Thanks for all of the kind words!
I'm heading over to Ken's house right now to start the "To Do" list

Bill. Still no email here in Mexico. Verizon says they do not normally let email operate in send or receive mode out of the country but will try to get me online tomorrow. That's funny because this is the first year for no email.

Update: It's really hard to tell from the photo but we spent two hours cleaning and polishing today.
Next step, oil change and fuel system flush. Ken has the supplies... We may be firing it up within the week
Stay tuned!

A big update:

After a bit more than two months of work and more work (all fun of course!)... Ken got the '13 running last night. Here's a link to a very poor quality video of the event:

https://cloud.real.com/s/F96GaW?lang=en&email=share

We met up again today & switched out the marginal right front wheel to allow actual driving. See short video:

https://cloud.real.com/s/oODz6W?lang=en&email=share

Special thanks to Gene Carrothers, Greg Griffin and many other members of the Orange County and Long Beach T clubs for huge amounts of help

Nice!

I like updates. Thank you.

Drive carefully, and do enjoy! W2

Is this the same green '13 that Kim Dobbins owned years ago? The last I heard, it was in Sonora, California.

It came from a Glendora SoCal HCCA member. Unknown if Kim ever had it.

I wanted to add this photo to show the happy owner/driver

Nice find, nice car, congrats!

Ya the more Bill and I worked on the car, mostly just checking it out before we started it up, the more we upped our offers to Ken. He sure found a nice touring and after a little work on the wheels and tires it sure felt like a good runner.

Congrats to Ken our newest T owner!

Thank you all for your kind words. I am really thrilled to have this 1913 Model T. I want to especially thank Bill, Gene, and Greg for all of your help, support, encouragement and comradery. You are really quality guys and I very much appreciate your friendship. It's a kick that we all live close by and have a 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1915. We should have a mini tour/parade sometime.

/image

I have a question somewhat related to this discussion. Were some 13's green originally? I have seen a lot of green ones, but the MTFCI Judging Guidelines say they were Midnight Blue only. Is that an error, or do lots of '13 guys just like green?

Bill - Have been following this thread carefully,....it's "neat",....really neat! If everybody treated this hobby the way you and your Dad do Bill, there would never be any doubt about the hobby's survival.

If you haven't already done it Bill, if you think it's necessary, be sure to talk to Ken about NOT paying much attention to those who would "bum-rap" the car because it has a distributor! As far as I'm concerned, a distributor (even if Ralph, r.i.p., did call them "disturbutors") was a "period correct" after-market accessory, even back in the Model "T" era, and ever afterwards!

With a distributor, it's still a beautiful Model "T"!

Even if the distributor only remains until the first engine rebuild, in a couple months, or a couple years, or twenty years, it's still a beautiful Model "T"!

If the distributor remains indefinitely, it's still a beautiful Model"T"!

Anyway, I can't think of a better way to make a new Model "T" friend than to "orchestrate" his acquiring a nice Model "T",.....nice going Bill,......harold