2015 Show Us your Model T Doodlebug or Conversion Part VI

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2015: 2015 Show Us your Model T Doodlebug or Conversion Part VI
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Saturday, July 18, 2015 - 10:43 pm:

Have received a PM from a doodlebug thread fan that 2015 Edition Part V was getting too long, so started Part VI. Enjoy.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Saturday, July 18, 2015 - 10:48 pm:

Link to Part V is below:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/506218/545689.html?1437273983


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Saturday, July 18, 2015 - 10:59 pm:

Pulled the '27 T mover doodlebug out of her winter storage today. Replaced broken steering column, changed oil, tweaked timing, adjusted throttle control. Next step will be to install her new BERG'S radiator:


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Saturday, July 18, 2015 - 11:07 pm:

Ooops - mower doodlebug, not "mover doodlebug."


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Sunday, July 19, 2015 - 08:08 am:

I for got to mention from the last thread, the generosity of Zac giving rides to kids and adults in his wagon hitched to the doodlebug. It was a hit at the show.

I talked with a gentleman who seemed to have great interest and gave him a ride, he was smiling ear to ear and all he talked about was he had to get one of these.

Truly some of the best moments you can have in my opinion.


Ron, you must be keeping Berg's in business, LOL. I would love to have just one of his radiators, but as a single purchase, it is just too much out of my price range.

You have certainly done a lot of refurbishing this year, I have no doubt that sicklebar will be fully operational and beautiful to see. Keep up the great work!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zachary Carrico on Sunday, July 19, 2015 - 09:42 pm:

I can just barely fit the trailer and both bugs on my car trailer by slightly nesting the wheels of each. The weight distribution with this load is not optimal, but it trailed pretty well except one time in an area where tractor trailers had wallowed the road.



A trailer/wagon is an excellent thing to build/have people love to take rides even if they are a little stand off-ish at first. I am contemplating a two axle hay style wagon that is a little bigger, the fellow who I bought the new bug from has a period tongue to utilize a front axle to make a front trailer axle.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zachary Carrico on Sunday, July 19, 2015 - 09:59 pm:

Ron, good to see that you are working on the mower, do they give you volume discounts or a punch card on radiator purchases.

Carryover from the last page:

"We need to get hooked up to get wood made for my skis--when you have time."

-Chad, had to rub a little salt in there for Ron eh?

The bends in the ends of a board for the ski's shouldn't be too much of an issue after giving it some thought. The key to bending wood is primarily heat, secondarily moisture. Wetting the board and putting a torch in a length of larger diameter pipe maybe 4" should provide a die to bend around.
The real trick will be finding some time, for the next three weeks I am fairly busy, the second/third week of August might yield some time. (maybe Ron should try to come build skis if we can make some time. I think the mower will keep him busy for a bit though: )


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 07:50 pm:

Ron Should come over to our backyard. I could use some Moxie. What do you say Ron, willing to make the venture?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 08:12 pm:

Chad,

I'll make it that far west eventually - but don't see it happening any time soon (a lot going on).

Zac,

Am hoping after my 4th BERG'S, I'll get a discount on the 5th (which, if things pan out this coming weekend, I may soon need).


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 08:27 pm:

I thought you were full up. Oh the suspense.

I have been thinking you have been awfully quiet.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 08:33 pm:

I am full up....but there are degrees of that. Two irons in the fire, one warm and one red hot. More to follow on that this weekend.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim york, Boise Id. on Saturday, August 08, 2015 - 12:30 am:

Hi Guys, For the doodlebugs and the tractor conversions that have steel wheels and the owners want to put some rubber tire tread on them, I found that a local truck tire retreader has what they call " Precured Tread" in different tread patterns and widths. I was able to get a roll ( enough to do three 22.5 semi tires) or two 37' conversion wheels. The roll that I was able to get was what they called Out Of Date as it has a shelf life I think on the glue that is used to hold it on the tire carcase. I am going to bolt the tread onto the wheel when I get to that point. Have a great rest of the summer. Jim Y


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Saturday, August 08, 2015 - 06:31 am:

Great tip Jim. I think there was talk earlier about just using old tires and cutting them apart, this seems like it would save a lot of time.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zachary Carrico on Sunday, August 09, 2015 - 04:18 pm:

Wow, out of date sounds ideal, let us know how it works out. The steel lugs can be a bit annoying when loading/unloading the trailer (have to winch on), or around the house wherever you drive more than once or twice even though I like the look.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Sunday, August 09, 2015 - 06:39 pm:

I like the look too Zac, ALOT. But after I drove yours, I was like how can anyone drive one of these things around. Mine rides like a Caddy comparatively. Obviously they were made just for soil, not hard ground or pavement. I am considering wrapping my steel wheeled cart.

Any luck on getting the gear fixed? Let me know when You have sometime for the skis.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Weiss on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - 06:39 pm:

Thank you for all the information that I have gotten by following the doodlebug thread. I have been collecting Model T cars and parts for many years and now that I am retired and moved to Vermont I can finally start to enjoy them. Here is a photo of a power unit that I was given 15 years ago it has a 1917 engine It is on my list to get running. power unit 7


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - 08:29 pm:

William - congratulations on your retirement! That is an exceptionally nice power unit you have here. Seems to have spent the majority of her life inside. Any history on her?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - 09:19 pm:

William, nice power unit. Gongrats on the retirement too. The wife and I would love to move to Vermont.

Zac emailed this one to me this morning.

Another found Worthington conversion:




Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Weiss on Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 02:01 pm:

The power unit was given to me by a friend from West Haven Connecticut.
It was with a pile of parts for a fire truck T project when his father died. The fire truck came from Western New York. The fire truck has since been restored and is a hit at local car shows in the West Haven Connecticut area. When I get back there next week I will try to track him down. I have been moving 30 years of parts and projects from there for the last 2 months hope to be done by early September.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zachary Carrico on Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 08:56 pm:

William you have a nice start there, welcome to the discussion/forum

There may be some nice ideas for Chad there too with the shaft supported on either side of the power unit, it really simplifies some bearing issues, with only the moderate problem that the belt has to have the pin pulled at the belt lacing if it is removed, no big deal.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Monday, August 17, 2015 - 12:15 pm:

Progress on the '27 T/IHC Mower Conversion. Here is what I started with:



Here is where she is today - engine cleaned up, totally rewired, new carb, new generator (had a broken governor before), water pump (not needed - but her homemade braking system is integrated into the water pump so a new one was installed), new BERG's radiator, Ron Patterson coils, new homemade exhaust, new tires all around (front wheels were cut down to 16" and had vintage motorcycle tires mounted, so that is what went back on), steering column, seat refurbished and reupholstered in duck canvas. Sickle bar has been refurbished and will be mounted next.








Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Keith Gumbinger, Kenosha, WI on Monday, August 17, 2015 - 06:21 pm:

Hi Ron...It looks really nice!

Keith


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Monday, August 17, 2015 - 08:00 pm:

Thanks Keith! She's getting there.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zachary Carrico on Monday, August 17, 2015 - 09:13 pm:

As usual, very nice, I know the sickle is all fixed up from the winter, can't wait to see it all mounted up ready to go. The front axle arrangement is interesting both a pivot and springs it seems most have one or the other but not both.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 - 06:26 am:

I knew you were busy working on it, and as usual it turned out great! You really do nice work.

I did not pickup on the front suspension as Zac did, but he is right, I never have seen both methods used. Interesting indeed.

Can't wait to see it next year.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 - 06:27 am:

Just curious also, what does the new exhaust look like?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 - 08:46 am:

It is a very unusual front end - I've never seen both pivot and spring either. The setup has her sitting at a permanent list to the driver's side, but it adds to her character.

Chad - when I got her, she had an ancient length of flex pipe clamped to the end of her manifold. It looked like Swiss cheese with rust and when I went to remove it, just crumbled away to nothing. I had a new exhaust from Lang's to install, but with her really, REALLY short wheelbase and the amount of mower mechanism stuffed under her, I'd have had to cut 2/3 of the new pipe off. I never throw anything out, so I had what was left of the straight pipe that was hanging off the Shaw when I bought her. I pulled that out of the scrap pile, did a little cutting, bending and it fit very well. I'll save the new exhaust for another project.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 06:56 pm:

Zac, called me unexpectedly to inform me he had some free time to try and get the new wood made for the skis I bought back in June...




So with a wealth of materials and tools, some borrowed, and some at hand, we set about building some forms and a steam box to bend the ends. Now mind you, neither one of us have done this, but we saw it on YouTube, so how hard could this be!?

The steam box--already steamining...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 07:06 pm:

Then comes the clamps---lots of them!!! And just for good measure, yours truly adding some strategically placed screws to hold it in place to clamp some more and allow us to remove the clamps for transporting back to my house.

You can also see the second form we made before the wood was bent over it.




Whoooo!!! finished. A long days worth of work with great support from a fellow T'er. All the prep work took about 5 hours, steaming of the wood took another hour and the actual bending clamping was about another hour or so to complete. I will remove these later in the week and think about how I will finish them off. All in all, with the right tools, and a supportive friend, steaming wood isn't all that hard to do, and Zac and I learned something new today.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 07:49 pm:

Wow! Those are beautiful!! Cannot wait to see them on your bug Chad!!

Zac - you are one talented guy.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 08:49 pm:

Ron, I am struggling with how to finish them I love oak, and I want them to look nice. But the reality is they will be bolted to the as found skis. So maybe another shot at the weathered grey might be in order--plus the fact it is more like paint anyhow will still be a protectant. I just can't decide.

Zac is very talented, a mix of engineered based and on the fly home brew. He can make a daunting task seem simple.

On a side note, when we had the forms made and the wood bent around them, we both commented on how much they might make a good foundation for a ski almost as is with a little tweaking. And then it becomes much more cost effective too. The seed has been planted , LOL......


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zachary Carrico on Sunday, August 30, 2015 - 09:50 pm:

Note the use of a large pipe wrench to torque the board in the one picture..

Yeah, so now all I have been thinking about is skis and tracks, well I have been thinking about them for longer than that I suppose.

One of the difficult parts of making the wood for my original skis was the compound shaping of the bottom "V" which curved at each end. The "V" was a pain requiring a great deal of guess and check and trim and sand and sand...



The skis were cut from one large unwieldy chunk of wood which created a great deal of waste. After bending the wood with Chad today I think a set of skis with a"V"bottom could be made fairly easily and repeatably by making the V before bending then attaching the upper portion of the wood. This of course still leaves shaping of the metal.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Monday, August 31, 2015 - 01:11 pm:

Off the internet. Title of this should be: "Yes. Do it. Get the trailer and take her home."

Looks like a TT running gear with a '28/'29 A cowl mounted on it. Really like the front axle set up.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim williams Baldwinsville NY. on Friday, September 04, 2015 - 06:36 pm:

My shaw conversion has two springs stacked on each other
In front I guess to gain height because they used a TT frame
And it has a tendency to lean forward .
Was it part of the shaw kit to weld bushings on the top of
The spindles for the spring shackles fo r more height?
Thanks Jim


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim williams Baldwinsville NY. on Friday, September 04, 2015 - 08:14 pm:

Test pic Tractor convresion


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Saturday, September 05, 2015 - 05:52 pm:

Started a little on the power unit today. I had wanted to turn the rear crossmember upside down but the only way the rear shaft/ pulley was going to clear was to keep it rightside up. No big deal really. I still need to figure out some type of axle for this thing, I'll come up with something. I don't want it real wide, I want to keep this thing as compact as possible.




Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Frank M. Brady on Saturday, September 05, 2015 - 06:26 pm:

Chad: Cut a section from the middle of a donor T axle, or you could try a Model A beam cut off just past the spring perch holes. Then bore it out for the A kingpins. Mount and weld A spindles.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Sunday, September 06, 2015 - 06:40 am:

Frank, that idea has crossed my mind--and it is a good one. I may also just build a bracket that hangs down on both sides and bolt a newer style trailer spindle to it also. I really need to figure out what I am using for wheels first. Haven't quite got there yet, but either way I need to do something soon as when I drop the engine on it's going to get heavy quick. As with my doodlebug, I am allowing myself to build with the idea of it could have been built with parts up to WWII era, but the majority of it will be T. Of course if a newer part can be disguised a little, John Q Public won't know the difference.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chad Marchees _____Tax Capital, NY on Sunday, September 06, 2015 - 03:27 pm:

In a stroke of luck, I found two wheels today on craigslist about an hour from me that look like they were made for a cart or trailer on the spindle. They are 19" Model A wheels with the right patina. Just need to find two cheap tires/tubes for them and I'll be good.

I will work on getting these mounted to the chassis hopefully during the week.

our power unit 3.JPG

our power unit 4.JPG


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Tuesday, September 08, 2015 - 08:52 am:

Part VII has been started (apparently this one was getting too long). Link to Part VII:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/506218/569279.html?1441716643


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