By "popular" request... a continuation of my meandering transnational drive.

My morning check revealed this, must have happened some time the day before. On the basis that I hadn't noticed and that today's route seemed pretty rural (once I decided to forego Nashville and its traffic stop lights) I pressed on.

Wow, you sure know how to beat the crap out of a fan belt! Never seen one that bad before!

If you wear a belt to hold your trousers up your all set.

Stopped off in deepest, super-rustic SW Kentucky to see Gerry Barker, an old friend from a book I did on living history years ago. He sent young Jake on a two hour journey to get a replacement belt, but the tractor v-belt he came back with was miles too short. Oh well. So on I went, footloose & fanbelt-free, over some impressive & lonely hills into Tennessee. 189 miles in all, now in Cookeville. Seth & Bill in Huntsville are to be my latest Samaritans - spare belt and garaging awaits! The kindness of strangers...

Ah, yes. The wondrous advantage to not running a water pump on a T. As long as you are moving faster than your tailwind, you do not need a fan, or a belt. Most water pumps made for Ts restrict the flow enough that the thermo-siphon won't circulate enough water once the pump stops. Without a water pump, one usually doesn't even know one has lost the belt until a routine check makes one exclaim "When did that happen?"
Great stuff! Thank you.

Here is a link to the first thread.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/708324/769226.html?1500331120

It took me awhile to figure out that was supposed to be a fan belt.

I'm sure servicing the fan belt will not involve a lot of downtime while in Huntsville, but if you have an interest in Jeeps in particular and military hardware in general the U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum is interesting.

http://www.memorialmuseum.org/displays

There is a Ford connection. They have the oldest surviving Jeep, not the first, just the oldest extant and it is one of two prototypes submitted by Ford to the army for testing. This Jeep, a.k.a. the Pigmy supports my contention that Ford is responsible for the face of the Jeep. The grille is flat, and the headlights are contained within it. Neither the first Bantams nor the first Willys sported those features.

http://www.memorialmuseum.org/displays/military-jeeps/item/ford-pygmy

YouTube video

https://youtu.be/HIBfU2lSfkY

Forgot I had some pics. Ford also developed the stamped steel version to replace the ones made of steel bar strips. Willys adopted the ford design after making the first 25,000 or so.

I am absolutely loving this adventure Tim!
I'm also thinking "How the devil did that fan belt get that wound up?
Bah, well it did.

You appear to have a 1926-7 'Improved' fan installation with the eccentric adjuster in the water outlet casting.

There may be a ball bearing in that improved fan pulley. The previous T owner Bob Kirk told me he installed ball bearings everywhere he could.

My 26 had a ball bearing fan pulley that failed and froze at a recent Texas T Party. It burned up my fan belt also. Even with a water pump we made it back to the hotel okay. We took off the fan, pulley and water pump then ran without them okay for the remainder of the T Party.

Tim,
I have to ask. If your fan belt broke, how did you run the alternator, air conditioning, power steering pump and the air pump for the emissions?
OH..I see Wrong Year....LMAO

Following the journey as well. Thanks for creating another thread

Karen and I drove our 1925 T roadster across the US and back to New Hampshire in 1995. Due to belt tracking problems, I removed the entire fan in Wyoming. Drove back to New Hampshire with no overheating problems at all. This was July. Thermosyphon works.

Tim if you get hung up in lower Alabama you are welcome at our home. Jump on I-10 if you get that far South and head West, would love to help you. Robertsdale Alabama. Sam

Uhhh... I-10 in a model T?

That's a damn serpentine belt on there! Never see that before...

Tim R. I thought it was a serpentine belt too. I wonder if it had been turned outside in so as to put the smooth surface against the pulleys. That might explain the failure. No need to do that. It would work as well with the grooved side against the pulleys. Probably better.

Tim, Do you have a route planned yet to miss Nashville? We are headed to Nashville tomorrow from Arkansas. We drive back roads so we may meet you as you travel toward Arkansas. There are very few places to cross the Mississippi River. You will have to be on I-40 for several miles if you cross at Memphis. You can also cross south of Memphis at Helena Arkansas, or north of Memphis at Caruthersville Mo. Im not sure if they have opened up a new bridge between Caruthersville Mo and Memphis or not. Its a very, very, long way between bridges, so chose you path wisely If you happen to meet some crazy folks flashing their lights at you in a black Dodge mini van. That will probably be us ... have a safe trip

Love reading about the trip but can't help but comment that every problem so far can be traced to a modern alteration. Stock is good!!! Wishing you the best of luck Tim.

Ed aka #4

Thanks everyone, great stuff! You are SO right, Ed - in original 1924 spec I'd probably not have broken down once. Upside of all my issues is that I get to meet/learn from/impose upon some truly splendid T gentlemen. The latest: Seth & Bill in Huntsville AL, which I reached after a hot but pleasantly scenic 140 miles. They put on one of Bill's spare fanbelts in the garage where my T will sleep in good company while I surreally bugger off to Hong Kong for six days. Of Bill's five Ts his glorious depot hack was my favourite. Though if anyone's after a very nice late coupe, his one looks a steal for $8300! Seth kindly took me back into town, having brokered this whole great arrangement. Will hopefully get to see his 14 speedster later - been in his family since new!

Great afternoon, Tim.
I really enjoyed talking with you.
Bill

Pleasure was all mine, Bill. Thanks again. Just come back from an evening drive round balmy Huntsville in Seth's fantastic speedster. That thing SHIFTS.

No pics of the hack?

It was in a trailer!

Haha I had a blast. Absolutely delighted to help you find a place to leave your T during your mid-trip excursion. It was a pleasure to meet you in person, and I'm more than happy to help however I can. I'm glad Bill had an extra fan belt for you.

Also! Just a little while ago I got to take Tim for a ride and let him experience the speedster life. We didn't go THAT fast, just got up to speed pretty quick. Plus he got to compare the ride in his to the friction-shock and pan-hard bar ride in mine.

Whenever you get back we will ride out to Bill's in the speedster and really open it up on the highway. Nothing like going 65 in a 103 year old car.

Tim:

When you get back I suggest you visit the NASA Space Center. I have not been there, but I understand it is awesome. You won't find anything like it back in England.

Tim, Did someone mention earlier that you're running with a waterpump on your touring's engine? If so and now that you're in the Great and Glorious South, we have a perfect use for T aftermarket water pumps - trotline weights! You don't need it and it steals a little bit of engine power.

No water pump on his T. Just a disturbitor.

Tim, We went to the Space Center in Huntsville Alabama today. We were in Nashville TN visiting. My daughter wanted to take our grandsons tlo see it while we were this close. I will also highly recommend it. It was well worth the trip to see it. You will see things that you will never see anywhere else. I really wanted to try and see Seth but no time this trip. We are going back to Arkansas by driving part of the Natches trace scenic by way, and crossing back into Arkansas at the bridge at Helena Arkansas. You may want to consider the Helena Arkansas bridge as a good alternative to keep you away from Memphis. Have a safe trip.

AUGH! DONNIE I LIVE 2 MILES FROM THE SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER. You should have told
me and I could've come and had lunch or something. Dang. I hate you were SO close.

Sorry Seth It was a last minute thing, with little to no planning. Tim, as you travel through Arkansas, have a safe trip, and if you need any help. We will help out if we can ...

Back in Huntsville, looking forward to some T convoying tomorrow with Bill, Seth & a second speedster! My onwards route is towards Jackson Mississippi...

Tim,
It did feel a bit criminal that you up and left the country in your antique car epic! Be safe and enjoy every minute! Looking forward to your next post!

By the way you need to stop in Fresno, CA before you end your trip in the pacific (I mean near). As for the Ford connection... Henry Ford found he needed to visit Fresno after someone in Fresno bought a couple hundred tractors! If you do, I will take you to Yosemite;)

Matthew

Matthew, I had a seventh grade teacher (Howard Kingsley) who decided to drive from coast to coast. He backed the rear wheels of his Nash into the Atlantic on a Massachusetts beach then crossed the continent. In California he dipped the front wheels into the Pacific. He really did drive from coast to coast.

John even though I don't drive on I-10 with my T's, it was the Southern invitation that you missed. 90 that parallels I-10 works best for me. Thanks Sam

We did NASA Hunstville on one of our Delta Queen steamboat cruises--It was incredible. Also what was interesting was that after spending days on the boat at about 8 miles an hour, the bus trip speeds felt like we were in a rocket ship! Amazing how quickly you adapt to a slower pace of life!

We rode with Tim for a ways and then ate lunch together. It was a blast!

Yes it was! Thank you Seth, Bill and Tim for a great day.

Tim, you may be interested to know you've been traveling on or near many great old trails here in North Alabama, many like the original Natchez Trace, carved out of the earth by countless bison, elk and deer that roamed these parts from ancient times. And today you drove along a few roads on which John Benge led 1200 of his Cherokee people on their way from Fort Payne, AL to Stillwell, OK during the late Trail of Tears. If you're staying in Red Bay, you're on the Tennessee Divide, which separates the watershed the Tennessee River from others, and was once a great mountain range, and along the top of the ridge are many scars of the old road.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Mn7GJnduaJ2SomqD-wUHu3WWclE&ll=34.396715 07651822%2C-88.15794466740726&z=13

Be safe!

Thanks all, & most especially to Seth & Bill for patching up & garaging my T. Sterling work. Bill wouldn't even take a cent for the fanbelt! Really fun driving with you two & David for a while today. Strange not to be solely responsible for leading a huge train of motorists up a big hill (though as the speedster duo pointed out, I can't hold them to account). David almost had a tyre come off the rim which was a fun reminder of the tribulations that will surely lie ahead. Car ran great today though, seemed to love the ridiculous heat. 130 miles to Hamilton. Mississippi & the Natchez Trace Parkway just up the road. Top historical tips David - thank you!

Tim, glad to see that you are back on the road again. We drove the upper half of the Natchez Trace on our way back from Nashville. It is a very nice drive. Sounds like you will be driving some of the lower half of the parkway. Sorry that our paths did not cross while we were out. But you still have Arkansas to cross. drive safe....

Tim;

Where do you plan to end up on the west Coast?

Hi Gary - Oregon.

Just caught sight of Tim going thru Hatley Mississippi.

Kind of like a bigfoot sighting!

Tim - If you're coming through Portland or up the Columbia River Gorge through Oregon, let me know. Some great scenery.
David

www.CharvetClassicCars.com

Jim! Well spotted, that's great. The MTFCA is watching you...

Did indeed cross the Tennessee Tombiwotsit Waterway at Amory, then shortly after hit the Natchez Trace Parkway. My car has adhesive history with this road. And what a road it is. 444 miles might not seem much by U.S. standards but its epic by mine - and all in the name of non-commercial motoring pleasure! My T purred along in smooth, bucolic peace all the way to Jackson. Seemed weirdly deserted for a sunny day in the school holidays. Had all the picnic sites & rest stops to myself. One of the T boys told me yesterday that the family U.S. motoring holiday is dying out. Shame. Anyway, 209 hot & happy miles today.

I spy a red bottle of Louisiana legend...
...and a blue bottle of aqueous antidote.
Vern

Vern, we have one good Mexican restaurant here. They have at least one bottle of salsa picante on every table. Not all of them do that, so when I travel I take my own bottle of Yucateco. Be prepared.

I always take a bottle when I go on a trip. Proven means of making bad food good.

Tim, it might make bad food good but you need more food than that to survive.

My picante sauce of choice. A SoCal product. Most of the latinos choice also. Not too salty, not to vinegary , Good amount of heat without singeing the palate, hint of garlic.

George, that stuff sounds good. I'll be looking for it.

The green one is my favorite.

At the NATA (Nebraska Air Trades Association) convention this past February, someone donated this bottle for the auction.

It was bottled somewhere in either Korea or Thailand, and is the REAL DEAL according to one of the spray pilots who had actually had the nerve to drink some of it last year. I immediately realized it was too kinky for me!

An expression I heard at this convention was about Nebraska weather, that it's Clear and Still; Clear up your butt, and Still Comin'!

Keep posting pictures of your journey, Tim.

On Bill's recommendation went to the Grand Gulf Military Park to check out the T-powered bootleggers' submarine! Was told it turned up during a 1960s trawl for unexploded Civil War ordnance. Then to the extraordinary Windsor Ruins - the Pompeiian remains of a cotton baron's mansion. Now at the end of that superb Trace Parkway in Natchez, wonderfully faded cotton town by the T-friendly bridge into Louisiana. 130 miles. Car's doing great but is due an oil change...

Haven't been there in a long time but Cock of the Walk in Natchez sure had some good catfish!!

I'm voting with Missoura George, and paying attention to your trip, wish I wuz there. Dave in Bellingham,WA

Also, if you have time for plantation home tour, Rosedown would be my choice.

I'm glad you made it to Natchez. Man, you are fast!
I know you don't have time to go there, but not far from Natchez is a great little ghost town with an interesting history. Rodney, Mississippi. Look for the Civil War cannonball stuck in the wall of the church. If you can't make it, then here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ax7O9Us2pI

You are pretty good- for a Brit!

(Message edited by 6volt on July 28, 2017)

3 photos: My wife and I enjoyed seeing plenty of old subs. Our T is parked close to the Mississippi too. We toured Windsor and heard that a guest, smoking tobacco, accidentally burned the dude's house down.

Tim, Bill is right Rodney was a busy town before the river changed course. Big cotton area and that was a main loading point. In one of the church's on the Main Street you will still find money in the offering plates. At one time the government tried to preserve the town but as usual money ran out and what's left is wasting away. Right down the road is Lorman, Mississippi and the Country store restaurant has some of the best southern fried chicken in the south. Fresh grown vegetables are part of the meal, served buffet style you'll need to find a shade tree to rest the meal off. Keep the post coming.

The Magnolia model t club tours the trace often and this is one of the wanted detours.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1a9d9xpTx1g

We have plenty of oil in Texas.

Hey Tim, what's your route across the great and glorious Republic of Texas ? I can offer you an oil change and grease job. Your U joint is probably sprouting spider webs by now. I'm greatly enjoying your description of this epic....

I was looking at the photos of the ruined mansion and was wondering if it was some of my great great paws doings ? He took a little hike down south with Uncle Billy.

Ha ha, thanks Bill. George H - very kind offer but I won't be going your way I don't think.

Abysmal weather all morning, had the plastic trousers on for the first time (interior got soaked overnight). Slooshed right through Louisiana & the sun came out as soon as I crossed the Sabine River into Texas. Speed limit on the little road I was on went straight up to 75! YEE-HAH. In other road news, I was excited to experience my very first U.S. roundabout after more than 2,500 miles...
Now in Jasper, TX, 190 miles today. Tomorrow will hopefully meet up with my T's previous owner Bob, courtesy of Anthony who'll also be coming along in his TT!

George, Windsor was destroyed by a guest in 1890 whom dropped his cigar in the upper level of the mansion where some repair was being done and caused the fire that destroyed it. So unless your relatives were guest at the mansion during the 1890s I'd doubt it. Unfortunately there are no known surviving pictures of Windsor only a period drawing made by a Yankee soldier while it was being occupied during The War Between The States as a Union Hospital. Probably the only reason it was spared during the rebellion. While I don't agree with how these homes were built, I hate that most were destroyed during the rebellion from a historical preservation stance.

Great stuff!

Thanks for the info John T.

So, Tim, when conditions permit, how fast are you actually driving that little Ford?
:-)
Silly roundabouts.

Duey I think he keeps it about 30-35, just happy T speeds.

Tim, do be careful and extra vigilant on those Texas roads with such high speed limits. There was just a thread about a couple who were in the hospital because they were rear-ended. They were going 35-ish and the vehicle that struck them 55-60.

If the speed limit is 75 you can be sure folks are traveling 85-90. At 35 you might as well be moving backwards as fast as they will come up on you.

Tim, If you like diving around a rotary counter-clockwise, visit Massachusetts - they still have plenty of them. US RT 1 just south of Boston has a couple, and the town of Norfolk just replaced a major intersection in the center of town with one. Interestingly, there was a lot of opposition to the rotary's construction, but once it opened it was obvious that traffic moved through the town much more efficiently.

A few years ago the arrival of a roundabout here generated a certain amount of fear and loathing among some of the locals. I scoffed at this, and still do, as I grew up with the Long Beach traffic circle. Some of my early memories are of going through it in the old 1941 Plymouth. We used to go through one in Bakersfield too, until the state built a bridge over it. Roundabout is a British term for a traffic circle that has come into use in the USA in recent years.

Is it time for a coast to coast 3

Earl- you may not be aware that to the left of where it states "By Earl Woodall" there are 4 arrows. Click on the arrow to the far right. It will take you to the bottom of the thread, thus eliminating the need to start all over.

John, that's true, but for folks with dial-up or other slow connections, they still can't see the new stuff until the page finishes loading.

Straight through Louisiana without a noteworthy stop or a meal worth mentioning? I take umbrage!! Hmmm, I wonder if that's the source of "throwing shade" which has recently entered the vernacular?
But I digress--you missed out on Cajun Country, boudin,gratons and all that good stuff, not to mention any number of roundabouts. Some folks make several laps just for the amusement!
Oh well, bon voyage and watch out for the jackalopes!


,

Tim, now that you have passed through Louisiana & away from New Orleans...
When I arrived here in 1989 I discovered that the top two destination cities in the USA are #1: Orlando, FL and #2: New Orleans, LA. Why is that? Because Orlando treasures escapism, magic, forgetting about real life, fantasy, ignoring pain, pretending and make believe. New Orleans is characterized by reality, indulgence, seriousness, getting more out of life, living it up, human naughtiness, and drowning pain. The two are in contrast with each other and Americans gravitate on vacation to these extreme poles to fulfill that unspoken goal. America’s most interesting city is also known as the city the care forgot.
There was a solar powered car transversing the globe, including the United Stated in 2009, when they passed through New Orleans. The van support vehicle was broken into and the computer and other research equipment stolen. A laptop was donated to the cause, however, all the scientific data was lost forever. As much as I would have liked to meet you, shown you the city I know, our model T, and the Ford factory of T’s and A’s, my wife and I live in a small apartment with no space for guest and the garage that houses our T is rented with one landlord rule: no visitors. The tragedy of staying in a motel here could have been worse than the sum of your mishaps thus far.
Be sure to backup your writing time to the cloud…and backup your soul before hitting the Texas hwys.
Vern

Steve, I've been through that rounder, it was unnerving to say the least. I've never seen Martynn Vowell so tensed up in my T.

John, profound apologies for spurning Louisiana. Blame the weather. Vern - very diverting thoughts on New Orleans. I remember that solar-powered car incident! My typical cruising speed post con-rod meltdown is 37. On that note - NEW THREAD.