Your smokiest model T moments.

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2017: Your smokiest model T moments.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Duey_C on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 09:31 pm:

The subject was raised lately about a model T smoking really bad and I wondered if you folks have had one and took a pic or a video?
Not necessarily a T that the carb is adjusted way too rich but IF it took a great pic or video? Include it, if you would! I've seen one!
I'm kind of talking about that poor ol' T that's done run its course and yet we push it to go some more.
OR
The first start-up and it smokes the oils and what-not off of the manifolds and exhaust or in the cylinders and fills the space with Second Wind smoke.
:-)

Here's an example. :-)

Ava

The eldest granddaughter and I were out one day last year and evidently it wasn't windy outdoors. At all. I don't run these engines fast.
We can see the cloud all the way around the swamp. Yep, Ava was driving.
I've pushed that poor T way past its limits/and then some and it is still the sweetest piece of machinery here.
The PsychOdelic 18 is running a real close second...
Hah! Proof positive about the swamp with the telephone/power pole leaning in the muck in the background.
That poor T has good torque yet and is completely amazing.
Those Champion #25 plugs have done so well for me over the last 20 years! They've been cleaned once. I think we cleaned them...
I used to hate Champ plugs. My babbling almost done.
I sure ain't advocating smoking it up/polluting of any sort but do you have a T pic or a story to share?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Scott Conger - Wyoming on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 09:48 pm:

A friend installed a line to a vacuum port on his intake. Then installed a line from a kerosene tank to the port, with an on/off valve. We were going down the road behind him (didn't know about his "improvement") and he let us have it...filled the road with blinding dense smoke. We couldn't see and scared us to death...fortunately knew the road was straight and he was smart enough to not stop.

It was his first use of it for show and slightly overdid it...

Thank goodness for washing machines.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chadwick Azevedo on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 09:56 pm:

My second endurance run the floor boards got quite hot (charred) and my navigator happened to have her feet in the wrong spot. When we stopped her shoes were smoking . . .


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vern (Vieux Carre) on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 09:57 pm:

smokiest moment


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Nevada Bob Middleton on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 10:00 pm:

Firing up a true barn find was documented as the second rip van whinkle model T see VF 1997
LOW miles 1917 model T motor was free so i soaked it for a few days with marvel started on the fourth pull and made smoke for an hour then ran like a swiss watch until car was sold.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange - Hillsboro, MO on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 10:31 pm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1LesV4QhlM


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Killecut on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 06:47 am:

My smokiest is my 20 TT. Down the road was okay, but don't let it sit. When my niece was nine she drove it in the Hannibal fireman's field day's parade (she was tall for her age and had been driving my 14 since she was seven on local dirt roads}it smoked so bad I think it killed all the misquotes in Hannibal. I haven't used it since.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By G.R.Cheshire (La Florida!) on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 07:45 am:

Duey C: that is the perfect vehicle for the swamp: Mosquito Fogger!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Osterman on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 08:52 am:

Was actually recently ...when I was trying to get my '23 engine started for the first time. The block had been rebuilt several years prior and sat on a shelf. In attempts to get some compression I had to squirt oil into all the cylinders. Smoked up the neighborhood the first time it started and ran long enough to make adjustments.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Don A on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 10:00 am:

Here is a link to a video we took when starting a 1916 Maxwell that had not run for at least 50 years. https://youtu.be/49qhotESBHA A true Barn Find. Any yes, it smoked. No mosquitoes in the area for weeks.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Dimock, Newfields NH, USA on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 10:40 am:

My T was stored for 43 years.
I soaked the motor with Marvel mystery oil while working on a few items like cleaning the carb, blowing the dust out of the gas tank, changing the oil, draining and refilling the radiator. (yes it sat for 43 years with antifreeze in the radiator)

On the happy day I pushed the car out of the garage, jacked a wheel off the ground, pulled out the choke, and gave the crank a few pulls.
Then I switched to battery and gave it a other quick crank.
It started up! The smoke killed every mosquito in the neighborhood, and set off all the smoke alarms in the house.
When I started the model A I closed the windows and doors.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 01:29 pm:

Here's Barney;

Admittedly, this is the first start after sitting for Decades. I had poured ATF in the spark plug holes to loosen the rings and turned it over many times. BTW, She started on the crank, I didn't have the starter hooked up. She also started on the coils that had been in her all those years! She stopped smoking pretty quickly after this pic.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron in Central Massachusetts on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 01:46 pm:

I was mowing with my '27 Model T/IHC mower conversion about a month ago when smoke began wafting from the switch panel.....it soon began to billow from under the hood. I shut her down and as I was dismounting, I saw flames coming from under her dash. Ammeter (original) had shorted out and set her wiring (all new harness). That was my smokiest moment.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dallas landers on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 04:49 pm:

Duey, these darned things have minds of their own. I drove the TT down the road a couple weeks ago and no smoke. Parked it in the drive for a few hours while I cleaned its stall. Drove it one more time before putting it back in its spot. When I returned from second trip it smoked like it was on fire. I read your post and thought I will show you fellas some smoke. Ran it down the road and offered to help the farmer haul grain. We talked a couple minutes and I run it back home pretty swift. No smoke! Rpms up, no smoke! Idle real low and reved up, no smoke! I cant figure it out. Smoked very little on initial start today. I guess he aint a show horse.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Stroud on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 08:21 pm:

Dallas, let it coast down a long hill when it is good and warmed up. I think you will get the desired results! :-) :-) :-) Dave


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 08:32 pm:

Dallas,

Does the TT in your photo have some sort of chassis extender? The darn thing looks a mile long. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dallas landers on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 08:44 pm:

It is a mile long. David S. Said he bought a TT frame off a scrap pile at an auction to get that period frame extension just for the 8in1 truck bed. If I remember right. Dave? The box is 9 ft long. It takes a little more room than my roadster pickup to turn around. Dave, that is probably the problem. I went west which is flat. It only smoked last time after going up the hill east of the house. I was hoping it gave up that habit.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Macleod on Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 11:12 pm:

Every time time I fire up my '13!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Lynn on Friday, October 20, 2017 - 09:47 am:

Here is one of mine just before the rebuild. My inside oil line was plugged(did not know it), the front 2 cylinders were really worn out along with the bearings. I had installed an outside oil line and walla, burning oil at low speeds or idle. No oil burn at high speeds or rpm. Looking inside after there was also noticeable oil in the intake ports due to worn guides. All fixed now.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Eviston on Friday, October 20, 2017 - 11:18 am:

One T I owned would run great,smoke free for some time,and then gradually smoke more and more,then gradually less and less.
Finally,one day when it was about at peak smoking, l dropped lower cover and took off head a and popped the pistons out.
Rings had moved around and lined up gaps.
Cussed some.
Then,l got the idea of putting some spring ring expanders from modern pistons behind the rings.Never did it again.
Another time I bought a TT that had new rings put in it,and it smoked badly,poor compression.
After ample time was given for rings to seat,I decided to go for broke.
At a high idle,I gave it a good snort of corn starch and scouring powder.
It took a couple minutes,then I was sure someone was going to call the fire department. Massive cloud,higher than the tallest trees.
But,again,gradually it came out of it.That seated the rings.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JIM WILSON, AMORY, MS on Friday, October 20, 2017 - 04:14 pm:

While in high school in the 50's, went to Texas state fair in Dallas from East Texas in my friends 21 touring. On the way home a "blue" norther hit. All was cozy until the wind blew the windows out of the side curtains. Was a cold trip the rest of the way home.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JIM WILSON, AMORY, MS on Friday, October 20, 2017 - 04:43 pm:

Should have added we wished we had little smoke/fire to warm things up.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Duey_C on Friday, October 20, 2017 - 05:04 pm:

Fantastic! :-)
Just got back from the next door neighbor's cabin to "steal" some timber blocks he had in the pile for under the TT's rear end.
He LOVED the smoke rings coming out the 2-1/2" driveshaft tubing at the back!
:-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Eviston on Friday, October 20, 2017 - 05:32 pm:

Duey,I love those smoke rings,too.
I used to wrap strips of standing rib roast(from our cattle)in aluminum foil and wire them to the exhaust manifold.One Sunday afternoon I did this,then
I drove a couple miles to my neighborhood fishing hole.
Unbeknownst to me,they'd had a heavy rain there we didn't get the night before.As soon as I swung in off the road,l was in a mucky mire.They found a Mastodon skeleton in there,and l sure knew how the poor sonofagun felt.
For what seemed like forever, I rocked and revved and spun and cussed.The radiator looked like Vesuvius about to erupt.At this point,I my mind was on getting my ass out without pitching a rod,not beef.
Eventually, l made it back out to the road,and wanted to get some wind through the radiator.
So far,I hadn't smelled the meat,which was normally my que it was done.
Then,smoke rolled out the hood lovers.The fat in that beautifully marbled beef had caught fire.
I skidded to a stop and was able to get it off that red hot manifold and hot head without frying myself.
Buzzards and possums ate damn good there.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rick Goelz-Knoxville,TN on Sunday, October 22, 2017 - 11:21 am:

My moments are coming down the long hills around here, with the gas up and the spark up,pumping the brakes, when I finally stopped at the bottom the smoke caught up and killed every bug in a square mile as well as slowing traffic on a busy road where I was stopped, several asked if I needed the fire dept.I switched to a heavier oil and all is well. This was on a new rebuild.

Rick


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joseph Kowalczyk - Nampa Idaho on Sunday, October 22, 2017 - 12:45 pm:

having a stuck exhaust valve, I poured Marvel Mystery oil in all cylinders, let it sit for several hours. Working the hand crank, and tapping down the stuck valve, till it was finally working correctly. When I started the car, my neighbors came running over, they thought my garage was on fire. It took about 10 minutes to clear out, car now running fine. Love MMO, works great, since added to gasoline and with Oil change.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Darren J Wallace, Woodstock,Ont. Canada on Monday, October 23, 2017 - 08:56 pm:

Not my T, but lots of smoke, and sitting beside my T. This was before I learned how to set the total loss drip oil lubrication system on my 2 cylinder 1905 Queen :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Jablonski on Monday, October 23, 2017 - 09:49 pm:

When I wash the car I usually put plastic over the engine so I don't have to dry out the spark plug Wells that are filled with water well today I washed the car put plastic over the engine, dried her down and put the top up and went down the street turned the corner and guess what I saw and smelled ???? stopped and yanked that plastic off the engine just in time


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