Some time after the introduction of the pressed steel running board brackets in 1921, the nuts for the running board fasteners were changed from square to hex. Can owners of unmolested 1921 - up cars check and report here the date of your car and whether it has square or hex nuts on the running board fasteners?
Also, the service manual mentions the use of lock washers under the nuts, can you report on whether your car has lock washers or not?
Thanks!
My 1927 coupe has hex nuts with lockwashers.
Is there any 1921 or later T like the Rip Van Winkle? Even with a car that has a known history of ownership since the beginning, without the special circumstances that produced the Rip I think it's impossible to know that nothing has been changed.
The pressed steel brackets were announced on Jan 12 1920 and all cars I've seen support this.
Wish I knew the build date of the '20 T I had 55 years ago. It had forged runningboard brackets. The question was about fasteners - hex vs. square nuts and the use of lock washers. I agree with Steve. 50 years ago, even junker Ts could provide an indication of what left the factory. Today, not so much. Many seemingly "original condition" Ts have gone through many, many owners, each one doing a little "this 'n' that" to them.
Mark, there are practical reasons why hex nuts were used on the pressed steel running board supports. Nuts in that location can only be tightened using a socket and bar. Very few workshops/mechanics have 4 or 8 point sockets necessary for the job.
Spring washers under the nuts are also there for a practical reason. Being clamped down on wooden spacers, which compress/shrink over time, means that the washers were necessary to maintain some tension on the nut.
On our Canadian sourced cars hex nuts were also used on the fender to running board mounts. These are the same nuts as used on the running boards. Of note is the fact that these are 1/2" nuts. The Whitworth equivalent having the same thread, as used on our hardware lines, demands a 1/4W spanner which is larger than the factory 1/2" This makes for some frustration when working on restored cars having a mixture of ford factory and Whitworth hardware.
Hope this makes sense.
Allan from down under.
We have a 1921 unrestored, non-running, non-starter equipped touring which has cast running board supports and we have owned it for at least 50 years.
Mark, my 1926 Fordor has never been taken apart and has all the original screws, nuts and washers in place. Here is a 2010 thread on which I posted pictures and information. Jim Patrick
www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/170189.html
Our 2nd owner 21 RPU has square nuts. Also know everything that has been replaced on it.
Jeff, the nuts on forged running board brackets are easily accessible for a plain wrench, so the square nuts which go with carriage bolts would be OK.
Jim, those are fender to splash apron bolts. Unique little buggers! Running board to bracket bolts are a different kettle of fish.
Allan from down under.
Thanks folks, please keep the observations coming!
My '27 (March production) has hex nuts with no lockwashers.
I need to slow down when reading the questions. My post had nothing to do with what was asked. That is starting to happen much too often.
Mark’s question asked about the original type nuts used to secure the running boards on the 1921. The bolts, washers and nuts I posted pictures of were used on a 1926 Fordor to bolt the fender flange to the running board flange. Sorry. Jim Patrick.
PS. For the record, the original 8 running board nuts on my 1926 Fordor are hex nuts.