MTFCA Forum

Rich Bingham

. . . The front shackles and bushings are worn badly. How long of driving would it take to do that? To address the original question, it depends. It depends on the conditions of use and the quality of maintenance (or lack thereof). Just guessing, but most fully used Model Ts in rural areas probably...

Rich Bingham

Russ T Fender wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:35 pm
. . . My only objection was that it has a gloss finish . . .

Golly Russ, you need a steo ladder to even SEE the top

Rich Bingham

Either one looks mighty elegant !

Rich Bingham

I guess a lot of phrases we use come from ship terms and steam trains: Very true ! Many origins become obscure with time and other inferences. Two of my favorites: "Overhaul" used to mean beaching a ship, and "hauling it over" on its side so barnacles could be removed, rotten planks replaced and ne...

Rich Bingham

It's true the Algae-Sacha burger saved the Terminal Cafe, but as a loss-lead menu item. In Spite of its gargantuan size, it sold for a paltry two-bits like any other burger of the era. Brought home in a take-out bag, one Algae-Sacha burger could feed a family of four for a week, which made it very p...

Rich Bingham

Go ahead and laugh. Free shipping !! That's a good deal.

Rich Bingham

You can almost tell if an aged top on a closed car will leak across its span, as a failing top will appear dry, and small cracks will be visible on close examination. A top dressing like Mark suggested may solve that, it may require a couple of applications. Any road, it would be good for an older t...

Rich Bingham

. . .Michael's photos show the earlier more bulbous radiator shell . . . Glad you liked it Rich. I thought it's an especially nice photo ! When I first saw it I thought "Packard" ! I find it a little odd that the White radiator became more Packard-like with passing years rather than less. That "tom...

Rich Bingham

I’m counting eight. :lol: True, Robert. There are eight people in the car. Kinda like phone booth stuffing in the 1950's :lol: I posted "seven passenger" as that was the usual designation for a body of this type; two in the front, three in the back, two in jump-seats (optional). I suppose it could ...

Rich Bingham

A seven passenger touring that was in the "stable" of the Boise Livery Co. Here in front if the Ellis Hotel, Placerville, Idaho. Date unknown.

Rich Bingham

FWIW, the OP hails from Texas, according to his profile. Perhaps Texans reading the forum can offer some tips in how the Texas DMV operates ?

Rich Bingham

This is a fun exercise. Perhaps the economics of the problem remain the same ? In 1962 I gave $75.00 for a complete chassis. "Parts" were essentially free, as one could scrounge nearly anything one required from junk piles in the sagebrush or on farmsteads where they were given. My dim remembrey cal...

Rich Bingham

Back to the haunting of Halverstam's Drug Store, it's particularly eerie that one of the manifestations of paranormal activity is the voices of KD and Cuthbert discussing algebrake equations. It has only recently come to light (again through painstaking and meticulous research of materials dredged f...

Rich Bingham

Good point, Burger. Sebastian just sent a photostat of Sprinkles' birth certificate up the vacuum port from the Institute's sub-basement. As previously stated, "Ether Sprinkles" was the stage name of the clown who was born Schufeld Schufeld. His parents were terribly unimaginative when it came to na...

Rich Bingham

Rusted hulk barn-find: $ 450.00 Repro parts, machine work, paint, materials, etc. : $ 19,000.00 2000 hours of fussing, fitting, scraping, cleaning and painting : $ 0.00 Milesge snd expenses to swap meets and parts purchased : $ 7,800.00 One 30 mile drive on a cloudless spring day : $ 27,350.00 :lol:...

Rich Bingham

No dates or details were given, other than this is "CC" Boswell, and his trusty White, stage driver from Grangeville to New Meadows (Idaho) for a number of years. The beast regularly negotiated Whitebird Pass. What power !

Rich Bingham

Norman Kling wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 01, 2020 11:45 am
. . . We don't use the word oblige anymore . . .

When I was young, it was common to hear "much obliged" as an alternative to "thank you". Maybe because we're closer to Canada ?

Rich Bingham

Like Shorty, Hannah is most interested in Model T activity, like helping pick apples (photo) she picked up the apples that fell while I was picking, and put them in a box. When I'm pulling wrenches she stays close but out of the way, waiting for a test-drive.

Rich Bingham

Indeed, Sprinkles enjoyed a satisfying career with the wild west show. He fell hard in love with Tallene, but she figured he was just clowning around, and anyway, she was romantically involved with one of the troupe extras name of Biffalo Buff. Not so much for his personality as for the fact that he...

Rich Bingham

About the only option would be to trace previous owners. Oftimes it ends with the guy you bought it from. My own search (of a whole car) ended two owners back in hearsay. It's fun to know these things, and we're almost always curious. Good luck with the search !

Rich Bingham

FreighTer Jim wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:33 am
Where do they get Their market valuation from ?

FJ

Probably from auction results. Where did this come from ?

Jim, I'd guess happy fingers and no proof reading. It does diminish any authority the writer may own.

Rich Bingham

When the sludge pond froze over, the mud pies also made excellent hockey pucks. Many a spirited game was played on the ice behind the Terminal Cafe. Ferndip was a formidable goalie who could have easily gone professional, but the Terminal Cafe waa his whole world.

Rich Bingham

FLUBBER.

Go Flubber !!

Rich Bingham

The flood nearly ended the Terminal Cafe. Situated at the bottom of Water Street, it was over two months before the flood receded entirely, and another six weeks before the mud dried out. The continued damp caused all of the cafe's bread products to grow mold almost as soon as they were delivered. C...

Rich Bingham

It's possible Cuthbert was responsible for not shutting down the precipitaxinator before the gyro drizzle check valve was installed. Enthusiastic over the fact the precipitaxinator had ended a four-year drought on his ranch, the massive flooding down Chugwater's main street was the result. Ernie did...

Rich Bingham

. . . I think there will always be some radicals who insist on things being exactly as they were . . . Pick me. :lol: I'm fortunate to live where all the multiple deficiencies of the Model T which have made it an obsolete impediment to "normal" traffic since 1928 do not demand that my Lizzie run wi...

Rich Bingham

There are some people who still have horses. True dat. According to the University of Minnesota Extension Service, the annual contribution of the horse industry to the U.S. economy is around $100 billion. It provides 1.7 million jobs, and just over 30% of U.S. households contain at least one "horse...

Rich Bingham

I HAD A HORSE LIKE THAT ONCE, HE NEVER SOILED HIS STALL BUT WOULD IN THE SHADE ROOFING WHERE THE COWS LIKE TO HANG OUT. :lol: Richard, horses are like that. Another observation that underscores my affection for the Model T, which is rooted in my belief that the T is very much like a good horse in s...

Rich Bingham

I find it part of the fun that through the past century we have come from strictly utilitarian to arrive at the prosperity of being able to examine and analyze every part of the beastie just for the enjoyment of knowing how things were done and for maintaining the authenticity of restorations. Somet...

Rich Bingham

Rich, shop and garage are different buildings, situated differently on your place? Both unheated ? Is it possible the shop gets more sun and less wind ? If so, the temperatures may vary more than one might think ? My "theory" is that the garage is just cold enough to "shrink" some element of the sys...

Rich Bingham

Small detail compared to the marvelous complexity of KD's engineering triumph, but the photograph beautifully displays wallpaper designed by Florabelle McGeachen, world-renowned decorative artitiste and Tri-burg native. It's rumored she and KD had a "thing" for each other, but their interactions wer...

Rich Bingham

The way things are going, perhaps the horse will have the last laugh ?

Rich Bingham

. . . For more on the tournaments and particularly the sacred mud stick, check out "Escalibur and the Magic Boulder" By C. J. Vaunitklark . . . Right you are, Rich. Interestingly, popular fiction offers more than a few accurate accounts of the rituals and tenets of the Escaldado brotherhood. Anothe...

Rich Bingham

Original Smith wrote: ↑
Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:51 am
I bought the switch off E Bay.

Gonna start calling you "Lucky Larry" !

Painted black ? I doubt it, as both sides of the dash were "natural" finish. When the metal boxes appeared on the 1914 models, and everything was painted black, I'm sure they were, too. Larry ? R. V. ?

Rich Bingham

The photo two frames above illustrates the perfection of the Escalado, as it embodies its two most prominent features: cats and scalding water, implied by the heavy, protective clothing. In practice, adherents were modestly attired, and reduced to such essentials as mud and sticks, as the subsequent...

Rich Bingham

Dang ! Wrong lid, no instructions - I'm in a bad way !

Rich Bingham

Beautiful !!

Mine is wearing the wrong lid, and was rather poorly refurbished at some point. I overhauled the switch, how were you so lucky as to get a new old stock one ?
I'm jealous !

Im getting by, the box was badly re-glued, glue filling the finger joints where the panels were a little warped.

Rich Bingham

. . . perhaps he was just repaying the Ranger's long-standing insult. “Tonto,” after all, is a Spanish word meaning “stupid.” . . . Worse, rather than "soggy shrub", if one sticks to Spanish as the point of reference, "kemosabe" may well be a mis-pronunciation of "que mas sabe", or "he who knows be...

Rich Bingham

The old Westerns were morality plays. Simplistic, and uncomplicated, extolling virtue and basic morals. Definitely not the "culture" that has evolved in the present day. I love watching them for a different reason - the horsemanship that is a spectacle and of a quality that disappeared from Westerns...

Rich Bingham

No problem here, but Im using water - other spots in the system seep.
I did have seepage and drips in the fuel line, lapping the valves and using fuel percock lubricant stopped that !

Now it's time to ask, would that compound work with Prestone ?

Rich Bingham

Astute history buffs following this thread will be certain to notice that's Waltham Larkvonnet front and center with his trusty Raliegh Fly-By-Night in both of the above photographs. Also of interest is the bulletin which was painted on the south wall of Alonzo Halverstam's drug store in Saddlestrin...

Rich Bingham

Burger, I believe you're right. I see the "dealer" didn't even include hubcaps on that "new" car.

Rich Bingham

According to Wikipedia, finished items of beryllium copper present no known health hazard. Extensive contact with dust, shavings and fumes may result in lung ailments, and the Cancer Institute has classified the material as a carcinogen, but then again, if you read warning labels, nearly every subst...

Rich Bingham

"Hummingbird". I love it !! Lizzie was so named by the previous owner, bad luck to change it ! Anyhow, it suits us, I'm famous for creative names: over the years I've had a mare named Nell, a dog named Shep, and a cat named Tom. :lol: My hat's off to folks who can come up with clever and appropriate...

Rich Bingham

BobShirleyAtlantaTx wrote: ↑
Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:45 pm
The 17 roadster for $425. You could have bough a new 18 for $500 . . .

Keep in mind $500.00 new was the price F. O. B. Detroit. I don't think Ive ever seen any figures for transport and dealer prep in the era, but it surely would have figured into used car values.

Rich Bingham

I'm in your situation too, Jonah. My Lizzie seeps enough that antifreeze (harder to contain than water, BTW) isnt a good option for me. Drain and re-fill is cumbersome but my best option. 3 gallons isn't that much to handle easily and there's a plus - if you can refill with hot water, your T will st...

Rich Bingham

Probably the greatest change wrought in the 20th century was the loss of innocence. In the main, people's' attitudes toward the future were positive before WW I. The future would be better than the past. That positivism extended even to the Great War itself; "make the world safe for democracy" and "...

Rich Bingham

They help immensely in all weather to keep mud and water out of the carburetor intake when you're hub deep and chugging along !

YMMV

Rich Bingham

Just a comment. Perhaps antique car buffs would be interested in the body style designations that were in use "back in the day" ? A stretched multiple door touring car, however unique and interesting is not a limousine. Younger generations seem not to know that "limo" in common parlance derived from...

Rich Bingham

Why ?? It wouldn't be sensible to paint it. There's no need. Just MHO.

Rich Bingham

Even stranger were multiple reports from the Everglades in the late 1950's of a talking python.

Rich Bingham

Elbowgard was a true innovator. He built the Narrow Strip Club from three boxcars cut in half and placed end-to-end along the Basin Highway just south of Chugwater. Closing off the open sides with plate glass windows, passing traffic could enjoy the floor show from the road. Entering the club, patro...

Rich Bingham

Rich Eagle wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:32 pm
It was about this time of year in '64 . . .

First I hear of it ! You guys OK ?

Rich Bingham

. . . Or has it ever broken down on you in the middle of the road? . . . share your experience? . . . :lol: Which time ?? :lol: All of my roadside "downtime" experiences occurred over 50 years ago with my first T, and centered around unplugging the fuel line and patching 40 year old inner tubes. Lo...

Rich Bingham

Perhaps one of our coil/ignition/magneto specialists could hold forth ?
What I've noted "forever" is that starting on battery (12volt even !) when I switch to magneto, RPM increases substantially.

Rich Bingham

Assuming (!) the cooling system is in good condition, jes' fine. There are variables, however - such as the extremes of temperature (big difference between 90f and 105f) and the load on Lizzie, such as payload weight, speed, level ground or steep grade. Lizzie's working parameters are modest. If fiv...

Rich Bingham

Um, off topic perhaps ??

Rich Bingham

Hmmm. Good point. We may never know. Her incredible success as an actress made Mary Creamhower fabulously wealthy. She may well have objected to yet another of Skippy's blockbuster movies putting her into a higher tax bracket ? We'll never know, I guess. Meantime, the script for "Burlap Seatcovers" ...

Rich Bingham

Smedley Knott was the engineer on that train. He went to work on the railroad after his homestead venture failed. Everyone in the Basin was aware of "Knott's Barely Farm". Rembrandt Larkvonnet wrote a script that Skippy enthused over, titled "Burlap Seatcovers" but Mary Creamhower refused the part s...

Rich Bingham

I skimmed the replies and may have missed a suggestion to secure the pedals firmly against the cams so they don't flop around while you're wrestling with the cover. Royce Peterson made a handy clamp for the purpose but those plastic zip ties or baling wire works OK too.

Rich Bingham

Must be planning a camera on the grill to see where he is going. Plan are subject to change? :lol: How true, Dallas. The kids assured me refining the design calls for raising the cab a little on the frame, reconfiguring the diesel injection system and shortening the radiator. Maybe they'll be able ...

Rich Bingham

I think it's what happens when these kids are over-exposed to an over abundance of amazing junk. The brothers who are building this particular abomination are the sons of the feller who established a metal recycling concern locally a few years back. I wouldn't have sought to participate, but I'm gla...

Rich Bingham

C60E9C0D-D970-4936-BA89-965D6957520E.jpeg This beast showed up at our local "Trunk or Treat" yesterday. Of the cars shown (mostly late 50's to new) I have to say this was my favorite. Not currently driving, it's in "conceptual" stage. Frame and engine from a fire truck, axles from a Greyhound bus, ...

Rich Bingham

An engaging young man who works at the neighborhood garage flagged me down last Thursday and asked if I would bring Lizzie to their "Trunk or Treat" affair Halloween afternoon. He had lined up about a dozen or so local "special interest" cars to participate. Other than Lizzie, the oldest was a '48 F...

Rich Bingham

By the mid-1920s compression ratios were becoming high enough (7:1 or so) which resulted in detonation in the fuels of the time. Enter tetraethyl lead, which raised octane to tolerable limits, eliminating "octane ping" in the higher performance engines of the era. Model T never needed it. The leaded...

Rich Bingham

Gosh Larry, don't leave us with a cliff-hanger! Please fill us in on the body mount bolts !

Rich Bingham

Kevin Pharis wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 29, 2020 10:13 pm

. . . they need to look into algae fuel! . . .

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuel

How kewl is that ?!? Will a Model T run on it ?

Rich Bingham

>whew !<

Rich Bingham

The outside flange was part of the hub casting and the inside was the removable plate, exactly the reverse of the Ford. This meant that the chamfer on the spokes to clear the radius on the hubs wason the outside of the wheel rather than the inside as it is on a Ford wheel. Either all the spokes nee...

Rich Bingham

Thanks for posting that, Frank. There's an eerie resemblance between Fred Flintstone's car and the Model T

Rich Bingham

Whoopee !!! Something to look foreward to !!
Thanks for making the contact, Steve. Sure beats speculating and wondering.

Rich Bingham

This is a great topic !! If you think about it, shutting down has almost as much to do with starting up again as anything one might do starting up. Aside from shutting down for long storage, the individual Lizzie may respond well upon reviving to the things one does when shutting down. I like Bud's ...

Rich Bingham

As a group devoted to the Model T we tend to look at the question after the fact. What actually started the "revolution" in which inexpensive, universal mechanical personal transportation would be the goal was the bicycle, beginning in the 1870s. Peruse articles in the earliest editions of "Horseles...

Rich Bingham

Discussion of the great dirt famine takes us back to one of the first posts in this topic, October 5, 2018, which shows a photo of Cuthbert Maddox working at the site of his soil manufacturey. Maddox first began the enterprise as a used oats facility, but demand was low in spite of a continuing stea...

Rich Bingham

Dan Haynes wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 24, 2020 4:31 pm
In my next lifetime, I'm not going to have anything to do with old cars.

Dan, that's the best argument for recruiting young enthusiasts to help us geezers with the heavy lifting ! Our old cars and "forty years' gatherings" tend to own us. When it's no fun anymore, it's time to quit.

Rich Bingham

No problem with felt here. Keep cinching 'em down til the dripping stops. If you run out of thread, use more felt. Many old timers got by with string. If you use pieces of hose, be sure it's fuel grade.

Rich Bingham

Imprint on a good old red rubber tube. Anyone know when they disappeared ?

Rich Bingham

Wayne, a thought on your plaster technique; amendments to plaster for investment casting (talc, silica, etc.) may make it easier to remove. Of course investment flasks are calcined in a lost wax process, perhaps that makes it more fragile too ?

Rich Bingham

Already gone. Must have been !

Rich Bingham

Great pic from the HCCA tour. Joe Marker was a classmate of my dad's (IFHS class of '38). He lived a couple of blocks west of us on 18th. Wish I'd spent more time with him. He was a fine historian and fascinating to listen to. I think Alma was his father, but I could be wrong.

Rich Bingham

Those of us with 30x3" tyres are still waiting !! Hope I'm not down to cord before they offer them as well. When I bought my latest T four years ago I reckoned a new set of tires would set me back around $ 1,000, delivered at that time. That's when the reports of discoloring white tires and generall...

Rich Bingham

And a little puzzle ? The photo was captioned "Idaho Falls". Perhaps the dealer name is a clue. If any of these buildungs survived into the 1950s I don't recognize them. What model is it ?

Rich Bingham

Gee whillikers ! I always thought folks said "you-all" all through the South, not just Texas, but shucks, I've never been.

Rich Bingham

Mine too, Tim ! Another wonderful thing about that photo is the baling wire securing the toolbox and fenders to the top support iron.

Rich Bingham

Like opening a treasure chest !! Thank you !

Rich Bingham

Allan, yup. Hole size should be a snug fit to the tongue of buckles the strap will engage. Of course the buckle should be a fit for the strap too.

Rich Bingham

You only need one, in the right place :lol: Seriously, if you begin at an optimal tension when the straps are new, you may find they stretch soon enough, and will need to be taken up again. Generally, the rule of thumb for punching regular holes in leather straps is to space the holes the width of t...

Rich Bingham

Good question, Greg. I guess it depends on what point in automotive history you wish to address ? The answer is that someone did, and by the 1920s pressed steel or "disc" wheels were OEM on a number of makes, and available as accessories for even more. I would suppose the longevity of the "artillery...

Rich Bingham

This recent discussion is fraught with complications. Many of the facts seem to be conradictory, but they are all true nonetheless. Lance Corporal Kohorchly's Christian name was not Lance, although he had a second cousin by that name. The Argostinians were indeed mounted on a special strain of goats...

Rich Bingham

This is a great thread !! We haven't had this much excitement around the place since Aunt Nellie got her tit caught in the wringer !!

FWIW, "skookum", according to stinkipedia, is a Chinook word that can mean monstrous, brave, strong, bold, etc., depending on the context.

Rich Bingham

To what end ?

Rich Bingham

The secret of Fernley Ford's exceptionally long tenure as dogcatcher was founded on two things: he would never turn down an animal control call regardless of species, and although he did his best to place animals with pet lovers, he ensured the continued demand for his services by simply turning the...

Rich Bingham

. . . it's never the horse's fault . . .

Really.

Rich Bingham

That fellow is near with a dollar alright. He's so tight he squeaks when he walks.

Rich Bingham

Thanks for that correction Rich. As a footnote, Cleston Hanswallop, R&D superintendent for Firesteam Tire Co. did continue with development of what he called the revolutionary "testicle tread" tire for some months after KD withdrew as a technical advisor to the company. Perhaps confusing, but Clesto...

Rich Bingham

Whence go forth on tentacle tires, The ladies blushing shyly, With mold preventer firm in hand, KD would wave to them blithely In rare disport, Did Duke retort, 'Those suckers grip but mildly,' When into a skid, Dick's Marmot slid, And went careering wildly Abigail's deathless poetry is worth quotin...

Rich Bingham

Fellows, this digression into tire brands has opened up an exciting facet of Kalamity Dick's varied endeavors. Scarcely anyone knew about his obsession with tire tread until Bartholomew recently located a thick file in the trunk of values simply labeled "rubbers" in KD's handwriting. The staff is go...

Rich Bingham

Thanks for that Rich. Actually that is Cliburn's mother, Zerelda in the photo. That's how much they resembled each other. Zerelda never went to a beauty parlor her whole life long. Folks could scarcely believe that. It was Cliburn who did her hair. Zerelda told fortunes as a sideline, by reading the...

Rich Bingham

Mark Osterman wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:00 am
Were there specific carburetors for kerosene?

Good question for our resident carb doctor !

There may be differences on rigs intended to run in fuel oils (the Rumley Oil Pull cimes to mind) but the carb on my old Case worked fine on gas or fuel oil.

Rich Bingham

As with most things Model T, . . . It depends . . . The old boys spoke true. A T will run on kerosene if it's hot enough and you don't mind the smoke. It will not start on kerosene. For a number of years I worked a '40s Case Model D tractor. It had two fuel tanks, a small one for gasoline, and a lar...

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