MTFCA Forum

Thanks to all who responded to my previous post. My 1916 with a 1921 engine is positive ground. To change it to negative ground I plan to: 1) reverse the battery cables 2) polarize the generator by briefly touching B+ to the field terminal Should I disconnect the generator wire while I polarize the ...

The starter will be fine. I've used 12 volts negative ground systems with several old six volt positive ground starters. But now that I think about it I'll need to reverse the wires on my ammeter.

Thanks to all who responded!

My Model T (1916 with a 1921 starter engine) came to me wired with positive ground. I would like to change it to negative ground (just because that's the way Ford did it). Advice please: Can I simply polarize the generator by putting B+ to the field, reverse the battery cables, and go? Will the cuto...

Beware of Stateway Auto Transport. They took my $695 deposit but didn't schedule a pickup, then wouldn't refund my deposit.

My 1915 runabout is 6 volt positive ground. Of course the chassis had no polarity when the car was built, T's didn't have batteries until 1919. Whoever installed a later engine/starter/generator in my car years ago apparently decided to make it positive ground. This is my first T - I assumed all T's...

A friend just bought a nice '24 T runabout, and older restoration. The battery is connected for negative ground! It seems to charge and work OK. Does anyone know why this might have been done? How can we change the generator and/or cutout to bring it back to positive ground?

What makes Whippet radiator shells so popular for Model T's? Do people use the Whippet radiator also, or just the shell? Is it just that the Whippet shell just happens to fit a T radiator very well?

Moxie, Low is fine, but it chatters when I let the pedal rise up from neutral to high. I'm using 10W30 conventional engine oil. Norman, I try to match engine to car speed (I double-clutch sliding gear transmissions pretty well) but if I miss it by just a bit the chatter is pretty severe. Speedytinc,...

I'm fairly new to Model T's. I have a 1916 runabout with a 1922 engine and trans. Since I've owned it the clutch has chattered a bit when going from low to high. I have only driven it a little bit (maybe 50 miles) but the chatter seems to be getting worse. Should I try adjusting the three screws on ...

I recently had four demountable wheels re-spoked by Stutzman. They are beautiful, I am 100% satisfied.

Thanks but a tandem axle is heavier than what I want.

I'd like to have a small, lightweight open trailer for occasional local use for my Model T and Model A. Used would be preferable but I would consider new if it's not too pricey.

I've had a Halon extinguisher for years but its gage has now gone into the red. What is a good type to replace it with? Dry chemical types make a terrible mess. Any suggestions?

Congratulations!

Scott,
Just a thought: The rear looks like it has a lot of paint on it. It may help to strip the old paint and give it a fresh thin coat.

Over the weekend I installed my new rear wheels and rims. Everything fit fine, I have only minimal runout in the rear. I also looked more closely at the fronts. I realize now that most of the runout is due to the tires, not the wheels or rims. One front felloe/rim combo runs out 1/2-inch side to sid...

Scott, FYI - Here is an except from my correspondence with Steve from Australia: Steve, I rec’d the last two wheels. They look nice but don’t fit very well. The lugs are not positioned very accurately, a variation as much as 5 mm between holes measuring between north and east, east to south, etc. (j...

Scott, I have my front tires/rims on the car now. I think the felloes are Kelsey (flattened slightly where the Hayes fellows are notched). Getting the lug bolts thru the fellows and rims was a bit of a hassle, they didn't line up just right, but I was able to get all 8 lug nuts started then pulled t...

My tubes are "Custom Classic" brand. The stems were noticeably offset and leaning toward the blue stripe side when inflated before putting them into the tires, but all were tilted different amounts so it does not seem to be intentional. Lang's told me they don't know what the blue stripe signifies. ...

Thanks to all who commented. I don't remember the brand of the tubes, they came from Lang's. The holes in my rims are slightly outboard of center. Inflating the tubes outside of the tires showed me that the stems were offset in varying degrees toward the blue stripe side so I installed all 4 with st...

This weekend I installed new tubes into my new Riverside tires and put them on my new Australian rims. Some of the valve stems seemed to point straight, some lean outboard. Should I be concerned? The tube holes in the rims and the wheels are slightly outboard of center. The tubes have a blue stripe ...

I just had my wheels re-spoked my Stutzman. They are beautiful, but now it's time to finish them. What color is correct for 1916? Maybe they were simply painted by Ford, but I'd like to show off my beautiful spokes.
Should I stain them first, then clear coat - or use a tinted clearcoat?

Lots of these parts are not Model T, many are later Ford parts from the 1930's. You might want to take them to "Little Hershey" swap meet, Boone County Fair Grounds on May 20th.

Thanks Mark!

I just got my first T and have a lot of learning to do. It has a Ruckstell. I have seen original Ruckstell ads that say an advantage is that it has a neutral, which makes cold-weather starting easy without jacking up a wheel. But Chaffin's literature says there is no neutral unless the gears are bad...

Thanks to 1922Ford for the personal reply, and to everyone else for your forum replies.
I have already ordered the float material from Lang's. I'll see how well it works.
The good news: it's very easy to access the sending unit on a '49 Plymouth, so no big deal if it sinks again.

Thank you all. I'll try the "slug" from Lang's.

Not Model T but...my '49 Plymouth's gas gage cork float is sunk. Is there a modern replacement for cork floats?

I've had good luck with the UV dye sold at all auto parts stores to find oil and water leaks.

I have had similar trouble. I was able to log on from my office computer (Microsoft) in early January but then somehow it stopped working (no error message, my logon attempt was simply ignored by MTFCA). My home computer (also Microsoft) worked fine the whole time. I just tried using Internet Explor...