MTFCA Forum

John,

How so? Is that specific to all roads or only dirt ones? I'm afraid the rear setup of my speedster doesn't leave me with many options for the exhaust to come out the back (which is what I originally wanted) without putting too many bends into the exhaust pipe.

I don't have a picture right now (I'll try to get one and remember to post tomorrow) but I use a normally-on generic brake light switch (like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Mechanical-Brake-Pedal-Switch/dp/B076VMYH17?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1FJ1WMPKJVUMQ...

This sounds somewhat similar to an issue I just finally sorted after many months. Similar to you, I had low power in second gear (car struggled past 30 despite being a speedster), sometimes felt like it would "miss," but otherwise accelerated smoothly and ran fine. I also had the "cherry red" exhaus...

I just finished my version of this conversion. Tractor supply had the FO11 listed as the IH-1 (at least, that's what they told me). But it had the properly sized in/out. It works pretty well; a little louder than a stock muffler but sounds pretty nice. Used the same mounting method as Dave H. but ha...

I recently had this issue of a slow starter. Before I went out to have it rebuilt, I replaced all the connections, wiring, starter relay and rebuilt the floor switch for the starter. Now it turns just fine, without having actually done anything to the starter itself. Wiring does kind of go bad after...

Finished "cans," complete with 5 foot paint job.

Hank: I may consider fixing them some day to have functional cans, but for now my T has an enormous storage compartment that I can already fit extra gas/water in, if needed. Perhaps making reproduction Boyco cans will be my contribution to the collective hobby one day, but as I have a long way to go...

Hello everyone, I decided to repaint some Boyco cans that I have, and once getting into them found that they were in pretty terrible shape (completely rusted through on one side). Since finding a replacement proved both difficult and prohibitively expensive and I do not have the skill to fix them pr...

Hello Tim,

Do you know if this is compatible with a Stewart 102 speedo?

Thanks

Message sent.

Message sent.

Got it! The wording of some of those other posts was confusing to me. All makes sense now. Thanks!

Hello everyone, I was refurbishing a Holly NH when I came across something I haven't seen before (and can't seem to find references to here). It seems a few of the channels through the carb have been plugged intentionally; one of them on the flange and on of the inside the bowl. Pictures below. I do...

Scott,

I see. Thanks! I will email you if I have a need.

Scott,

Thanks for the tips, I will keep them in mind if/when I attempt further cleaning.

Do you know of anyone that rebuilds or tunes these anymore? Most places I find online that work with Strombergs don't work with anything before the 1940s or so.

I got to know Tony a lot in the past few years since joining the hobby, and his help was invaluable. It's possible I may not have stuck with it if he wasn't close by and so willing to lend a hand when I felt way out of my league. I was always drawn to cars from this era but was first physically intr...

Hello everyone, Does anyone have suggestions for cleaning a Stromberg OF that doesn't require disassembling it all the way? A recently acquired T had some old fuel in it and I want to clean the carb without potentially ruining all the adjustments/tuning (done by Stan Howe years ago). Side question: ...

Sold for ~$14k. Took some off because the radiator needed some work (or possible replacement). The gentleman that bought it isn't really a T person, but (I believe) has/is part of a business that rents cars out for events. Mutual connection through family was the only reason I was able to sell so qu...

1915 Model T Touring car, possibly a rare “wide track” model originally sold in the Southern States. Car has a slightly wider wheelbase (~4 inches), which was originally designed for following cotton wagon ruts in the road. Uncommon, period correct suspension damper setup. Engine and transmission we...

The thrust washers were still in good shape (one was bronze, one was babbitt) and so was the DS bearing. The DS bearing sleeve had a chip or two out of it, but it was still there and holding tight otherwise. Could be the chips from the bearing sleeve caused the devastation. Could also have been that...

Update for posterity...this may have had something to do with the noise I was hearing

Eric, when I saw your photos, my attention was drawn to the road easer shock absorbers. They look like the Richards Wilcox English made ones often fitted by Duncan and Fraser to the cars sold by them in Adelaide, South Australia. Then I took a closer look at the way the corner panels are fitted to ...

Here are some pictures attempting to show the wheel camber and the gap between the drum and the axle housing. Normal-looking fitment on the passenger side: Passenger Rear Normal.jpg Fitment on the driver side (with negative camber): Driver Rear Camber.jpg Passenger side drum closeup: Passenger Rear ...

Does it sound like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khk1BkFTYjc No, much louder and much less frequent. The wheels were making similar sounds to this before rebuilding, which is why I sent them out. The new sound also sounds like its coming from closer to the center of the car. I will take the...

The wheels were made by Stutzman and I am pretty sure he uses blue loctite on the threads. They didn't look peened over but I assume that Noah knows best when it comes down to it. Have other received wheels from Stutzman where he peened the hub bolt heads?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I am likely going to overhaul the rear end regardless (I like the piece of mind of knowing it's in good shape). A few more clues after a closer look and some measurements: the rear driver-side wheel is at a slight negative camber compared to the rear passenger-si...

Hello everyone, I recently noticed a rythmic, loud clacking noise coming from my 15 touring that developed after a (relatively) long drive. The speed of the noise increases with speed and is gone when at a standstill. It's loud enough to hear over the engine and other associated driving sounds, even...

Hello everyone, update for posterity. I purchased a new tire and managed to get it on with little effort without any extra heat (maybe 60F and cloudy today) or notching. The new tire certainly helped as it was much more pliant, but there was one other issue that I noticed this time around. The rim f...

Yeah, the bead on this tire has taken a bit of damage from repeated attempts to get it onto the rim, so I was considering replacing the tire anyway at this point. I was hesitant as there seems to be a consensus that new tires aren't quite as good as the older ones, and these ones certainly are older...

What is the purpose of the bridge washer? Is it necessary if I use a rim flap? It seems like it could be contributing to the problem by preventing the tube from being “flush” with the inside of the rim. By rim nut I was referring to the thin nut that comes with the tube. I assumed this goes on after...

Alan,

For a metal stem tube, do you thread the stem nut all the way on before you mount the tire or after? I took the tube/tire off the rim again just now and it seems like the very bottom of the stem is binding on the feedthrough.

Norm, There is a flap in the tire (I learned that lesson on my first tire change). The only issue I could think of is that the tube stem is binding against the hole in the rim, as it seems to be slightly angled in the picture. The wheel is currently off the car, so no trouble there. I will try letti...

Hello everyone, as the title says, I am having some trouble mounting a tire on non-demountable wheel I have. This isn't the first time I've changed tires, and I have done it successfully several times on both demountable and non. Normally once I get the tire almost completely on it will just nicely...

Hello all, I was recently given a nice, wooden steering wheel for my 1915. The wheel that is currently on the car is one of the black Fordite ones from a later car. The Fordite wheel spider has one key slot, and the earlier wheel has two slots. The end of the column seems to have slots for two keys,...

I agree with Rich that this must have been a flawed casting from the get-go as the difference in condition between the sides is quite extreme. I will look into replacing it, thanks. I tried to re-lap it about 6 months ago and it seems like it didn't last very long.

Hello everyone, I am having issues with my sediment bulb leaking (again) and it appears to be weeping from the main valve. I use the valve every time I drive (once a month or so), as I don't have one by the carb. There is a lot of pitting on the inside surface of the valve on one side, is this norma...

I agree with Mark. I am far towards the younger side of club members (having finished public high school less than 10 years ago) and this wasn't a subject that was covered in great detail. I enjoyed history and was in the advanced classes; even so, WW1 was covered in only a few lectures (3 hours tot...

Ended up having to cut it off with a Dremel and a really small disk. Somehow about half of the washer was pinched/flattened such that the washer tab was stuck hard into the groove and the washer wouldn't get over the threads. The threads closest to the spindle are somewhat damaged as well. Possible ...

What types of grease do you all use for your wheel bearings? Seems like previous owner of my T used all-purpose for everything (including wheel bearings). Are there any notable benefits to using grease made specifically for wheel bearings?

Hello all, I am having such a silly problem at the moment. I am attempting to remove the front wheels in order to send them out for rebuilding, but the spindle washer is stuck on the passenger side. When I changed bearings on a previous car, they just came right off. The washer on this one seems to ...

Great news, thanks! Sent you a PM Mike.

I realize that this may be a long shot, but I am having trouble finding any information. Does anyone have any contact information for Don L Ritchey in Northern California? He was the owner of the Horseless Carriage Garage in Escalon, CA. I used to visit him and his wife Lillian for certain T-related...

As a younger member of the hobby (late 20s), this makes me pretty sad. I had been monitoring Glen's attempted sale of his company and even briefly looked into it myself. A few people had mentioned that some of the younger members (20s/30s) would have to "take up the mantle" so to speak to keep busin...

I use one of those vintage registration holders that fits around the steering column. I slide it all the way down so that it's out of sight as much as possible. Not the most secure place (anyone could grab it if they knew what it was/where it was), but I don't have to worry about forgetting paperwor...

Hi everyone, I was cleaning my radiator today (1915 brass) and it suddenly developed a pretty substantial leak. Upon removing the radiator cap, a steady stream of drops started pouring out of the overflow tube at the bottom of the radiator. It is definitely coming from the tube and not anywhere else...

Update for posterity: Enlisting the help of Tony, we were able to discover the likely problem my 15 touring was having with the clutch adjustment issues. There was nothing wrong with the spring, clutch, or clutch fingers. The reason that the adjustment was so difficult to get was that the clutch ped...

Update: I got the fingers adjusted to the proper clearance, and the compression/uncompression distance of the spring is much greater now. The clevis fits now when I follow the adjustment diagram, but now there's an issue where the clutch pedal is actuating between low and high gear even when the clu...

Andre

Thanks for the advice, I will give it a shot. To what piece of literature are the numbers in your reply referring to? (ex. 3432)

I have recently changed my bands and am trying to get everything dialed in, and I am experiencing a problem where the low pedal goes overcenter only when the clutch lever is all the way forward (i.e. in high gear position). The pedal was fine when the lever was in neutral/first upright position. I a...

I just replaced my bands as well, and have noticed the problem with the pedal not wanting to return on its own when trying to go into high gear. However, this problem only appeared after driving around for a little bit. I assume this just means the bands are settling in and the low band needs to be ...

I recently towed my touring on the highway, 65 mph (ish). Like others said, make sure the bows are strapped down really tight; if they come undone your T might go parasailing. I also bent the top half of the windshield at 45 degrees or so to deflect the wind a little better at speed and it seemed to...

Tony,

If you ever need an extra set of able hands, give me a call! I'm not too far from you and need to learn.

Eric

George: I was under the impression that all bands were narrow up until 26. As long as it is narrow, I don't think I mind detachable or not. As far as I have read, there isn't much of a benefit to having detachable ears on brass cars as the inspection window/hogshead is too small to be able to remove...

I am looking to buy an early/narrow transmission band in nice condition that will fit my 15 touring. I just need the one band to replace a defective/broken low band, but would consider a set. Please reply or send me an email with details if you have one you are willing to part with. Thanks

Hello everyone, Has anybody here successfully changed a clutch spring without pulling the engine from the car? The T manual mentions that it is possible, but I have been told that it is oversimplified and doesn't work very well. I was originally going to pull the engine to replace the clutch pack an...

Sounds exactly like a problem I had with another classic car a while back (mind you, it wasn't a model T). Ended up being a bad driveshaft u-joint. Didn't make any noise at idle, but was a constant rhythmic thumping that increased with road speed but not always with engine speed. With the rear wheel...

Hello everyone, My 15 touring has what seems to be a slipping problem in high gear, which has been there ever since I got it. The symptoms include a complete lack of power in high and a lurching motion that occurs when climbing even the slightest of hills (1% grade or less). High works alright on fl...

Hello everyone, While trying to sort through some other transmission issues (slipping in high gear?), I just noticed this strange wear for the first time on the low band ear and the adjusting screw. I am not sure how long it has been there (only the second time I have opened the cover), but it defin...

UPDATE (with pictures) for posterity purposes: After attempting to use the hub thread chaser from Lang's (for about 6 hours total) in combination with plenty of oil and (eventually) an 18" wrench with little results other than some choice words and a bruised hand, I broke down and got an OTC Thread ...

To clarify: yes, Hank sent me one this morning and I am grateful. I had emailed Jack Putnam (yesterday) about potentially purchasing a repro one from him, but he has yet to get back to me. Might be a bit expensive for me anyway. I like the design that Anthonie posted in this thread, I might try to r...

Steve: I would love to find one, but they are, as you said, rare and/or expensive. Some day I might make one if I have the need and haven't found a Stevens by then; however, a chaser will probably be fine in this case. Fortunately the threads on the outside are fine and it's a spot in the middle tha...

Hello everyone, is there anyone that would be willing to loan out a hub threading tool? A previous owner badly damaged the threads on one of my rear hubs a long time ago, and ended up painting over the threads to hide the problem (quality craftsmanship if I've ever seen it :roll: ). I managed to fix...

The 17 I was familiar with was fairly modified from what a stock 17 would have been...it had been upgraded with electric start and some other later T parts to make it more modernized. This 15 is much closer to stock, only with the addition of a battery to help start. I drained and cleaned the fuel s...

Hello, everyone. I am a fairly new T owner and am looking for a T veteran to give me some pointers with my new (to me) 1915 touring. I have been going through tons of old forum posts and performing many of the checks and maintenance steps I have found here. I am trying to get a feel for how well the...

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