MTFCA Forum

Wayne Sheldon

Model A Fords are often bored out to .100, and sometimes even to .125. However, model T cylinder castings are usually a bit thinner than the more robust later model A, and .100 is considered by many to be the maximum for a model T. Over the years, more than a few model T blocks bored beyond .060 hav...

Wayne Sheldon

#16 - Imagine how freezing cold it would have been to drive over 25 mph in a non enclosed T in what looks to be the dead of winter. I don’t have to imagine. Polar Bear Tour, Shandon,OH to Dayton, January 20, 2024: IMG_3510.jpeg IMG_3508.jpeg I have driven model T speedsters to the snow a couple tim...

Wayne Sheldon

THAT is NEAT!

Wayne Sheldon

It has the three bolt forward body to frame bracket, so most likely a 1910. That radiator is oddly smashed. It must have done a flying flip and landed almost straight upside-down? I "hope" driver and passengers were thrown clear?

Wayne Sheldon

I am so very sad to see this. He was without a doubt one of the finest model T forum friends ever.

Wayne Sheldon

The first photo 1914 touring car, at that angle, shows the forward portion inside of the headlamp buckets as having bright reflectors. This is a good indication that the headlamps have been electrified. The battery is probably under the seat, or could be in a box on the other side running board. The...

Wayne Sheldon

A bit of drift, a bit of self promotion? But since the subject came up, and it is a significant moment in history? One of my great great grandfathers was a survivor of the Sultana Riverboat explosion after the ending of the Civil War. It is still one of the most deadly maritime disasters in world hi...

Wayne Sheldon

Some good discussion about four years ago. A few of the same names mentioned.

https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=29544

Wayne Sheldon

Wow, what a fine bunch of era photos! Several with interesting details. the first one is one of my favorite model T models. I love the 1912 torpedo roadster! Must be cold out as the radiator is nearly completely covered to keep the engine from running too cold. The second one is good timing for our ...

Wayne Sheldon

I agree! I like older restorations that have held up well, but been used enough to prove their reliability. Something nice enough I can go to a club tour or other meet and park next to a really fine classic era automobile and I don't need to feel embarrassed by my car. And I do not want to worry abo...

Wayne Sheldon

Thank you for clearing that up. It looks like a fine touring car.

Wayne Sheldon

The wheels and rims are painted black. However, if you zoom in close, you should be able to see several of the silver lug nuts on the front and rear wheel. They appear to be four lug rims, not the five lug like nearly all the brass era after-market demountable rim wheels. Hence the wheels appear to ...

Wayne Sheldon

We used to see a lot of NOS fenders and other pieces at swap meets. However, most of them have long since been used on restorations where owners wanted only the best pieces. There are some various pieces that NOS parts are still common, but it has been a long time since I have seen any NOS fenders. ...

Wayne Sheldon

Great photo! Thanks again Rob.

Wayne Sheldon

1917 through 1919, most of the country was feeling very patriotic, and patriotic symbols were very popular. Things like Uncle Sam radiator ornaments for a few years were fairly common.

Wayne Sheldon

Most model Ts have a slight lean to the driver's side. That is largely due to often being driven with a driver and no passengers elsewhere to balance the car. Also, most road surfaces have a bit of runoff lean from the center to both sides. The chassis lean offsets that a bit, and often usually make...

Wayne Sheldon

Not the "best" advice? But if you are careful, a good method. If you have an about thirty to forty foot piece of 3/8 inch polypropylene rope. Loop under and over around the engine three times, and tie a single (proper) square knot for the ends such that the loops can be adjusted slightly to even out...

Wayne Sheldon

I have never measured the exact angle of the axle on any of the speedsters I have had. However, I usually give them a bit more caster than spec. I find I like the handling better with an extra degree or two of caster. And with the speedster's higher speeds, I find that advantageous. I rarely have di...

Wayne Sheldon

I don't know, maybe it is just me? Maybe I am wrong? But when I look at the photo looking through the wheel spokes and look at the spring perch? It looks to me like it is the correct perch on the correct end/side of the axle. The photos aren't giving us a really good view of things. It also appears ...

Wayne Sheldon

It may be that the wishbone is upside down? I have seen this a few times on brass era Ts, There may be a bit of angle built in, a slight tweak up where the front pin fits into the perch. Other than that, the early wishbone has no obvious up or down. I have seen several cases where flipping the wishb...

Wayne Sheldon

Done that many times. Being a brass era radiator, is that lower outlet neck cast iron? If so, ancient cast iron is very difficult to solder. That old cast iron is however, not too bad for brazing. With the cast iron lower outlet removed from the radiator and tank piece, carefully braze all the way a...

Wayne Sheldon

Russ, I noticed that your 1909 has a factory water pump which must mean it’s a 2 pedal, 2 lever. Would you mind sharing the engine number? Thanks, Rod Sorry Rod, and clarification for others. In rough round numbers. Roughly the first one thousand ( 1000 ) model Ts manufactured in late calendar 1908...

Wayne Sheldon

Over the years, I have seen a good number of model T engines taken from running cars that when taken apart revealed nuts, bolts, magnet keepers, or cotter pins happily hiding clinging to one of the magnets inside out of harm's way. Given a couple years, countless starts and stops, potholes in the ro...

Wayne Sheldon

Just couple quick thoughts? Is it possible the pedal is hanging up on the floorboards preventing it from tightening the band enough? Another possible? The cam ramps on the pedal shaft, the one on the pedal itself and the one that bolts onto the hogshead, if badly worn (doesn't take too much wear to ...

Wayne Sheldon

I agree with Steve T. I save a lot of pieces that should be scrapped just because I dislike throwing out pieces that have survived so long and given their full measure of service. But any foolish attempt to repair something like that could result in disaster. It is very likely that microfractures ha...

Wayne Sheldon

Stan G says he has seen at least five period photos of 1915/'16 Ts with gas headlamps. That is in the same range as the era photos that I have seen of 1915/'16 model Ts so equipped. Certainly, people making that change in those days were in a very small minority. For every car so equipped that we se...

Wayne Sheldon

Is photo # 9 a ‘15 or ‘16 touring with retrofitted hood and radiator of the ‘black era’? And the 2nd to last photo of the 2 ladies in a roadster appears to be similar ?? Thanks for the photos and this puzzlement Tom. Thank you for that George! I, too, spotted both of those almost instantly. While n...

Wayne Sheldon

Thank you for that Hap! Pleased to see you are still around.

Wayne Sheldon

Thank you DS/pk for that important milestone!
Yes, earlier "commercial" broadcasts did not yet follow a schedule. It is hard to believe how quickly "radio" became a big part of daily life for so many millions of people!

Wayne Sheldon

In 1917, only scientists, experimenters, and some specialists in the military or shipping had radios. The first true commercial broadcasts were in 1919. MOST radio usage in 1917 was still Morse code.

I always enjoy seeing this photo!

Wayne Sheldon

Brackets are NOT Ford or model T, and do not look like anything I would recognize. The headlamps are not shown well enough to identify them.

The forks (brackets) are very unusual. Might be off a truck? Many trucks used acetylene headlamps well into the 1920s.

Wayne Sheldon

You could try carefully grinding the weld down flush with the top of the castle nut. Apply heat to the weld and try breaking the nut loose. I would second that suggestion as a first effort. Question? Is that a secondary wishbone/brace with the above axle perches original for 1917? The studs were so...

Wayne Sheldon

That "Form-a-truck" is neat! Quite a number of companies manufactured such kits, or provided turnkey completed units to order. Smith is probably the best known among the model T crowd. Graham Brothers, later manufacturing trucks for the Dodge Brothers family, and later still the Graham Paige automob...

Wayne Sheldon

Yes, picture number twelve appears (assuming USA build?) to be a one year only low radiator with slanted windshield (does NOT appear to be the Canadian version!) roadster. It has been run hard and put away wet. I wonder how old it was when this photo was taken. The turtle deck/trunk has been removed...

Wayne Sheldon

To be clear, 1923 was a mixed up year. Is your coupe a true 1923, basically the same as 1919 through 1922, suicide doors etc? Or the early production 1924 style which began production about June of 1923? This subject is as loaded with land mines as what oil should I use with model Ts! I have seen pe...

Wayne Sheldon

Number eight.
A lot of pinstriping on that 1911 touring car!

Wayne Sheldon

Rich E did an incredible job putting that 1909 together! It always looked fantastic in photos.
I sure do miss trading emails with him.

Wayne Sheldon

Wow! That is a lot of American builders hoping for greatness in an upcoming race! Big names with a lot on the line. (Hopefully.)

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number ten is trying to trick us! The front fenders are saying it is a 1915/'16, not the later 1917 it is pretending to be. The visible rear fender is an after-market straight inside commercial fender for the pickup box. The black era radiator and hood sure updated the car nicely. Also notice,...

Wayne Sheldon

Picture number two. I saw that picture on another forum a couple days ago. I am not sure what to think about it. There have been a rash of AI produced fake photos creeping into the internet in the recent past year. I am not sure that this isn't another one. Anybody? Details you might see that do no...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number nine. Definitely a genuine era photo, and a long time favorite of mine. Anybody care to guess the exact model of this pre-T? (I will tell you in a couple seconds) Believe it or not, this very exact car is owned by one of our own, a longtime forum regular, and a highly respected one at t...

Wayne Sheldon

Picture number two. I saw that picture on another forum a couple days ago. I am not sure what to think about it. There have been a rash of AI produced fake photos creeping into the internet in the recent past year. I am not sure that this isn't another one. Anybody? Details you might see that do not...

Wayne Sheldon

So sad to see this. They were an incredible couple.
My condolences, definitely. And will be in my thoughts for some time now.

Wayne Sheldon

A couple points of clarification. MOST water pumps intended for use in a model T won't hurt the function in any significant sense, as long as it is in good condition, functioning properly, and doesn't leak. However, some poorly designed pumps can restrict flow badly enough that even with the best ra...

Wayne Sheldon

The problem that has happened all too often with "temporarily" replacing a very early engine in a very early car with a later engine for the convenience of a starter, is that sometimes the car later gets sold and the engine does not go with the car. Sometimes this is due to whoever manages the estat...

Wayne Sheldon

The fifth picture looks like an interesting competition. Notice the nearby Ford with the radiator adorned with the car's number (8) and above that "VIBER". Vibrate. Gotta love a warped sense of humor and puns. Also, the rear tire is missing. I wonder if he just spun it off? One would get good tracti...

Wayne Sheldon

The second photo is quite interesting (at least to me?). For many years, the entire 1915 to 1916 transition has been discussed, studied, and debated, with numerous out of sync midyear changes being made. There were unusually long crossover times when both earlier and later styles were both still bei...

Wayne Sheldon

In recent years, generally speaking, innertubes have been the same for both tire sizes. It does matter a little bit, if an innertube has been used in a 30 X 3 1/2 tire and been stretched just a bit. It is possible that a somewhat stretched (or otherwise ill-fitting tube) may be more prone to folding...

Wayne Sheldon

A rare short timeframe pan, between the seven rivet and having three rivet hangers with the earlier style nose-piece. Just curious. Does this one have the tapered feet (like all 1912 and earlier pans) that sit in the frame rails or the parallel feet (like most 1913 and all later pans) that sit on th...

Wayne Sheldon

Nice! I don't consider myself an expert on the really early model Ts, but I have read and heard the tales of this car for years. As the first thousand model Ts go, in spite of it's alterations and a few minor flaws, I think it is considered to be one of the really good ones. Congratulations! I am pl...

Wayne Sheldon

Beautiful car! Something to consider? Being a coupelet, the position of the sidelamps and brackets will be different by a couple inches both up and forward relative to a runabout or touring car. If the bra attaches to the sidelamp brackets, that dimension might be critical to hold the bra tight enou...

Wayne Sheldon

Over the years, I have worked on rebuilt replaced or put together so many model Ts, my own and helping other people, I have been through this probably dozens of times. I have used every method so far mentioned as well as a few others at times. Model Ts are easy. Model A Fords? Not! A long time ago, ...

Wayne Sheldon

I have no idea how rare they might be? However, Many years ago, I had a pair of I guess 1926 rear end radius rods. They were too short for the earlier rear end like I was using, and had the longer fork for the later backing plates. They also had the two nuts to adjust the ball joint end, NOT the for...

Wayne Sheldon

Done this a few times. Often, with the earlier radius rods, backing the rearward nuts as far as they will go will be enough. Sometimes, due to the threading being a bit shorter, it may not quite make it. Since your radius rods are not in there (I had to take a set out once to correct another problem...

Wayne Sheldon

That is a lot of 1912 T Ford delivery trucks with decals just behind the doorway!
Thank you for sharing them.

Wayne Sheldon

Snap and unsnap. Or, rather, Murphy Snap, twist, and untwist on most side curtain points, with a few exceptions for regular type snaps. I have had a couple cars with side curtains. I love using the side curtains! On the 1915 Studebaker touring car I used to have, I usually left the side curtains up ...

Wayne Sheldon

Great photo! Thank you Rich B!

Single lever three pedal. Not really early. I cannot tell for sure, but I cannot see the butterfly brackets under the rear fender, dark enough though that they could be there.

Any 1909/'10 experts that can narrow the timeline down better?

Wayne Sheldon

I am saddened that someone made a deal with you that they were unable to properly follow through with.
I am pleased to hear you now intend to keep it for the duration.
Maybe you can find someone that you can trust to leave it to in your will?

Wayne Sheldon

A couple of the pivot bolts (inner and outer brakes if both are used!), the shank is supposed to seat inside the casting! If it doesn't, it is a stress point that can become a fracture and brake failure. It sometimes takes a bit of finagling to get the shank the right length to properly seat. But I ...

Wayne Sheldon

Remember, the demountable wheel and electrics options on the open body model Ts of the 1920s, were two separate options. A dealer or customer could choose one or the other, or neither or both. As someone that has looked very closely at literally thousands of era photos of model T? Just an observatio...

Wayne Sheldon

This is an old thread but I wanted to leave a comment. Rich Eagle who posted earlier in the thread was a friend of mine and passed away in 2024 and I now own the ‘09 touring. Regardless of how much of the car is original and how many different cars the parts came from I wouldn’t be happier if it wa...

Wayne Sheldon

The problem with the Moore, and the similar Universal Gear Company two speed units? Is that most of them were made to be an underdrive, usually about a fifty percent gear reduction. Yes, they "can" be turned around, made into an overdrive. However, that results in a very steep overdrive. I did know ...

Wayne Sheldon

I often have wondered about those covers, and the timelines when wooden slat or stamped steel covers were used. I suspect which covers were used depended upon what body supplier built or finished the bodies to order. I know some of the body suppliers went back and forth between the wooden and steel ...

Wayne Sheldon

Possible that they could have been for after-market wheels for a model T. Or not.

You say "smooth" tire? Do you mean worn to treadless? Or smooth never had a tread (common on tires before 1920)? Or smooth (straight?) sided tire as in not a clincher?

Are the five lugs fixed (attached?) to the rim?

Wayne Sheldon

Having trouble with my computer AGAIN! Very frustrating! The OP is in Germany. There are some language issues, and proper answers for people here in America may not be the most practical advice for someone needing to deal with worldwide shipping two directions from Europe? I do not know, but the las...

Wayne Sheldon

Do NOT under any conditions consider using John Regan's spoke press on wood felloe wheels! Tightness is imperative to the wheel's strength and resilience. John's design is great for the more common steel felloe wheels. The depth that the end of the spoke for a steel felloe wheel is much shorter, and...

Wayne Sheldon

There were a number of radiator companies, large and small, that made replacement radiators for the model T Ford. Some made very high quality radiators, like Livingston. Some were good quality, and recognizable even today like Peerless. And more than a few lesser-known companies catered to local sal...

Wayne Sheldon

"Cut and paste" on your computer is called "cut and paste" because in past decades, cutting from a donor picture and then pasting that piece in to repair damage or a light leak was how photos were often cleaned up and restored where details and/or natural appearance was desired. Some damage also mig...

Wayne Sheldon

Before they began building exclusively for the Dodge Brothers (1920ish?), in the mid 1910s, The Graham Brothers manufactured make a truck kits to fit basically any automobile. Their advertising targeted mostly non-Fords, although they did also make kits for the model T. Their kits were mostly custom...

Wayne Sheldon

That silly bolt has been driving model T hobbyists crazy for more than seventy years. Some touring cars have it? Some touring cars don't. There were at least five different companies supplying Ford with touring car bodies for 1915 and 1916. In the later 1910s, a couple of those suppliers dropped out...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number eight is quite interesting. A probably 1914 runabout, apparently a few years old, I "believe" the license plate is one issued new to an owner of a pre1915 automobile using the previously issued numbers. For 1916 through 1919, car owners used the same state issued plate, but changed a me...

Wayne Sheldon

The eleventh photo is very interesting to me. In part just because I have restored (one basically finished and driven for a few years before being sold, the other sadly still waiting to be finished) two 1915/'16 model Ts. That and I am just more attracted to earlier cars. Maybe a few people are tire...

Wayne Sheldon

The 13s and 14s are the pipe thread that fits a model T. I don't know nor have a reference to tell me what the Edison number 12 fits. It could be the model A size or some other (18mm?) that fits some other car. Whatever the thread size and type and whatever they fit would help to identify and get wh...

Wayne Sheldon

Mark E, I don't know whos car that is? However, it is beautiful, and from what can be seen in that photo a very right looking 1917/'18. It appears to have the proper non-demountable "rounded" felloe wheels (changed somewhere around 1918 to the "square felloe" wheels. I couldn't be sure whether the t...

Wayne Sheldon

1917 is a very special year for the model T Ford! The first year of the "black era" cars, it had many characteristics carried over from the 1915/'16 last-of-the-brass cars. There are a few details such as the gutter-less firewall, and radiator fan shroud, that are unique to the 1917 model year, some...

Wayne Sheldon

Just trying to be helpful?
From the photos, it appears he wants the deep thread on the out-side of the hub. The question I guess is, is that one with the machined speedometer gear shoulder on the inside side of the hub? The more I look at the photo, the more I am not sure what I see?

Wayne Sheldon

If you would like to have a matching set? It would help to post a couple photos of which ones you have. It may be helpful also to network with a couple other people interested in the number twelve Edison plugs as once a few people have a mixture of styles, they can swap styles around to the benefit ...

Wayne Sheldon

Does the magneto still work? Is there even a field coil even in there? Many years ago, one of the several engines I put together for the nearly dozen model Ts I have put together for my use? I would have sworn that I cleaned everything THOROUGHLY! There should not have been anything left behind anyw...

Wayne Sheldon

In the for-whatever-it-is-worth department? Some years ago, I picked up a damaged and very incomplete brass bulb for my 1915. It had been dented in in the large threaded opening, but not badly dented. I was on a tight budget, and the price was right. The dent was an easy fix, a rigged up mini-jack a...

Wayne Sheldon

It would be interesting to see what you/he has got. You're as much an expert as anyone I know of. I wonder if the column you are working with had a magneto drive above it? There were several types of those that required unusual spark linkages.

Wayne Sheldon

Numbers nine and ten both appear to be that rare few month's mid 1917 production when the earlier even folding windshield hinges were used on top of the later bolted together windshield frame and cowling brackets. Number nine is some sort of a studio shot, maybe a traveling studio, maybe at a local ...

Wayne Sheldon

A very interesting look at early steps of the new company!

Wayne Sheldon

I believe that the Roadsters and Tourings were painted black and the Coups and Sedans were painted different colors. Do not rely on the sales literature of the day. Sales literature was published by the marketing department before production began, and continued to be published with "information" t...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number three, same car, at the same location with the same Dodge Brothers car behind it is in Tom's "Stuck" thread. More people in this shot.

Wayne Sheldon

I suggest that you check out this thread under General Discussion if you haven't already. Some good information there about this car.

https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=50263

Wayne Sheldon

A very good friend has a 1915 Stutz Bearcat, dark red, almost dark maroon, body, with black fenders. I love it!

Wayne Sheldon

Looking at that photo again (I love looking at that early short time sidelamp!), I notice something else interesting about the car. The paint on the car suggests that it has been around a couple years by then. The hood, which lines up with the cowl, is very fresh and shiny. I sure wish we could see ...

Wayne Sheldon

Number fourteen is very special! Notice the nice closeup of the early production 1915 oil sidelamp! It is not the earliest style sidelamp used on the early production so-called enclosed body cars. The folding top couplet was likely manufactured in very late calendar 1914 before the open body cars be...

Wayne Sheldon

I "believe" from things I have seen and read, that these units were used as original equipment on a few high end automobiles. I am particularly sure that some models of Stutz used them, although I do not know what years. I have heard that these were also sold for use on dual ignition after-market he...

Wayne Sheldon

Number eight again. That is a brass radiator hiding under that later shell!

Wayne Sheldon

I couldn't make out the state or year of the license plate. However, the smaller tag on the radiator number seems to match the larger license plate. Texas I know used such smaller tags for the front during a few years of the 1920s. I do not know when it began or ended. Maybe a clue to when the photo...

Wayne Sheldon

Picture number eight. Look closer! My first thought was a mid 1917, an early "black era" T touring car with the even folding windshield. I zoomed in for a closer look at the windshield and noticed the front fenders are the flat 1915/'16 style. It appears to have been updated using genuine later Ford...

Wayne Sheldon

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑
Sun Sep 28, 2025 11:37 am
Who was C.E. Phibbs? Doctor Phibbs, perhaps?

That wouldn't be a reference to Vincent Price? Would it?

Wayne Sheldon

Google: "Ford model a speedster gas tank argentina". Then look for a facebook post. I figured they were some sort of modern re-creation, manufactured in small numbers for a specific niche market. I can only recall a very few era photos showing such a shape gasoline tank. I suspected they were not m...

Wayne Sheldon

Spencer made fatman steering wheels for almost any car, in a variety of styles and sizes. Some folded up and above for if the car's control levers were below the steering wheel. Others, dropped down surrounding the steering column for cars with control levers above the steering wheel. Yours is a spe...

Wayne Sheldon

W Jorgensen, Yeah, there is a lot going on in that photo! Not the least of which is that it appears someone was careless in handling the roll film. The slightly angled somewhat straight washout along the bottom might have been caused by roll film not being kept tight enough and allowing light to sne...

Wayne Sheldon

I just looked more closely at the photo. The license plate is 1929 New York. Well within the time frame a lightning bolt could have been borrowed from a Marmon.

Wayne Sheldon

The lightning bolt on the T radiator is kinda cool in picture 13. Hadn’t seen that one before. Maybe kind of rare. I am not certain of it being genuine, could be some sort of after-market thing? However, Marmon automobiles for a couple years used a very similar lightning bolt on their radiators. Go...

Wayne Sheldon

Now zoom in to that photo Wayne. On the far left side of it there stands a large man in a white shirt and light colored pants. Then, on the other side of the car behind the man peering over the fender….. there’s a GHOST IMAGE of the Same large man….. Yeah, I spent some time looking at that man, bot...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo eleven is very interesting, and not necessarily immediately obvious. So, how many men does it take for a photograph? There are four men that clearly appear on both sides of the car. In addition, both sides of the car have an additional man. The right side of the car (your left) has a tall man ...

Search found 4127 matches