MTFCA Forum

Chris Barker

After checking for cracks, I suggest that the most important thing is to ensure that the 4th main - and indeed the other 3 - are all in line. I have my doubts about the often-recommended method of standing the engine/transmission on its nose. When you put the unit in the car, the weight of the trans...

Chris Barker

I have a copy of 'Ford Dealer and Salesman' from 1922. In it is a snake oil ad which claims that some device will effectively make gas cost 15c instead of 25c. I conclude that gas cost 25c in 1922. I think $1 in '22 is $15.5 now, so that means fuel then was the equivalent of $3.88 now. So be thankfu...

Chris Barker

I am wondering whether your meter may be misleading you somewhat. The voltage it applies and the current flowing will be very small. I wonder if it's more meaningful to compare the current supplying a bulb directly and via the switch. I suggest a 12v stop or turn lamp bulb. That should take about 1....

Chris Barker

Well thank you very much for all these many posts.
Much appreciated.

Chris Barker

I have a '26 Coupe. I'm sure the aerodynamics would be better if it faced backwards, but I'm afraid the doors might come open (hinges at the front). If your Centredoor has rear hinges, you might consider facing aft. Otherwise face forward. I always tie down the outer ends front and rear axles with s...

Chris Barker

On the floor next to the starter switch?
In the upstand at the front of the seat (if it has one).

Chris Barker

I think James has clicked on the wrong link!

Does this help?
Ignore my air filter.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/416013.html

Chris Barker

Here's a foam one for a dirt bike from an eBay supplier on my Vaporizer. I made a tubular adaptor which is a push fit, but there's a retaining wire over the top. They come in many attachment tube diameters (35mm to 50 or even 60mm), and straight or angled. This seems to run OK. I can't detect any ch...

Chris Barker

You are absolutely right, but timers with ramps (e.g. Anderson) or perhaps the one with the eccentric bearing shown above can sometimes get so far out that cylinders fire on different magneto peaks! You can also get cylinders switched on 'between' the magneto peaks. My measurements on an Anderson sh...

Chris Barker

Mr Edison's effort looks ingenious and robust, but I wonder if the timing is very precise. Interesting that he provided a separate ground brush so that the ball bearing didn't carry the current.

Chris Barker

Here's one you may not have in your collections. I've always found that My T goes best with an Anderson, but the intercylinder timing goes wrong eventually - they are about 4 times as sensitive to being off-centre as a roller or brush, and the fit in the case (mine anyway) isn't too precise. I have ...

Chris Barker

I like the No-Kick device. Proper contacts, immune to being off-centre and you could adjust the inter-cylinder timing off the car.
But did it work and last well?

Chris Barker

The most blatant example is MAGNETO. In every other application - cars, trucks, aeroplanes - a magneto is a device that generates very high voltage pulses that power spark plugs directly. The thing on the Model T flywheel is an alternator. In Britain, we have a problem with 'cotter pin'. To us, a co...

Chris Barker

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the voltage drop you get with these things. For those of us still using 6v (and preserving our starter motors), we need all the volts we can get. The knife type is probably better than those with face contacts, but there will still be some resistance. My car h...

Chris Barker

You need this: https://www.modeltford.com/item/6445C.aspx and this: https://www.modeltford.com/item/6484CX.aspx probably this: https://www.modeltford.com/item/6404BX.aspx and maybe a bulb holder too. The original was just a low power tail light, but you might want to try to fit a double contact to t...

Chris Barker

Scott C's sample is like what I have on my car, but mine was done in 1990.

Chris Barker

My green '26 Coupe has fabric that is green with brown stripes, and tan headlining. I believe it came from a US supplier as a kit around 1990. The carpet is new and home made.

Chris Barker

Excellent.
Cheered me up.

However, there is a risk of an overdose......

Chris Barker

Really nice work. Good to see everything, including the driver, really low Will you explain the controls. I'm guessing that - the right pedal is the throttle the outboard lever on the right is the rear brakes there is no transmission brake the horizontal lever just left of centre is for reverse the ...

Chris Barker

Are all the bolt holes round? Mine are oval in places so you can fit the wheel without pushing back the bolts.
Is there a no screw at the rim join?

Chris Barker

Someone told me that the unusual colour ('26 Ca were blue) means it was a government car.

Chris Barker

Steve, you inspired me to sort a 'been meaning to' job. My '26 Coupe has a Vaporizer so a different design. I bought a dirt-bike angled filter for about $6 and I also did a bit of sheet metal work. The tricky bit is a 'dent' on the engine side so that the choke control can operate. No mods to the ca...

Chris Barker

"Starter Teeth Replaced Without Removing Flywheel"

But did they remove the hogshead?
Did they take the engine out?
Sump and hogshead off?
Arc welding?

I wonder.

Chris Barker

A horse is a horse, of course, of course And no one can talk to a horse of course That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed! Go right to the source and ask the horse He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse He's always on a steady course Talk to Mr. Ed! People yakkity yak a stre...

Chris Barker

You say you have a mechanical flasher. Are you sure it's the traditional type with a hot wire? They are usually unaffected by anything. I once went to great trouble to fit LED bulbs to my flashers, and bought a solid state flasher to suit. It worked great....until I started the engine! I don't know ...

Chris Barker

But did you manage to push the rim out without scratching the paint at the join????

Chris Barker

The decline in the UK of Model T cars was hastened by the annual tax regime which was based on engine bore and number of cylinders. Ford owners had to pay twice as much as the average small car. Fuel consumption of 20mpg didn't help either. UK fuel prices have always been higher than US. But the sur...

Chris Barker

In the UK, when production ended there were about 45000 Model T cars taxed for road use (this number excludes the large numbers of TTs and other commercials - vans etc). Taxation records show that the number in use then halved every two years until, in 1938, just 1100 were still registered. Of that ...

Chris Barker

This may have been suggested already, but an easy improvement - and well worthwhile on a heavy 27, is a high compression head. Only an hour to fit too. It will give up to 30% more power That could do it for you. And it's useful generally on your hilly roads. A Z head gets good reviews, but there are...

Chris Barker

Was the car ever in the hands of a dealer?

If so, he might have painted 'Ford dealer since 1903' on it - anytime in the 1930s, 40s, 50s etc.

Chris Barker

I think we have now passed 'Peak Classic Car', so prices will drift downwards. Lots of reasons - young people view cars as 'white goods' (and with what's on offer now, why not?) - environmental influences, if not pressures, growing slowly - the prospect of no gas stations about 10 years after electr...

Chris Barker

I may be wrong, but I think I recall that it has to come out forwards into the cabin, so the parcel shelf comes out first.
Fiddly, and much better with 2 people.

Chris Barker

Does the above mean that my car is Drake Green?

Chris Barker

If you feed a trembler coil with DC it will fire and spark about 200 times per second until the tar melts. The mag generates a series of voltage pulses - a positive pulse is followed by a negative pulse. There 8 cycles (16 pulses) per crank rev. Each pulse lasts long enough, and is strong enough to ...

Chris Barker

300,000 were built at Trafford Park in Manchester from 1911 for the UK market, and this factory also supplied parts to European assembly plants in France, Denmark etc. In 1917, Ford opened a plant in Cork, where his family had emigrated from. It had a foundry which supplied Trafford Park. UK Ts were...

Chris Barker

All this theory about parabolic lenses and pinpoint light sources versus multiple LEDs is all very well and correct.

BUT

If you have driven behind 6v tungstens and then fitted LED bulbs, the difference is night and day.

Chris Barker

I suggest that most people will think it permissible to fit a stiff nut.
That saves eye, back and temper stresses.

Chris Barker

AND DO NOT DROP AN ADJUSTING NUT OR WASHER DOWN INSIDE. AND DO NOT DROP AN ADJUSTING NUT OR WASHER DOWN INSIDE. AND DO NOT DROP AN ADJUSTING NUT OR WASHER DOWN INSIDE. AND DO NOT DROP AN ADJUSTING NUT OR WASHER DOWN INSIDE. Stuff rags or paper towel down the side of the casing, below the nuts. Best ...

Chris Barker

I'm just a Brit, but I seem to recall seeing a larger one in St Louis

Chris Barker

Thank you.
I had all those thoughts, but then I saw that car 21 appears to have 1917+ curved fenders.....

Chris Barker

No ideas??

Chris Barker

I have been asked if I can find out where, when and what this event was. The cars are numbered, and one is marked 'Pilot'.

Thank you

Chris Barker

The above is all good. You might also check the magneto output. You need an AC voltmeter - analogue is better for this check. You should get about 5v at idle, rising to over 30v at high rpm. (a simpler check is to connect a turn or brake light 12v 21W bulb; it should get VERY bright or blow when you...

Chris Barker

A friend of mine here in England called to ask if I could tell him the correct taper angle for his NH carburettor needle. He has several old ones with wear grooves, and they have a fine taper. He bought a new one (which perhaps originates from Snyder's or Bob's) and that has a much 'blunter' taper. ...

Chris Barker

If all 4 coils buzzed in the 'good' location, they are adequate for now. Go to the timer and its wiring. It could be a roller, a brush or a flapper. It's obvious how it works. Clean it up and, if it's roller, oil it. If it's a flapper, grease it. If you want to remove the rotating part for cleaning,...

Chris Barker

The trouble with that fix is that it's at the wrong end of the engine. The aim is to keep the magneto gap small - but above zero!
The alternatives which shimmed the third or even second bearing would have been better......for a while.

Chris Barker

Hmmm.
Those spokes exceed 100mph airspeed at the top of their travel; I wonder whether there's a drag improvement?
Maybe you need them on the inside too.

Chris Barker

Where can I find some??

(Are they Montana 500 legal?)

Chris Barker

May I suggest you read the answers here?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14533

Chris Barker

I don't think it will be safety, politics or 'greens' that end Model T motoring, it will be the market. As soon as a fuel cell that doesn't weigh 1500lb and does give a 500 mile range appears, the EVs will take over as quickly as the Model T replaced the horse 100 years ago, and the gas stations wil...

Chris Barker

No light, no air = no problem!

I'm more amazed by the other 3 staying up.
There is an old concours joke about NOS air

Chris Barker

Yes; very impressed. Arrived today in Somerset, England.

Chris Barker

I have always towed my '26 Coupe forwards on an open trailer. No bother. I usually stay at 60 but have occasionally gone faster. No bother. I cover the rad because I once got the timer etc all wet. The battery gets wet in heavy rain. I do attach elastic straps to the bonnet (hood) catches. I have wo...

Chris Barker

Have them rebuilt.
As long as you can measure between about 2500 and 3500 ohms between the two terminals on the side, they will almost certainly live again.

Chris Barker

I wouldn't rush into tearing it apart. Model Ts with much worse histories have been successfully resurrected. I would want to find out - carefully- what you've got. If it was running OK in 1959 it may well do so today as long as wildlife hasn't got into the mechanicals. It would be good to find a fr...

Chris Barker

Hmmmmm.
The sound and picture quality seems rather good for 1929.
Just 2 years after The Jazz Singer.

Chris Barker

I agree with Squirrel. The hot-wire flashers have to have a certain current to work. (By the way, I and others have discovered the hard way that modern solid-state flasher units that are not load dependent, and work with LEDs do NOT, repeat NOT, like the Model T environment. All is fine.....until yo...

Chris Barker

The usual marine transmission was a very clever adaptation of the car gearbox. The teeth were ground off the driven (sun) gear, and the low and brake drums were locked together. When the reverse drum was clamped, the output turned at 0.96 x engine speed in reverse, so the sailor had direct drive for...

Chris Barker

What is the MTFCFB please?

I even Googled it and got no answers

Chris Barker

It will get closer when the body rises relative to the axle - over a sharp rise for example.
I would jack the chassis until the front axle is off the ground. If it's still clear then it's OK.

Chris Barker

You might check the front mount. The cap bolts can be tight, but if the parts are worn it will vibrate. Shim (=tin can) will fix it. Also, grease it.

And check the big nut that connects the manifold to the exhaust pipe, and that the silencer doesn't have loose parts inside.

Chris Barker

Ours arrived (UK) last week in the same post as another American Model T magazine.

Chris Barker

I cloned my 1925 Coupe.......in one sixteenth scale for my first grandson, aged 15 months.
The radiator, spring axle and back of the headlamps is cut and filed from one piece of 5mm steel. It has to be robust!

Chris Barker

LEDs are to Halogens what Netflix is to Betamax!

Chris Barker

My '26 Coupe only has rubber down the sides and along the bottom. I don't get leaks along the top because of the hinge.

Chris Barker

I recall it being tricky.
Have you tried starting from inside the car with the shelf removed?

Chris Barker

I don't know how your Rock Maple compares with American maples, but according to this table, all American maples are greatly inferior to Shagbark Hickory.
https://www.woodworkweb.com/woodwork-to ... ngths.html

Chris Barker

I do like the feeler gauge method - I'll use it next time, though maybe a bit thinner than 0.010".

I just tapped and looked until they seemed like my others or until I could insert a feeler gauge alongside the rivet.
The hew ones are usually much too big (0.020"+) but I think 0.004 to 0.008 is fine.

Chris Barker

I have tapped many rivets to reduce the travel to c. 0.005" and I have never had trouble with the rivet swelling.

Chris Barker

Cork was intended to provide castings for all Ford Europe, especially the Trafford Park plant to avoid import duties on US-made parts. Building began in 1918. However, by the time it was in full production, Eire was a separate country. Nevertheless, Cork's foundry, said in the 1920s to be the most m...

Chris Barker

It depends on which browser you use. Google 'Unblock Flash Player' and you will find advice. For Chrome, when you got to a website that needs Flash, a tiny puzzle piece appears top right. Click on that, then 'manage'. Click on the switch and you should get the 'ask first' option. Reload the site and...

Chris Barker

I doubt that 30A is enough. When I have done this job (successfully) with 3 x 12v batteries there was a big spark when I connected.

Chris Barker

Do you have a spare starter ring gear?

I found that if you lay this on top of the magnet plates you can check that the ring gear is parallel to the flywheel face with a vernier depth gauge and you can identify the high and low spots very easily.

Chris Barker

I think you already know the answer. It's not right. The brush must have been pushed in as far as its spring or housing will allow, and that's still not enough. The timer casing perimeter must rest hard against the timing cover, and the brush must then not be hard in. I would not run it as you descr...

Chris Barker

I'm trying to figure out how it worked, and what ratios it provided. I guess from the text that it gave a 50% reduction. That would make it similar to some other devices, and would be consistent with using differential-style gearing. It's also consistent with the recommendation to use 'speed' gears ...

Chris Barker

I also have fabric covering - a kit dating from around 1990, I believe.

Chris Barker

18 years and about 35000 miles on a Vap -

Mine will always cold start if I do the following.

Pull out the choke, richen by 1/4 turn, give it some throttle and press the starter for 4 compressions.
Push in the choke, turn on the ignition and press the starter.

And it will never start if I don't!

Chris Barker

Sorry, I misunderstood.
I thought he was trying to get 0.47 from two 0.22s!

Chris Barker

Shouldn't that be in parallel??

Chris Barker

My '26 Coupe has a steel frame in two parts, a wide 'U' and a closing piece. Held together by some small screws at two of the corners. These all came out and then I was able to separate the frame parts and gently pull the frame from the glass. I bought some thin rubber strip (about 0.050" thick?) to...

Chris Barker

My '26 Coupe's pre-made brown carpet got a hole under my left heel.
I found carpet of a much better colour and had it edged by an upholsterer after I cut it to shape.
Floor, side panels and seat plinth.

Chris Barker

I noticed increasing areas of erosion on the contacts of my TW timer - at the start and finish of each segment. I removed it and carefully set it up in my 4-jaw lathe chuck and made very fine cuts across the track. Then polished it. I was surprised to find that it required removal of almost 0.015" t...

Chris Barker

I follow the logic about ttf at 6v and 12v, but should there be a check at 30v (or more) to represent the real magneto environment?

Chris Barker

2.7 kohms is just within the range I have measured. Probably OK.

What made you think it is 'bad' - either in the HCCT or FACT?

I would be tempted to try to 'mend' (re-set) it using either the HCCT or the FACT, then, if successful, try it in the other tool.

Chris Barker

The figures Matt quoted are the same as I have encountered when rebuilding coils - as measured by Strobospark. Lots of people run cars with a mixture of original and modern caps - few have ever thought about the effect on timing and hardly anyone had a means of measuring it. The majority of old Ford...

Chris Barker

Luke,
to be clear, are you saying that the coil takes LONGER to fire with higher applied volts?

As Ron told me, the T coil has traps for the logical mind!

Chris Barker

It is desirable that coils have similar characteristics of TTF vs applied voltage because our magnetos go from less than 10v at idle to 30v+ at high rpm. When I got my car, I found it had no magneto, and running on 6v required ALL the available advance! Reading of others' experiences, it seems that ...

Chris Barker

While I'm enjoying, if not altogether following this discussion on current and meter readings, let's not forget what we are trying to do (other than escape Christmas 'festivities'). When we drive our Model Ts - remember them? - we want our ignition system to reliably and consistently deliver sparks ...

Chris Barker

Following all this - and seeing that nothing is ever quite as simple as we hope - should make us appreciate the effort and achievement of Mike Kossor with his thing that we can't mention.

(I have no connection with MK!)

Mike,
I'll p.m. my bank details

Chris Barker

Great Post Mr Jeff - or may I call you Admin?

We could have a poll here to find out how many other people have carefully created solid state blinker modules that worked perfectly......until they started the engine!

Merry Christmas from The Olde Country

Chris Barker

Mike, I'm trying to understand your 'scope images. Why do the steeper 20v ramps appear to start later than the slower 5v ramps? Have you adjusted (offset) the x axis for each voltage? If not, does the time-to-fire variation correlate with current - so higher rpm giving more mag output will advance t...

Chris Barker

Mike, a somewhat less contentious question - Does it really say a 1" spark on your result pictures? I have always understood that asking a coil to jump more than about 10mm risks an internal arc. Thanks for your contributions - and of course Luke's. I am following them avidly here in the UK and if -...

Chris Barker

What colour was, or is, that engine? It's obviously much paler than the others one the line - presumably green?

Where are the later outdoor shots with the Quadricycle?

Thanks

Chris Barker

Can anyone tell me where this cutaway image came from, or who created it please?

Chris Barker

I have a Giant Power Head. Before fitting it I measured it and calculated 5.1:1 compression ratio. It does have the 'squish' areas above the pistons. It makes a significant improvement to performance. On most of those hills where in High with the stock '26 head you gradually slow down from 30 to abo...

Chris Barker

It's apparently almost the same content but a different box. Mine is also a 443, but maybe a 443B The write up in the ad doesn't mention the drill holder but it's on the picture in the lid, as is the small tommy bar. The 'rivet' isn't shown. I wonder what's in the top left corner of the lid? Also, $...

Chris Barker

So; no-one knows! But I have now discovered, by more cunning and persistent application of Google's services that the pointed item is a drill bit holder. There is a tapered square hole inside the square shaft. If you hold the knurled bit and turn the square, it winds out, presumable following the dr...

Chris Barker

I am fortunate to have been given a complete period Starrett socket set (the ratchet is soaking to lubricate the mechanism) Can anyone tell me the functions of the three items in front of the box please? The tiny bar has a taper and will fit in the hole at the base of the square section in the point...

Chris Barker

Well, I've scanned through all these replies.

Wouldn't a simple NO have sufficed?

Chris Barker

Hmmm. Interesting answer - probably what the questioner wanted, but I was thinking 'What's half the stroke? Ah yes, 2"'

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