MTFCA Forum

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You Can't Make This Stuff Up.jpg Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I posted a want ad in the antique car classifieds. See, I was shopping around for a Brass Model T Ford, something I'd wanted since I was a kid. Well, middle age hit, my daughter was grown up and with the credit cards mostly p...

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Here in Suffolk County, New York, the hottest hot-spot for the Covid-19 virus in the United States, I and most of my neighbors under the protective custody of voluntary house-arrest are just about climbing the draperies out of an odd combination of boredom and anxiety—two paradoxical emotions which...

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a complicated man f.jpg Henry Ford was a difficult man to understand. Those who invested in his vision did, for the most part, come out ahead in terms of dollars and cents, but when he parted company with the likes of Alexander Y. Malcomson, John and Horace Dodge and several others, it was not on g...

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'15 Roadster

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184173477519

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The neck of my radiator drips anti-freeze and this tarnishes the heck out of my brass radiator. Of course, I need to get that fixed, but in the meanwhile, is there a coolant (besides distilled water) that does not tarnish brass?

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Somehow, I got placed on a mailing list that features several Model T auctions every week. Most are steel cars and hot-rods. Very few of these are 1916 and older, which makes me suspect that the owners of brass cars just aren't as willing to part with them as once was the case. That's why, when I g...

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1915 Touring.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174113184028

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Excellent! Thank you.

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: Understanding.jpg (36.36 KiB) Viewed 1368 times

This is pretty much the only book of its kind. It deals with nomenclature, theory and everything from simple tips to advanced repairs. The writing style is breezy and enjoyable, not at all like a dry textbook. Very informative and very enjoyable.

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Is there such a thing as an anti-freeze which doesn't tarnish brass?

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New Patina Combo b jpeg.jpg One of the hottest topics among antique car enthusiasts, one that never seems to cool, is the subject of originality. It's been done to death, but it won't go away. In that realm, we use different terms of only slightly diverging connotation; words like "stock," "unmoles...

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My '15 Touring had the same habit until I switched to 5W30 oil.

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There seems to be some kind of mystique surrounding old-stock Champion X spark plugs. When reading about these plugs on the forum, I can faintly hear the sound of angels singing and herald trumpets blowing. Super Spark Plug.jpg So I purchased a set of Champion X plugs and used them to replace my or...

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You can order Lang's old-fashioned paper catalog for free and find it in your U.S. Mail box within a few days. It's as simple as picking up the old-fashioned land-line and dialing (800) 872-7871 and talking to a real, live human being who will not only mail out your catalog, but also give you that ...

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I'm in a bit of a quandary as to how to solve an upholstery problem with my '15 Touring. See, my upholstery looks okay; it doesn't have any rips or threadbare spots or anything like that. The problem is, whoever did the last upholstering job overstuffed the seats to the point where I lost about thr...

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Brake or Break E flat.jpg A couple of years ago, I read in Car and Driver of a 680-mile race between a new Tesla and a century-old horseless carriage whereby the drivers of the latter sustained highway speeds for protracted periods—even at night. Luck wasn't just with those guys, it was bear-huggin...

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When it comes to slow-moving cars such as ours, it's probable that just about any automotive grease will do just fine. The problem comes in when we mix two different types and I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I started out with the usual red Timkin wheel bearing grease, but when that ran ou...

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I've seen car-show spectators do the darndest things. The first and most memorable incident took place at the annual AACA show at Westbury Gardens. This is the show that many very serious award-winning competitors attend and their cars are either restored to almost unattainable standards or careful...

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/123925670453

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coolant man.jpg If your engine and radiator are not clogged with gunk, you should be okay without a water-pump. This will be especially true if you have a flat-tube radiator rather than a round-tube radiator. If you climb steep hills, your engine will run hotter and you'll feel the heat coming up t...

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You guys do go to a lot of trouble. When I unexpectedly got sidelined by medical issues, the Model T sat in the garage for almost two years. Since there was anti-freeze in the radiator, I didn't worry about it. For all the horror stories I've heard about the way today's alcohol-infused gasoline goe...

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Hi, Neighbor in Northport; The reason we need to run high pressure in clinchers is to avoid shearing the air valve off the inner-tube. Higher pressure forces the rubber clinchers more tightly against the rim, thus preventing tire slippage. If the tire slips along the rim (and this tendency is stron...

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Click below to see a Model T Ford buyer's guide. There are things in there of which every first-time buyer should be aware. My thanks to Steve Jelf for hosting it on his webpage.

http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG98.html

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backslide h jpeg.jpg Getting the right Horseless Carriage apparel can be a challenge. The most difficult part is the hat. For that, there are a number of options depending on whether you only want to use the hat for piloting your Brass-Era car or would like to use it in everyday life. For dedicated...

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1914 Touring, partly restored

https://www.ebay.com/itm/293235138926

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Matching Wheels b.jpg No Model T Ford ever left the factory with stained and varnished wooden wheels. That having been said, it's also true that at some point, a few dealers were reputed to have been supplying bare-wood wheels as spare parts, and that provides the barest excuse to stretch credulity...

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The Model T Ford is an ergonomic nightmare. At 5'11", I'm of average height, but the driver's seat of my brass-accoutremented pride and joy is so far forward, I ride with my knees high, the steering wheel rubbing my thighs and all my weight on my tailbone. If only the front settee could have been s...

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Not that I expect it to be viewed as a significant accomplishment, I replaced a busted starter button today. Lucky for me, it failed in the open position. Doing this kind of ordinary maintenance had become something of a challenge because of my spine injuries, and with the floorboards out, dropping...

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Terrible news. Sincerest condolences on so significant a loss.

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New New York License Plate.jpg Here in the State of New York, our illustrious governor—the one who recently told the American people that America was never that great—has decided to confiscate more money from motorists and so, came up with a new license plate which will cost each car owner $25 per ...

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The worst possible way to crank is with the right hand in a full circle with your opposing thumb enclosing the crank. Why is it bad? Well, going past the 12 o'clock position is universally recognized as a bad idea, even by those who are proponents of right-handed cranking. This method leaves no esc...

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My Dad got me started in the old-car hobby about a thousand years ago and I guess he and I were pretty close for most of our lives. _I like to tell stories about him and my Mom and this is one of my favorites: It was Dad's annual habit to celebrate the coming of every spring season by packing the f...

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Back to the Thursday evening cruise-in at Kings Park. We had beautiful weather this week; sunshine and moderate temperatures—and lots of spectators!
Here's another nice family who made donations to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

https://www.stjude.org/

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The straw hats manufactured today don't look right because they're all made with a too-tall crown. The only examples available for purchase that have the period-correct "short look" are genuine vintage hats, which, as previously stated, are difficult to find in larger sizes. As for keeping a hat on...

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Last Friday, I had the pleasure of making an appearance with the car at Grace Church, where the kids were having their last day of Vacation Bible School. After I stuffed myself full of hotdogs and the usual outdoor summertime fare, we got down to real serious business, giving rides and shooting pho...

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Well, it took two years, but I'm thrilled to finally present this season's edition of "Spectators and Funny Hats!" Those folks posing in the car receive all their photos in color, sepia, black & white and a couple of different types of antique in exchange for a donation to the St. Jude Children's R...

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Sorry, Martynn. I misunderstood your comment and assumed because my timer had an oil-filler cap, that this was the topic about which you were speaking. My car is a 1915 Touring with a run-of-the-mill roller timer.

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The oil in oil-fill timers gets grimy, gritty and dirty. When that happens, the timer housing needs to be pulled off and it and the roller need to be cleaned. Then, the roller needs to be oiled and the whole thing put back together. After about 250 miles, my engine will start occasionally skipping ...

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This problem isn't new. Some people simply don't look behind them before backing up. They wouldn't notice if the starship, Enterprise were parked immediately behind them. You handled it in the most proper way; you maintained situational awareness and when some hat-backwards, cellphone-texting knuck...

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My '15 was one of those delivered without a speedometer, but that makes it easier to see the placement of the headlight switch.

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There are several excellent suppliers of Model T parts who deserve our business. It happens that I tend to call Lang's. Back when I ordered a top-boot from them, it didn't fit and I forced it, ripping the seams. When I phoned Lang's to get another one, they had me measure out my top and it turned o...

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Heartiest congratulations! The car looks gorgeous.

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One of my favorite "Spectators and Funny Hats" snap-shots.

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I wrote this for the newsletter of my local horseless carriage club and most of you know the story by heart, but for the newer forum attendees, I figured it may be amusing. So, what the heck... a complicated man f.jpg On the surface, Henry Ford appears a difficult man to understand. Those who inves...

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The ten-year-old, shiny brass doorknob on my front door tells me that for certain applications, lacquering brass makes sense. Where it doesn't make sense is on a brass item which generates considerable heat, such as a brass radiator, acetylene headlamps and kerosene lanterns. That kind is heat is t...

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You might find this accessory helpful. Click on this link:

https://www.modeltford.com/item/3524-25T.aspx

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Thanks for the photos, Paul. Nice installation. I hope to do as neat a job. Thanks again.

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So I drove the Flivver to the local cruise-in yesterday and the lever extension was a real pleasure! Yes, it does take up a bit of side-to-side leg room when in the full aft position, but not so much in the neutral position, and not at all when in the full-forward position. Yeah, I'd recommend the ...

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Sorry to hear you were injured, Rob. I hope you'll be feeling better soon.

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Thanks. Much appreciated.

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This is what my Model T looked like when I trekked upstate to the seller's home for the pre-purchase inspection. As you can see, the car was in pieces. That was because it was in the process of being gone through from nose to tail. She didn't look like much then, but I really liked the seller who t...

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Paul,
Might you have a cellphone photo of your floorboard modification?
Bob C.

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Maybe I'm just getting old. Today, while driving my modern car, some knucklehead in firm disagreement with the 30 mph speed limit zoomed up to my posterior and continued to ride about three feet away from my bumper; this, apparently, to intimidate me into driving faster or, as the case turned out, ...

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Finished up the installation. Pretty easy to do.
To release, pull back slightly, lift then push forward.
Here are some photos of what it looks like in a 1915 Touring.

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I patched together some artwork in Photoshop to show how the extension works. And yes, this accessory would have to be unbolted and uninstalled in order to completely remove the aft floorboard, but rather than do that, I'm sure there must be a way to move the floorboard out of the way sufficiently ...

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For me, it's been a lousy year and a half of no Model T-ing. A third ruptured lumbar disc in April of '18 and subsequent fourth spine surgery in February pretty much took me out of the game. After some months of recovery and having clawed my way back into the cockpit, I discovered that leaning forw...

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Getting the exposure right on a photo of a black car is awfully difficult. If you get the car right, the background and everything else will be washed out, or if you get the background and everything else right, the car becomes a solid black blot with no texture or detail. Fortunately, there's Phot...

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It's a rarity that a wheel runs without a detectable wobble. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 1/8" of wobble is very darned good, 1/4" is quite common and 3/8" of wobble may be approaching the acceptable limit. Just my humble opinion.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/303204576187

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Because we drive our Model T's mostly on local roads which are crowned for drainage (more so than highways), our cars naturally want to run downhill like water. And that means they tend to pull to the right a bit, so we counteract that with left pressure on the wheel which scrubs the tread on the r...

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Getting a brass Model T was something I had decided to do as a kid in second grade, but it was one of those back-burner things that just seem to simmer forever on the stove of vague aspirations. Dad had gotten me started down the brass-car road, but then things like earning a living, fixing up a ho...

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When I was a kid, amusement park kiddie-cars were usually a very generic compilation of recognizable features from the Brass-Era, so they had spoked wheels, gas-headlamps, cowl-lamps, flat radiators and, for easy ingress and egress, doorless tourabout bodies. And that was good enough. But over the ...

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Dick, My friend, Steve Jelf, who has tons of hands-on experience with Model T Fords, maintains an amazing website with lots of Model T information on it. In particular, the following items are very useful to someone considering the purchase of their first Model T. http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG98.ht...

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What is it about people who have an affinity for doing things the old-fashioned way? They'll write with a fountain pen instead of a ball-point, pop their own corn in a cast-iron skillet, or fish with a lightweight fly-rod rather than the kind of hefty pole and hi-test line that'll virtually guarant...

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Three months after spine surgery #4, I'm still wearing a turtle-shell back brace and pushing a walker around the house, but had to drive the Flivver this week because it was due for its annual state inspection. Couldn't postpone it any later than May 31st. Hang in there, this'll be about the Model ...

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Driving a Model T in traffic is very demanding of your concentration. More important than operating the car with perfect technique to achieve perfect smoothness and efficiency is situational awareness . Unless you're one of the few lucky ones who exclusively drive their Brass-Era cars on idyllic co...

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It's a little difficult to describe a procedure that involves a "knack." _The knack of peeling tires off a rim and levering them back on is something I learned as a kid and practiced every time I got a flat on my Schwinn. But here are some generalities: First, you need the right tools. _These inclu...

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An 18% grade is 16.2 degrees from level, right?
(Just making sure I understand the question)

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For a good many of us, the experience of driving a century-old car design isn't about convenience or reliability. Historical purists see frequently required maintenance and inconvenient breakdowns as part of the game. Others are just looking for fun and in a sense, they are purists, too—just of a d...

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/264313968990?ul_noapp=true

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I use the type of lubricants that Lang's sells. They deal in Model T parts exclusively, so the heavy differential oil and red grease they sell should be ideal for the Tin Lizzie—wherever you happen to purchase it. As far as motor oil, I myself found that using 5W-30 caused my car to stop creeping f...

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There are several absolutely wonderful Model T supply sources. It happens that I started out with Lang's when I bought my Model T in 2010 and for the better part of a decade, they've extended every courtesy to keep me happy. Their service is second to none. When I purchased a top boot which didn't ...

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As Firestone’s sales strategies went, the iconic, NON-SKID tire was right up there with “Gum-Dipped” cords and according to The Firestone Story, a History of the Firestone Rubber Company, 40% of the 105,000 tires sold in 1909 were NON-SKIDs , as were 60% of the 168,000 tires sold the following year...

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My car is that way too. Could be your spark linkage needs adjusting.
Meanwhile, when that happens, try retarding a spark a bit.

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Painting your wooden wheels black is ever so much easier than staining and varnishing. It's also historically accurate. See, no Model T Ford ever left the factory with stained and varnished wooden wheels. That having been said, it's also true that at some point, a few dealers were reputed to have b...

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Nothing.
Not a blessed thing.
Still recovering from last month's spine surgery.

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Because we drive our Model T's mostly on local roads which are crowned for drainage (more so than highways), our cars naturally want to run downhill, like water. And that means they tend to pull to the right a bit, so we counteract that with left pressure on the wheel which scrubs the tread on the ...

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Nice work!

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Heck of a good deal if it's in good running condition. Terrible shame about the vandalizing, though. What the heck is wrong with people?

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I guess it depends on where you go for your state inspection. My local mechanic watches as I demonstrate that all the lights work, that the horn works, that there's plenty of lining on my Rocky Mountain brake bands, that the steering system is nice and tight, that the tires have plenty of tread, an...

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The idea of keeping your Model T in tune, with good tires and all the steering and suspension parameters perfectly dialed in and balanced is, of course, a good idea. Such a car is a joy to drive—at speeds for which the car was designed. Still, I read, with fair regularity, the exploits of intrepid ...

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Some Model T Fords have a tendency to creep immediately after starting. For obvious reasons, this can be especially disconcerting when hand-cranking. My Flivver stopped that habit when I switched to 5W30 oil. It's just a little more slippery when cold then 10 W30 and that seems to reduce or elimina...

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I've used Stutzman's Wheel Shop and can tell you about the services are available there, but not elsewhere. He'll re-wood your entire wheel for about $200. I doubt very much that he'd replace only the tired spokes because it wouldn't pay for him to do that kind of work and the result wouldn't be sa...

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I use them and as far as I'm concerned, they work great. Getting the darned things into the inner-tube can be a bit of a challenge, but it can be done easily enough using some kind of squeeze-bottle and a soda-straw or short length of the correct-diameter tubing.

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Then can take your hat, but they can't steal away your valor. Thank you for your service.

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My Dad used to say, "Cheap is expensive." If you don't buy your tires from the right seller, you could wind up with old, dried out rubber, even on completely unused tires. I order mine from Lang's because they "drop-ship" directly from the manufacturer and it never fails that when they arrive and I...

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I have to appreciate the time and effort that goes into maintaining this forum. It is truly unique and Chris deserves eternal credit, kudos and thanks for all he's done. Having said that, I really, REALLY dislike the new format for all kinds of reasons. Some of them may be even be legit. What is un...

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I've been told at car-club meetings that pure distilled water promotes rust and corrosion like nothing else. Is that for real or just an old wives' tale? Beats me. I've been using a 50:50 mix of green Prestone antifreeze and it works okay except that the stuff tarnishes the brass radiator like craz...

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Obviously, too little is no good, but too much is also not good. You need enough to keep that front engine bearing bathed, but if there's too much, the stuff will migrate down the drive shaft housing and make a mess of things. Not sure whether that can get into the differential, but if it can, it'l...

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One of the things I liked about the old forum was the ability to run a progression of photos, in sequence, as the narrative of an explanation progressed. It was a great tool for explaining your own problem or an answer to someone else's. I miss that.

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There's nothing like the satisfaction one gets from opening the hood of a numbers-matching car with magnifying glass & flashlight in hand, reading off the numbers on the engine, then reading the numbers stamped into the data-plate and then crawling under the car and reading the numbers on the trans...

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buffer.jpg The heat generated by your radiator makes the situation a whole lot different than lacquering things like door-knobs and candle-sticks. If you hate polishing, get one of these small orbital buffers from Harbor Freight: https://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-compact-palm-polisher-90219.html...

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I've driven a number of Model T Fords and the thing they all have in common is that unfortunate orchestration which takes place right after up-shifting. They all do that, though some individuals are worse than others. The problem is that the car really needs an intermediate gear between low and hig...

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Bought mine in 2010, a year after I'd watched Katie Fleming and her "Katie Across the Nation Adventure" and knew I had to have one. Truth is I'd wanted one most of my life, but that just tipped the scales for me.

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Photo taken at Oheka Castle

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Here's my '15 Touring, "Penelope."

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How about re-issuing this discontinued side-view mirror?

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One of the most useful items is the small running-board toolbox, sometimes referred to as the "battery box." I would say that for most of us, the large running-board toolboxes, which are fairly common, are too large, much more so than necessary, and take up way too much "foot-room" on the running-bo...

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Lang's is second to none.

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