MTFCA Forum

Save your money and go to Wal Mart, Auto Zone, Oriellys and buy their store brand 10w30, or 10w20 HD oil. It’s much better than oil Ford ever put in Model T’s.

Use three of these. One for each bolt hole. They are 3 1/4” dia. And they bolt right on. https://www.emedco.com/center-mount-reflectors-rph.html

Here’s the Spencer lock wheel that I have. It was on the 24 Coupe my Grandfather bought in the early 40’s. I’m wondering what kind of wood it’s made of. It’s complete but no key. I’m still thinking it’s just a locking wheel and not a fat man wheel. There is no mechanism thats moves or folds that I c...

I have a Spencer steering wheel that was on my Grandfathers 24 Coupe. I’ll look in my shop tomorrow to see if it’s identical to yours. When I was restoring the car several years ago I took it off and used an original T steering wheel. I was going to use it but didn’t because I couldn’t find anyone w...

I’m wondering how “old” the radiator actually is. The packing crate doesn’t look that old to me. Are we sure radiators were put in crates with the net wire braded on that way. The crate looks more modern than the radiator. In no way am I a forum expert as they say. But the crate looks questionable t...

The lightning bolt on the T radiator is kinda cool in picture 13. Hadn’t seen that one before. Maybe kind of rare.

I guess you sometimes have to do with what’s available. The repo key cylinders can be made to fit an original ignition switch housing. It takes a little time and patience. Being a part time locksmith among other things I learned from watching and helping the school locksmith working on lock fitment....

I was wondering if it was child too and now that you mention the house being used as a chicken coop it looks like there is another chicken sitting on the fence on the right side.

The 10th picture from the top is very interesting! The abandoned house and 17-21 Model T Touring show the effects of weather, being just let go and forgotten. Could be from the 40’s I think. The fireplace that’s crumbling and the farm house that’s deteriorating must have been in that state for many ...

The body trim pieces are made of aluminum or some sort of pot metal. I have a 24 Coupe and some of the trim pieces were a little loose. They are nailed on and I was sucessful renailing back on. The two pieces that sort of snap on the rear trunk back were about to fall off but were still there and I ...

T engines are like any older gas engines. You have to run them to keep them going. Old tractors, cars and old machinery runs well when you run them fairly often. The more you run them they tend to run and start better.

Probably needs the springs replaced. I had that issue with a latch on my 21 touring. I tried stretching the spring but didn’t last long. I finally go a similiar spring at Ace hardware. They had a good selection of compression springs. As I remember I bought a longer spring and cut it down to work as...

Was there any water in the oil when you removed the oil pan to see up through the bottom? The water passageways should be cleaned out when removing the head but could it be when the block was cleaned up the small holes were drilled out to far and opened up all the way through? If the bottom end look...

The body trim parts for a 24-25 Coupe are not going to be real easy to find. Those pieces aren’t being reproduced. It would help if you go to the classifieds section of the MTFCA and post what you need for your Coupe. Some body has those pieces on a parts Coupe somewhere. Good luck.

There are some of the older tractor radiators (40’s -70’s) that are close to the same dimensions of a T radiator. You may have to rework the neck and inlets to get them to work but it’s been done. It’s been on the forum before about the aluminum bucket T radiators and why the company that makes them...

Buy the Model T Ford service manual and read and study it. It gives an owner lots of good information about repairing different aspects of a T. Join a local T club as they can guide and help you. Getting the T service manual is probably the best way ,to get you started. Other helps are the T supplie...

So the question is was the car running and shaking before you changed the plugs and etc or was it doing it before the work was done.

Here’s a lot of information about the Mossberg company. According to the information they were a large early tool company with lots of different tools. http://alloy-artifacts.org/frank-mossbe ... #auto-spec

You mentioned that you’ve got the car to idle smoothly but was that after you worked on the engine, after it was rebuilt, added new parts or ?
Did it just start the rough running recently ?

Are the demountable rims pulled up evenly all the way around? The rim on the left may wobble a little if you look close at it. But that’s my opinion. Are the tires wearing evenly? I don’t think your T isn’t any worse than an average T is. A perfectionist may look at every single thing on a restored ...

If it got to where it wouldn’t start what exactly was it doing to begin with.
Wouldn’t turn over?
Engine turning to slow?
Or ?????

Wonder if the smashed up T in the first photo was trying to beat the train and just barely was clipped, parked to close to the track, or something else. Maybe there wasn’t anybody in the car (hope not!). Maybe they jumped out?

Since you have the head off pour some light oil in the cylinders. Drain the engine oil and put in some fresh oil as others have said. Get the engine to turn with the hand crank first. If the engine is still stuck jack up the front end engage the hand crank in a horizontal position and place a block ...

Remember that Model T bodies up to early 25 are wood structured bodies covered over sheet metal. They do flex over time. Shims are needed for yours. Remove the floor boards and you can see the brackets on the body wood where they are attached with a bolt to the frame. You might need to add a shim ( ...

This is exactly why I’m thankful I live in a rural area with lots of blacktop roads to drive on and maybe on the service road next to an interstate highway. BUT it’s getting to many fast cars and trucks to feel safe lately on the I-35 service roads. Maybe it was a little safer around 20 years ago bu...

While your tearing the differential down replace your parts with this from Snyder’s. https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/prod ... &cat=41857

I noticed the wall too and its a really well built substantial brick wall. But after 100 years the odds of it being still there isn’t much. Looking at the picture of the TT Truck there is some sort of brick masonry built on the right side of it that could be related to Smiths first picture.

Maybe this link can help you find a group that deals with Buick brass and pre-war Buicks. https://forums.aaca.org/forum/12-buick-buysell/

This isn’t the only group that deals with antique Buicks as there are others also.

Don’t know but you would see old car parts at Chickasha on trailers that no one could identify. Someone knows what it’s for and would be glad to find one when they really needed it.

Here’s a 25 T PU that’s supposed to be from the Henry Ford Museum. The article says it was released in late 24. Looks like there is snow on the ground like the one Smith is asking about. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/289663#slide=gs-630789 Maybe t...

I’ve had the GUNSHOT to happen but it didn’t blow the muffler apart but I don’t want to do it again.

It’s a play among the wording about the battery location on Model T Coupes. The easiest access to the battery in my 24 T Coupe is through the rear deck. There is a cover that covers the access hole. BUT some would call the location under the front seat which is actually under the back rest inside th...

I would reverse the battery in the battery holder and make sure you have the cable that’s connected to the frame and use that cable on the GROUND terminal. It should be marked on the battery by a — mark.

The pictures of the car are of a 27 T Coupe. Could it be sometime in the past some body put the battery in backwards and from then from then on nobody noticed it ? ? It very well could be!!!

The box looking T looks like it’s a car chassis and not a TT chassis. It may be a work in progress and going by the size of the frame it doesn’t have much room on the inside. And hot during the summer!?!? But in those days heat didn’t make a lot of difference if it was meant to be a small town paddy...

REMEMBER THAT A MODEL T DOES NOT HAVE REAL BRAKES! Learn to drive it the way it is and then decide if you want to add disc brakes which some do. Average speed for a stock T is around 30-40 MPH. And that may be too fast for some people. They don’t have electronic ignition that thinks for you and YOUR...

The correct nut and washer as shown in the parts supplier pictures is a must for the correct brake adjustment, action and service for a Model T band adjustment! Someone just put a nut on yours and dismissed it as OK. Might be a good idea to replace the three springs that are also used on the pedal s...

Wonder what the “box truck” was going to be used for. The front seat was in pretty close quarters! Also the 7th pic down of the two women in front of the T Coupe is interesting. The Coupe looks like it might be new or almost. It’s either a city of town driven car by looking at the the paint on it. I...

So the purpose of the Ford “diary” was a maintence and service log? Seems that way.

A new rebuild shouldn’t be that tight to begin with. If you rebuild an engine and you build it fairly tight use some lubriplate , STP at least a coat of oil on all the bearing surfaces. A coat of STP on the bearing surfaces works pretty well. Just a little makes the surfaces really slick.

I saw the eBay item too it’s not for a generator. I checked Model T ranch here in Texas but no luck there either. They make T kits for different things but not that item.

Seems he also was making some T items for Lang’s a few years ago . Maybe they may know.

Buy the new sediment screen from Lang’s and a new gasket. Do as mentioned above and hope that takes care of it.
Order tomorrow for peace of mind and do it.
That’s where you start from and see if it helps and if it does you solved your issue.

Three things : Gas your putting in your car from a can that’s got dirty gas in it. Your sediment bowl is getting stopped up or is passing contaminated gas and not filtering it good enough. Or the obvious is your gas tank needs to be removed and cleaned out and needs to be removed and cleaned or repl...

Make sure you clean the area really well and rough it up a little. It will last as long as your T.

I have a 24 and don’t recall seeing this kind. Your car probably has steel doors so maybe they have something to do with that?? Others may know.

The Ford PU was really hit pretty hard to knock off the cab. Hopefully the driver is OK. If the driver was in the cab that’s a real serious accident. Maybe the cab was removed after the hit but if it wasn’t that’s an another story.

Lang’s has a good selection of NOS besides good used parts. You have to ask to see if they have what you might need.

Older post about T radiator shell height. Good information in this post.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1403420730

Starving for fuel and low on fuel sounds like. T’s don’t have fuel pumps and depend on gravity flow and anything to deprive them of good fuel flow isn’t good.

And again. All it takes is just one time and you’ll find out the hard way why the spark is retarded when hand cranking a T. We have to remember our modern cars and trucks do all the thinking for us when we start and drive them. WE have to do the thinking for a Model T when we start and drive them. I...

I have a 24 Coupe and it’s not like the possible deck lid support on mine.

Good information to check out! http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/193597.html
All it takes is one time and then it will finally sink in about proper timing.

Here a photo of a T riveted differential half that ended its days as a jack stand. It’s the one in the center with the brazed rivets to stop leaks when it was still in use.

Bronze is a little harder material than brass. I’m thinking the originals were bronze. There were some repo brushes made that weren’t the best that were a replacement you could buy individually.

No seal or gasket on any T deck lids from 14-22 that I know of. Metal on metal and that’s it. No T’s are completely water tight. Even the closed T’s leak a little but not much if any.

Pretty much a thin dimes worth.

The Ford service manual on page 237 paragraph 1002 says to set the spark plug gap APPROXIMATELY 1/32”.
1/32” is .03125 which is ABOUT the thickness of a thin dime.

I split the difference. .030. The spark plug gap is about like setting the carb 1 1/4 turn and the going from there to get the setting for each particular car. That being said all T’s aren’t exactly alike.
Didn’t Henry say to set the gap with a thin dime?

The interior may have some oval headed trim screws on the dash.

Absolutely Ford used spot welding. The body of my 21 Touring was joined together at the lower section at the rear doors using three spot welds. And by the way the spot welds were pretty good. You could barely see them when Ford painted the bodies. The A I cloud geniuses are about as bright as the T ...

For what it’s worth Fordwood sells the top wood and related parts but you probably already know that. Yes they are slow but the top and other wood parts might be a way to at least start getting a better idea how the parts go together. I have a feeling the sedan body wood was put together in a genera...

I bought a recored low radiator off of EBay and when I got it I noticed the top tank and head outlets were way out of line. I made a spacer to get the correct alignment. Works and aligns fine. Not real noticable either. It’s made from a piece of flat 3/8” plate.

Love seeing Model T’s in the real world of their popularity in the teens, twenty and thirty’s. Model T’s paint jobs weren’t the very best and didn’t last as long as today’s modern paint jobs. After a few weeks in the country driving on the roads of that time they drove through MUD, rough roads and m...

If you can find a shop that works on older tractor radiators that will be your best bet in getting a recore. The shop here in the Waco Texas area did a recore for me that was fine. The shop also works on heavy truck radiators and builds radiators for replacements. The owner had a source that makes f...

Didn't Ford and Dodge Brothers have some type of collaboration along the way during the early teens? I was thinking they made parts for Ford and later started building their own cars.

Is the radiator a round tube radiator? If it is it could be original to the car. That could be your problem. More than a few T’s have had the engine rebuilt with the original radiator still in it. A mistake is thinking that if the radiator looks good it’s OK. But not always. After over 100 years the...

The parts you need are on this page from Lang’s. The bolt, clamp and nut. https://www.modeltford.com/pl.aspx?t=s& ... amp&page=1

This should give you an idea of what parts you need for your spare tire bracket.

Your Tudor sedan looks pretty good and seems to be an original car! If it were mine I would remove the tank and clean it out along with the sediment bulb. Your lucky to find that 2 door and looks like it was stored out of the weather!! That’s a really good thing. Have you got the Ford service manual...

If you replaced the timer did you replace the wires one wire at a time when you changed it? That’s a fool proof way to do it to avoid mixing up the timer wires.

Check out the Fordson house.com. They sell new old stock parts and good used parts for Forson tractors. A few yews ago I sold a good magneto coil ring for a Fordson tractor I had for a really good price. They were glad to get it. I contacted them and sent them a picture of it. They sent me a Check p...

As far as the rim goes you’re not going to your run T fast enough to make any difference. You have to remember Model T’s weren’t built like a Rolls Royce or to high standards as other high end makes were. If it doesn’t shimmy or wobble your OK. I would remove the front rims with the tires and watch ...

Thanks for the tips. I may change the radiator coolant. I have antifreeze in it since the shop isn’t heated for winter. Maybe I should use less antifreeze in it. It’s got over 1/2 antifreeze in it. We dont get long weeks of below freezing in central Texas. Maybe 1/4 antifreeze and the rest water mig...

Hi Mike It will greatly be to your advantage to buy yourself the The Ford Service manual that will help you learn about a Model T. Also call and ask Snyder’s, Lang’s, and Chaffins. Ask for their parts catalogues. There is a wealth of information for parts and identifying what you may need for your c...

I was looking at my 21 Touring today and noticed the replacement flat tube radiator has a couple of damp spots on it and very small leaks. These are very slow and not dripping. The radiator was a flat tube recore bought on eBay years ago when I was assembling parts to build the 21. I haven’t use any...

If you have difficulty getting holes lined up on a ball cap or any other holes use a long taper punch or if you don’t have one a screwdriver can work also. The holes in a ball cap are identical distance to each other. Sometimes putting the ball cap bolts in put one in the bottom and then one at the ...

Bump down the left side splash guard/engine pan where it’s far enough down so the spark rod will get a little longer stroke down. Looks like to me the guard/pan took a lick and was pushed upwards sometime in the past. You may not have to cut out a notch to get it to clear but not sure.

I’m hoping they will still make T sheet metal. There isn’t many other folks if any making T sheet metal body panels and etc that I know of. In some ways old car hobbies are changing. Supply and demand for later ‘old cars’ and classic cars sell for more money and the demand for parts for them is wher...

By the looks of this company and reading their information on what they can make these folks could make Model T band linings but the cost to do it would come into question. Like other items would there be enough interest and could enough be made to keep the cost down.

That’s sound like you repaired a big part of the slack in your steering column. While your at it jack up the front end of your T and slowly turn the steering wheel from side to side. Watch closely the front end for looseness in the king pins, tie rod ends and the steering arm. You may be surprised i...

Why not get a 3/8 or 1/2 longer solid rod. That may a way to keep the original look instead of adding piece to keep it moving back. Or did Ford come out with a replacement longer rod if it was a common issue? Why was it cut a bit shorter?

Even when new Model T’s weren’t quite as we think of today. And after they got driven for a while they slowly got more looser and noisey. The quietest antique brass era cars were the heavier cars like the Winton and other bigger heavier cars. But even those cars weren’t built like our cars are today...

Something must not be moving. I have a 24 Coupe and I finally took off the firewall and for me everything was easier to get to. I did it that way. Look closely with someone looking on as you move it up to see where it’s hitting on or dragging on. Was the handbrake moving the clutch ring back and for...

Bottom line is what others have said. A good cooling radiator is a must for a Model T to really drive and enjoy. Radiators can fool you if they look good and especially if it’s an original. Either get it recored or buy a new flat tube. A poor cooling radiator is first in line to cause cooling issues...

Maybe the free crankcase service was checking for oil leaks and tightening up the bolts where necessary! But T’s didn’t leak a “whole lot” did they.

That’s super neat to find the box with it! It doesn’t look beat up either. Really good things are out there and you have to be at the right place at the right time!

The Ford service manual has the information you need. When anyone buys and owns a Model T it should be by your easy chair or reading area and looked at often.

As the old saying goes we live and learn!

Just for grins I looked up dimple die on Amazon and there are all kinds of sizes and sets. There are also other makers and suppliers for dimple dies. Be warned though they aren’t cheap. That’s probably the reason the reproduction sill plates don’t have them. The machine work to make the one stamping...

That’s what I do also. Add pictures to your photo files and when you want to use a picture go to attachments and your picture files will come up. Click on the picture and it will be added to your post or add. That’s the way I do it.

How about using some raised washers. On the original sill plates that’s the effect that was being used less the seam around the screw hole. They come in all sizes and finishes. They would look pretty close but of corse not perfect.

The photo of the older man contemplating whether to go across the muddy road or turn around says a lot when T’s were being used for transportation in the early days of motoring. Could he be thinking about burning out the bands or just turning around. It’s the 12th photo from the top. Great group of ...

I agree that if the Ford branches had enough parts or chassis they used up the parts to build up a complete car. It only makes sense. And the left over parts were sold as time went on. I think that even though the T was old history and out of date there was enough out there that needed parts to keep...

The copper head gaskets can be reused more than once and more if you remove them carefully and clean off the block and head surface well. We have to remember to clean up the head and block really well! In fact in the T era owners would do this more than you think. Sometimes we overthink and start re...

I guess some of the forum members who own Model T’s or have owned them for many years take the Ford service manual and older Ford service books or service books in general for getting repair advice for a Model T. Over the years the books “evolved” . The last Ford service book or manual is the summat...

Allan has the simplest repair idea that works. I have a 24 Coupe that has the zinc/aluminum sill plates and using the method that Allan spoke about is the best way for cracks in this application. It will last as long you own and drive your car and beyond.

Jack the car up on both rear wheels in neutral and press your reverse pedal and see if the wheels turn in reverse. If you have the linkage adjusted correctly you should get a good neutral. After you check if your wheels are turning in reverse put the car in neutral then use the low speed pedal and s...

[/image]It’s now time to remove the fuel tank, clean it out, clean or replace the fuel sediment bulb and that will probably solve your problem. When you found out you were blocking the vent hole that helped for a while which indicates there is a fuel flow problem.

This one that Lang’s sell will fit but you may have to file or grind one side to fit over your door hinge. https://www.modeltford.com/item/7854H.aspx

There may be others out there.

As Steve mentioned it could be possible that the wood firewall was replaced sometime in the early 20’s and even later. If you had a low cowl wood firewall a dealer might have had a steel one or even went to a salvage yard to put one in your car. In the low cowl transition years it probably happed mo...

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