MTFCA Forum

Stuart Little was his first Children's book. I think in about 1947. Charlotte's Web -- as I recall -- came out in 1952. We used to have a program on Public Radio called Listener's Bookstall. I recorded just a chapter or so of Charlotte's Web for them probably 20 years ago. Now I wish I had taken tim...

I burn it. Use it for fire starter. If there is anything left of it at all. If you put it in a parts cleaner with some water and a little soap in it the solids and junk pretty much settles out and it lasts and lasts and lasts and lasts.

Make 4 disks from plywood that are snug in the housings. Drill a 1/8 inch centered hole in each one. When you have the sleeves out, press the wooden disks in, bolt the housings together and look through the hole. If you can seen all the way through your housings are straight. If they aren't you need...

There is a lot of information out there, it's not that big a job once you get everything apart and cleaned up. One thing I do that will get you vilified by some and applauded by others is setting the ring and pinion clearance. There is no real way to get accurate readings with the bearing setup that...

Agitene. Five gallon can last time I bought some was about $90. Cleans very well, evaporates slowly but well enough to air dry parts. Very low flamability. Stoddard solvent. Available here from any oil distributor. Five gallon can about $50. Works well, not as good as Agitene but good for a parts wa...

His name was Elwyn Brooks White. Born July 11, 1899, Died Oct 1, 1985.
Graduated Cornell 1921. Worked at New Yorker magazine.
Wrote Farewell My Lovely as an essay in 1936, published as author Lee Stout White in the New Yorker. He later expanded it to a small book under his real name.

He also wrote Charlotte's Web, one of the best children's books of all time. Trumpet of the Swan followed but was never as popular as Charlotte. In a former life I taught grade school. I read Charlotte's Web to the kids at least 17 times, we all cried when Charlotte died. Not that this has anything ...

Just met a new T guy via a phone call a few minutes ago. 26 Coupe, rebuilding it, has a Prus engine, having the wheels done at Callimers, new top, etc., looking for a Ruckstell, preferably rebuilt but a builder if that's all he can find. Located in Kalispell, about 4 hours from me. Invited him to se...

About twenty years ago I bought a big box of gaskets at an auction in South Dakota that turned out to have about 25 new Victor head gaskets individually sealed in cellophane and on a Victor backing board. It took me a couple years to sell 20 of them on ebay for $25 each, I thought I'd really cut a f...

It also helps when you contact somebody about buying a specific carb and want the best of the best, restored with an adjustable jet, etc., that you expect it to be expensive. It also helps if you give them some idea of what your budget is, what you are looking for ---- Big Zoom, a little more power,...

Kevin is right

This is a great service to the hobby. The crap some of the vendors have been selling for years had the tips cut on a form cutter and a very small feed hole. Scott's are a great improvement. True they are several dollars more than the cheap ones but which would you rather have, one the works right or...

Put a tag on it. Take it to the post office and they will charge you $2.90 for a non machinable item. They will print a tag, put it in a sack, put the tag on the sack and insure it for whatever you want. I've done everything from fenders to tires to an engine block that way. The post office will mai...

Thank you. It is a great school and very well supported by the community. There are a lot of good schools everywhere and a lot of great kids. The media tends to focus on the bad ones. Rural Montana presents its own challenges with distance & economy, many schools have combined sports programs with o...

I got a pm from a forum member -- not snarky, just curious -- as to whether Ayden is a real cowboy or just dresses like it. He and his dad and younger brother all Team Rope, Ayden is ranked. They own a couple nice ranches. He is also a licensed pilot and flies his families 210 and Mooney as well as ...

I have two of these, only need one, this one is either NOS or close to it. Back in the days of bad gas, weak batteries and cold weather, this would have been a life saver if it did what it said it would. I've never tried it but I'm sure it would help. $150 including priority mail shipping in the US....

Here is a hard one to find, bought this awhile back and decided I want a set of Sure Stop Brakes for my Coupe worse than I need this. Took it apart and guess what. New Old Stock. Unfortunately, like most of the early pot metal, the piece that controls the governor part of it has swelled up and crack...

Well, I'm sorry I posted the same photo twice but it won't let me delete it because all I can get is a screen that says "Sorry, you can not delete a post that has been replied to."

So it goes.

I spent the weekend blizzard digging through shelves and boxes trying to straighten up my shop and find some things to sell to add to my "Sure Stop Brakes for my Coupe," account. Here is the first one. Nice example of the popular and unique Air Friction Carburetor. I bead blasted the outside and ran...

Emma

Sorry, I posted the wrong one of Ayden and Kylie. Here is the one I intended to post.

Well, it's pretty off topic I suppose but the kids in Twin Bridges and my sister's grandchildren seem to me to be a lot like we were growing up 60+++ years ago. Busy, capable, courteous and ambitious. The school in Twin Bridges has things that are unheard of in a lot of places. A dress code that inc...

Note that the one Scott makes is solid brass with a viton tip and is heavy enough to pull away from the seat if your gas is slightly sticky.
Nothing will work in old shellacky gas.

I could write a bunch about this but won't . What I will say is that the school my kids went to still has an active shop class and program. EVERY student beginning in 7th grade takes shop for two years or more. Learn to identify 150 tools, mechanic and woodworking, and use them. They learn to change...

Great save. Anybody can build a new one. Saving old is what I like.

Just take the bolts out of one side. Most of those trunk lids ended up as sleds in the 30's.
They make a great sled, were easy to get off, two boys could twist one out in thirty seconds!

Where is this?

Probably just like the poorly made and worthless needles and seats for NH carburetors made a few years ago that were form cut instead of ground.
Higher profit for the maker. No concern about what the quality was.

Interesting!! I've never seen but one or two Roof heads. Also interesting is the carb on the one Steve Meixner posted. That is either a U5 or U6 Zenith. Great carbs with a brass venturi. Hard to find that aren't all beat up and missing stuff. I am working on one for an overhead setup for some body i...

I never even thought that you would think that was directed at you, Terry.
Everybody knows who the world's greatest expert is, I assumed you did too.

Sorry if you took it that way.

Carb sold in less than an hour. Thanks!
Thanks to MTFCA for this site.

Silver solder is strong enough to hold Air Conditioning Compressor pressure on the high side for cooling, which cycles from high pressure to higher pressure for years without leaking or failing. Lead/Tin solder is strong enough to hold 99 % of the radiators in the world together under heated water c...

Probably somewhere between "Rare" and "Not too common." I just bought a couple of them yesterday, have probably 4 or 5 of them on the shelf. They came in various sizes and were popular with the racing crowd. They are better for racers than for everyday driving. They came out in the late teens and we...

So yesterday I had a young guy come that wanted to learn how to rebuild his NH. I knew he'd been coming for awhile so I had set aside this NH as a good one for rebuild. He also brought two along. I got this one awhile back attached to an ASKE pre-heater manifold, it looked in excellent condition exc...

THAT IS JUST COOL!!!!! I HAD FORGOTTEN THAT MIKE ROBISON IN SPOKANE HAD A 16 VALVE (if I ever knew)

David, I am not buying carbs much anymore. I bought a Master the other day because it had the correct original manifold for it. Hope to have it sold and paid for before Christmas, I am trying to round up money for a set of Sure Stop brakes for my coupe. I'm gaining on the pile, cranking them out day...

John is off hunting so I'll just tell you what little I know about it. That is an A head, the first of the Roof 16 valve heads. The intake manifold bolts to the side of the block, the exhaust to the side of the head. It was replaced by the B, then the BB, then the C. The C is worth several times wha...

John Steele has several of those 16 valve heads and reproduced the racing manifolds for them several years ago.

If you want his contact information email me at stanhowemt@aol.com and I will hook you up.

Also, you should sell me that Carburetor!!!!

Hey Tim, is the bowl good on the two screw?? A lot of them are cracked and nobody is making repros anymore.

I the bowl is good I'd buy them. Stanhowemt@aol.com

That's just so COOL!!!!!

I have a little jig that hooks over the side of the bowl to position the hole, drill it #29, thread it 8-32, make a grub screw to screw into it. Someday somebody will be going through all the special jigs and etc I made for these carbs and be saying, "What do you suppose this goofy looking thing is?...

My SO has been a small town/rural carrier for almost twenty years. She has to has constant evaluations by somebody from "evaluation" teams who ride in the back of the van and time how long it takes to move from one mailbox to the next. They are never there when it's thirty below with the wind out of...

They don't salt anything here. They do use some chloride spray.
Pretty much everybody here has 4x4 outfits or all wheel drive.
Subaru is the number one seller in Montana after Ford F150.
Learn to drive is the Mantra.

Closeup!!!

My yard Saturday morning. Sorry I didn't go wade through over a foot of new snow to take a pic of the coupe!

Been working all morning on getting some of these ready for assembly. Already had them bead blasted and passages drilled, just polished most of them, te-tapped all the threaded holes, resurfaced all the mating surfaces including where the seat screws into the bottom of the bowl which is almost alway...

I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't believe the seller.

On the other hand, I read people for a living. Knowing whether they are going to bid again or not by their eyes and their face.

Mostly, I believe what people tell me.

I have a couple manifold heaters, one will go in my Coupe. They throw a lot of heat compared to nothing.

I'll try to post a photo of two.

I would definitely want to do some testing before I dumped it in a brass carburetor . Plus a lot of the time I don't have time to fool with things. I need to get it done and move on to the next one. Time is money but some days a lot of time isn't much money. I do all this work on flat fee, if I can ...

It's pretty good here but there are a lot of background things going on we don't think about. One here is the number of Amazon shipments coming in to rural America. They are all treated as priority and there is so much volume that the carriers are swamped. Where they used to have mail for only a per...

Rebuild used to mean a set of rings and a valve grind. That's what I assume when somebody says "rebuilt."

I figure anything beyond that is a bonus.

Yeah, I probably could have fooled around for half a day trying to get the broken piece of the easy out removed and still would have had to get the idle jet out. The broken part of the easy out was the size of a toothpick. This is actually a fairly common problem. Often that is why it is on ebay or ...

It is early winter here. We are 15 miles from the Continental divide at 4000 feet, 175 miles from Canada. Tonight and the weekend are going to be a major storm, a foot of snow, wind, 5 above F by tomorrow morning. Full of propane, antifreeze checked in all the vehicles, going to go look for my winte...

This wasn't a tap, it was a broken Easy Out down in a hole. My experience with them is that by the time somebody breaks off an Easy Out they have already ruined the head or slot you need to screw it out with. The first one of these I did probably took me all afternoon, this is probably the tenth one...

I know I typed fell instead of feel but I had so much trouble posting this I am afraid to try to edit it.

Back to the shop, back to the shop, I just wasted nearly an hour posting this.

2020 10 21 OF side cut.jpg 2020 10 21 OF pieces cut out.jpg 2020 10 21 OF easy out.jpg 2020 10 21 OF idle jets.jpg I made about 20 new idle jets last week, they are almost always damaged or missing. I fell bad for the guy that sent it to me but I can't warranty somebody else's work or lack of it. T...

Waste of time!!!!

: 2020 10 21 OF side cut.jpg (26.21 KiB) Viewed 988 times

This has been sitting here for awhile, finally came up in the queue. Been doing OF's all week, making parts and trying to get some done and in the mail. Finally got back to the shop early last week after fall auction season and doing some needed work at the ranch, beat the snowstorm but not the cold...

Yeah, I pretty much like them in work clothes. My attitude is that anybody can restore them, it's hard to find an original. The paint has oxidized some from sitting outside for two years but it will clean up, I think, to where it looks like it would have in the 40's when it was just an old Ford, whi...

I have at least two . One is a commercial unit, the other is home made using timer rollers for the weights.

Very ingenious!

That is not to say I could find either one of them in this mess.

It had a new wood kit for the top partly installed but was missing some pieces. I will make new pieces and have looking for an old green army tarp to cover with. The interior will be worn blue jeans and it will get a Hoover Box where the trunk is. All original except the fenders were brush painted s...

Perry, I've heard there is a guy in Montana that's pretty good but is old and fat and lazy, hard to get him to do anything. I'll probably get one if those guys who wipes em off with an oily rag and calls em restored. =) The picture is from Friday night. We got a foot of snow Friday and Saturday. It ...

Listed this last spring, guy was all hot to buy it but never sent any money or showed up so it's for sale. It is sitting outside and I'd like to see it go to a good home before it spends another winter full of snow. I have more photos if you need them. I may have to take more of it from the side and...

2020 10 20 Model Coupe snow.jpg Hoping to get it inside and start working on the top and upholstery, do a little carb switch to something that runs better and build a Hoover Box for the back where the trunk used to be. Also going to install my manifold heater, new wiring and upgrade to LED bulbs. A...

Is there suddenly some huge shortage of rear end housings?? I guess I fail to see the problem with cutting off an inch of a housing in order to install safety hubs. I've probably got 40 or 50 sets of housings and a dozen complete rear ends if there is a shortage. But then I'm not the absolute expert...

James is right. The G is the best all around Ford supplied carburetor -- I don't care what the experts say. Big bowl for plenty of reserve going up a hill. Starts easily, runs great, idles fine and if you want really great idle it is easy to modify it to make an adjustable idle control. Ford didn't ...

Before you spend money on a Ruckstell or Warford, buy a good timer and a set of coils rebuilt by somebody who knows what he is doing. Then buy a new timer to power them. Buy or borrow a good accessory carburetor. Go drive the car. Be realistic about the power you have and the power you need. It is a...

Before you spend money on a Ruckstell or Warford, buy a good timer and a set of coils rebuilt by somebody who knows what he is doing. Then buy a new timer to power them. Buy or borrow a good a accessory carburetor. Go drive the car. Be realistic about the power you have and the power you need. It is...

I've had a couple with distributors on them. Seems like it takes too much away from it being a T if you don't have coils to beat on or cuss at on a tour. Can't hear them on my current 27 coupe but on the older ones I like to hear them singing going down the road, too. I also don't like Rocky Mountai...

In my opinion, based on owning Ts since 1954, the two best things you can do to a T are a good carburetor and a Ruckstell. Once you've had one......
Then buy some good brakes.
Go drive.

Dunno what the cost is now but the last time I bought a one pound roll of Silver Solder it was right at a Hundred Bucks. But it's worth it. Get the good stuff. I had a roll I salvaged out of a box of Solder and related I bought at an auction probably 30 years ago. Must have been 2 or 3 pounds all wa...

Layden, this guy had some Pasco hubs and wheels for sale awhile back. I bought two wheels, got outbid on the hubs. He had one set of Pasco that didn't sell, he may still have them. If you can't find one, I'll unpack the two I bought and sell you one. Stan Howe https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-24-wir...

Thanks, John. To say that one was a challenge is an understatement. They got a lot of hard use in rural America and Australia in early days, sucked a lot of dust and the balls vibrated with every bump. The seats wore to where the balls would stick or not seal, which yours wouldn't, but it wasn't as ...

They are simple carburetors and run well. Throw out all the old balls. Buy new ones the correct size. Grind the seats with a small ball shaped stone the same size. Fuel height in the bowl is critical to getting the engine started. My email is stanhowemt@aol.com I will give you some offline advice if...

Usually what happens is that the owners sold the item to somebody who came to them and offered to buy it, telling them that "You'll never get that for it at the auction and this way you won't have to pay commission." Everybody wants an absolutely straight up honest auction until they have theirs. Th...

A lot of times it is the low bidder that got the auction. You can do a first class job, make some money or be low bidder but you can't do all three. There is a sale coming up nearby with some nummy cars, lots of good parts, etc. Auction???? NO WAY!!! Not going to give everything away like they do at...

I wasn't there but it looks to me like they got every dime that was there. Two high School boys with an air compressor would have made them some money. Several years ago we proved how to double your money on tires. Buy new tires and put them on. Costs about $300-400 a car. Get to where the money is ...

I don't have any extras right now and I'm so buried in work I don't have time to make any but I buy 1.375 aluminum round stock and make them a dozen or so at a time. One is not a lot but a dozen of them from the suppliers at $27.50 each adds up.

Phil nailed that one. I have two from him and one I found for parts. They will be the last of these. They run pretty well but are hard to do anything with because of the Aluminum bodies. I've been trying to find time on a day I'm in a good mood to get them done. I also don't work on Stromberg RF's u...

My 27 coupe has original paint on the body, Moss Green, but the fenders are Black and have been repainted with a brush many years ago.

Spent the better part of the day a few days ago making this. Started with two junk carbs with the correct sized flanges, cut the flanges off, two more carbs, cut the elbows off a couple Zenith 04's which is the best thing to do with them -- use them for parts. Did a little work on the mill, fitted t...

I had a nos one years ago. It was also green. I've seen some of the last OFs that were also painted dark green.
I dunno why.
Nice carb, I was going to run it but a guy who collects them had more money than I did, sold it to him.

They aren't that tough. I center drill the old jet out, ream the hole and tap it 5/16 - 32, make a new idle jet upper with the old tube lower soldered to it. I fought the old ones for several years trying to get them out, finally came up with a solution. Good carbs but I don't work on them. I sold a...

Somebody awhile back was looking for a Stromberg RF carb. This one is on ebay, misidentified as a carb for a Model A. It's not mine, I just saw it on my morning carb search and thought somebody might want it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-STROMBERG-CARBURETOR-Ford-Model-A-sa/193640402092?hash=ite...

I've known Ross for at least 30 years. You won't have any problems.

The two things that made me sell my 62 T bird convertible were 1. The windshield wiper motor is accessed through the radio speaker hole. It is recommended to REMOVE THE WINDSHIELD for better access. If I was ever going to do it again I would have to lose 50 lbs, take agility training for 6 months an...

They are 14-24 thread screws. Next time you are ordering something from McMaster Caar or MSC, order box of 14-24 FILLISTER head screws. Makes it a lot easier to keep them on the tip of the screw. Take a nice long screwdriver, grind the tip until it will just start in the slot, tap it in the slot wit...

It would be nice if every reproduction was perfect but they aren't. One that comes to mind is the hundreds of Holley NH needles and seats that were form cut instead of ground. Every one leaked like a sieve but the maker never said a word until they were all sold and has ducked the issue of who made ...

That folder was for the last version of the Stromberg Carburetor for Model T Fords. The RF. It came out along toward the end of the party, late 25, Ford was transitioning to the Vaporizer so to upgrade you had to go back to an earlier set of manifolds. They still sold pretty well, run great, don't l...

Mark, I just avoid them. I have so many OF bodies that need parts I spend time on those. I need a bunch of parts laser cut again. The guy who did the last batch died, need to find somebody. Tim, the RFs are great carbs, I just wish they hadn't used crappy Aluminum to make them. The brass welds to t...

Every time I can round up a little money I buy more taps and dies. I just bought the 17/32 x 20 tpi set for that goofy nut on Kingston 5 balls.
Just ordered it this morning.

BTW, the threads are 1/4 x 32, good investment working on carbs.

I don't do anything that isn't brass except Marvel Schebler pieces of crap for my old tractors. Well, a few Zeniths too, for the Farmalls.

That would sure work. The threaded insert at the top of the idle jet is all that sticks in the aluminum. I just mill it out with a quarter inch mill bit, enlarge the hole with a stepped mill cutter to 5/16 tap drill size down through the threaded area, thread it, whip up a new threaded idle jet uppe...

I've had several people that got burned buying an Overland OF that were not happy when I told them it would be an extra charge to set it up for a model t.
------- don't believe everything you read on eBay -----

Mark, I just avoid them. I have so many OF bodies that need parts I spend time on those. I need a bunch of parts laser cut again. The guy who did the last batch died, need to find somebody. Tim, the RFs are great carbs, I just wish they hadn't used crappy Aluminum to make them. The brass welds to th...

Here is a little free information regarding Stromberg OF carburetors. Not all OF's were for Model T's. There was also a version made for Overland cars. The major differences are: 1. The mounting holes are slightly further apart to fit the Overland manifold. 2. The mounting holes are not threaded as ...

Royce has moved to someplace nearTulsa and is building a new shop.
I think all his T stuff is on hold until they get moved, moved in and etc.

I was using a brass float but have some new synthetic material I like better which can be shaped like the original cork float. I make a needle of my own design that uses the original seat. I do not like drilling out the original seat to put a modern type seat in. Most of those do not pull the needle...

Not that I know of. The air intake varies from year to year but the body of the carb is the same as near as I can tell. The later ones also added a butterfly choke but that is also part of the air intake.

Sorry Jim, I didn't see your question. No paint. I've never found paint that drys fast enough for me and that won't melt or soften in the new alcohol fuels. Any color you see on anything is powder coat. I use Black River or Cast Iron powder, spray the parts and cook them in a toaster oven. I buy pow...

Thanks, Steve I don't like them tarted up like a cheap hooker, I like a little smooth bling and just the right amount of Jewelry. I like the brass screws and bronze lock washers, etc. I also make those bowl nuts, they are 1 inch x 24 tpi, I make them with a slight riser to put pressure in the right ...

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