MTFCA Forum

Still learning the Model T. My '15 engine needs rebuilt so I plan to put a '17 engine in for a while. Are there any issues doing that i should be aware of? I heard the '17 had a higher head. Will that cause any issues connecting to my brass radiator?

Appreciate any experienced input.

David

Hello Fellow MTFCA members,

I think that my 1924 Touring (w/ 27 engine and drivetrain) broke its crankshaft on the National Tour in Buellton CA last week. It made a horrible solid-metal-on-solid-metal sound while cruising in high gear. I immediately pulled over. The engine had already shut itself down. I pulled the spark plugs and am able to turn...

I took a 35-mile drive today and the last half a mile was up a steep, rutted and rocky road when my 26 Coupe quit. Flipping the key over to the battery it started immediately, but when switched back to mag it quit again. I managed to get to our destination on battery and when starting for home after lunch it was the same scenario. However, down...

Picked this up with T parts.
What does it fit.

Some years ago a guy was reproducing an overhead valve head, does anyone know who this guy is? He also made a dual overhead cam model T head too that I saw running at the 100th anniversary in Indiana.

Installing the roof covering kit. Not sure how the front flap is to be installed at the corners. Do I cut it? Pictures anyone?

After painting my 26 roadster pickup I am installing the body back on the frame. When I took it apart there was wood in odd places between the frame and body. Things really didn’t line up right either . Does the body bolt directly to the frame or should there be some type of spacer like a rubber washer? Thank you for any input on this.

I am looking for a source for the square headed bolts, nuts with their sizes that were used for the chassis on the model T along with locations where used. I am currently working on a 1924 but would be interested in any source for any years. I have the two volumes of the parts identification guide, but he only references the early Ts 1909-1914 in...

I came across this and found it interesting. Artist renditions are very often not accurate, but for what it's worth (which I realize isn't much) this runabout (in my eyes) has what many refer to as coupe fenders. It is from a 1924 brochure, linked here... I would guess the brochure is from summer of CY 1924, since Page 3 mentions summer and fall,...

How much wheel wobble, or any, is normal or acceptable?

I re-spoked three wheels and all four have about 1/4” of wobble.

On another T I recently acquired I notice about the same. I haven’t checked my TT yet.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Does anyone have diagram (breakdown) of a magneto horn? I believe there is suppose to be some paper gaskets but don't remember seeing them when I cleaned mine. My horn sounds pathetic.

This weekend I removed the old top and bow wrapping on my 1915 runabout restoration project. The bows had what appeared to be original wrapping, and I felt like I was unwrapping an old Egyptian mummy. The front bow wood had 30 lbs marked on it. Does anyone know if Ford, or whomever made the top bows for him in 1915, use recycled wood for the bows?...

I just installed a new motometer and gull wing cap. I put the rubber gasket between the meter and cap and tightened it up. A few miles and I see water filling up the meter. (Overfilled the rad). How did the water get up in there? Never had this problem with two of my other cars.

When checking the wobble of my front tires with a square on the floor in front of the bottom of the tires, I get 1/8th inch movement as my wheels spin around. I have wire wheels and thought the movement was from slightly bent wheels, but it is actually from my front hubs. They have a slight wobble as they spin around the spindle. They spin very...

The opposite of the Time magazine opinion...
Interesting read :D

Getting there.... 3:1 gears in:

IMG_3210.PNG

Hello Fellow Club Members,

I was hoping you might help me with a question.

Besides the cost of the crankshaft itself, is there a big difference in related expense between putting a Model A, Model B, or Scat crankshaft in our 1927 engine compared to just putting a Model T crankshaft back in it?

-Steven

I recently primed and sanded a coil box lid in preparation for a new coat of black paint. Seconds after the black paint hit the primer it started to react with a cracking and spidering of the paint. I stopped immediately to reduce the amount I now have to sand of. I typically have good results with rattle can paint on small parts but this is also...

I want to thank Dave Seiler and all the OC members for putting on a cowabunga tour!
The food was very very delicious and the weather was what California is famous for:
Sunny
Thank you
20190503_113538.jpg

One of our club members was looking for a Hayes style felloe with the notch for a Hayes rim and found this felloe, but what's with the dimples and no holes? How do you shape the end on the tenon? . . . or was this just not drilled?

My cousin, Ken Jones of Aberdeen, WA. and more recently of Andover, MN. passed away Feb 26, 2019 in Aberdeen, WA. Ken was a student of the model T. He spent many hours in Detroit studying model T details. I got my start in the hobby as a kid waxing fenders and polishing brass on his 1915 Touring. I'll miss his passion for the details and...

I posted something a year ago about moving. I now reside in the greater Amherst area and am looking to network and find other local T owners. I have my car ready for the season but don't want to go down the road alone. If you're local send me a PM. Thanks! :D

I plan to attend a swap meet Sunday at Gateway by St. Louis. Can someone post pictures of the correct hubcaps for a late Oct 11 Touring? Thanks, Art

I am getting ready for spring and have a spindle question I hope someone can answer. I am checking for looseness in the front end and have a tiny bit of play in my spindle bushings. If I put a square on the floor in front of the bottom of the tire and grab the tire top and bottom to wiggle, I get 3/32 outward movement of the bottom of the tire....

Got some starters in a parts lot. A or T ? or both??
Got one in a T lot of stuff, and had it working.
And got these two in a A parts lot.
starters.jpg

I posted a want ad on the classified for early rim nuts, and Adam asked me to post a picture. It doesn't look like I can post a picture on a reply on the classifieds, so here is a picture of what I'm looking for.

Hi all,

I'm doing some family research for my 95-year-old mom from photos of her grandfather's that I'm trying to get more info about. I *think* they might be 1914 era, the license plate (on other photos I have) shows Mass 1915. He worked at the time as a chauffeur and had had his own livery business about that time in Boston. I'm also wondering...

Pictured are the old, blue floorboards as well as the body of the '11 Touring.

Also pictured are the new floorboards.

I don't know what type paint to use, what process (brush, roll, or spray), or the color's part number.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

My 1923 Fordor is black and it stays black, from what I've been told. It's a driver but I want it to look its best when it appears in public. The old paint job is showing it age and it is worn in places and has runs and some small dents. I took it to our local body shop and the young man running it gave me a quote of $3500 which I thought was...

I picked up these top irons thinking they would fit my uncles 23 roadster only to find out they definitely don't fit at all. Question now is, what do they fit?

Brad

As mentioned in a previous thread, I found a couple of brass screw heads in the drain plug while changing the oil and what I suspected has been confirmed. I pulled the starter and found one of the magnet retainer clips resting on the pan ledge next to the starter. So, the next logical step was to remove the hogshead and do some further...

Here's a photo of a photo of my great grandfather in what appears to be a fairly well constructed express-bodied T. What year is the chassis? If anyone would like a close-up view of any detail of the photo, I'd be happy to oblige. Thank you.

If you click the photo, it will open right side up (at least it is for me in the preview).

I picked up a '15 Runabout body over the weekend, which will evolve into my next Model T driver. I have pretty much everything else to build the car.

15 Roadster Body 005.JPG

15 Roadster Body 004.JPG

It turns out to be a real '15 or '16, so I'm happy about that. Something I haven't noticed before is the solid trim pieces which cover the...

So my 26 Touring has nickel windshield stanchions that are not on the car. In looking where they go one side of the body has three holes like the stanchion the other has two. I looked on the back side of the metal and could not see any evidence of a third hole that may have been filled in. The car did not have the windshield in it when I got it....

I have a 1921 touring with a ruckstell rear end. I will start driving it this spring(if spring ever come to north dakota). My question is, can i shift it into low ruckstell while stopped? Also would it hurt the rear end to leave it in low ruckstell while driving in town at 20 mph or less?

I'd like to give a shout out to Hank in Tin-A-See for making me a set of gas tank cover hinges.
Here is one of his hinges next to an original:

seat cover hinge hank.jpg

I asked him it if was ok for me to post a pic. He said it would be ok, but I warned him he would get requests to make more!

Mr. Lee, you are a true craftsman. Thank you!

: ^...

Picked up this accessory cast iron intake manifold at our local flea market this morning. Any ideas as to what carburetor it fits?

About 2 months ago I wanted to drive the T to a place I had driven the 26 T to a year or two before. I knew that after the weather turned warm it would be impossible to make this drive because of the soft ground so time was working against me and I was just getting over major health issues that kept me inside for the entire winter. March 7th was...

I have the AC brakes and the set made by Richard. I was wondering if you can install the AC brakes in a wire wheel that has a small drum and a large drum in place. I have looked over the pictures of the brakes and still am not sure how they are installed. Any chance someone could take of picture of the parts laid out in the orientation they go in...

I’m having my crankcase pan sandblasted. Is it ok to paint the inside when I paint the outside?
Thanks Tom

I have seen it somewhere ,but I can not find it now. Is the torque for the mains 45 foot lbs? :?: :roll:

Wiring help –getting direct DC power to coils bypassing ignition switch

Well men I need help. I am getting a 1918 Ford running again after decades of storage so a grandson can give the running car back to his 94 year old grandfather running. I need to do this quickly this week as the grandfather is ill. It has zero compression, no spark and a...

We visited Mendenhall Auto Museum on Tuesday evening to top off day 2 of the Tour. What an experience. I got some really good video of the owner talking about the history of the place. I couldn’t believe we got all our cars parked inside.

Here’s the link to the Video I put together

As well as a few pics

Jeff...

Sonny is doing figure 8s in the sand in below video.

Nice drive in great weather!!
Stopped at Mattis tavern 1886.

Are there any tie rod or drag link issues when using a dropped front axle?
Will an 8 leaf front spring will be suitable?
I will be using a T engine, 'A' crank, Fronty head. I forget the model, but not exotic. This setup should be a little heavier than a stock T engine.
What are the simple methods for dropping the rear to match the front? Z-ing...

Anybody ever use a lead test kit to check babbitt? The gun at the scrap yard is broken. image.jpg

Enjoying the pickup box on my runabout. Went to Home Depot this morning in the T to haul a few bags of mulch for the garden. It does smooth out the ride with the extra weight in the back.

I did not notice during disassembly that the carriage bolts holding the steering column flange to the firewall have two different size heads. They all seem to fit everywhere. Anyone know how these should go, and if it matters?

I posted something a year ago about moving. I now reside in the greater Amherst area and am looking to network and find other local T owners. I have my car ready for the season but don't want to go down the road alone. If you're local send me a PM. Thanks! :D

I am piecing together a T engine from a truck load of misc parts.
Have never took one apart, so having fun like putting a puzzle together.
What is differance between the narrow and wide bands??
Model T engine to drop in.jpg
Model T trans bands.jpg

Correct me if I'm wrong...
The spindle/wheel bearing threads are Rt hand on the left and left hand on the right.
I have a loose kingpin bushing on the left and found everything I need to replace them.
I also found a spindle that looks like new, bushings nice and tight with a NOS kingpin.
I plan on just swapping spindles, this one has RH threads,...

Hello Model T-ers,

Our June 3rd GOLDEN GATE TOUR (Marin County San Francisco) is only 4 weeks away and it's shaping up to be an engaging three and a half days. Please send your tour fee in to reserve your spot and also have the Mill Valley Travel Lodge transfer your reservation from my name to yours. All contact information is within the Tour...

Hello everybody. Where is the best place to get a new radiator core for my 1926 TT?

Were the backgrounds on the hubcaps for 1912 & 1913 painted black?

I am new to Model T's. Had a 30 A, and now have a 1919 T. Trying to get it running and cannot find the correct rotor for the distributor. Attached is a top down piture of the distributor, any assistance would be appreciated. R/jim

I was just wondering if anybody could tell me what this grille shell is from?

Can someone tell me the thread size of the radius arms, I need to chase the threads and I do not have a pitch gauge. Thanks for any help

Howdy, I am planning to swap the original engine & transmission in my '11 touring for a later engine/tranny with a starter for driving duties. The 11 will get tucked away for safe keeping and future rebuild. The newer engine is in a running driving car now and has a starter motor. However, the starter motor does not come with the engine - it is...

I have posted this photo from my Father's collection before and seen it in other places. Tourists Making Do with a sense of humor. Perhaps College Kids. The rear plate may be Utah - 1934 or not. They were using the '24-'25 YPC Buses at that time.
OpnAlNite.jpg

I bought the brass windshield channel kit for my 1910 T, but the corner bends that are on the channels are too wide. I have a small piece of the original channel corner and it is a tighter curve. How do you go about adjusting the bend in the curve so it's tighter? Anyone with experience on the subject kindly advise me. The kit isn't cheap but...

Does anyone have any photos showing how the meter mounts on an 18z245 cool tester. Just picked one up that needs restoration and I might be missing something.

Andy

Our car was built May, 27 1921. I'm thinking about having it a birthday party with cake and ice cream. I will invite some of it's friends. I've got the new Lang's catalog by my recliner trying to decide what to get it. I'm thinking new floor mats, hub caps, motometer, can't decide.
The party will be a surprise. :o Heck, I'm almost to the point...

The model T electrical book recommends Scotch brand 369 tape for insulating the individual coils on the coil ring both 1/4 and 1/2 But I cant seem to find those sizes anywhere can someone help? :evil:

Anyone know the right size pin to secure the commutator lever, on the end of the steering column?

I'm thinking of locating a nail of the correct diameter, cut and pien it over. That is how the throttle lever looks to be done.

1556479359865180614517842446700.jpg

Does anyone have a good resolution scan or a copy of the printed sheet originally glued on the inside of the 1912-1913 KW coil box? Thanks in advance!

Just in case someone is interested....

I put the T on the trailer last weekend and was very uncomfortable with driving it on and off.
It took me a couple tries to get it on and I was concerned about stopping it before encountering the Jelf bar.
Backing it off was easier but still not comfortable.

This weekend I made ramp extenders so the loading...

How can I get drawings from the Henry Ford? Would it be best to go there? You can pm me or send email if you do not want to post here. Thanks, Dan

I looked i8n the books but can not find out any information on this coupler, will this also work on the TT truck and how reare are these, Bob

Cool story. I'd like to find this set of books. Not sure how common they are.

I've seen Bill's torpedo seat not covered, but cannot seem to find any photos (T's or T Speedsters) showing his torpedo seat upholstered (I have seen his bucket seats upholstered).

Anyone?

Tom

Hi, The poem 'I Beheld That Tin T' containing such lines as: 'For I have squeezed the bearing grease zip-loc bag of iniquity' has now been officially published in a book of poetry, River and Mountain: Collected Poems of Ignacio Valdes. Please feel free to forward this to poetry lovers everywhere. -- IV

Before I'm told to research this, I already have but want to verify what I've found.

I'm putting a speedster together, nothing fancy, just fun. Wood spokes add a nostalgic, antique appearance but they're simply not as strong as a set of wire wheels. Now the cost of a set of T wires has gone through the roof, but a set of A wires are still readily...

Here is an early example of the '13 touring. This car must have been produced in late 1912, and is already converted to mag lights!

Here is what I believe to be a 1913 Town Car. Yes, it has an early steering column, but I believe they had to do this to get it to work with the limited space. The photo was taken in 1947. Notice the new General Tires!

I'm curious - which do you prefer? Both claim to stabilize gasoline in the tank, although neither says how long. And, is there a third choice I don't know about?

Just for interest sake I guess, I am posting the pic of a project I am building which is a 1926 T coupe body that had serious rust out issues in the rear so I got it modified in a shop and converted to a 5 window closed can pickup body.
I thought that mine may have been the only one in existence, but have since been told there is another similar...

I attended a car show this weekend. My car, a 1923, Fordor, Black is not show quality but is a great driver. I drove it the 32 miles to and from the show without any problems. The biggest wear issue on the car is the paint on the running boards. It wears off and shows signs or rust. I pulled them off last night and I'm considering taking them to...

F0EB8A69-FE31-4D1E-805B-E87B52A18114.jpeg

I have 2 questions. I just pulled the motor out of my 26 touring yesterday. I’ve had it for 20 years and done minor work on it to keep it running but decided it was time to rebuild the engine and transmission. It was last done almost 60 years ago. And by the looks of the magneto it was the right time. So it has ball bearing 4th main and the...

A week or so I posted that I was looking for a mentor on Long Island. I’ve been lucky to have met and worked with Tom Pilz and troubleshooted a bunch of problems with my TT. I am happy to say that yesterday we got it to run around the farms parking area in all it’s glory! Over hours of work we figured out that #3 coil box was not putting out a...

We hit Pismo Beach today. We even drove on the beachfront.

My Voltage regulator took a dump but I found a way around that. Otherwise the car is running great! No breakdowns so far. Headed back now.

1EE4F121-0B1C-442A-B48B-F57338C7D970.jpeg 5A0C5D1F-3A70-4859-98A1-CB69B3C8FC65.jpeg
So now that the front license plate bracket project is finished I am contemplating doing a run of these. I would probably make both a left and right version.

I have the above and am trying to detI am asermine if they will fit on a car with large and small drums. Will the AC's fit inside a combination of a large drum and a small drum? I am also trying to determine from the pictures how the front of the brake system works. The are nots of pictures from different angles, but If some one has the pieces of...

I finally got our '21 touring out today for the first time since about last Thanksgiving. I had planned to before now but health issues and bad weather held me up. I drove it for a couple of miles today and it did fine. The generator has never charged since we've had the car but I plan to take the generator to a local shop with vintage experience...

Its been a fight to get my model T running. This is my first T, and I know nothing about them. I had it running pretty good a few months back but the head gasket was leaking pretty bad. I was unaware it was putting water into the cylinder. a few months passed and I have pulled the head to replace the gasket. All the cylinders are rust free now and...

Late yesterday afternoon, four of us went for a ride in my ’27 Touring. After about 20 miles, we drove into a COE park to see the numerous deer there. I stopped at the gate and as the gate keeper was interested in the car, we started talking. I shut down the engine. It was running on mag. When I tried to restart it on battery, everything was dead....

Has anyone used or know about the cartridge pinion &thrust bearing for the D.S. for a 15? MEL.

This is a professionally rebuilt 1922 engine with transmission. It came with a speedster project that I purchased several years ago and I kept the engine with plans of using it in one of my own cars. The woman I bought it from said that her husband had the engine professionally rebuilt and she thought it was Ron's Machine Shop in Southwest OH that...

I am having an issue on my '15 bulb horn- when I squeeze the bulb normally I get backpressure and the bulb resists being squeezed which means very little (but good tone) sound. Its not all the time, but if I squeeze the whole thing= resistance, if I squeeze a portion of the bulb then it works.

Any idea what gives?

Thanks
Jim

From what I could find, seems this assembly was only used for 6 months in 1926, then they went back to the shorter hub and the later style of bracket, with a flanged eccentric and an eccentric plate.

1926FanAssemblyEarly.jpg

The only thing I'm not real clear on is the longer hub vs the shorter one...every one of the early 26's I've seen has...

Hello all! I am planning to go look at a couple Model Ts in the next couple days. I was told the one is a 1913 and the other is a 1927. Both are ran when parked a few years ago. I am wondering what I should look for or check on. I am new to model ts but have had several 50s cars. Also, what would be a ball park price on them? I think they want to...