Questions about Canadian made Model T's.

Post by **jaybee47** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:02 am

1) When did Canada start manufacturing?
2) When did Canada stop manufacturing?
3) Were all body types made in Canada?
4) What colors (excluding black) were available in Canada?
5) Was there a nameplate riveted to the dash that stated 'Made in Canada'?
6) What are other distinctive differences between Canadian and USA T's (besides square drive screws)?
Just my desire to learn and thank you for any input.

Kerry · Post by **Kerry** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:17 am

1, the company was organized in Aug 1904, first car Feb 1905, first T was 1909 x 458 T's
2, about the same time as USA?
3, yes
4, ?
5, yes
6, In T's, left and right front doors.

Bud Delong · Post by **Bud Delong** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:36 am

30x31/2 all around.Bud.

Post by **George Hand** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:57 am

Stater equipped cars came with a hole for the starter button on both sides of the front kick panel to accommodate left or right hand control. George

Post by **Humblej** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 8:24 am

Different for different years. Some Canadian features for the later T's include frames have holes for both left hand and right hand drive parts, open car lower windshields swing open, horn button on top of steering wheel, no dummy door on open cars. When respoking a wood wheel the spokes are shorter and modern replacements from the vendors will not fit.

KiwiFordGuy · Post by **KiwiFordGuy** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:12 am

This older post has some useful comments in regards to colours

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/11 ... 1277167448

Post by **FundyTides** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:28 am

In addition to the differences other have listed, I found that the rear seat bottom cushion on 27 Canadian Touring was deeper (front to back) than the US cars and therefor the standard Cartouche upholstery for this cushion would not fit. I had to have another one made. It appears that the Canadian rear seat riser has a lip on it whereas the front of the riser on US cars comes straight up. One more comment regarding wheels on my 27. It came with wood wheels as standard and in addition to the spokes being shorter and of a different design, the rims were made by Kelsey Canada and have holes in the sides of the rims near the split to accommodate a unique rim spreader (still looking for one of those!)

: twheel3.JPG (69.24 KiB) Viewed 3606 times

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 2:28 am

Another significant difference in Canadian wheels is in the double taper at the hub end of the spokes.There is the usual taper where the spoke narrows down at the hub. Then there is a second taper which goes from front to back. When these Kelsey made wheels are built, the spokes are fitted with the front-to-back taper alternating. This feature makes for a firmer fit at the hub, while making assembly so much easier. There is no need for a spoke press.
The previously mentioned different length spokes are simply down to the Kelsey manufacture of these. Their felloes are of slightly shallower cross section, so the spokes are a little longer.
The last of the 23" wheels used on Canadian cars did use fixed lug rims and the slightly deeper felloes used in USA production, but these still retained spokes with the double taper.

Allan from down under.

Darren J Wallace · Post by **Darren J Wallace** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 12:40 pm

I had a Canadian’15 touring that had a “made in Canada “ aluminum plate riveted just under the bottom portion of the windshield in the Center. My ‘13 only indicates made in Canada in the ID tag.

John Heaman · Post by **John Heaman** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:19 pm

Canadian 1912 dash mounted serial number plate.
The brass plate was fastened to the dash with brass nails.

Plate location original to my 1912. Some plates were mounted higher, right against the brass dashboard trim.
The plates were centred with the coil box.

Canadian radiator plate.

There are no (zero) Robertson (square headed) screws on my Canadian 1912. I don't know about
later years, but my car's body is Canadian made and 100% original. Only slot screws were used in its construction.

My fore-door four door.

An era picture of a Canadian built 1912 touring taken in Renfrew Ontario.

KiwiFordGuy · Post by **KiwiFordGuy** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:35 pm

Our family 1923 which has been in the family from new (Canadian built, Timaru assembled) used Robertson screws. However I’m not sure of the years that did use the square heads.

Post by **FundyTides** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:17 am

John, I suspect your 1912 T was made just before Robertson started supplying his product to Ford. I can't find anything to substantiate it but it appears from what I have read that the Robertson business acquired the Ford Canada contract sometime around 1912-13. My 27 certainly uses predominately Robertson screws as does my 31 Canadian built Model A. It would be interesting to see if anybody can come up with the earliest Canadian T that has original Robertson screws or any documentation about this change from slotted screws.

Darren J Wallace · Post by **Darren J Wallace** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:07 am

The Canadian’15 I had showed no evidence of Robertson screws. My early ‘13 doesn’t have any either.

nsbrassnut · Post by **nsbrassnut** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:27 pm

Hi All

My '13 Canadian has slotted screws and a lot of US made parts still that came with it. I have seen two '14s and have '14 doors all with Robertson screws. My '15 also has Robertson screws. They are mainly used on the bodies, both to hold the wood frame together and to attach the metal to the wood in where screws are used. Other places use slotted machine screws, such as the windshield hinges. It appears the early Robertson screws were predominately wood screws.

So I believe the change was either very late in the '13 or early '14 model year bodies.

If you are looking for a pretty good overview of the Canadian Ts. The MTFCI most recent Judging Guidelines and includes Canadian T details for every year. Its not perfect, but it does have a lot of good information which I've found to be mostly correct for the Canadian T models.

Drive Safe
Jeff
Nova Scotia
Canada

Bruce Compton · Post by **Bruce Compton** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:37 pm

I had a Canadian touring (1921) with a one man top, lots of Robertson screws and leatherette patches ( about 6" long) on all four door tops.

Retro54 · Post by **Retro54** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:47 pm

Mr. Royce Peterson has a good post on his website about the Canadian T topic... i have been eagerly waiting part 2. I enjoy his info, research and style of writing.

https://modeltfordfix.com/model-t-fords ... da-part-1/

Les Schubert · Post by **Les Schubert** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:05 pm

My 13 RHD Canadian touring has both Robertson and slot head screws. I have 2 13 blocks and both have the “country of origin” ground off from new and Canadian serial numbers

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Questions about Canadian made Model T's.

Questions about Canadian made Model T's.

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