MTFCA Forum

Recently two long nosed pans were offered on the classifieds forum. One of these had had an ear replaced. Both looked to be good examples.

However, there are things to be considered when replacing a damaged pan ear, as there are differences to be noted. Swapping a pan ear from similar pans is fine, but mixing parts from different years presents problems which are not often recognised.

Fitting an ear with the squared off end from a late pan is not a good idea on a long nosed pan. Clearly it does not even look right. So, selecting an ear from an earlier pan with the pointed end is preferable. But how it is fitted becomes really important. From around 1918, engine pan rails were reinforced by stamping a flange along the outside of the mounting face to stiffen up the pan rail. This means that where the ear mounts to the pan, it has to accommodate that flange, and so the length of the ear is longer to allow it to mount at the frame in the same relative position.

Using such an ear as a replacement on a flat rail pan like the long nosed ones, requires that the ear be mounted in such a way that it would clear the flange if in fact it was one there. If it is fitted up tight to the pan rail, it will be higher than the ear on the other side, resulting in the motor hanging lower in the frame on that side.

Hope this helps someone facing this scenario.

Allan from down under.

Great considerations Allan. I’m wondering about replacing a later pan ‘ear’ in a later model pan. What’s the sequence of events? Remove broken ‘ear’. Rivet new ear on? Then how is braze applied?

George, I would mechanically remove the old ear and its replacement. Drill the rivets, grind the damaged ear off, leaving as much of the original bronze in place as you can. Likewise, the donor ear should be removed in the same way. I would "tin" the donor ear with new bronze, and then bolt it in place. Then you can check the fit/alignment. The idea is then to heat the pan/ear to bronzing temperature, and add new material. By leaving and adding bronze prior to fitting, the new material is more likely to wick in between the two components, much like soldering two tinned pieces together.

The rivets used should be bronzed on both the inside of the pan and the outside to prevent oil leaks around them. The pan will need to be re-jigged after all this to make it fit for purpose again.

Or, you could cut a section out of a donor pan, with the ear in place, and MIG/TIG weld it into the pan to be used, while the two pieces are bolted to a hogs head to keep them in place.

On other than a long nosed pan, I would be looking for a replacement before changing out an ear.

Others will have different ideas.
Allan from down und

You can still find the old Model T pan belly apron support accessory. I bought two on eBay. Back in the day, excessive vibration caused pan ears to break from metal fatigue and strain from the weight of the engine and the pan apron was created as an after market accessory to remedy this common occurrence for farmers and T owners that did not have the time, money or resources to take the engine out to perform this expensive and time consuming repair. T owners not only bought it to get their Model T back in service after an ear broke, but bought it as a pro-active precaution for use on their T’s, before the pan ears broke. The apron also has adjustments to bring the engine pan in line to the proper position due to engine sag from bent or improperly positioned, repaired pan ears. Although my pan ears are not broken, I bought two pan support aprons. One for each of my Model T’, as a precaution against metal fatigue where the ears attach to the pan, just like they did in the old days. Jim Patrick

Yes Jim. . I have those “belly pans” on 5 of my T s as a precaution. I also adjust them to take weight off the pan ears that mount on 1/4” rubber above the frame rails.

But I have an old 3 dip starter equipped engine with both ears broke off and 2 Ford ?NOS? Replacement ears. I just needed the sequence of tasks necessary to restore this pan. Allan helped a lot with broke ear removal, temporary bolting new ears, brazing, individual bolt removal and rivet installation and, finally, brazing around rivets inside and outside of the pan. Thanks Allan