MTFCA Forum

I will start the topic out ... in addition to voting ,I re-babbitted 39 model T ball caps ( 4th.mains) ... i will be working on building up inventory in hopes of a prosperous year in 2021 ... with hopes that our lives will return to a pre-plandemic routine and we can again enjoy our lives and cars ...always an optimist ...Gene French

Great! These will help save crankshafts and also keep oil where it should be.
Norm

Nice work Gene!!!!!

Gene,

great job
I am willing to buy two of them standard size.

I will send you a mail.

Andre
Belgium

My friend Doug and I, unpinned the U-joint, drove out the old driveshaft bushing on my ‘24 Touring, and replaced it with a new brass one.
Luckily no reaming needed, but did need a little facing.
After reinstalling the U-joint, everything looks great as far as clearances and backlash.
Now ready for final assembly.

I took this rear end apart today and found one brass washer and one babbitt.

Pizza Delivering! And training our pit-bull to stay in the car..., "Stay Boy"!

Made some frame modifications. Trying to keep this 1930 period correct.

Looking good David! Thats the way my Dad made them on our Speedsters!

Hank

Thanks hank, even though my t roadster has that unorthodox engine choice, still every part will be pre 31. There’s are growing group of us building cars like this in the western ma, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire area. It’s fun!

I didn't do it all in November but am able to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the last few days. Thanks to Gene French and his equipment I have been able to re-babbit three sets of rods and one block and set of caps. I had to re-pour one bearing three times to get it right and redid some of the rods several times. Line boring went better than expected and the '26 engine is going back together now. I told Gene on the phone that there were a hundred ways to go wrong and I had discovered about two thirds of them. It is exciting and rewarding to see the engine taking shape after all these years. Looks so nice I ordered glyptal and will paint the inside of the block prior to final assembly. Two more Model T engines to go! Many thanks Gene, you are a credit to the hobby.

After three years i finally got my 24 Fordor back together and it started on the first push on the starter button, on mag i had to adjust my new U&J carb from Stan Howe, it killed every bug in a square mile from the smoke. I took it to storage and put the popcorn truck in the garage for finishing, my friend Tom built the did all the woodwork, i have pictures on my phone but haven't transferred them yet.

Rick

After spending the last month turning this Into this For my new insulated and heated shop, I took the TT for a drive this evening. It has been over a month since I drove one of them. The 75 degree weather and the fact I finished sealing the new shop for the weather led to a relaxing drive through the countryside.

I just spent much of my weekend with Mark Eyre. He coached me through the significant mechanical upgrades needed on my '13 Touring. I got the body bolted back down and the windshield and rear fenders back on it while Mark reattached the lamps and helped me align the doors. While we were at it I changed the rotten interior pieces for a better (used) interior. While I don't have a top on it the car has come a long way.

We also had a mini two car auto show in Mark's front yard over the weekend.

Getting close to finishing this build. Had it out for a few test drives.

Started my 17 Speedster for the first.....sweet music thanks to Hank's pipes! Also got the new seat installed today.

Cheers to all of the Veterans

Best
Dave

I changed the coolant in the T today. It came to me with a 50/50 mix of GM Dexcool and water, so that's what I put back in. I should have done it sooner, checking my records the old stuff had been in there since 2013. How time flies!

Yesterday with nice weather I did a test drive to check if my recently repaired fan assembly would stay together.
After the first 500 meters I did a first stop to check.
With the engine idling the roller and fan showed some 'wobbly' movement and I noticed the brass nut with the grease cup was turning loose on the shaft.
I immediately stopped the engine - luckily no damage was caused to the radiator - I am glad that I did my first stop so shortly after starting the run.
Why the shaft can turn loose counterrotating to the fan I do not want to understand - I supposed it would tighten instead - must be an 'x-factor' thing ...
Fastening the shaft again was impossible as clearance between radiator and fan did not allow any tool to get grip on the fan shaft head.
With the brass nut fastened I started the engine to make a turn on the road.
Luckily my way back to the garage was nearly completely downhill so i could stop the engine and roll with high gear engaged - which helped to lubricate and supported the brake and minimized the danger of the fan becoming loose.
Back in the garage for more that an hour tried to fasten the shaft without success then had the idea of loosening the tension on the belt - yes, I always need much time until i understand some mechanic context ...
The shaft is not tight enough yet but in a sleepless moment this night I got the ideae of using two nuts on the end of the shaft instead the brass one - with one 'lock nut' perhaps i can fasten the thing from this side.
If this will help to keep the T running next year we will see - now it is going into mothballs.

I drove to the Home Depot for a good test run, after some short jonts to adjust bands, check for leaks, etc, after a transmission rebuild, valve job, steering rebuild, etc. We have some good hills in the area, so got a chance to see how the new-old head worked. It worked great! It's an unmarked old/early style cast higher than stock compression head. Purchase thinking it was a WR head, but Joe Bell says it also looks very similar to a Giant head. It didn't make a wiz-bang change, but certainly does pull better up the hills. Didn't have to drop to low on any of the hills tried.

Did notice, however, water gurgling out from the back end of the head, at the water gasket, just starting, on the return trip. I had to re-use my old copper head gasket when I re-assymbled. Luckily, a new copper gasket came in just last week!!

(tongue in cheek...)

I started to feel sorry for the 'digs' that my Hack lived in. I'm usually an Obsessive Compulsive guy (some say Neurotic ) The house in Florida was built with a concrete slab poured on what was scraped sand that has a high water table and done without any vapor barrier!

To make matter worse, over the years someone else had done a Forest Green epoxy coat, that blistered and failed...then did a battleship gray epoxy coat above that that also failed in spots, and then they just overplayed the whole thing with a thick coat of left over latex from somewhere...the surface was like walking on the moon!

All my 'fix-it' chores are done (for now) so what to do? I tried everything known to man to strip what was there...even bought an angle grinder and was doing 4 square foot at a time...but the upper layer of concrete, the 'cream' tended to just shatter out too... So, saw this stuff on line...went for the fully vented...took two days to put down...and its a bit over the top...but...I left the T in place, jacked it up 1/4 at a time while the snap tiles were placed under the wheels! Stuff attracts everything down through the ribs, but vacuums up really nice with a shop vac.

Is it my imagination, or is the Hack actually smiling?

Not on my T's but on a 24 roadster that a fellow is trying to get going for a friend. He had no idea how the ignition worked, so I went over and checked it out. The coils worked well when grounded individually, so showed him how to remove the timer, and explained what it did. It has a new day timer that had a bad spring on the brush. Showed him how to take it apart to replace the spring, and gave him general information on the operation of the T! Nice Roadster, has a sticker from the covered bridge tour, and a ruckstel rear axle. Good top and paint.

In getting the 21 ready to sell, pulled the engine and fixed clutch issue. Pins were below the outer surface of the drive plate. Installed plate with longer pins and added extra disk to the pack. Dry the pack came up a bit on the short side. Now seems to de-clutch better for shifting the Warford.

I did a little rivet making today. These are kind of small.

Got the roadster on wheels with the lowered rear suspension.

Dennis, there is nothing in the shade tree mechanic's handbook banning cutting a bit of brass shin stock to shape and sandwiching it between the copper and insert material at the back end of the gasket. If you check the back of the block and the head, you may find the need for a little packing to compensate for some rusting. This trick has worked a couple of times for me, until the block was out and could be decked.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Allan.... I had thought briefly of that, actually, then remembered the new copper gasket I had ordered 3 or 4 months ago, came in last week. The new one is in now...we'll see how she holds! I was glad I left the front 2 floorboards out, while doing my run-in tests, else it would have taken me a bit to notice the leak!

Adjusted the bands, got the original owner back in the drivers seat, and went to the Daytona Turkey Run !
Great holiday weekend for a car show. Thousands of vehicles, but only a couple of T’s this this year.

I mounted new tires on the rims I had galvanized. The rims and wheels are Jaxon. They came on the car when I bought it. I also blasted and painted some misc. parts and took the head off to check on the cooking system. Given the amount of rust I found, that was a good idea. The car had been sitting for almost 60 years, so I wanted to make sure things were clean.

I got it running last summer, so it was time to make sure everything else was okay. I have been trying to load pics, but my browser keeps crashing when I try. I will try again later.

It will be 50 percent model t still

Got the old rusted in place front leaf spring out after cutting the tie bolt and wedging the leaves apart and out. New leaf spring ready after I install the new perch bushings. Thanks to "T" springs in W Hartford for the nice quality front and rear springs.

Finishing painting body damage from an accident in June. Decided to paint all the black

Rich, what paint did you use ? Haven’t found a good period correct paint finish since DuPont imploded.

Pulled the tired engine out of out 27 Touring for rebuilding with help from my Son Chris.

Taken the front floormat and floorboards out in preparation for adjusting the clutch screws. Unfortunately, she who must be obeyed has instructed her husband to start putting up the Christmas decorations immediately if not sooner. I'll probably get back to the clutch in a few days.

End of an era for me. Sold the 1921 huckster today along with a bunch of parts. It's going to stay in Oregon but it's moving to the Hood River area to live on a ranch. That leaves the 1925 cutdown T and 1920 Dodge. Partly it was the need for money to survive the next 5 months and I needed something different. It was a fun car and I put lots of miles behind the wheel. Being in the best shape of the 3 needed to go. This one I have kept the longest of any car I have owned. I think the new owner will have lots of fun with it, I did. I will be changing my avatar picture soon.

Paul heres the invoice