MTFCA Forum

I am finishing the restoration of a 1914 touring car and I have realized there are a few parts that are not made anymore that can be a little harder to find a high quality working replacement for....example brass horn or speedometer. I am lucky that I started with a mostly complete car, but have faced some challenges finding good parts. I was wondering what parts seem to be the hardest to find for brass era Model T's ???

Decent ones

Decent original round felloe wheels.

There really isn't THAT many brass parts on a '14, and a '13 for that matter. Technically the horn is black with only the screen brass. Lamps have minimal brass and are out there if you look hard enough, sometimes takes a while. The radiator of course is the "biggie", and worse yet finding original brass hubcaps, which btw, are black background. The steering column box is brass, and good repros are out there. The speedo may be the hardest, check with Russ Furstnow on that. There is a slight, often overlooked difference in that model. I believe it's a Stewart 100. Don't stress yourself out over it! And good luck and have fun too.

A visit to the pre war swap meet at Luray last weekend probably would have completed your project. Of course Hershey is coming up in October, and if you can't find it there, it doesn't exist. Nice thing about a swap meet is you can see and feel the item and talk with the vendor about it. Might even get a good deal too. See you at Hershey.
Terry

Hershey is coming up in October, and if you can't find it there, it doesn't exist.

That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you will find lots of stuff at Hershey. Some of it is in the category of "I know what I have and I know what it's worth", but there are also some thrillingly cheap deals. "Oil can? Two bucks!"

“What parts seem the hardest to find for brass Model T s?” ( OP question) I didn’t take that to mean specifically brass parts, hence my decent round felloe wheel response.

I'd have to think the original hubcaps are getting harder to find. As was mentioned before, the have a black painted background but the letter F on the Ford script is taller than it is on later hubcaps. That cap has not been reproduced so for an absolutely correct restoration, we're left to try and find and restore old dented and often split ones. The correct oil filler cap can be hard to find as well, and there are a couple of other smaller items that can be troublesome. One is the correct bracket for mounting the horn (bulb end) to the inside of the car. Another thread currently running on this forum shows that bracket. Round felloe wheels? Yes, good originals can be hard to find, but most people I know who are restoring a car and putting that much effort into one opt for newly made wheels, mainly out of concern for the safety aspects.
Here is a photo of what I believe is a really difficult to find part - an original rubber horn bulb. This really minty Rubes horn was my prize from the Luray Va Pre-War swap meet. It's actually for an early 1915 with that "L" shaped tubing adapter where it goes through the fire wall, but substituting a straight connector makes it suitable for 1914. It's got all its original black paint, tubing, bracket, and a wonderful rubber bulb marked "Rubes." I don't think there are many like that around. It's still relatively soft and supple, but has just lost its shape from years of laying flat. It may be worth trying to reproduce that.
Terry

After reading all the great replies I realized I asked my question incorrectly. I did not intend to limit my question to just the brass parts on early cars, I was wondering about any hard to find parts on early cars in the brass era....pre-1916.

If you were looking for brass car parts, should have been at Luray. Best selection I have seen in years. Dan

bdtutton wrote: ↑

Sat May 22, 2021 11:12 am

After reading all the great replies I realized I asked my question incorrectly. I did not intend to limit my question to just the brass parts on early cars, I was wondering about any hard to find parts on early cars in the brass era....pre-1916.

??? If you are talking about ANY brass era car you might want to post your question on the AACA or HCCA sites. But-you need to provide more specifics, like which car and year you're talking about. The answers you'd get will be dependent on that. E.g. Chevy parts are easier to find than Adams Farwell. Too many cars, too many parts.
Terry

Terry Bond -- That's a nice '15 horn you found, but it's not correct for a '14 even if you eliminate the elbow. The mounting base is a "diamond" shape on the '15 and oval for a '14.

You're right! Just looked at the horn on my 14. That's ok, I've got a good unrestored 15 chassis that will eventually get restored into a panel truck (I hope).
Terry