MTFCA Forum

I am in the process of adding a starter to my 1916 T.
One problem I see coming up is the level of difficulty to install the firewall bracket nuts,
especially on the side where the starter will be.
I did it once on a '15 T with a starter and it was no fun.
So, I made these "nut plates".
I threaded two 3/8" - 24 holes in a 1/2" piece of steel.
They are spaced two inches on center to match the firewall bracket.
The block is held in place with a 1/4" - 20 countersunk screw.
Now the firewall can be mounted with a couple 3/8" - 24 bolts and lock-washers.
As this is untreated steel, I will use some anti-seize on all of the hardware.

This could be accomplished several different ways.
A couple of nuts could be welded to a plate or even directly to the frame.
Hopes this helps.
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Bob , I do it this way : Toon

Toon,

Great idea.
I like it.

The block looks like a good idea to me. I would chamfer the top edges of the block slightly to avoid to possibility of their wearing a notch in the frame rail over time. Some anti-squeak on both the top and bottom of the frame rail at that point might be a good idea. Some movement is bound to occur when the car is in motion, and probably needs to to avoid cracking the sheet metal. I would not weld anything to the frame rail.

I reserected this thread to share yet another starter conversion tip.
The left rear hood latch is behind the starter making it very difficult to put the cotter pin in.
So, I decided to thread the bottom of the hood latch and use a 1/4"-28 Nylon lock nut to keep it in place.
Now all I have to do is hold the nut in place with a long wrench and thread the hood latch into it just far enough until the nylon lock feature of the nut engages.
Some installations may require shortning the spring slightly.
Hope this helps.
 

Great idea Bob, I’m stealing that one!

Andy

 
To install the nut with the spring, I used some heat shrink to hold the spring and nut together.
A 14 mm wrench will fit the enlarged nut good enough to assemble the hood latch.
 

Those are all good tips, Bob. Thanks for posting them.