MTFCA Forum

Today I built up my Hassler bolts for the twin Hasslers for the front of my TT. Turned them down to proper size in the Rockford Economy Lathe. I learned a new skill today from my buddy Gary who is 80 years old. Brazing 101.

I know I couldbuy new, but then I would miss all the fun.

Drained the water out of the T's. The temp is going to drop to the 20's tonight.

I put my recently repaired rim tool to use mounting some new tyres. This was a first for me. I can now understand why the cast brass replacement arm was so bent up.
My Tarrant special tourer came with a suite of body features and accessories as part of the "special" package. This included 4.40 x 23" balloon tyres rather than the skinny 30 x 3.5" standard fitment. Beaded edge 4.40 x 23" tyres have long been gone, but the same size in straight side tyres lived on longer. I recently purchased 2 brand new 4.40 x 23" Olympic straight sided tyres to match the two I already had on the car. These were wrapped in newspaper and then bound in Hessian for long time storage, and I do mean loooong time. The newspapers were dated 1951. They are nice and soft, not a sign of crazing/cracking and quite supple to fit.
Chevs went from 30 x 3.5" BE tyres to 4.40 x 23" straight side tyres for a while, before going 21" so I dug up two Chev rims made by Hayes, shifted the valve stem hole, ground some off the foot on the lugs and readied then to be fitted. I had already done this with one of the two presently fitted. The other one already mounted shows some backyard ingenuity. It came to me already mounted on a BE rim! The rim has been cut/split. Then the rolled in edges have been beaten out around both sides to accept the tyre. On the car you would never even notice any difference.
So now she is back on a matched set of four as new 4.40 x 23" tyres as first offered, but with the added advantage of being able to run these at reduced pressures.

Allan from down under.

Haven't done jack squat ! Working/commuting 10-12 hours a day,
temps down below zero, and lots of snow ... no time or motivation
to do anything !

Welded in (3) 1" square pin hole patches and (1) slender patch in the body.
Sawed a piece of hardwood.

Nothing really, keeping Clara the '13 warm in her trailer, while Izzy the '11 is on the lift for winter and Stanley the Ford or is on jack stands with wheels at Stutzmans. Life is good, despite winter arriving now.

On New Years day I finished building for our 1911 touring restoration project this Heinze ignition box sized to accept the more "modern" KW coils. I got the box from Snyder's and the KW coils fit well without shimming. I stained it with Track of the Wolf cherry stain which I will also use on the replacement firewall.

I also rebuilt the brass KW coils that I got from Erik Larson. Thanks Erik!

Neal

Work continued on the lights project for my runabout. I installed nearly all the control panel parts to be sure they would fit. I still have to finish one of the two clamps that will hold the panel in place. The flasher module will sit between the two power sockets. Those are for a phone charger and a GPS device. The switches will control the power sockets, emergency flashers, turn signals, and tail lights. Now that I'm sure everything will fit, I'll take out the sockets and the switches and install everything one piece at a time with the wiring. I don't have a sheet metal brake, and the picture clearly shows that the bottom corner of the panel isn't perfectly straight. Fortunately that's not so obvious when the thing is viewed from the front.

Tossed some trash in the dump bed. Dump run soon.

Careful Erik, the dump may try to take your truck too!! Is the snow gone yet>

I put an NOS Stewart fiber gear for my speedometer. I spray painted the swivel gold to simulate brass plating. I think that S link is supposed to be black but it was stuck on the swivel pretty good so I may mask it off and paint it. Wheels need repainting as well.

I put the '13 hack I'm working back up the lift for the winter.

Don't you know I always turn here?

Well, I sure haven't been driving it ! Per my usual MO, as the cold
weather gets close, I get out to the woodlot and load it up, then back
it into the shop as a rolling woodstack for use in the shop stove. But
tonight I actually DID something with it. A minor project that I set out
to do 5 years ago, ... make some copper strap swivels for the license
plate that hangs under the bed. The #@! copper strap has been part
of the general clutter on the workbench for at least 4 of those 5 years,
and as I was TRYING to declutter the workbench, thought to myself "Just
DO it !" when my eyes crossed that strap laying there on the bench.
Took at of 10 minutes, and like so many stupid things like this, I am left
wondering why I didn't just do it 5 years ago and get it over with ???

Something followed me home yesterday.
I will be bussy a few months.

Andre
Belgium

Got out and played in some of the snow last Friday. Interesting to see how it handled the slick conditions in the back yard.

Tall, narrow tires can do well in snow and mud. They get the axles up high for good clearance and the larger diameter puts more tread on the ground (longer contact patch) than the narrow width suggests. Being narrow, they tend less to have to push out wide ruts in snow and mud. The approach angle of the advancing tire is better than smaller diameter tires, too. I've had much better results with 235/85/16 tires in mud and snow than with the more common 245/75/16 size on pickup trucks in mud and snow.

Getting ready to install the Twin Hasslers on the TT. Built up the Hassler bolts. Had to fix the worn holes in the one side I bored the hole larger and cut a disk and brazed it in place I bored the hole the correct size and painted it and its ready to install.

I need one 5/16 bolt and ready to install.

Photo of disk just a bit thinner than original. After brazing and boring. you can see color difference in disc and braze. I think it should last many more miles.

After a long nearly 2 year pause I finally took a step toward getting back to work on my speedster.I took the cowl and a roadster turtle deck to the sandblaster today. A new company has started up only about 8 miles from here.NOT cheap by no means. The inner structure of the 26 cowl,the outer sheet metal from it,and the metal ,with no wood,turtle deck from a older model,250 will be the price. But it is heavy rusted and it was just not feasible to try to clean it any other way. I WILL be looking for a large plastic tank to clean large parts by electrolysis.

Fitted up modern pinion bearing today.

Then checked and finished the ring gear / pinion mesh, and fitted thrust washers to provide smooth rotation to this rear axle, going in the ‘12 project.

Lastly, the clam shells came together just right for the moderate finger pull drag, after clamping.

Paused for a while doing this……these bolts are ones I just got from R V Anderson….beautiful machining and fit. I had promised him in my reply email as he asked me to report to him how they worked. Geez , just too sad today.

It has been a long father and son process.
We started in 2009 with just a chassis as the body had completely rotted away
13 years Later we are 99.9% Completed. Not a single bolt or nut was missed.

Channel1tv wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:09 pm

It has been a long father and son process.
We started in 2009 with just a chassis as the body had completely rotted away
13 years Later we are 99.9% Completed. Not a single bolt or nut was missed.

Lookin’ great ! Feels good doesn’t it ?

No wonder you’re looking for another one.

PDGx wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:50 pm

Channel1tv wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:09 pm

It has been a long father and son process.
We started in 2009 with just a chassis as the body had completely rotted away
13 years Later we are 99.9% Completed. Not a single bolt or nut was missed.

Lookin’ great ! Feels good doesn’t it ?

No wonder you’re looking for another one.

Yes it does!
I have 7 children 3 mine 4 adopted. The Joy of sharing "hands on history" is wonderful. I love It! passing the History BUG forward!

With 9 people, someone is going to have to hang on the running board. That should be fun.

Channel1tv wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:22 pm

Yes it does!
I have 7 children 3 mine 4 adopted. The Joy of sharing "hands on history" is wonderful. I love It! passing the History BUG forward!

BIGGER congrats taking on the extended family !

(You’re going to need more - than 1 more T …….)

Starting to restore my 1911 column as well. Changed the steel spark & gas rods by the correct brass spark & gas rods. Polished all brass, painting the tube. Need to fix brass rivets to the Steering gear and install Spark and throttle rod new springs. I also need to fix rivet for Spark and throttle levers.

I replaced the battery cables in my Runabout and installed a battery cutoff switch in the trunk floor. That floor is not a Ford artifact but a home-made panel. I had no regrets drilling a hole in it. I decided that it would be a good time to rebuild the starter switch. That was way more "fun" than I thought it would be. The switch is back together after finding the spring that went flying in the shop. I had to make two new insulating washers from some nylon sheet that I had. They are on the outside of the switch and will be easy to replace when I find better insulators.

My trunk didn't have a bracket on the fender for the trunk lid prop rod. I bought a repro but the holes did not align with the rivet holes in my fender. They needed to be welded and re-drilled to work. Now I can get rid of the board I have been using to hold the trunk open.

On my last drive my low pedal went to the floor during engagement and the band slipped a little. I discovered yesterday that the low adjuster's lock nut was finger-tight. That was a relief to know the problem is not internal. The nut was too big for a 7/8" wrench and I did not feel comfortable tighten it with an adjustable wrench. I need to see if I can find a 29/32" wrench, if one exists.

I installed an electric garage heater in my pole barn last weekend to supplement my wood stove. Working on T projects this past week was a lot more enjoyable. It was 16 degrees F outside while it was a comfortable 63 in the shop. My wife said that if I had a kitchen and bathroom out there she would never see me again. That's not true. A guy needs a place to sleep.

I've always used a 15/16" wrench on the low band lock nut.

After a serious year-long illness I'm back in the driver's seat! I find than I can now climb into my '23 Touring without assistance or the use of aids and take her for a drive. I give thanks to the grace of God, my wife and my physical therapists for letting me regain my strength.

I know the feeling about recovering. Sixteen years ago I was pretty much an invalid. Slowly, I recovered while following the doctor's orders. After a year or so, I was nearly back to 100 percent.

Enjoy today because your not guaranteed another day.

Art Mirtes

My Wife is in a re-hab center so I drove the 27 (SaraJane) up to see her.... I think I emptied the alzheimers patients into the parking lot everyone loved it.

Checked the antifreeze...

Mated torque tube and radius rods to the rear axle.

The with help of some large c-clamps, placed spring in rear crossmember, added shackles and completed the rear of the chassis . Now on to brake shoes and wheels.

Nothing much this month, December however;
Sorry about the sideways picture, system was not allowing me to load so it was correct direction.
To add just in case anyone wonders, the Wilson pouring bar was machined down in the poring areas, so the babbitt is extra thick. The pits in the rear saddle should come out after line boring. Even if there are a couple low spots from them, in my OP for the amount of use this car will see, would just be extra oil pockets.

Boring main saddles for Model A crankshaft size.

After 8 months of getting drawings from the Benson Ford Center to making up 3D Print models of some of the braces/brackets to casting certain pieces and metal forming the others, I have all my body irons and correct era hardware for my Delivery Car project. The only pieces not in this picture are the unique 4 knuckle hinges for the rear doors that should be done this week and the rear fender irons that are being casted next week. There is a lot of body irons for this project!

got10carz wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:44 pm

Boring main saddles for Model A crankshaft size.

I was thinking along those lines for doing the babbitt. Only was going to lay block on its side and mount a sliding feed riding in bearings on the carriage instead of the way you are doing it. The block would be mounted on a plate on the rails and would remain stationary.

Re-installed the pumpkin after lapping the valves and applying a coat of Easy Lube. Tomorrow will see if the gas drip is fixed.

It seemed to take forever because I'm slow, but I finally got tail & brake lights and turn signals installed on my 1915 runabout. Getting the messy wires neat will wait until I finish the firewall project.

Left side switch is for charger sockets. Right side is tail lights. Bottom left is emergency flashers. Bottom right is turn signals.

Looks sort of like the pile of spaghetti you see under the hood of a modern car, doesn't it?

"Emergency!"

https://youtu.be/lH85w4Yqhi4

Great job Steve! Those are certainly brighter than the wimpy bicycle lights that I bought to magnetically mount onto my Flanders.

Finally got one of my T's out. Yesterday I lubed and oiled the chassis and checked engine oil. checked water and drove down to the Dynasaur Station to fill the tank of my Dynosaur car. Then today I woke up with a very sore knee. Too much up and down crawling under the car yesterday. This morning we went on a tour abut 40 miles or so with the club. We did not have any trouble truck and everyone made the tour OK except for one car who didn't fill up the tank and he died going up a grade. So someone behind him had to go get some gas for him. Next week will take my car down to the local museum which I do once a month.
Norm

...everyone made the tour OK except for one car who didn't fill up the tank and he died going up a grade.

Never leave home without those cans on the running board.

I was asked for a clarification of how the control panel is attached. I neglected to take a picture of the mounting bracket by itself, so for now these shots of it with the panel in place will have to do.

Last week I was busy with the finishing of the Maxwell ignition, the building of a Heinze coilbox with later K&W coils for a 1911 torpedo and the final jobs on the 1912 Touring.
This morning during the test drive of the 1912 touring, after a few minutes, there was suddenly a lot of FOG behind the car.
Back home, I took the cilinder head off. here is what I found.
I am looking now for a good cilinder head.

Have a fine weekend.

Andre
Belgium

It has been a couple of months since I started my unrestored 1911 touring. I am the 5th Owner from new and she is beautiful in her old age. After 4 priming pulls, it took one pull and she started right up to the amazement of a host of workmen ending their day. Will be taking her for a short ride to continue my driving practice when the weather improves.

Technically not "with" or "to" the Model T, but rather for it. My freshly rebuilt NH (Russ Potter) with original cast arms arrived at the house yesterday and will be installed come April:


I also finally found a box that I had been looking for, I knew it was there but could not remember where:

A set of reamers for the Dearborn Equipment Transmission Bushing Reaming Fixture, unfortunately no other parts to the fixture, only the reamers.

Not my T but "freshened up" my friend's '13 engine & trans. - fresh hone & new rings, new valves, checked & tightened the mains & rods, major transmission work, recharged the magnets & installed rewound round double stack field coil - a smidge tight but should have her lit off this coming week !

We did have one car with the cans on the running board, however, he hit them while going up the ramp to his trailer and not only bent the cans but also bent the fender. He still had them on the running board, but doesn't carry gas anymore.
Norm

Actually not much, waiting for my wheels to come back with new wood spokes so it has somewhat become a storage location. Well the heat has been on steady and the bulbs have decided to come out a little early

Spring is crouching to spring... barring unusual weather, like we had last year, some of the woody brush around here will start sprouting new leaves sometime around Feb 20.

I am doing a valve job on my 26 Roadster pickup. As you can see, the valves were not seating properly. Valves and seats are reground and lash adjusted. I am waiting on the cylinder head to be resurfaced.

Cool set of reamers!

Purchased new front spring for the '27 touring, nice one. The old one is now almost sagging on the axle, so it lasted about 100 Years! New one will improve the ride.

Took it apart to add Slip-Plate for lube, the new one seemed to have some thin coating between leaves like a primer? but always Slip-Plate them anyway.
Then changed out the hex head center bolt for a proper square one and removed the repro spring clips for originals with their square head bolts too.

Don't forget to peen the center bolt when your done. Brass bushings, good clue as to who made that spring, unless you installed them.

The springs look great, Dan!

The OEM Ford spring clip fasteners that the vendors supply are functional, but not close to the right look. The OEM bolts have a square head that looks like it is stamped onto a round head blank. The hex nuts are thinner than normal (almost like jam nuts) and a larger size across the flats than you would expect for their thread size. The nuts are also flat on one side (no chamfers at the corners). I had a set of OEM bolts and nuts that I gave to R.V. Anderson in the hopes that he would provide faithful reproductions. Not going to happen now, I suppose.

Mark

You are correct on the special fasteners used on spring clips. I like to use originals when found in good shape. So these are original. RV made the earlier version I got a set (check marked part numbers) for my ‘12 project with the front taper leaf. Those were super nice, but can’t get them now, sad to have RV gone.

The center bolt I used did have at least a square head to go into the front crossmember, higher head factory would be best, but all my originals were too worn for reuse. The hex head that came in this nice new spring from T-Springs won’t fit into the crossmember. But those bronze or brass bushings installed as received are great!

Bob Bergstadt makes (or made) reproduction front and rear spring center bolts with the taller square heads.

A little annoyance prevented, I hope. On my most recent drive to Michigan in September a couple of windshield hinge screws fell out somewhere along the road. So today I installed toothed lock washers under all eight of them.

Have been wrestling with the installation of a Miller Master carburetor. I took it apart, cleaned it and put it back together. There really isn’t much to adjust as long as the float needle assembly is in good condition and it was. I installed it and got it going. It was a real bear to start but it ran ok. The dampener (choke) had to be almost fully rich to keep it going and the engine would stall at stoplights when at idle. I looked for air leaks by spraying ether near the manifold gaskets but found none.

These carburetors do not have a single jet but instead a fuel distributed bar with 11 jets. The throttle is not a butterfly but a rotating drum with a gradual opening allowing the individual jets to come into play as it opens. I removed the fuel distributer and sprayed water in the inlet to see how it came out the jets and discovered the one in the first position (idle) was blocked. So I unsoldered the plate on the bottom of the bar and discovered that hole was blocked with solder, so removed that and opened it up.

I reinstalled the bar and it did run and idle better but it was still not easy to start. All other carburetors I have run on this engine always start cold on compression after priming. This is clearly not getting enough fuel when choking or there is still an air leak somewhere. The choke is not at all like other carburetors .. but a flap of brass that pivots in the air chamber towards the fuel bar. You never hear that swish of gas like when you choke a conventional model T carburetor. Also there are no gaskets on this carburetor (aside from the intake manifold) everything is a machined fit. So it’s a mystery.

Royce has the same type carburetor on his car and it starts with no trouble. Of course it’s in the teens or colder here in Rochester but I have never had any trouble with other carburetors. So, as soon as it get warm enough for me to feel my fingers in my unheated garage I’m going to remove the Master and reinstall an OF just so I can have easier starting. I’ll revisit the Master in warmer weather.

Put on the fenders. running boards and hood on the 25 Touring to check the fit. Will take them back off for more body work before painting. The body is re-wooded and ready for final prime and paint. Engine, transmission, rear end and chassis rebuilt. Hope to have her on the road this summer!

Looking good!

We had trouble with a sinking float last year so i bought a totaly rebuilt carb!! I hope my oldest grandson will instal it this spring. My days are close to being numbered so good by to many friends!!! Bud DeLong.

Very sorry to hear this Bud. You and your family are in my prayers my friend.

Started sawing the first cut on January 1st and finished on the 27th. https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26249

Watching COVID infection and death numbers go up, here in Texas.

I rebuilt a 1926 NH carb to go in my 1927 coupe. Here are a few photos.

I did have to use the original needle seat shown in the first photo. The new one would not screw all the way down, so I assume it would not reach the gasket. I also noted that the hole in new seat was smaller than the original.

Took Dad out for a drive for his 85th birthday. He no longer drives or restores Model T's but always loves to know what I am working on and how the progress of the re restoration of his old 1916 Touring is going.

Repaired and rewrapped a field coil for a starter I’m refurbishing. Special thanks to Ron Patterson for his numerous previous posts on the subject, to contributors to the MTFCA books, and to Hank Lee for offering the starter on the classifieds.
I used the High-Strength Fiberglass Electrical Tape with silicone adhesive from McMasters Carr as recommended on previous posts on MTFCA forum.
Product #'s 7574A35 and 7574A11
I used the 1/4” tape to replace some of the paper that was in between the coils, and one and a half rolls of the 1/2” tape for two layers around the coils. Then two coats of the spray insulating varnish.

Nice Job Kevin!!!!!

Last week I checked the oil, greased the cups and oiled the oilers. I checked the coolant and aired the tires, filled up the gas tank and then Thursday went on a 60 mile tour with the club around the San Diego back country, having lunch at Jamul. Then last Saturday I went down to the local museum for the monthly open house. I checked the oil. Still had oil in the lower petcock and the gas tank was down 4 gallons. It is running quite well at this time.
Norm