MTFCA Forum

So we took a family vacation that had us driving over 4800 miles through 7 states. We were at the Indy 500 speedway on our way to Memphis to see Elvis' house when my wife said why don't we backtrack to the Model T museum. So off we went. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

If you have never been here you need to go if you can. I have to say the Curator is very knowledgeable and gave a great tour to a bus load of people. She is very excited about her job and was talking to me about some a new timeline project she is working on. I told her she needs to drive a Model T. She said someone was going to teach her soon. Some one over there needs to get that lady in a car!!!

Steve, That two-lever was owned by Bill Bohlen and he won the Stynoski Award in 2015 with the car. I believe it is number 394. He sold the car after displaying the car at the Piquette Plant. I hope this helps, Russ Furstnow

I love the museum HATE the orange ratchet strap on the snow mobile. NOT very historically correct. Rope or leather would be more appropriate.

Would you put the Mona Lisa in a plastic frame?

tom_strickling wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:16 pm

I love the museum HATE the orange ratchet strap on the snow mobile. NOT very historically correct. Rope or leather would be more appropriate.

Would you put the Mona Lisa in a plastic frame?

You know nothing of the History
of The Haunted Snowmobile

I transported that several years
ago from New Hampshire.

The strap was there when
I picked it up ( as I recall ).

The husband & wife have
both since passed away


FJ

The curator said that she says good night to the haunted car before she leaves each day.

Lenny Smith (R.I.P.) donated that snowmobile to the museum. When he acquired it there was no strap. After a few years of use, the cab became just a tad rickety. The ratchet strap was an expedient method of (literally) keeping it together.

Aside from the occasional repairs and necessary maintenance, and the orange strap, the snowmobile is in the same condition as when Lenny bought it, some time back in the Nineties.


And Now The Rest of The Story:

Occasionally there have been threads on the Forum asking about and commenting on Manifold Icing and I would sometimes post a photo of a frosty manifold. I took that picture of the snowmobile engine one day when it was running poorly.
"Hey Lenny, where's the hot air pipe?"
"Oh, I left that off because......."
"Well, let's put it back on. Look at this."

I would remove the strap and replace it with a rope, like Tom said. It is not original to the car and detracts from its appearance. If Lenny put it on it was only because he had one available and it was easier than a rope. It helped when Jim transported it, but time to replace it with the real thing.

Bill

that must be white paint...I have been assured by experts that what you clearly see, simply cannot happen on a Model T.

It is from those and similar discussions with folks that one can winnow out future bad advice from good advice...

From Bill's comments that strap was not there when Lenny bought the car. If Lenny had done that to hold it together, it means that it was together when he got the car. I have not seen the car and do not know the condition of the wood, but perhaps without replacing any of the wood, the structure could be stabilized enough so that the car could be displayed without, rope, strap, etc. There are products which will give some old wood enough integrity to hold fasteners, and is the case on many wood bodies, it is the problem with the framework no longer holding the fasteners.

My wife and I were within 50 miles of Richmond yesterday visiting with friends, one of whom is a personal friend of Rod Barrett, who currently has 394 on loan to the museum. We didn’t get away in time to visit the museum on the way home, but I did get a personal tour of Mr. Barrett’s other Model T’s and other vintage vehicles.

RIP Lenny and Priscilla, long live the Haunted Snow Mobile