Young First Time Driver Tips?

[PaladinBirdy]

My name is Josh Hollingsworth, I am a 16 (almost 17) year old currently in the process of restoring my 1919 Touring pickup. When I first got my hands on the unrestored car, I was so concerned with the state of the car that I couldn't even imagine myself driving it at the time. Now that I've finished the engine and the frame, I have quickly realized that I will genuinely be driving and operating this machine sometime soon, and I am absolutely terrified of it. I've been driving myself to school since I was 14 years old, and I would call myself a good driver, but I can't help but fear destroying or damaging a year's worth of work (not to mention a 103 year old piece of automotive history) by simply doing something wrong while driving it for the first time.

I have studied the mechanics of this car just about every day since I got it. I rebuilt car myself, engine and transmission included, following the original Ford manuals as best I can. I promise you, I am qualified to drive it. I just don't want to mess up.

I'd love if some of the experienced drivers of this forum could reply to this post with some tips for a first time driver. Y'know, the kinds of thing you wish you could've heard when you first started out. An entire driving tutorial would be fine, too, as I don't think I could find a proper in-person teacher unless I tracked down my nearest T club.

Anything helps.

[MichaelPawelek]

The club listings shows two in Tennessee. Any of these near you?


PS-If you are smart enough to have done all that mechanical work on your Model T learning how to drive it should be a snap for you.

[Rich Eagle]

It's best to practice in an empty lot or somewhere you can get used to how it works without other vehicles moving. Always remember it won't stop like a modern car. Give yourself lots of room.
It will come easy if there aren't other distractions.
Rich

[speedytinc]

Congratulations. Takes me back to my first time. I had very little practice time in a mentors T & bought my own. We went to get the T. I assumed HE would drive it home.(an hour away on California freeways) He insisted I drive. Quite a trial by fire. By the time I got her hope, I had no fear left in me.

Find a big open lot for practice parking, smooth accelerating & stopping. Parking brake in neutral first for starting off & reverse practice. This is handy any time you are backing up. Master the levers. Graduate from manual neutral. Get used to the low pedal middle neutral spot. Have fun. Practice until its second nature.
If you get in a panic situation "hit em all" Pedals that is. You will come to a quick stop.
Drive like you have no brakes, Anticipate way ahead of where you are. When approaching a red light, decelerate with both levers. ECONOMY of BRAKE. Make a game of not using the brake pedal. Driving a T is very different than any other car. A skill to be mastered.
Head on a swivel. Anticipate that idiot backing out of their driveway dosent see you, or the guy with disk brakes who jumps in front of you before you reach the light. Like riding a motorcycle, have an out.

[Norman Kling]

John pretty much covered it. If you have not driven a manual shift, it will be easier to learn to drive a T because you put it in gear when you push the pedal which is just the opposite of a manual clutch. Also you use the hand lever to give it gas instead of a foot throttle. And always remember to push the lever up when you want to slow down or stop. The spark lever should be set at the location where the engine runs best. If you are going slowly move it up a few notches and if you are going faster move down a few notches. Each car is a bit different so you will need to learn the best position of the spark lever. If you are using magneto, you will have 3 sometimes 4 places where it increases the speed of the engine (on a fast idle) Learn where those locations are. It is different when in gear. When the engine is going slow such as first starting out or going about 20 in high, you use the position about half way retarded, but when your engine is going faster, move the lever down to about 3/4 way. For starting push it all the way up.
The fuel mixture will also vary according with the temperature of the engine and the elevation. So you rotate it to the place where it runs the smoothest and fastest. If you lean it (clockwise) the engine will begin to slow down, and if you enrich it the engine will tend to lope. Somewhere between those positions it will run smoothly.
Slow down as much as you can ahead of a stop. Then when almost stopped use the brake and finally just before you come to a complete stop, drop into neutral before you kill the engine. When descending a hill, it is best to use the same gear necessary to climb the hill. The compression of the engine will slow you down so you don't rely as much on the brake. When you are slowed down to about 10 or 15 mph you can press the low pedal to slow you more. A last resort would be to pull the parking brake. Remember the parking brake puts you in neutral, so wait until it is nearly stopped before you use it. And as noted above, a last resort would be to push all three pedals. Remember this is hard on the transmission and should not be done on a regular basis.
Norm

[Oldav8tor]

I taught myself to drive my T. Watched a couple of youtube videos and talked to some more experienced guys. I really don't think you have too much to worry about. Like Rich said, just find a quiet, obstacle-free place to do it if you can. Short of running it off a cliff, the mere act of driving your car is unlikely to damage it. Make sure the fluids are the right type and quantity, grease or oil everything that is supposed to be lubed, tighten all fasteners correctly and make sure every nut that is supposed to have a cotter pin has one. If you have clincher tires, inflate them to 60-65 psi. A good idea would be to download the MTFCA or MTFCI Self-Inspection form and use it as a guide.

When starting, pay attention to the spark lever position and either hold the brakes or chock it if you aren't in the car. If the car doesn't start immediately, don't run the starter too long without letting it cool off. If it won't start, the reason is usually a simple albeit aggravating one.

While it is certainly possible to learn to drive on your own with no assistance, I suggest it would be helpful to have a more experienced Model T'er inspect your car and perhaps test drive it when you think it is ready. Getting the bands adjusted correctly and the timing and carburetor adjustments correct makes a big difference in the operation of the car. Having the car running properly makes learning to drive it much safer and hassle-free.

Ryan Snellin lives in Nashville - he's an active member of this forum. I suggest you contact him. If he can't help you I bet he knows someone who can.
<https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/memberlist.php ... ile&u=1323> If I've learned one thing since joining the hobby it is that Model T people are more than willing to lend a hand to others....both to work on or repair their cars or help them learn to drive them. Don't be shy to ask. You'll find the age difference quickly disappears when you all have a little grease on your hands. I wish I had starting tinkering on Model T's at your age rather than waiting until I was 68. If you stick with the hobby a lot of fun and adventures await you. Good luck!

[Don D]

Josh,

The Tennessee T's website is https://tennesseets.weebly.com/ Then click on the newsletter link. Open the most current newsletter and on page 2 you will find the contact information for the club officers to get you some assistance that is in your local area.

Welcome and best of luck,

Dom

[Allan]

John has hit many nails on the head!

"Drive like you have no brakes"
"Anticipate way ahead of you"
"Make a game of not using the brake pedal"
His suggestion to watch out for idiots who don't see you or who pull in in front of you equates to leaving plenty of room for your stop. A panic stop using all three pedals works, but should be avoided if possible.

The rest, timing, throttle settings, foot engagement of neutral are all operating nuances which will come with practice and knowing your car.

Have fun. Drive as often as you can.

Allan from down under.

[John kuehn]

Welcome to the world of Model T’s!
In today’s world ALWAYS REMEMBER that Model T’s are 100 year old technology. Cruising speeds on most highways are 65+ MPH on today’s roads. In the Model T era it was about 25-30 mph.
Drive on less congested farm to market roads or country roads where you can have room to drive.
A car coming up behind you running 60+ Mph comes pretty fast when your going 25-30mph and will be upon you before they know it!!

And others have noted DRIVE AS IF YOU HAVE NO BRAKES because the other modern cars do have brakes and they know it while they DONT KNOW you don’t have modern acting brakes!!

Have fun and read all the Model T repair manuals you can get a hold of.

[csnailnrun]

Glad to have you here Josh. I'll message you separately as I'm here in West Meade/ Nashville.

[TWrenn]

Welcome to the hobby and "affliction" as we affectionately like to call it!
Sending you a PM to your email.

[BobShirleyAtlantaTx]

The old gentleman that taught me to drive aT, back in 1962, preached—-don’t slip the bands. Push the pedal down quickly, get her moving and hold it tight. I still have those bands in the automobile 60 years later.

[John Codman]

Welcome to the affliction! As has been said before - try to find someone who drives a T to ride shotgun. It is entirely possible to teach yourself to drive a T, but it will be quicker and safer with an instructor. You do have to get the car to that large, open, parking lot. A lot of public schools have appropriate parking lots, but more and more are being fenced. A school parking lot on a weekend day when the school is closed works really well.

[Art M]

Happy to hear you have the car ready.A rear view mirror and turn are necessary. Particularly the left rear signal.

I couldn't get my car to an open area the first time I drove, so I drove around the quiet neighborhood at first.

Art Mirtes

[jiminbartow]

Like you, I bought my 1926 coupe when I was 16 (in 1970) for $600.00 and with all the money I earned bagging groceries for $1.65/hr. and all my spare time, spent the next two years restoring it. There was no internet for advice, so I had to depend on books, common sense and the general knowledge I gleaned from working on go cart engines and mower engines with my friends. The following 2 articles were from the July, 1963 issue of Popular Science magazine celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of Henry Ford’s birth. I received it in the mail when I was 9 years old and it first sparked my interest in Model T’s. I saved the two articles for 7 years and read them often until I bought my first Model T. The first article introduced me to the history of the car and the last article is what taught me the basics for driving my Model T when I was ready. Maybe it will help you like it helped me. I still have my ‘26 coupe. Good luck. Jim Patrick

[jiminbartow]

Here are more pages…

[jiminbartow]

Last page… and a picture of my coupe.

[TXGOAT2]

I remember Free America.... it was a wonderful place.

[Marshall V. Daut]

My experience echoes the posted advice so far. Nothing new to add. Study the guys' advice and take it all to heart.

The one thing I'd stress, however, is not so much what you need to learn when first driving a Model T, as it is something you need to UN-learn. I came into the Model T world in 1978 after driving exclusively stick shift cars since earning my driver's license in 1965, including Model A's and Corvettes. I recognized quickly when teaching myself to drive my recently-purchased 1926 Coupe (after a 10 minute tutorial from the seller) that I had to disabuse myself of the innate tendency to push in the clutch pedal when I wanted to stop the car, either for a stop sign or in a panic situation. If you follow the learned habit of pushing in the clutch pedal to stop in a Model T, all you will do is downshift into low gear and take off even faster!!! You must force yourself mentally - both consciously and subconsciously - to only push the clutch pedal HALFWAY down to reach neutral. Alternately until you have mastered this technique, you could pull the handbrake lever back halfway, which also puts the transmission into neutral. I initially drove around the neighborhood during the daytime when most people were at work and traffic was lightest. I practiced using the engine to slow me down approaching stop signs and also faked panic stops in the middle of a block. Eventually I became confident that I could respond correctly in a real traffic situation surrounded by idiot drivers. Well, it didn't sink in automatically. It took several close calls and panic stops over the period of two weeks before pushing the clutch pedal only halfway down became second nature. But it can be done. Millions upon millions of people learned to do that since 1908. You can, too.

I advise you to practice, practice, practice all kinds of driving situations that you may encounter, keeping in mind the clutch pedal's use. Now when I drive a Model T, I don't even have to think about that, any more than I do when double-clutching a Model A. The brain is an amazing learning machine.
Marshall

[jiminbartow]

The levers just under the steering wheel are very important, too, in driving the car. The right one is the throttle and the left one controls the timing. While the attached diagram shows the general positions of the levers for various situations, each Model T is different and the lever positions may differ somewhat from T to T. Jim Patrick

[Phoenix88R]

Lots of good advice above. Another tip I was given, for the beginning of very first trial is to start with the hand brake in the straight up position so you will just be operating in low. That will let you get the overall feel of the car and operation the foot and hand controls. Very little speed and when you take your feet off you roll to a stop.

[Steve Jelf]

1 Don't be intimidated. Many millions of people have learned Model T driving, and you're bound to be smarter than some of them.

2 Be aggressive with the low and reverse pedals. Allow the drum to slip only briefly to get the car moving without stalling the engine, then keep the pedal pressed down tight.

3 Before you start driving, check out Mitch Taylor's videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxfHMtgg2d8

[bobt]

I like the quote " Drive with your head, not with your feet" bobt

[KLTagert]

Welcome to an awesome hobby ! It’s so wonderful to read of a young person such as yourself connecting with a Model T.
You’ll find lots of advise and help on the forum- don’t be shy about asking….. you’ve been given some great guidance here that I wish I’d had
When I started driving Model Ts.
Once you’re comfortable and confident be prepared for mikes of smiles and lots of questions. It’s twice the fun at 1/2 the speed.

Kathy T.

[It's Bill]

If the ratchet and/or pawl that holds the emergency brake handle in the neutral position are worn, the handle can pop forward which puts you in high gear. If you have set the throttle to fast for starting the engine or getting the car moving, this can be a very, very, VERY bad thing. Make sure these parts are in good condition and will hold until you manually release and move the lever. There is an auxiliary spring available to help ensure the pawl stays engaged with the ratchet, and I recommend you add this.

The other advice given on this forum is excellent, both for driving and repairs. Welcome to the club!

Cheers, Bill

[Duey_C]

Josh, much good info here! You have me beat, I was in my 30's with nothing other than books to help.
Two things caught me on my first trials:
That bugger will flex and twist. I thought the thing was coming undone! It's supposed to do that but scared the crap out of me.
Keep your fingers on the throttle. I keep my first and middle fingers gently pinched around the throttle lever whenever I can.
Hoping you have an absolutely exhilarating time on your first runs. Keep us in the loop.

[rainer]

Hello.
I also started driving my Lizzy in December '21 (first test drive after reworking the clutch). Before I never physically drove a Model T, I only read books and viewed youtube videos on "... how to ...".

Be warned. Even when you know it in theory, practice is a lot different.

• Drive first hours and at least 20-30 miles only in very low traffic. This reduces stress.
• Keep huge distance to anything in front of you. Why? You need sufficient time to think about what you need to do, literally nothing is where you find it in modern cars. If you have to rapidly stop and press the clutch pedal, you engage the low gear instead of entering "free run". Same with brakes, the pedal is where you usually don't step on to stop - it is the right pedal, in modern cars the gas.
  Everything easy in theory, but your reflexes will be wrong. You need to train that until it becomes an automated response/reflex, this needs time and practice.
• Don't race the engine. This engine is huge and built for low rpm. So don't exceed ~1200-1300rpm. If you race it, you damage it. Stay below 15 mph if driving longer in low gear. For shifting to high gear, you shift between 15-17 mph, not above.
• Best you start with "handbrake lever" in middle position. So you are in neutral if you don't press a pedal and you can only press the pedal down for "first/low gear". Train to start and stop. Don't let the "clutch" (= actually the low speed band inside the engine) slip more than 3-5 seconds. If you do, the band linings rapidly heat up and wear out. You should firmly press the pedal down within 3-5 seconds to avoid that.
• Train braking. Again, don't endlessly brake on long downhill streets. Release the brake pedal for 1-2 seconds in intervals to allow fresh oil to get between drum and band. Again to avoid overheating and wear out.
• If you are familiar with starting and stopping, put the "handbrake lever" into front position to allow high gear. Do this while you are driving in low gear (pedal firmly pressed down). Close the throttle (right lever in uppermost position), then gently release the pedal. You first enter neutral, you hear the rpm of the engine coming rapidly down. Wait for that, then release it further to enter high gear. Again, a lot of training is recommended, it is best to do that on horizontal roads. Uphill is a bit harder to do. If you have steel clutches inside, the high gear engages very quickly. My changes to high speed are still a little bit harsh. Modern clutches (like Jack Rabbit) shall be softer engaging. But again, don't let it slip too long. Enter "neutral", give the engine 2-3 seconds to get down, then engage high gear relatively quickly.
  A little hint... If you have difficulties with finding "neutral" on the clutch pedal, pull the "handbrake lever" to middle position. I still do that on red crossings etc. Otherwise it can happen that you stand with slightly slipping clutch or band, both is not good.

After some miles you will be fine with that, After 50 miles you will also have sufficient automated response/reflexes to drive safely. At least this is what I experienced.

Have a lot of fun! It is really wonderful to drive a T.

[Steve Jelf]

...each Model T is different and the lever positions may differ somewhat from T to T.

That's one reason not to be a slave to Murray Fahnestock's diagram. Another is that when you're running on MAG, as most do, the range of spark lever movement is not a gradual continuum from fully retarded to fully advanced, as it is on BAT. On MAG the lever movement is across four sectors. With the lever all the way up, timing is fully retarded; all the way down, fully advanced. That leaves just two sectors in between. When running on MAG the timing lever has only four effective positions.

When starting on BAT, the spark lever must be all the way up (fully retarded). If your battery is dead, or you have no battery, or you just feel like doing it, you can start on MAG. The spark lever should be down a few notches to put it in the second sector. I'm not electrically educated enough to explain why.

Why start on BAT and run on MAG? When starting on MAG you have to turn the engine quickly enough to generate enough current to fire the coils. When starting on BAT the battery supplies the current and the engine only has to turn, not necessarily fast. Once the engine is started, the magneto is producing more voltage than the battery, so the engine runs better on MAG.

This is how fast the engine has to "spin" when you start on BAT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pv6HWWOGYA

[mbowen]

… When starting on BAT the battery supplies the current and the engine only has to turn, not necessarily fast. Once the engine is started, the magneto is producing more voltage than the battery, so the engine runs better on MAG.

This is how fast the engine has to "spin" when you start on BAT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pv6HWWOGYA[/size]

Actually, on battery the engine doesn’t have to turn at all, except for priming. I get a “free start” about half the time on my ‘25. One day at the Michigan Jamboree last August, the owner of the ‘17 touring I was riding in got free starts 9 out of 10 times.

[Steve Jelf]

...the owner of the ‘17 touring I was riding in got free starts 9 out of 10 times.

It's fun when you flip on the key, go around in front to pull the crank, and as you're reaching for the handle the car starts.

[Been Here Before]

Josh, you have been given some good advice.

But you are a youngun' of a certain age who now has wheel. My advise to you is turn your newsboy cap around, get the motor spooled to maximum RPMs, and drive it like you stole it.

Yes I know it is irresponsible advice, but if you read the past postings on this site, there are those who want to know how fast a Model T will go. 25 to 30 apparently is not fast enough.

Treat the car well and it will treat you well.

[TXGOAT2]

When handled properly, a Model T will shift from low to high as smoothly and positively as a modern automatic. A Model T in GOOD CONDITION can be driven safely at 35 to 45 MPH on the open road, AS LONG AS YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO STOP. Most Model Ts are happiest at speeds up to 35 MPH. Strong winds, rough roads, poor visibility, and traffic require the application of common sense to prevent serious problems. Any vehicle must be operated within its limits, or trouble will find you, and usually much sooner than later. Driving a Model T is like riding a motorcycle or an ATV... lots of fun, but failure to respect your vehicle and its limits, the situation you are driving it in, and your own limits, can get you maimed or killed. A Model T will never attempt to tell you that a door is a jar, or to fasten your belt, but it will tell you a lot about what's going on, if you learn its language and pay attention.

[Steve Jelf]

A Model T in GOOD CONDITION can be driven safely at 35 to 45 MPH on the open road...

Quite right. But the faster the speed of the T, the faster the wear and tear. I like to keep my normal cruising speed under 40 mph. Some prefer under 35 mph. I once got my 1915 up to 50 mph briefly just to see if I could, but I don't drive it that way.