MTFCA Forum

Phil Eyre skipped the Old Car Festival this year to attend an auction in Northern Michigan. His efforts were successful scoring an outstanding original 17 Touring (titled as '17 but has many '18 features). As Phil said today, they're still out there.

It does pretty much look original. It might have the interior replaced going by the picture but otherwise it looks like it was stored well and kept out of the weather and that’s the reason Model T’s survive looking like this one. Nice and original. Good find! I’ll bet that’s the original paint.

The top doesn't look original either.

The interior top and tires were replaced about 25 years ago as far as we can tell. Engine looks to never have been out still has all its cotter pins and engine pans installed. No wear on either the spark or throttle side of the quadrant. Starts easily cold on the mag to which is a bonus. I did have to put a carb on it to make it run. It had a Holley three screw on it but the float had long since been usable. I’ll go through it and put it back on at a later date. I will not restore this one.

For a car like this your making a good decision not to “restore” it. Maybe change the oil and maybe the bands then give it good wash job and that’s it. Also you might raise up the seats and use air and a vacuum to get the dust and dirt from sitting for years.