MTFCA Forum

i ordered and have received the gas lamp hook up kit from Langs's. The kit comes with 8 feet of brass tubing, 3 feet of red rubber hose, 6 hose clamps, and a copper "T" fitting that I will replace with brass when available. the installation instructions that accompany the kit are all but useless. Can the owner of a 1913 or 14 Touring car with the kit installed, or with an original factory installation, please help me by providing information on installing the tubing. it appears the tubing must be cut into 3 pieces, one piece from near the carbide generator to the radiator where the "T" fitting is soldered on, a second piece of tubing from the "T" fitting across the engine side of the radiator to accommodate the hose connection to the right head lamp, and a third section of tubing from the "T" fitting on the long piece of tubing to accommodate the hose connection to the left head lamp. What I need to know is the length of each section of tubing , how it is routed, and how the tubing is attached to the car. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

You are smart to ask before you cut anything. I'm not sure that 1913 and 1914 hookups were exactly the same, Larry Smith and Royce Peterson would be the best sources for info.

A Google search for "acetylene routing mtfca" revealed these old threads:

https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2012

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/33 ... 1368562111

These threads are rather old, I suspect that Larry and Royce have updated material that they will hopefully share with you.

Thank you Mark for referring me to the earlier threads relative to the installation of the gas line. Although there appears to be some question as to the routing of the tubing I now have enough information to do an acceptable , if not easy, job with the body on the chassis.

You're welcome. One other thing, the vendors sell brass clamps to clamp the red hose onto the ends of the brass tubing, but I don't think that Ford used any clamps, can one of the experts confirm?

A bit OT, but here are a few pictures of the lamps lit on my 1912 Flanders. Note that the burners are oriented so that the "Y" faces parallel to the axis of the car. A lot of folks orient them so that you can see the "Y" from the front, this is incorrect.

Fred,
Does your radiator have the acetylene "crossover tube" soldered to the engine side?
Ken

No, there is no crossover tube. A previous owner had the radiator gone over with a new core and the crossover tube was not replaced.








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Fred,
So, you do have the 1/2"-inch holes for the acetylene hose in the radiator
side panels?
Do you have the 1/2"-inch acetylene gas hole in the driver side
splash shield?
Ken

Ken,
Yes there is a 1/2 hole in each side 0f the radiator brass side panel (shell), and another 1/2 inch hole in the drivers side splash apron for the carbide generator hose.

Fred,
You need to fabricate the crossover pipe. It solders to the fins of the radiator.
The "tee" and two small 2-inch pieces of tubing are shown below. The single long piece
not shown in the cropped photo of tubing is about 14-1/2-inches on my Brass Works radiator.
It lays against the fins, "tee" on driver side of radiator, soldered, and is about 1/2" lower
than the gas hose holes in the side panels. The fan is close, so securely soldered.

If someone has the "factory" length on the "14-1/2" piece", please chime in.

The crossover lays against the fins and each end, about one inch, bends slightly away from the fins
to allow the acetylene hose to clear the fins to slip on and place a clamp.

The "Rear Gas Line" is a single 44" long piece of your brass tube and is held by a single clamp as shown
by the photo at the red Dot. It slides forward through the hole in the wood engine mounting block.

The tube lengths are: Two each at 2-inches, one at 44-inches and one at 14-1/2-inches.

Ken,
Many thanks for the information on the fabrication of the crossover tube. The tubing clamp you show I can fabricate. As you mentioned fan clearance can be an issue as there is not much room to spare.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
Fred

Type in brass 1/4" Tee on ebay. With a little lathe work their tee is remarkably close to the original, It's just a wee bit smaller. I typed in 5/16 thinking the body would be larger. It was .010" smaller.

Does the original print give the total length of the tube?

It probably does and would likely be the bottom dimensional arrow.
That's all I have ever seen posted of that drawing.