MTFCA Forum

As I am a new member of MTFCA & also new to Model T’s, I acquired a nice 24 Touring about a year ago & started the second restoration this car is getting. I’ve been though the engine & transmission with a rebore, new pistons rods etc. painstakingly put this all back together and after running it for a while, I see oil drips, especially from the front of the hogsheads. I plan on trying a trick Noel Chicoine told me about involving cleaning areas with solvent, putting a vacuum to the crankcase while using Right Stuff on the areas leaking to draw it into the leaks. But this brings to mind a question. What about the oil stop leak products on the market? Has anyone tried these with success or should I stay clear of this idea? Thank your responders!

A real, working T will leak. A hogshead that can be removed when needed will leak. A hogshead that is glued down so tight it can't be removed when needed will leak less. Be sure you provide for easy disassembly when applying heroic means to seal the hogshead !

Stay clear of stop leak.... leaks around the hogshead are not unusual and need to be addressed if extreme. That said, some leaking oil is to be expected.... at Greenfield Village you can tell the route their very well-maintained Model T's follow by the oil trail on the streets. I've attached a photo showing same - the Model T terminal is the building at the lower left corner with the silver roof

You didn't indicate how you sealed the hogshead to begin with. Globing sealant on the front corners is a must. The rim of the hogs head and pan around the bolt holes may get deformed from over-tightening. It doesn't hurt to put sealant 360 around the bolt hole too
From Ford Fix https://modeltfordfix.com/how-to-keep-y ... territory/ - --
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with felt

In reply to the responses on my oil drips, I took great care in sealing the gasket to the pan and also to the top of gasket and a bead over the felt and also a good dolop in the corners . I don’t want to remove the hogsheads again as it is a job to remove especially as the gaskets are sealed on top too. Tomorrow, I will attack it and see how serious it really is. According to the photos, it looks like the street dept. won’t have to reseal the streets any time soon. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but maybe I should not strive to be. Thank you guys for the response. I greatly appreciate your thoughts!

If you're as slow as I am, The Right Stuff is The Wrong Stuff. Sets up too fast.
Utra Black is better for us slowpokes.

Felt will allow hot oil to pass unless it is very highly compressed. To seal off hot oil, felt would need to be impregnated with something that will not allow oil to pass. Cork might do a better job than felt, but most all cork gaskets that are placed in areas like V8 manifold end seals, sheet metal valve covers, etc, or something like the T hogshead, are chronic leakers. A molded rubber seal, perhaps with a wire core, would do the job.

Here’s a question.
When you had the engine torn down and cleaning everything up did you carefully check the engine pan (complete crankcase) bolt holes to see if they were dimpled out? This commonly happens with T oil pans, and the oil pan cover.
If the holes get dimpled out they won’t have a good flat seal between the pan and transmission cover and engine block.

Over the years the bolts have gotten tightened and retightened because of failing gaskets and etc. T’s get to be leakers after a while and this happens over time!

When I build an engine I use a good silicone sealant first on the pan and lay in the gaskets and let it set and partially dry to keep in in place. Then coat the corners and the rest with another coat and then install everything else. And a good glob on the trans cover corners!

I "massage" black RTV into the cover felt & let it get tacky prior to installing it. I RTV the crankcase surface as it's not a machined surface like the cover is. I also apply a "blob" of sealant in the corners.

If you don't find oil drips under your car,... You're out of oil !

Steve is correct the Right Stuff sets up way to fast especially if trying to install in the car. I used it once on a rebuild and years later I broke
a low drum. Tried for hours to get the hogs head off with out damaging the pan. Finally I left the engine hanging from the hogs head from the
hoist over night. It was off the next day but would have been impossible in the car!

John has a good point also about the dimples. If you hammer & dolly the dimples flat you will need a pan anvil to make sure it is flat after.
I made a simple device to straiten the dimples that can even be used in the car for the pan if the hogs head is remove in the car. Use lots of never-seize no the threads. Takes time but I have never smashed a finger with it.
Craig.

Craig

Been there...done that!

On a starter-car, the hog's head invariably overlaps the pan in a couple places near where the starter mounts and the bendix cover mounts. If ever in that situation again, you can place a 1/4" x 1" flat bar of steel on end, up underneath it, and push up with an automotive jack until the car just starts to move from the lift. Wait overnight and the seal will be broken and the thing can be lifted off.

An engine with good tight rings and well-adjusted bearings will be less prone to leak oil. However, the Model T's very effective splash system will assure that oil will find and exploit any possible leak point.

One other place to remedy a profuse oil leak THAT appears to be from the corner of the hogshead can actually be from a field coil retaining bolt hole that has "broken through" the block just above the last bolt near the block - I'll attempt to capture a photo.

RajoRacer wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 20, 2023 4:36 pm

One other place to remedy a profuse oil leak THAT appears to be from the corner of the hogshead can actually be from a field coil retaining bolt hole that has "broken through" the block just above the last bolt near the block - I'll attempt to capture a photo.

That situation is in play if there is no field coil & that hole isnt plugged with a shorter bolt on the inside.

I tackled my T again today and with a very bright work light I crawled the car and cleaned everywhere it had been dripping. Under the fourth main, starter, and dried everything off. Come to find out, the rebuilt starter was dripping out of the drain hole which it should not if a new seal was installed. The leak under the fourth main was actually the transmission cover. The gaskets I sealed on one side only and that is why they leaked so I took off the cover, cleaned everything up & put heavy grease on the other surfaces. No more leak. Now just need to replace the starter and I should be in pretty good shape for the shape I’m in!
Thank you guys for the great thoughts!

After many years of involvement with a variety of antique motor vehicles I have yet to find one that doesn't at least drip oil regardless of the effort that goes into trying to prevent any leaking. My advice is to keep a mat under the vehicle in the garage to catch the drips. learn to accept the drips However if you experience puddles of oil you have problem that needs to be addressed.