MTFCA Forum

Bought this 25 Coupe today. Going to need some engine work. Engine was good running good for last owner but broke a couple magnets. I'm assuming the field coil is going to be a mess. Previous owner removed the rest of the magnets. He bought a set of splash angles but decided not to finish the project. Debating whether I should try putting the splash bars on and add a distributor or pull the engine and fix the flywheel and mag? Also thoughts about a Texas T outside oil line kit that would line up with the ring gear? Still scratching my head how he managed to get the magnets off with engine in the car?

A distributer is a fast fix, but if you lose a condensor your dead in the water, if you lose a coil you can limp home on three. if you are pulling hills with a heavy car the magnets give you some more climbing ability.

You can just carry an extra condenser like you would in a Model A .

That's a nice looking car. I would be inclined to restore the magneto, and take the opportunity to check for any damage to the transmission or engine and be sure that no stray metal or metal particles are loose in the engine or transmission. It's nice to have a T with all T functions available, and as mentioned above, the magnets are a functional part of the flywheel itself since they provide a substantial part its design weight and weight distribution. A Texas T oiler can provide plenty of auxilliary oiling, and then some. My car has a Texas T oiler, and I found it necessary to regulate its capacity to prevent oil burning under some conditions.

Could the previous owner tell you how he removed the magnets? If he pulled the engine and separated the transmission, he could remove all parts without leaving anything inside the engine. However if not, you should pull it and be sure nothing is left inside. While you have it apart, you could easily replace the magnets and coil ring. The book published by the club, "electrical system" has step by step instructions how to do this written with the hobbiest in mind. If the magnets were removed without leaving anything inside, you could run on battery. It would be a bit slower than most T's. However you could convert to 12 volts and it would have more power, but then you would need to convert the generator, starter, and lights to 12 volts. The lights are easy, and you could do some rewinding on the starter or buy one already made for 12 volts. However you would need to convert the generator to an alternator. Alternators give much more problems on a Model T than generators, because they were made to run by belt and have a cooling fan built into the pulley. To adapt to a gear driven by the timing gear, the alternator loses the fan and picks up the engine heat as well. Also they are prone to come off the gear and cause trouble.
Anyway, I ran one for about 10 years on 6 volt battery and it ran fine except for being a bit slow going up hills.
I personally like the coils and magneto. It is one of the things which give the Model T a personality and a good talking point when showing it to others.
Norm

I could pull the engine and I do have another complete flywheel with magnets I could charge and set heights and put in a new field coil. It's a lot of work. I have another complete 26 engine under rebuild too and I'm not liking the run out I have mounting the transmission to the crank. My measurements suggest the crankshaft flange is wobbling by a few thousands when checking the air gap with the brass feeler gauges. It's all tedious and can get a guy down. But back to the coupe, I also like flipping my T"s to mag and would miss the better spark. Maybe I'm talking myself into the longer route.

Lot of unknowns here. IF it was MINE, First, I would check compression before pulling it out to see if top end work needed, you'll have pan off so I would check Condition and Clearances on rods and mains, crankshaft end play, clean inside oil line, check magnets, and clean any debris out. Hopefully everything is OK, and all it needs are a few shims pulled. By checking everything over, your mind will be at ease when you're on tour or just going to the ice cream shop.

How much more work is it? What do you have to do to put oil slingers on? You need to remove all the magnets. Model T snowmobile?

Also inspect your transmission drums closely for cracks and being not natural colored.

If you're going to install oil slingers you have to pull the engine anyway, so what's the difference? once you've gone to all the work of yanking the motor, why not fix the mag?

With the HH off, as shown & the magnets already removed, It would be possible to add slingers as she sits.
If you were going to run with a dizzy, fine.
If you want to run coils, the motor will run much better on mag over a 6V battery.