MTFCA Forum

Does anyone know of a stone guard available for tall T radiator? Did they ever use one?
With the price of a radiator these days it might be a good thing.
John
Oscoda, Michigan

No new available, but yes, back in the era radiator guards were made for T's, like this shell with bars.

Likely not for stones, but as protection, since T's didn't come with bumpers and aftermarket bumpers were also made, but cost more.

The late Louis Seekon of Minneapolis, MN had a 1924 touring that he dolled-up with a number of accessories including a radiator stone guard.

He was a talented fellow.

Instead of being a period accessory, he may have fabricated the stone guard himself in the 1950s using off-the-shelf materials. The main part of the stone guard was flattened expanded metal sheet/lattice that you can still purchase today. I can't remember if the trim around the perimeter was flat metal or a split tube.

If I recall correctly, it had a three-point mounting - one tab each for the left and right radiator/radiator shell mounting studs and nuts and collar that went around the base of the radiator neck.

The first photo below was cropped from a panoramic photo taken in 1959. The second photo is of the car that I took in 2016 when it was still in Minnesota after Jeff Perkins acquired it - sorry about the poor quality.

Wow, gotta wonder how the restricted airflow affected the cooling...the guard looks nice for sure, but also looks like at least a 50% reduction in air flow. Better have a flat tube radiator!

With a little free time, 1/4 inch hardware cloth, and some measuring a radiator screen could be produced.

Consider that the use of a radiator screen is found on some early farm tractors. And some of these screens were produced by the original owner. Or an example of a factory screen from a Farmall.

I would be more concerned with loosing the head light lenses and would consider lamp screens.

Thanks Everyone for the advice, it gives me some food for thought.
John
Oscoda, Michigan

Hi John,
The color pic stone guard looks like a very good adaptayion of a amodel A stone guard.
Craig.

I have installed a radiator shutter on my WWI ambulance project. Not that it gets that cold down here in GA, but I like the look of an "armored" radiator on a military type vehicle. Even in the open position, it looks like it will provide some protection. On my 1967 Kaiser M715, the military installed a brush guard for the radiator, but no protection for smaller debris, so I installed some wire screen, using existing grill holes. I am considering coming up with something like this screen for headlight glass protection for the ambulance.
Just some more food for thought.

Just thinking out loud here, because that's what I do, but perhaps some sort of wire screen like my Kaiser screen that could hang over the radiator cap or somehow attached with something temporary for touring or daily driving, but could be easily removed for displays or shows? A "modern" convenience that would not affect the "purists" in the crowd?

John, have you had a problem with vehicles throwing stones at your car? Your own tires won't throw stones into your radiator so it would have to be from a vehicle either ahead of you or passing by in the oncoming lane. I drive the back roads a lot and stones never been a problem (yet). Then again, I seldom meet other traffic and when I do they are going slow like me.

There he goes again! Rambling down some historic recollections rabbit hole?

Stone guards were very popular accessories for hobbyists during the 1950s through the 1980s for the big Classic automobiles and model A Fords. I actually knew a fellow that made hundreds of the model A versions back in the 1960s (he lived near where I grew up and went to high school). A typical model A hobbyist, he welcomed me to stop by and chat occasionally when I was riding my bicycle in the area. All the jigs and tools to make the stone guards were set up in his garage next to the unfinished model A he never had enough time to work on. The ones he made were beautiful and he sold them all over the world through ads in model A magazines.
The big Classic stone guards were made by others to fit Packards, Cadillacs, Pierce Arrows and dozens of other marques.
They were in fact reproductions of original era accessories. Jack Passey had a few original ones on some of his cars (I was fortunate to get to know Jack early as my dad had gone to college along with Jack's younger brother for a year or two). I was often allowed to wander through his incredible collection of Classic cars. Even though Jack had given me permission to open hoods and doors anytime I wanted to look closer, I never did unless he was standing right there with me.
I have seen a few originals and era advertising for stone guars for model T Fords, so I know they were made and did exist.
However, like many after-market (or even factory options) accessories, they really weren't all that popular when the cars were new. Like wire wheels or step plates on 1925 or earlier factory bodied model Ts, they just don't show up very often in era photographs. I would expect that on model Ts. They were practical and utilitarian cars, owners rarely were willing to pay extra for such frivolous bling (to use a modern word for it?). But even on the great Classics, other than factory and sales photos from the era, stone guards are not common in era photos. Packard's (and other) sales departments loved to show the cars with the factory optional stone guards, Tripp lights and sidemount mirrors. In random street scenes? Such options are not often seen. (The mirrors are seen much more often than the stone guards and Tripp lights because they do have a practical use.)

If you can find the right types of interlace wire mesh? Making a period correct looking stone guard would not be difficult. In the 1960s, that correct mesh was still being made and could be ordered in various sizes large enough to make a few stone guards. I suspect it must still be available today as I have seen recently manufactured off-road lamp covers made of it. However, I have no idea where to get any. The stone guards are little more than small angle-iron carefully shaped to match the radiator shell, the wire mesh cut to fit neatly inside and brazed into place. Simple flat steel brackets brazed (or more correctly riveted?) to the angle iron to mount to the chassis and radiator neck. Nice ones then were nickel plated up until about 1928, and chrome plated after that. Utilitarian versions were likely painted black.

I clearly remember seeing a nickel plated one in an era auto parts store photo some years ago. But apparently I don't have a copy of it on my computer (I looked for it a couple years ago?).

If you think you would like one? Go for it! Even a good reproduction gives people a chance to see some of what was available back in the day.

Just for reality's sake? Probably ninety-nine percent of all model A stone guards today are postwar reproductions (made by at least a dozen major suppliers including my old friend). Probably nearly ninety percent of the stone guards on the great Classics are also postwar reproductions, whether the current owner believes it or not.

Oldav8tor wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 22, 2024 12:03 pm

John, have you had a problem with vehicles throwing stones at your car? Your own tires won't throw stones into your radiator so it would have to be from a vehicle either ahead of you or passing by in the oncoming lane. I drive the back roads a lot and stones never been a problem (yet). Then again, I seldom meet other traffic and when I do they are going slow like me.

I've got to go along with Tim here. I've been driving four T's for the past 41 years. I can't say in that time that I've ever had a stone, or anything else, hit my radiator... except for maybe dragon flies, butterflies and bees, which I consider trophies

I suspect "back in the day" before paved roads were common and all traffic was funneled over dirt or gravel roads that it might have been a problem. In 1979 I flew a light plane to Alaska and remember stopping at a motel along the ALCAN highway in Whitehorse. While eating dinner we watched the traffic coming into town.....mud and dirt totally obscuring the paint, broken headlights, cracked windshields..... back then large sections of the highway were unpaved, making travel a challenge, particularly after rain. My dad drove to Alaska twice. He had to replace his windshield after each time. The second time he got plastic guards for his headlights and carried two spare tires. The radiator came thru OK but the hood and grill took a beating. He drove a Dodge van on these trips. While driving a undeveloped road (way off the beaten path) near Mt. McKinley he punctured his oil pan on a sharp rock. A big wad of denture adhesive and a bunch of duct tape got him back to civilization....but that's another story

I assume with some work involved, a 28-29 A stone guard could be made to work, even if it didn't fit perfectly, but at Home Depot, Lowes, and most well stocked hardware stores, they sell sheets of expanded metal (usually aluminum) in various patterns.