MTFCA Forum

Just bought a 25 coupe project that came with 2 truck loads of fenders and other parts. I am putting it together not going to be fancy just going to drive it the way it is maybe brush a coat of paint on it my problem is my hood is too short. I have 3 1925 hoods but it won’t fit the 27 body. What has changed between the 25 and 6? Is it where the rad is or is the whole body different? My firewall is a 26 but I have a 25 firewall with it but that still doesn’t make the hood fit

for all the typical mis-shapen bends which can be rectified, the hood appears to fit like it should

where does it not fit?

The hood is an inch or so too short. If it sits on the radiator where it should it doesn’t touch the cowl I believe this is because I am trying to mash 1925 and 1926 parts together

You might have a “high” radiator and a “low” hood.
Or maybe your radiator support rod is the longer one for wood firewalls. 20 3/4” versus 19 1/2”.
These older post discuss the different measurements.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/29/38157.html

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1403420730

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1412197150

regardless of what year the hood is or how tall it is (early or later radiator height), they all are 24 3/4 long along the center hood hinge (front to back)

is the body solidly on the frame or is it just set on the frame?

there are millions of reasons why things won't fit, but since the radiator is at a fixed point, if the body is too far back, it's too far back (and if it is, then body mounts are not going to line up with frame brackets)

a 26-27 body will not have a separate firewall

There's a lot there that is earlier than 1925 even. It appears to have a high radiator shell on a low radiator, going on how much of the radiator filler neck is showing. it has the early two U bolt front engine mount. The hood sides do not appear to have indents where the hood latches engage on the bottom. This would indicate that the hood is for a low radiator car 23 or earlier. I cannot see the dogleg at the rear of the hood shelves either. Until you know just what you have, it is a bit pointless trying to make it fit.

Allan from down under.

That is a 26 body, so you need 26 hood and high radiator.

So the body is what is changed? So there is no easy way to goon it up to fit?

Paradise Garage wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 17, 2023 7:29 am

So the body is what is changed? So there is no easy way to goon it up to fit?

Your '26-'27 Coupe body is radically different from a '25 coupe, for one, the gas tank is in the cowl.

Good news is you have a '26-'27 chassis, so at least the body will mount correctly to the frame brackets and both must match.

Now the bad news, the radiator is low style '23 and before, shell and the hood are earlier and hood is narrow at the cowl, and the fenders and headlamps are '17-'25, but they hang because of no fender/headlamp arms of '25 and earlier, as the '26-'27 fenders mount to the chassis.

No easy way to match, get a high radiator and shell, and a '26-'27 hood which is wide at the cowl to fit your body, and '26-'27 front fenders too.

Here are the hood measures to see what year hood you have, and the '26-'27 hood dimensions that will fit your Improved Car coupe body.

The easy tell on the hood is the number of louvers on the side panels

You need a radiator anyway. '26 '27 parts are the easiest to find, although a decent radiator shell may take some looking.

Dan, have I missed something? How can the front fender irons and fenders mount on a 26-7 frame? It looks to me like a 26-7 body siting on an earlier rolling frame and wheels. We need more photos.

Allan from down under.

Well it might be a 26-27 frame, are those extended front frame ears? Better pictures would help. 26-27 motor mount with something odd going on with that front spring and mounting, clincher front wheels, earlier crank, earlier fenders, splash shields, and running boards, model A rear wheels, low radiator, who knows what this car started life as. Plenty of inexpensive T's out there that are not parts salads, not sure I would recommend going any further on this one, maybe look for a better one to put time and money into.

The front engine mount is the earlier mount not the one for the high cowl cars.
It sure seems like it has a low radiator. It’s a typical T that came with extra parts and seems to be put together that way on an earlier chassis.
That’s the thing about Model T’s.
You can build one from parts and it can run OK but as far as being a pretty much correct car it’s not.

What does the title say that it is.

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 18, 2023 8:54 am

The front engine mount is the earlier mount not the one for the high cowl cars.

The front bearing/spring clip is the later 3075C, for the '26-27 Improved Car, it has the threaded hole for anchor of the radiator apron.

It also has an accessory clips added to give more support to the front spring. The clips are from earlier ones, but there was also made accessory parts for this purpose. That front spring, by the way, has an added leaf exposed as likely that front spring is busted somewhere!

So it’s an after market spring plate for the later improved cars and that good to learn. But it could have used on any T for added stability.

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 18, 2023 9:16 am

So it’s an after market spring plate for the later improved cars and that good to learn. But it could have used on any T for added stability.

I put one on a lowered 23. The tires rubbed going around corners.
The plate really stiffened up the front end. No more fender contact.

When I blew up the photos I can now see the late engine mounting bracket, and possibly the extended front frame cross member of a 26-7 so the frame may well be true to the body. I still don't know how they cobbled the early fender mounts and fenders onto that frame.

Allan from down under.

When I bought this car it was not together I just bolted the fenders on and they fit mint I am just going to put it together the best I can with what I have and drive it. Where I live in Nova Scotia parts and cars are slim pickins I paid 2300$ for what you see in this picture plus some fenders and another engine. I am quite excited to drive it. It will never be a show winner unless worst in class is a trophy.

Hope my little guy grows up to like it too

It came with a better rad that is at my friends shop getting a new spout put into it and I got a coil box and coils. One I get the pointer for the timer I hope it will run. Any tips on the timer setup?

Robert, you can't start the kids too early in the hobby. He will be the future of it down the track. I have a prized photo of my 9 year old son hauling on a lever trying to engage the rear spring shackles on my 1920 pickup. That was back in 1986!

You will learn a lot in your build. Keep in contact with the forum. Together we can keep you on track, and probably save you a good few dollars along the way. We might also learn something too.

Allan from down under.

Hope my little guy grows up to like it too

you both are off to a good start

to start, you'll need:

4 rebuilt coils
1 rebuilt coil box (thermo plastic)
fresh wiring
new intake/exhaust gaskets
rebuilt carb
clean supply of fuel
new timer
new plugs
clean oil
pull bottom inspection pan off after draining old oil. Put on your dirtiest clothes and after things drip for 24 hours, crawl under there with a ton of shop rags and wipe EVERYTHING down. Inspect for obvious serious trouble. If none found, button up, fill with 4 quarts of oil and do your darndest.

everything on the list is optional, but any one step left undone seriously reduces the chance of a good first run. A new-ish Forum Member took me to task for this list and claimed "you must be rich" or some such retort, and promptly spent months working on the car, only to pretty much follow the entire list over that long period. Personally, I have too many "first starts" of long-forgotten barn finds under my belt and don't have the time to try a little of this and a little of that with the hope that I can save $5 and keep some 100 year old consumable part on the car and still hope for success. This list could be longer, but it can't easily be shorter. Life's too short. And you, with a little baby and family, I'm going to bet that time is too scarce.

Finally, if you're not going to hand crank, then the list gets a little longer with new 1/0 battery cable from battery to switch and switch to starter.

Good luck!

I have most of your list but I am not sure what is supposed to live under the timer cap and it seems like there is lots of different options for timer divices I am a licenced mechanic and have lots of experience on classic cars I have 10 vehicles on the road most of them are 50s and 60s gym and dodge cars but this model t which is amazingly simple and well built has some learning curves to it. I sure hope my little guy grows up loving old cars. I hope he grows up to want to smoke tires and not drugs.

It will really help if you familiarize yourself by getting a Ford service manual and a Lang’s, Snyder’s and other suppliers parts catalogs. They can be really helpful in identifying parts that are used for different years and what they look like.
While there is lots of good advice and information about Model T’s on the forum there is nothing better than having pictures and wiring diagrams to know what goes where.

Pictures say a thousand words still hold true for a Model T.

any brand of new timer is fine for a first start. "New" is the key here, and what lives under the timer is the roller/flapper/brush, and it will all come complete.

there are better timers than others and for various and sundry reasons, but again, the key is "new", not "what kind"...that answer is different for different folks and will come with trial and error and many miles under your belt.