MTFCA Forum

(Note: be patient with me, I going to attempt multiple entries and photos)

In April 2018 my brother took me up to dad’s farm and we dug this T out of the barn. When dad was in his teens this was his farm’s mud runner. It was used for fun and to run to the barns and check the cows. The magneto exploded at some point during this time so dad took all that out and through the parts away. It eventually died in the woods when he was in college and sat out there for several years until dragged home and parked. Sense then it’s been moved from cow barn to cow barn. The first time I washed it stunk up the whole area with the smell of cow urine and cat piss. I’ve been calling it the Pee T for a year now but my wife says it deserves a real name. One day.

In photo, Dad on right, my brother Jeff in middle, Jeff's son Jonathan

The photo below is what we believe is this T. My uncle Glenn is on the left, I think the woman to his right is my grandmother, not sure but the next woman might be my Aunt Judy, then last on the right is my dad.

This is the Pee T pressure washed. I began dissembling on it on May 20th 2018.

So far I have worn out 2 rotary air tools, buckets of wire brushes, a book of sandpaper and used enough rustolieum paint to fill 2 good sized buckets. I have hundreds of photos and shoe box full of receipts. I’ve bought parts from some of you, from eBay, from numerous T junk yards, several vendors, and even the crazy Canadian. I traded the A wheels for a couple of carburetors. The wheels on it now came from one of you, I took them apart and replaced the bad spokes and removed about 10 layers of old paint to get back to the wood. I like wooden wheels. Due to my disability I am only able to work on it about 1-2 hours each morning skipping about 2 months worth of days due to illness in the last year.

Each day I leave notes and sketches for the stranger who will come in tomorrow and continue the work. It’s been weird and took allot of discipline and practice to go in each morning and read over the notes and see what someone else has done. Just so you know there is no one else, my disability affects my memory and I’m the stranger. This has been the most challenging thing I have ever attempted and I am so lucky to have a wife who supports and pushes me to keep going.

I know I have at least another year or so to go but it will get there. In the end this won’t be a year correct T. The 27 engine kinda set that path but it will be mostly a 25 with a 27 engine and transmission. Maybe one day someone will set it right and put some a 25 eng/trans in it. The steering wheel is off a Farmall tractor. The small steering wheel on my other T has always driven me nuts so I went with a bigger one on this T. Seeing how I’m building the body I’m gone give myself a bit of leg room to. I have fenders, hood, and side sheilds for it I’ve hunted down over the last year. I’m hoping to build a delivery type body over this in the next year. Not being much of a carpenter this should be interesting.

I would like to thank the men and women of this forum. If not for you posting your problems, solutions, steps taken, weird findings, and all the other things, I never would have attempted this. Your pictures are worth a million THANK YOUs from me.

Jim

Multiple posts completed.

Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Jim,

You, my friend, are the definition of PERSEVERANCE. Keep up the great work. Your Pee T sure is looking good today!

Good Luck,
Terry Miller

I love it Jim.

Having an actual vehicle from your family's past is a rare treasure.

Jim, Keep up the good work. You've come a really long way already and we're all pulling for you.

Keith

If you don’t want to call it the pee T. You can call it the Van Urine.

It's fun, isn't it? Keep up the good work. Since you have a combination of various year parts, you can put any body you want on it from a factory body or a home made one. I'm sure it will look good and run well when you are done.
Norm

Am I the only one who sees a cutdown Model A in the old photo and NOT a Model T?

Howard Dennis

That old photo might be an A. I never thought it looked like this T. dad and his brother had several home built contraptions running around then, even 1 that flew. Van Urine would be a great name for a T.

The old photo cut down chassis is a Model A Ford.

Jim,

I have done just what you are doing many times over the last 40 years and even after working in body shops and doing several cars from the ground up, my hat is off to you. That is amazing progress and your story reminds me of the movie 50 first dates. What you have done is not easy for someone in good shape and what I see in the pictures would make anyone proud. Keep at it and keep this post bookmarked so you can use these notes for the "next person" to read tomorrow and every day and know we are all looking forward to your first drive when you get it done. That is one of best model T's I have ever seen posted on here.


Thank you for sharing your story and pictures, it made my day

If you do something every day, sooner or later you will run out of things to do. Keep at it, it's looking good so far.

Looking wonderful! A quality anyone should be proud of. Working on model Ts can be excellent therapy. I am convinced working on my project piles is the only reason I am still here.
Keep at it, and enjoy each day.

Hi Jim, Thanks for sharing your project with us, as many have said, you have to just keep at it and it will happen. What you have done so far is something to be proud of. A big thumbs up from me !!

Jim_PTC_GA wrote: ↑

Mon May 20, 2019 5:12 pm

That old photo might be an A. I never thought it looked like this T. dad and his brother had several home built contraptions running around then, even 1 that flew. Van Urine would be a great name for a T.

Okay Jim, NOW you've really got me hooked! Does the flying machine still exist or a picture? Details?

Howard Dennis

I believe to thing they fly was a patched up Ercoupe. Can't remember if he had a license. There are allot of stories of drive bombing the neighbors and backfiring the engine over houses to scare them.

Jim_PTC_GA wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2019 4:35 pm

I believe to thing they fly was a patched up Ercoupe. Can't remember if he had a license. There are allot of stories of drive bombing the neighbors and backfiring the engine over houses to scare them.

Thanks Jim, Just one last question. As a collector of oriental antiques including Samurai swords I'm very familiar with your Wabi-Sabi. How did you come to use it?

Howard Dennis

I'm in tears as I read your story. I admire you and hope to high heaven you achieve your goal. High praise for your wife, too. Don.

Thank you all for the comments. I don't think ive done anything different or special and that anyone who found themselves in my situation would be doing something similar. Afterall whats the choice, give up and wait for this disease to take what makes me, me. That might be the easier road but It's just not my nature. I fall, I get back up, I fall again, .... repeat.

The Wabi-Sabi aspect of my life found me. I was experiencing the world through Wabi-Sabi filters long before I found the word the Japanese use to describe it. This aspect of my life I keep private but added it to my profile because I think any one who loves the Model Ts has already begun to see the world through Wabi-Sabi lenses. I also love a well served cup of tea. LOL

Hey Jim, had to look up that Wabi-sabi, i only knew it from the Pirates of the Caribian character, but now i know.
It's exactly how i look at life and the things and people around me.
I've always had it, there is something about a cup with a crack that makes it more appealing to me than a perfect one.
I can only aplaud your vieuw on life, keep at it !

I had to look up wabi-sabi as well.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.

This states, very succinctly, why I love the way my 24 Touring looks and why I'm putting so much effort into preserving the old paint, imperfections in the body, farm repairs and other evidence of the life the car has led along with those who used it in one of the most difficult times the country ever faced (the period starting with the Great Depression through until the end of WW2).

Rough definition..."Simple Beauty". That's what the T translates to.

I like that wabi-sabi description. I think I get it! Or have it...
Jim, you're doing way more than I am and all I have is fibromyalgia!
Leaving yourself notes is perfect. Pssst, I've done that too.
I think I'll get off my backside right now even tho I'm tired, head down the hill and work on an OT piece!
Thanks Jim!