MTFCA Forum

Fascinating !.. thank you Tom… I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the guy in the 4th, 5th and 6th pictures is the same guy and, judging by license plates, the touring in the 4th and 6th pics is the same. But I can’t, for the life of me, discern a rear ‘window’ on the touring in the 5th picture

I thought "climate change" was causing the cold winter this year! Yet it has been going on for at least 100 years! Still no snow where I live. But has been getting cold enough that I have to put 3 blankets on the bed. Last week I had 4 on, but it is beginning to get spring here! We have had a sprinkling on the mountains over 4,000'. It would be interesting to be able to know the people in the pictures and the stories they had to tell! They would probably be surprised to find out what has happened in the last 100 years. Some of them were young enough to experience part of the last century. I can remember my uncle and my dad telling me of their grandfather hitching up the horse and buggy in the morning to ride down to the ocean for a picnic on the beach. They lived in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. It took all day to go down Sunset Blvd to Santa Monica and have lunch on the beach and then ride back. When I was a boy we went down the same route in my grandfather's Model A. it took less than an hour. Once we got past Beverly Hills it was just rolling hills with cattle and sheep grazing until we got to the beach. Quite a change even since I was a boy. I suspect that picture of Ocean Beach highway was somewhere in Oregon or Washington because the Ocean Beach in San Diego would not have the pine and fir trees.
Norm

An early lift with what looks like a Commercial Roadster on it, 1912(?) just like mine! I might have to rig something up like this so I don't have to crawl under my Model T. Looks safe to me!

Some of the concrete blocks are not safe as shown. Never rest iron directly on those blocks because it results in concentrated stress which can crumble the block.

Put a wooden block (white oak preferred) between the steel and a concrete block. Also orient the block in the way they are typically laid.

Art Mirtes

I don't know why a Model T would need to be raised that much. You can crawl under to drain the oil. Or to work on the fuel line. To remove the rear axle you need to jack up the frame and leave the wheels on the ground. Same with removing the front axle. To remove the engine you can leave it on the floor and pull out from the top. To get to the Grease fitting on the U joint you can either remove the floor board or reach up from the bottom. There is almost no reason why you need to raise the whole car that much.
Norm

Norm, I agree with what you say. A closer look at the picture reveals the rear wheel driving a belt, so it is turning some kind of equipment. Sure seems like an oddball setup.

I'm guessing they had a light plant in the basement of the house, maybe with a bunch of batteries.

looks like the left wheel is resting on the support so the right one can spin. The only thing holding the car from moving forward is the Board looks like 3x6 against the front axle and that man risks getting run over! Scary!
Norm

OSHA approved!