New to me 1912 Torpedo
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2024 9:41 am
Hey all,
I just bought my third T. And the first one that wasn't a serious project. I've always wanted a brass era car and saw this torpedo come up and just couldn't pass on it. Its amazing how these things tend to multiply when left alone in the pole barn. Or that's my story to my wife. The seller didn't have a history on it, but it seems well sorted and is a very nice driver. Mostly it seems to be suffering from a bit of "sit there-itus" I have a feeling that it didn't run very much in the past few years. Well, getting that sorted out now. It runs very well, high compression head, intake, Stromberg OF, KC Warford, and a Bosch high tension magneto. Somone put an electric start on it which is a nice to have, but it started just fine on crank.
Only issues are a bad rear axle seal, the carb is leaking after shutdown and floods the car if you even look at the choke, even on a cold start. But once it starts it runs amazing. I'm going to mess with the carb to see what I can do. I have a feeling the varnished up gas has gunked it up a bit. Also the tires are very cracked so those are getting changed this week. Going to replace the axle seal at that time.
Even with the sketchy tires I couldn't resist putting about 50 miles on it this Sunday. Its a tossup between this and my Rajo powered speedster which is more fun! I wish I knew who built the engine, they did a fantastic job.
Also going to add a led break light strip. I haven't decided about the headlights yet. I might put leds in them just for extra visibility during the day, but I have also been considering getting the acetylene generator working. Everything is there, just need to drill the valve out and run the hoses. Haven't decided if that's something I want to mess with or not yet.
Anyway cheers to whoever put this car together. its a very nice driver.
EDIT: The only other planned mod I have is removing the water pump. It is one of the older style and is already leaking a bit.
I just bought my third T. And the first one that wasn't a serious project. I've always wanted a brass era car and saw this torpedo come up and just couldn't pass on it. Its amazing how these things tend to multiply when left alone in the pole barn. Or that's my story to my wife. The seller didn't have a history on it, but it seems well sorted and is a very nice driver. Mostly it seems to be suffering from a bit of "sit there-itus" I have a feeling that it didn't run very much in the past few years. Well, getting that sorted out now. It runs very well, high compression head, intake, Stromberg OF, KC Warford, and a Bosch high tension magneto. Somone put an electric start on it which is a nice to have, but it started just fine on crank.
Only issues are a bad rear axle seal, the carb is leaking after shutdown and floods the car if you even look at the choke, even on a cold start. But once it starts it runs amazing. I'm going to mess with the carb to see what I can do. I have a feeling the varnished up gas has gunked it up a bit. Also the tires are very cracked so those are getting changed this week. Going to replace the axle seal at that time.
Even with the sketchy tires I couldn't resist putting about 50 miles on it this Sunday. Its a tossup between this and my Rajo powered speedster which is more fun! I wish I knew who built the engine, they did a fantastic job.
Also going to add a led break light strip. I haven't decided about the headlights yet. I might put leds in them just for extra visibility during the day, but I have also been considering getting the acetylene generator working. Everything is there, just need to drill the valve out and run the hoses. Haven't decided if that's something I want to mess with or not yet.
Anyway cheers to whoever put this car together. its a very nice driver.
EDIT: The only other planned mod I have is removing the water pump. It is one of the older style and is already leaking a bit.
