MTFCA Forum

Wife loves antique shopping, we were at a local place this past weekend and I noticed a shelf of old oil cans (pictured) for sale.. None stamped with Ford, but numerous Eagle brand.
I picked up these three for $20 to have in the shop.
Kind of stirs the imagination as to what else existed in the shop/garage these came from...

Nice display set !!!!

Useful, too!

Those old oil squirters (that's what we called them) are better then the new crappy ones. Nice score!

I have a Ford script oil can and it leaks at the bottom seam. Cleaning it well enough to solder it from the inside seems to be impossible.

I have one like the 3rd down from the top. Been using for years and have to say the old ones are better made than the new ones. Come to think of it, I’ve not seen oil cans in hardware stores. But maybe I haven’t look for any. If I remember I’ll look sometime when we’re in town.
I think the one I have in the picture came from a farm auction years and years ago. My Father would go to them and I came along and helped him bring home all sorts of things we used on the farm.

John, ya, I liked that one for several reasons...
The long neck...
Bell shape...
And very heavy....no cheap thin metal on this one!!

Every single one of those old cans still had oil... not a leaker in the bunch.

When I saw a Ford oil can for $60 at Hershey I skipped it.
Later that day I bought another one for $1.

Steve, would you pay $1.00 (Cash Money) for this one?

Nice cans Kurt, we too frequent antiques venues, I have an affliction for them , mostly Ford embossed, so far I'm up to at least 20 of the stinkin things. Even some early Noera cans, almost as many generic, you can check 'em out when you come up this spring. Also I've found it's easier to solder from the outside of the bottom of the can if there are holes. Wingnut

J B weld on the inside of a Very clean can does the trick

The Eagle oil can factory in West Virginia was closed when the MTFCI 1984 Cross Country Tour from New York City to Seattle, Washington was planned.

The owners opened up by request to make a set of oil cans to give every driver one.

I don't recall the exact number made, but there were several extras.

They looked just like that first photo in this series and had the E stamped in them.

I have about 20 of oil cans marked FORD and they vary . Has anyone posted examples of Ford marked oil cans and who may have made them and when?

There was a lengthy article in one of the T Club publications some time back - showed the progression & makers, I believe.

Mark Nunn wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 23, 2025 1:13 pm

I have a Ford script oil can and it leaks at the bottom seam. Cleaning it well enough to solder it from the inside seems to be impossible.

Why? Some carburetor cleaner should clean it out.

When I had leaking antique kerosene lanterns, I researched how to repair them. Clean the interior up and use POR15 gas tank sealant. Only need about a tablespoon or so of the sealant and slosh around carefully.

I don't know of any chemical cleaner which will get steel clean enough to be successfully tinned for soldering. Certainly some will do an excellent job in preparation for a POR treatment, which will seal small pinholes at the same time.

Harder to find than the cans themselves are the various mounting brackets to hold them.

Allan from down under.

Collecting Ford oil cans is quite an obsession, as I had stated there are about 20-21 cans in my collection . Of course there are repeats, but I'm still searching for the elusive British can, it has a considerably smaller lid neck. Bit different than our American breed, only saw a picture of one once. Anybody got one? Wingnut