MTFCA Forum

This week I finally added the factory pinstriping to the late 1911 touring car that I finished restoring in November 2022. A big thanks to Keith Townsend for providing pictures of the pinstriping on his car based on his research into proper striping that the factory did at that time.

I took it out for a drive today, but it appears that the pinstriping didn't make the car go any faster!

Beautiful car. Nice to see a hood striped correctly. Should go faster with the fore doors on.

So you're saying that you didn't pony up for the "high performance" pinstriping paint and now you are regretting it.

Mike

Neal,
Outstanding work!
: ^ )

Neal, to go faster the pinstripe needs to be RED. If you used tape, it will be easy to replace.

Allan from down under.

Does anyone know what the correct angle for the rear top bow and back curtain is? Women often wore huge hats in those days, and I'd think that having the rear bow and back curtain leaned farther back would better accommodate them.

Pat,
The angle of the reat curtain follows the trajectory of the back of the seat on the outside of the body.

That appears to be the case with the original 1910 car.

My 22 Centerdoor Sedan progress.

On May 6, one of the car clubs I belong to had a "mini" car show for the residents of an assisted living facility in Wheaton, IL. Out of 20 cars, mine was the oldest.

This afternoon I drove Lizzy, my 26 Touring, to the cemetery to wish my Mom a Happy Mother Day, then we drove through the town of Waukomis. On the way home we drove around a bit then I put her in the shed for a rest. Tomorrow I plan to drive her to our local Co-op to drink coffee then do some business it town.

So far working on replacing the radiator after 40 plus years. It's been a problem from day 1. Cleanup on the motor including wiring and valve cover sanding and polish. New adapter made for carb upgrade from model A to Winfield.

Seat torn out and new padding/wood installed

Rotted plywood floor replaced with new hardwood, making room for better storage.

New steering wheel found (neville), adapter started.


Distributor, ruxtel work coming soon.

A week ago today, my wife and I drove up to Chaffin's garage in Lake Elsinore, Ca and took home a rebuilt generator for the 26 Touring. Since then amid other things I got the gear installed and all the other small parts and this morning, installed it in the car. Charged the battery while I ate lunch and went out and it started right up and actually charges the battery as I drive along.
Norm

I finished up my wheel problem this evening…

Bought some new tools, learned a few things despite best effort not to…


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48033

Along with 4 other Model T owners, I assisted Steve Shotwell with his Model T presentation to 4th graders at a local elementary school. The kids had some really good questions. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, them or me! We’re doing the same presentation for third graders at a different school next week.

Fitting a new wheel, made up the adapter and she fits beautifully. The original was a T bent out so the neville is a near perfect swap. When getting in and dropping it into place it just feel "right" like you are ready to go racing.

We joined the 2025 Round Britain Tour - celebrating the centenary of Ford taking the 250,000th British built Ford on a similar tour.
We joined at Bridgwater and travelled to Lands End, then back to Somerset. About 450 miles for us, but the core group of 5 Ts did 2717 miles all round Britain. About 100 cars joined for some part of the route. A great event

I feel like a dentist cleaning the axle halves...
Between 111 years of paint, dirt, grease & rust on the backing plate, all hardened into a plaque....
Screw driver scraping...
Degreaser soaking...
Rust remover soaking...
Dental picks...
Wire wheel...
Been a process, this was about the halfway mark...

Kirt, Be sure to check for straightness of the tubes and straighten them out before you re-assemble the axle. When it is all together the axles should be centered in the outside bearing. If it is not straight, it is much easier to break an axle. After it is installed in the car do not jack up in the center but place the jack near the backing plate. Also when you tie it on a trailer do not pull against the center of the axle but place your tie downs hear the backing plates.
Norm

Drilled the four holes for the hood hold downs (hooks) and installed the hood. Had to cut the springs a little in order for them to reach the hood, especially the front two, just to get inside of the frame.

I found that the easiest way to clean my front wire wheels is to jack up one wheel and turn the steering wheel as needed to get easy access. I did that today and discovered that a spindle arm was loose. The cotter pin was there but the nut was loose. I tightened the nut three notches. What did I do wrong when I rebuilt the axle assembly? The other spindle arm was tight. This explains the wobble that developed recently.

I modified my shop-built Wheeler Combination Muffler so it breaths a little more freely.

Before: After:

Cut and welded the sides of the trunk over and over to get it into form.
Installed the deck lid hinges, support bracket, bumpers, lock latch.
Cut out rear panel for the striker location.
Tested closing trunk and unlocking it.

Won a People's Choice award even though I brought the tallest and lowest horsepower car to the show.

On Saturday we got 4 cars together for our spring tour here in St. Louis. It was a beautiful sunny day, after the devastating storms that hit the area the day before. We had a nice 20ish mile drive, visited the historic Frank Lloyd Wright house in Ebsworth park and the Laumeier Sculpture park and then had lunch at a local watering hole.
Thanks to Mike, Steve, John, Hailey, Dusty, and my ever present copilot, London., for enjoying the day and soaking up some Vitamin T

I installed the running boards that I restored over the winter. Found one of the new tires I installed last year shows a lot of cracking on the sidewall. The Excelsior tires were purchased in 2007, unwrapped last year just before installing.

KBurket wrote: ↑

Thu May 22, 2025 2:18 pm

Found one of the new tires I installed last year shows a lot of cracking on the sidewall. The Excelsior tires were purchased in 2007, unwrapped last year just before installing.

Just a little unsightly but shouldn't be an issue.

Last Saturday we went for a annual spring drive, it is about a 100 mile loop that is all but 4 miles on backroads and over 40 miles of dirt and gravel. Most years the weather is really nice, however this was not most years. While we did have some sunshine it was mostly cloudy and lots of rain at times that made for quite a bit of mud. One of the group this time was a local youtuber that rescued some of us a couple of years ago, he will have a video on his channel soon @ Casey LaDelle we had a good time whether we enjoyed it or not, it is always fun to get out in the old cars.

Made a cardboard pattern for the windshield and had some laminate cut two days ago. Fits perfectly in the aluminum frame last night with gaps and setting tape is on order.

Dennis Prince wrote: ↑

Thu May 22, 2025 3:31 pm

Last Saturday we went for a annual spring drive, it is about a 100 mile loop that is all but 4 miles on backroads and over 40 miles of dirt and gravel. Most years the weather is really nice, however this was not most years. While we did have some sunshine it was mostly cloudy and lots of rain at times that made for quite a bit of mud. One of the group this time was a local youtuber that rescued some of us a couple of years ago, he will have a video on his channel soon @ Casey LaDelle we had a good time whether we enjoyed it or not, it is always fun to get out in the old cars. IMG_20250517_153557.jpgIMG_20250517_125049~3.jpgIMG_20250517_114102~2.jpgIMG_3168.jpeg

That looks amazing, my club has a run this weekend and I was unable to attend.... got to get to one!

Sun Country Model T Club had a great tour on May 3. Thanks Monte & everyone that helped with planning. This was Monte's first time planning a
tour. Hope it's not the last. Finished the speedster stoppers a combination of Studebakers? & Dodge? parts. Much bigger than Rockies & they self
energize 60% forward & 40% backward.
Craig.

I replaced a sheared off crank dipper, I learned I need to lube my slapper timer so I used dow 33.

I have successfully started my car with the crank two times now and she fires up with very little effort.

The leather crank holder thing is in very good shape and no cracking, but it is very dry so I cleaned it and doused the holy carp out of it in liquid “mink oil”

I need to get more of the lard type and more saddle soap.

Took to the back roads with my new old rusty barn find.

22, 23 or 24 thumbs up N!

It's a 24 runs pretty good.

It’s payback time. In exchange for my wife taking care of me during hip surgery, I am helping her through her eight to twelve week surgical recovery. I am also in charge of laundry and cooking gourmet meals.

Since my hands are so clean, I dug out some of Mike’s upholstery kits and am keeping busy pulling tacks out of old cushion wood in the hope of improving my cars. This allows me to stay within earshot of my missus.
I’m wondering if 100 years from now someone will be wondering why one spring is painted black on the bottom with the remainder maroon. I’m using this opportunity to use up some of my old spray cans.

TMiller6 wrote: ↑

Thu May 29, 2025 11:49 am

It’s payback time. In exchange for my wife taking care of me during hip surgery, I am helping her through her eight to twelve week surgical recovery. I am also in charge of laundry and cooking gourmet meals.

Tom,

Happy to see that you're both mending!

A friend of mine, while his wife was convalescing from surgery, took the opportunity to buy a 1913 Touring Car. Months later, when she was ambulatory, she wandered into the garage and discovered the new addition. She asked their son how long that had been there. He said he didn't know but supposed it had been there for a "long time". She was not convinced...

Just an idea, Tom. Take it or leave it...

Space City T's of Houston club members helped another club member get his '23 T truck on the road.

Found out that the fuel valve only works in one position shown.

Thanks for the kind words Jerry. I tried that several years ago while my wife was away helping our daughter with newborns.

She was less than surprised and delighted when she walked in through the garage.

Finely got far enough along that it looks like I'm actually accomplishing something on my next speedster. Engine, trans & Warford have been done
for quite some time. Craig.

Craig,
Is that for driving in Australia?

: ^ 0

Got the 'ol girl back together this weekend. Rebuilt the rear axle/driveshaft, added AC brakes, wire wheels and new tires, foot throttle, starter solenoid, adjust bands and oil change. Hoped to have it done by early spring. Health issues took me longer than I anticipated. Ran her on jack stands last night, everything sounded good. Next step, take her out for a road test.

Found out Grandpa's ~50 year old solder job finally gave up.

Probably in the market for a new Rad, but since he put a custom milled down chevy water pump which has its inlet (radiator outlet) on the passenger side I don't have the heart to buy a new radiator then immediately torch it up. Local shop said they would be willing to patch it but it'll probably leak somewhere else.

Time to do some figuring I suppose. Maybe just go to a standard water pump. But not really sure how that'd work as the engine has a model A crank, a model A camshaft modernish (50' tractor I think) distributor and a Frontenac head with a standard water pump? (or even without a water pump?), figure they did it for a reason all those years ago. I definitely love the Frankenstein ingenuity, even if it give me headaches.

After dropping a quart of oil on a 70 mile 45mph trip late last summer I decided to put a seal in my starter's snout. I followed Ron Patterson's excellent instructions. Maybe now the underside of my 20 Roadster will be drier. Noel

I drove Bonnie to an open house at the Warbirds of Glory Museum, which is restoring a B-25J recovered from a sandbar in Alaska. There were several “Rosie the Riveters” in attendance and one graciously agreed to pose with the car.

Re: radiator leak... That leak can probably be re-soldered and hold for another 50 years. I'd get a new hose and trim it up so as to avoid any strain on the radiator tank.

DO NOT LET THEM PRESSURE TEST YOUR RADIATOR. They love to do that to see if their repair will hold. BUT, pressure testing an 0 psi radiator WILL result in a failure NOBODY wants to see.

Good Luck

Installed balance beads in my new Blockley tires. They are beefy, thick tires that I hope will last awhile. But I regret to say I didn't need balance beads in my fifty year old Wards Riversides.

JohnM wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 01, 2025 8:31 pm

Installed balance beads in my new Blockley tires. They are beefy, thick tires that I hope will last awhile. But I regret to say I didn't need balance beads in my fifty year old Wards Riversides.

I have about 3000 miles on a set of Blockleys, and haven’t seen a need to balance them.

Real easy to see if balancing is necessary when you install on the fronts. How fast does the wheel want to rotate the heavy side to the bottom?
With demountable rims or wire wheels, check the rears on the front.

My wire wheels are not perfectly true, I suspect the increased mass of the new Blockleys accentuates a problem I already had and makes it noticeable.

Mocked up my a powered t roadster a little more. It’s nearly 50/50 model a and model t. Model a engine and trans. Model t rear axle. Model a front axle and steering box.

John, are your wire wheels in balance, before you fit the rim and tyre? A period method of balancing wire wheels is tightly wrap wire solder around spokes to achieve a balanced wheel/tyre assembly.

Allan from down under.

Allan, thank you for the tip. I knew my wheels had a little shimmy with the old tires but the effect didn't show up until 37-38 mph and above. I could live with that. With the new tires the effect showed up at 33-34 mph, that's no good. The balance beads greatly improved it.

are balance beads a new thing I seem to have only heard of them in the last couple years.

my shimmy doesn't start until about 80-85

WillyR wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 05, 2025 9:20 am

are balance beads a new thing I seem to have only heard of them in the last couple years.

my shimmy doesn't start until about 80-85

It depends on what you mean by “new”. The motorcycle community has been discussing the pros and cons since at least 2008.

And while I take your “80-85” comment as jest in the context of a Model T, the consensus is that the beads are most effective at speeds up to 70-75 mph, and are a good match for our cars.

In my opinion, the beads are excellent for improving dynamic balance, but traditional balancing methods should be exploited first, like offsetting the heavy spots of the tire, tube, and wheel during the mounting process. Some modern performance tires are marked with a heavy spot to be located opposite the valve stem when mounting to reduce how much weight will be required to bring the assembly into balance.

Keep crankin’,
Eric