MTFCA Forum

 
There have been a number of occurrences recently where a Model T craftsman has passed away and all of their knowledge, expertise and experience went with them. A recent instance that comes to mind is our good friend Stan Howe who passed away while working in his shop. Stan had many years of experience and was an expert on brass carburetors. All was lost in his sudden passing.
 
As many of you know, I repair meters for HCCTs (Hand Crank Coil Testers). What I do is a very small niche of the Model T hobby. I got into this because the person that was doing it many years ago passed. There was quite a gap until I was convinced (actually conned) to take up the banner. I had to learn about these meters from scratch.
 
I won’t be around forever and the need for this service will be a part of the hobby as long as HCCTs keep coming out of barns and elsewhere. I don’t want to see what I have learned disappear into the ether when I am too old to do this anymore. I have been thinking about this or some time.
 
I decided to capture what I have learned over the last 12+ years and put it down on paper. Attached is the “HCCT Meter Handbook”. It is 100 pages of what I do and how I do it. I am making it accessible to all who want it. Feel free to share it on down the line. I will be sending a printed copy to the MTFCA library.
 
I am still doing meters ( I ain’t gone yet ). My hope is that this knowledge and my experience will carry on long after I am gone.

   

Bob, it is wonderful that you are sharing your knowledge.

As I have a HCCT in my barn and just yesterday I purchased this book from the MTFCA store.

https://mtfca.square.site/product/hcct- ... 4CJBVEQ4WA

Thanks for all you do for the hobby.

Thanks for doing this!!
And thanks again for repairing the meter for my Starter/Generator test stand. Dan

Bob,

My hat is off to you for doing this for all that are interested in this information.

Please take note of my signature at the bottom of this post.

Best Regards,
Mike "modeltspaz" Spaziano.

Great work, Bob!

Thank you for all of your hard work and your generosity in making this document available. I have an Allen HCCT which I purchased several years ago (about 1962) from a shop that had been in business for many years and agreed to sell me the tester and some misc. T parts that they still had in stock. It works and I have never had to do anything to it. I will put a copy of your manual with the tester so that whatever family member ends up with my T and the tester will have it as a reference if it needs repair at any time. My youngest grand-son, as a child, was fascinated by the sparks produced and still enjoys demostrating it to his friends. Thanks again.

Very generous Bob! You might see about adding it here; http://cimorelli.com/mtdl/default.htm
Hopefully that site will be around for many more years. I might be wrong but think the Model T Ford Club Internation might have something to do with keeping it alive.

Wow, Bob! Good on you!! Your insightfulness toward the future of the hobby is admirable. We all can recognize the incredible amount of work it was just to put your publication together, not to mention your research and methods/technique development. Again, sir - Hats off to you!

Thank you VERY MUCH for making this available. Doing this is good for the hobby, and probably will be good for your business as well, once people see what is involved in doing this work! As ever, doing things RIGHT takes time and commitment, and people can now see EXACTLY what it takes to do your level of work! (Which obviously is VERY HIGH!) Thank you for SHARING!!