MTFCA Forum

OK everyone, I’m looking for something a bit out of the ordinary. I’m looking for someone, preferably on the west coast (southern half of California) who is very knowledgeable about early T’s (preferably has worked/restored one or more) who would consider taking on the task of putting one together.

When I say early this is a 2 lever 2 pedal build. I have the complete running chassis. Very little needs to be done to it other than possibly cosmetic work. I have about everything else that is correct for the car. Body in excellent condition, new fenders, splash aprons, running boards, correct excellent condition top irons, new bows, hood former, new Rootlieb hood, correct headlights, correct sidelights, all brackets, braces, etc, etc. So, this somewhat of a giant model car kit that needs to be put together and painted. One reason I’ve thought it best to look for someone in CA (southern half) is I want the guy who does the fantastic upholstery work to do it and the top. I’ve not seen anyone else’s work that’s as good.

I’d chat with someone outside of CA, I just know it seems as there are more early T experts there than anywhere else.

I’d chat about simply hiring someone or preferably I’d trade you a brass T (14,15) to do the work.

Thanks. I thought it would be good to list here since it’s a complete car build situation. I will list there as well.

You might want to post in the general discussion. Way more views than the services forum.

Andy

Thanks Andy.

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My only comment would be for you to “paint it” before you “put it together” for the final assembly.
-Smiles
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NorthSouth wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2024 4:50 pm

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My only comment would be for you to “paint it” before you “put it together”.
-Smiles
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I know where you're coming from......

Lcjudge wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2024 6:18 pm

NorthSouth wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2024 4:50 pm

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My only comment would be for you to “paint it” before you “put it together”.
-Smiles
-

I know where you're coming from......

I don't know how that would give a good result.
I spent 6 full days aligning the fenders & running boards on my last 1909, but I'm pretty fussy.

Peter, I had a guy do a car for me once and he did a wonderful job of painting it. When I got it home I noticed a misalignment with a gap changing in width about 1/8th inch from front to rear, about a 4 ft distance. I wasn’t going to have that. So I began adjusting and aligning. When done I had perfect body lines. But had 1/8th inch wide of primered metal showing tapering off to nothing on the other end. A PITA repaint followed. So yeah, learned on that situation where NorthSouth is coming from. I guess I’m kinda fussy too… Darn, there’s 2 sides to every coin.

It should definitely be bolted together before paint just to line up everything and then taken back apart for painting and finale assembly. I am always amazed that the same parts that came off of a car are so difficult to get to align back up and go back together. From the description this car is various new sheetmetal and other pieces that have not been installed on a car. Without fitting the parts first there will be a lot of hole drilling and fudging to get it together leaving a lot of bare metal to touchup. I have also learned to be careful about product buildup around edges and bolt holes. I am not a bodyman,Just my two cents worth of hard learned advice. Art

The collection and restoration of your chassis has been documented well and the effort should be commended. To complete the correct restoration of this chassis, be sure you have access to good quality original early 2 lever cars to compare with. The 2 lever T was essentially a proto type. The differences between the early 09 cars verse a later production model are numerous. Good luck with your project.

Lcjudge wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 25, 2024 8:42 pm

I had a guy do a car for me once and he did a wonderful job of painting it. When I got it home I noticed a misalignment with a gap changing in width about 1/8th inch from front to rear, about a 4 ft distance. When done I had perfect body lines. But had 1/8th inch wide of primered metal showing tapering off to nothing on the other end.

Art Ebeling wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 26, 2024 9:28 am

It should definitely be bolted together before paint just to line up everything and then taken back apart for painting and finale assembly. I am always amazed that the same parts that came off of a car are so difficult to get to align back up and go back together. From the description this car is various new sheetmetal and other pieces that have not been installed on a car. Without fitting the parts first there will be a lot of hole drilling and fudging to get it together leaving a lot of bare metal to touchup. I have also learned to be careful about product buildup around edges and bolt holes. I am not a bodyman,Just my two cents worth of hard learned advice. Art

Greats thoughts and advice written above. As a professional restorer, I will add some thoughts here based on our own experiences over the years. To begin with, it takes discipline to completely mock-up first however it also takes experience to get the job done efficiently and correctly. Steven Wright once said "Experience is something you have after you need it!!, and I think that often applies to restoration work. Assembling items at a rapid pace for the sole purpose to see it together and feel good about your accomplishments is generally just wasted efforts. Again, you are first ensuring the parts fit and everything is 'friendly' with itself. That is important however an experienced eye simultaneously looks for potential rub points and alignment issues (-both up close and from a distance).

A lot of people do not realize that it is much harder, ...and much more involved to actually 'restore' something than what it takes to merely 'assemble' something and live with the rubs, squeaks, and alignment problems. Art, your point about parts removed from a car do not always fit properly when reinstalled is very valid. Sometimes the 'fix' to this is as simple as straightening the frame and re-bucking rivets where the frame is returned to factory specifications. Realigning the running board brackets and fender brackets to factory specs alleviates much of these issues also. Even using a simple string, a plumb bob, and a tape measure to install the body onto the frame in absolute alignment makes other pieces of sheetmetal seemingly fall right into place.

Also, whether it be a hobbyist or a professional restorer, when allocating time to do a task, here is what we have noticed. Taking each task of the restoration process from Level 1 thru 10 (-with 10 being near perfect and 1 being the worst), we generally find the time that it takes to restore something from Level 1 to Level 5 requires about that same amount of time yet again to take something from Level 5 to Level 8, ...and it can often take the same amount of time required going from 1 - 8 to finally reach Level 9 & 10. The reasoning is that being meticulous with fit & finish is very, very time consuming, -and generally speaking when it comes to that level of restoration, power tools are of little benefit as it takes concentration that only happens with hands-on eye to brain to hand coordination and skillset. Again, refer to that quote above that Steven Wright made famous

Lcjudge wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 23, 2024 12:34 am

OK everyone, I’m looking for something a bit out of the ordinary. I’m looking for someone, preferably on the west coast (southern half of California) who is very knowledgeable about early T’s (preferably has worked/restored one or more) who would consider taking on the task of putting one together.

When I say early this is a 2 lever 2 pedal build. I have the complete running chassis. Very little needs to be done to it other than possibly cosmetic work. I have about everything else that is correct for the car. Body in excellent condition, new fenders, splash aprons, running boards, correct excellent condition top irons, new bows, hood former, new Rootlieb hood, correct headlights, correct sidelights, all brackets, braces, etc, etc. So, this somewhat of a giant model car kit that needs to be put together and painted. One reason I’ve thought it best to look for someone in CA (southern half) is I want the guy who does the fantastic upholstery work to do it and the top. I’ve not seen anyone else’s work that’s as good.

I’d chat with someone outside of CA, I just know it seems as there are more early T experts there than anywhere else.

I’d chat about simply hiring someone or preferably I’d trade you a brass T (14,15) to do the work.

I sent you a PM about a local restorer here in the Quad Cities who has done many cars of different years; will also send you an eMail via the Forum.

This is a Speedster he did a few years back & sold to someone in Texas. Please read the comments of the seller to understand the quality of th work he does.
https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php? ... er#p337824
This is the Speedster in his shop. --
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But the most outstanding restoration that I have seen him do is this Model S --
Just a video no sound

If still searching, you can contact me at
Srosenthal@fuse.net or ph.513 378 four two three five to discuss. Curious what early body and chassis bones you have.
Regards,
Scott