Model t wrench identification

[johnr]

Looking for a catalog or some form of documentation on wrenches to use for
Identification .
Also any information on value would be appreciated .

[CudaMan]

Scroll down to the "tools" section of this page:

https://www.mtfca.com/model_t_encyclopedia/s-t/

[George Mills]

There are various lists...I'm not sure if any of them are absolutely complete. Part of the reason for gapping holes in Z-tool assignments is that those numbers do exist---but they were used for factory jigs and fixtures.

This is the one that I have used...I'd give the author credit for putting it together if he'd a signed his work...

Photos Library.pdf

(49.51 KiB) Downloaded 103 times

[Steve Jelf]

There are no set values. But some items are scarce and will cost you more than the common ones. Tools that were in the kit issued with every car have outlived most of the cars. I suspect there are over a million surviving 1349 wrenches, and 2335 wrenches are probably just as numerous. Model T screw jacks are also quite numerous. But one kit tool is rare and will be expensive if sold by somebody in the know. That's the T1902 screwdriver. It was discontinued in 1921, before the years of peak production, so it was less plentiful to begin with. Add the poor survival rate (wood handle) and you get a scarce item. The Z tools were not issued to every customer. They were used in Ford shops, so are less common than the tools that were produced in the millions. Despite that, they are often sold cheap. My favorite is the band adjusting ratchet, and I don't think I've ever paid as much as $5 for one.

Different versions of the ratchet are in both 3Z and 5Z series.

I believe the best list of Model T tools, with illustrations from several parts books, is in Bruce McCalley's Model T Encyclopedia. There's an abridged version on this website, but the complete work with many nice extras is available on flash drive.

https://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG80.html

[George Mills]

Here is a pic of one of the rarest of rare T tools....

Anyone care to guess the T part number?

[CudaMan]

LOL! I was skeptical about the original box the tools came in being corrugated, but according to Wikipedia it is possible - corrugated cardboard packing boxes were around by the beginning of the 20th century.

That said, never say never, does anybody have an example of the factory original box that held the tools when the car was delivered?

[George Mills]

Ding...ding...ding...we have a winner!

Yes, that's a professional made repro of T1923 from the original drawing - - - the corrugated box that the tool pak came in.

As background much better than Wiki , commercial machinery to make corrugated started in 1895 in Philadelphia. The company was Langston and I had the honor of being a senior executive in the company from 1986-2001. At the time FORD made the T1923 drawing, all corrugated was still made on Langston machinery-competition didn't come along until WW1. A point on the corrugated as package, or a shipper?

...it was actually not yet LEGAL to commercially ship in corrugated until 1914 (it had to be 100% wood prior for insurance & breakage liability purposes) soooo...in my opinion this box design was not necessarily meant to be a throwaway as many perceive...as it would have been seen by the buying public as much like some fancy cosmetic box or high end product package would be today!

I've never found a real one of these yet. I am a bit surprised as I have come across cars that used solid fibre (layered paper...no flutes) back in the hump area on closed cars, but never any corrugated. OK so it wears out fast...so how come all of my pre-war Lionel transformers still have their corrugated as many do? Yes, the Lionel stuff gets water and oil stained but doesn't delaminate over the years as would be the same for the boxes we illustrate here. Unlike today boxes that last all of a week outside...original pre WW2 boxes were different and unique...the outside liners were made with matted and ironed pure wood pulp, nothing to dissolve other than acid water and agitation...the flute was made of straw not old grocery bags, a pickled 'mash' made and pressed smooth by rollers...and the glue was NOT water soluble prior to the 40's - the glue then was silicate of soda and not corn flour paste as it is today. History lesson over...but based on what I have said and feel...some T1923 should have survived, but somewhere they might have just been seen as an old corrugated box....