Mount depot hack fenders

[sundown9]

I have two depot hack fenders to mount. They appear to be sourced from Rootleib and have no mounting hardware. I could use some input on how to purchase or fabricate the two mounting rods that usually are mounted to the wood body and extend out through a hole in the side of the fenders. Also, there is no mounting hardware attached to the fenders similar to part #t-48000FB-4 (Snyders) which is riveted to the 09-14 fenders. Thanks in advance. They are ready for paint but I want to fix the mounting situation first.

[Steve Jelf]

I believe Ford did not produce depot hacks, but supplied chassis on which they were built by purchasers or aftermarket body builders. There are probably more of them today than there were at the end of production in 1927, because when Model T's became a hobby in the fifties and sixties it was easier to build a hack than to find a good original factory body. This bit of speculation will be no help to you, but it's an interesting wrinkle in Model T lore.

[George Mills]

So, you have blind fenders with no mounting yokes? Do they have holes for some kind of mounting frame?

I say that as there are two ways to mount them.

1) You need the eyebolt fender latch riveted in the usual location, and then the easiest from there is to take a piece of all thread...lots of nuts...and simply poke a hole in the Hack body and add all thread using double nuts as lock-nuts, and let the eye bolt cinch the end. (You could also get a piece of 1/2" rod, have one end threaded for about 3 inches and accomplish the same.

2) You can also go with a bit of a clone of the 26-27 rear fender style. A piece of strap steel riveted in place conforming to the underside of the fender and the other end making its way to the undersill where it is screwed in place.

I was at the Concours at Mirror Lake (Lakeland) last weekend and say a very nice hack where he had the 26-27 clones in place....plus a second set down almost horizontal which keeps the fenders from being 'bat-wings'. Not sure is he forums...but if you DM me, I can contact him to see if he can send you some pictures?

My hack has the normal fender leftover clamps/eyebolts riveted in place...and method 1 done with all thread through the hack body and double nutted on both sides of the body...works well, no one says anything out of the ordinary. I also raven finished all of the hardware on my hack- done with both fine point and blunt point Sharpie...actually works well.

[DanTreace]

Here is one method, with real Ford parts, used with rear fenders that have the normal clip and bolt underside to latch onto the fender iron.

Salvage the brackets from a touring rear metal supports, add the threaded rods and then bolt to the wood bed side or hack panel.

IMG_8220 (500x375).jpg (104.76 KiB) Viewed 310 times

[speedytinc]

Dan T, Is this the exact same bracket used on 1925 pickup beds for fender mounting?

[DanTreace]

Believe so, however the fender iron rod is unique to the pickup bed.

[Allan]

I was given a pair of NOS rear fender mounting brackets by a friend in Spokane, to mount the Rootlieb fenders on my shooting brake. The fenders were 1/2" narrower than the brackets! I had to cut !/2" out of the centre of my new brackets, weld them up, and re-drill the eye bolt hole. You might have the same problem.
I used a junk pair of front fender irons to make the mounting arms, bending them and mounting them on the main rail under the body. Seemed to me to be a more substantial mounting point.

Allan from down under.

[Dan McEachern]

Many hack fenders never had the Ford mounting brackets mounted or included. Probably due to the fact noted above that they tend to be a bit narrower than a Ford fender. The pictures below show how a fender without the Ford style eye-bolt bracket could be mounted. The mounting bracket below is on a car that was rebuilt from an original, includng the fender and bracket. The mounting bracket is a 5/16 x 1 1/4 strip of flat iron, probably made by the same blacksmith that made the body irons. There is a rectangular hole cut in the inner fender panel to allow the bracket to pass thru to the underside of the body. The fender side of the bracket is contoured to the fender crown, and attached wit two plow head bolts thru the fender sheet metal. Where the bracket meets the underside of the body, the bracket is twisted so that it can bolt to the flat underside of the body. Pretty simple way to do it with common available material.

[Tbird]

The fenders Rootlieb sells are the same as the 1910 touring fenders the difference is two mounting brackets or the single. The 1910 touring fenders used the butterfly bracket/fender iron that mounted to the chassis. When Ford made the Delivery car it used the 1910 touring fenders but with one bracket to receive the fender iron. The fender iron was unique to the delivery car into that it mounted directly to the outside of the body and into very thick wood blocks on the inside of the body framework. All of the suggested ideas are great but think Dan Treace is in the right direction in what would be helpful in mounting a depot hack fender. Below are what the fender iron looks like for the delivery car and how it’s mounted.

[Tbird]

inside wood block for mounting fender iron.

[sundown9]

WOW! The power of the Forum. Thank you for some great ideas on mounting these hack fenders. A friend is bringing two front fender mounts down to Florida so I think I can modify those to fit. I can use one of the good methods suggested to tie the fenders to the body. Thank you everyone. Job just got a lot easier.