How I unexpectedly bought a 1916 coupelet

[KMcoldcars]

It began in 1962 when I purchased my first Model T, a 1926 Tudor sedan, fully restored, for $ 475. It was my daily driving car in Seattle. Shortly after the Model T came Floyd Clymer’s book “Henrys Wonderful Model T”, which taught me about coupelets. It became a dream of mine to own one someday.

In April 1968, I got married. In early summer we bought a nicely restored 1923 Touring and met Paul Murrey, a 13 year old restoring a 1913 T touring.

Over the years several Model Ts and other cars came and went. Then, in 2008 we bought a 1974 Pantera. I learned about a Pantera owner who lived close to me, Gary Herrig. I called and talked with him for a while. Then I mentioned I needed someone with a tow vehicle and a trailer who could go down to Vancouver, Wa. with me to get the Pantera. It only had 12000 miles on it and did not run because of rust in the gas tank. He said “I have a truck and trailer. When do you want to get it”.

Jump to June 2020. There was an ad on Craigslist for a 1915 coupelet. I tried to contact the owner but he never called me back. Then in June 2021 I got a phone call from someone I did not know. He said “I had a car on Craigslist last year. Are you still interested?” I asked what kind of car it was and he told me a 1915 Model T coupelet. I vaguely remembered the ad and said yes. After he sent me some bad pictures and a bunch of talking with him I was definitely interested. His father had found the coupelet body with no chassis in the hills above Spokane, Washington in 1974, took it home and restored it.

I talked with Russ Furstnow, sent him copies of the pictures, and we determined it was a 1916 coupelet. It had been restored as a 1915 but the turtle deck was 1916 style.

I then called Paul Murrey who now lived 20 miles out of Spokane and asked him to check out the car for me, which he did. He told me it was a good car and I should buy it, even though a few things on it were not correct.

I made a deal with the owner, who was the son of the man who found it in the woods. I then called Gary Herrig and asked if he wanted to drive to Spokane to pick up a car. Off we went, making the 600 mile round trip in one day. Gary would not take any money other than gas and some food on the trip.

The car was a good runner but did need some work The headlights had never been wired up, all oilers and grease fittings needed to be lubed, the oil changed, the steering tightened up, etc. I prettied up the inside of the turtledeck, added a 12 volt motorcycle battery to run the brake light, tail light and headlights, installed a brake switch and a light switch and did all the wiring.

Then one morning I went out to find a front tire flat. When I tried to put air in it, the air came out by the valve stem as fast as I could put it in with my 5 HP compressor. I was then talking with Ken Ellison, a local Model T club member. He brought over a spare front wheel and tire and we put it on and could then move the car. We got it started. I could not start the car as it had magneto ignition and I am recovering from cancer and treatment and was too weak to crank it fast enough to start it. We took it for a short drive with Ken driving, then put it back in the garage.

The gas tank was almost empty so I put some gas in it and noticed it was leaking around the sediment bulb. I removed the tank, sanded off the sealer that was slobbed around the sediment bowl, cleaned it up good and put a nice layer of JB Weld around the sediment bulb. After that set up I put a nice layer of Seal All over the JB Weld and up onto the lower parts of the sediment bulb. That took care of the leak.

The next day I decided to hook 12 volts up to the coil box so I would get a good spark at the plugs without having to crank it fast. I tried to start the car and it tried to break my arm. I then remembered that with battery ignition the timer needed to be retarded about 8 degrees from magneto timing. I spent a couple of hours bending the rod and finally got the timing so each plug fired after top dead center. I then tried to start it but it did not want to run.

Ken came over the next day. We replaced my worn pitman arm with a new one and tightened up the tie rod ends, getting almost all looseness out of the steering. We then tried to start the car. It would run poorly a few seconds and die. Over and over. We then determined the timer control rod was shorting out against the #3 terminal on the timer. More bending and finagling and we got that fixed. I then mentioned the carb had started leaking out of the top of the bowl up against the body of the carb. We both agreed that was not good. I had a 1916 carb rebuilt by Corey Walker laying on a shelf so the next morning I changed carbs. Ken came over and we got the car started and running good. This was on a Thursday.

On Friday morning I had an appointment with the Washington State Patrol to have the car inspected to make sure the paperwork matched the car, as it had never been licensed or titled. On Thursday the inspector called me and asked about frame numbers. I told him they were only on the later Model Ts and a 1916 used the engine number as the car serial number. He said he would do some research that day.

Friday morning Ken came over to follow me to the State Patrol office in case I had a problem or stalled the car and needed him to crank it. We got there with no problem. I was expecting to have some problems with the inspector about numbers on the car. He came out, looked at me and said “You have a rare car. Can I take some pictures?” He looked at the engine number, saw it matched the paperwork I had, and signed all the necessary papers. Ken then followed me home.

The inner tubes I had ordered finally arrived. Marty Pendriss, another Model T club member took off from work and came over with a friend to change my inner tube. They got the old tire off and removed the inner tube. The inner tube looked relatively new but there were no flaps in the wheel. I then ordered flaps. When they arrived Marty and Ken came over, put the new flap and inner tube in the tire and mounted them on the rim and put the wheel on the car. I watched.

I have also made the outside look better. I polished the brass for the first time in years. I have buffed 4 fenders, both splash aprons and running boards, and the top and rear of the turtledeck. I removed about 30 years worth of oxidation from the black parts and stains in the turtle deck lid where some liquids had been spilled on it. Now instead of looking cloudy and greyish black the black parts are a nice, very shiny black. I also took a brush and touched up some chips in the sides of the fenders.

The car starts very easily now. I quite often get it to start by pulling the choke, pulling on the crank twice, and then turning the ignition key to battery. If it does not start that way it starts on the second pull of the crank.

After 59 years my dream of owning a coupelet has come true. About the only thing better is having friends like Paul Murrey, Gary Herrig, Ken Ellison and Marty Pendriss.

Included are a couple of pictures before and after buffing.

[Dennis Prince]

Keith, Nice car and a great story, if you don't have dreams you will never know when they come true. Have a great time with your dream come true.

[BobShirleyAtlantaTx]

Beautiful automobile with a great storyline. Thank you for sharing.

[Hudson29]

A great car & an inspirational story. What a beauty!

Paul

[Rich Eagle]

Good things happen to those of us who survived. The car looks fantastic
Enjoy it!
Rich

[TWrenn]

Very nice. A car to be proud to own and drive.

[KLTagert]

Your TLC certainly made her shine - she’s a beauty. Enjoy all the smiles and head turning she’ll cause.