MTFCA Forum

So Rob, did you get the car or not? If yes, photos would be nice.

Welcome to the obsession --- you'll find a lot of info and help on this forum. As to the top irons - I'm no expert but I think you'll have to stay with the late model "One-man" top irons. They're out there.... There's an ad in the magazine for new top sockets and bows from an outfit in Auburn Califo...

I agree with George that it is important to be selective in where you drive your Model T. We had a stretch on the Michigan Jamboree last august where the mix of T's and tourists in a hurry created some dangerous situations. Whenever possible I choose the "Road less traveled." I also got a flashing b...

I'm guessing that junkyard is in central Michigan...makes me want to go digging. Years ago I flew in a B-25 Bomber to an airshow at Charleston West Virginia. While waiting our turn to go roaring in and attack "Tokyo" we circled over the hills to the north of town. One thing I noticed was that many o...

Tim,
Sounds like a great stop on a Model T tour. I read up on it a bit and was impressed... I didn't know it existed which shows how long it's been since I visited the airport there.

By the end of January I'll be ready for some diversion so weather permitting I think I'll go... thanks for the info.

While we're talking airplanes - remember that Trimotors were built at Ford Field which was adjacent to what is now the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. The signs under discussion were likely originally produced to be sold as money-makers...what I can't say for sure is whether Island Airline...

The Ford Trimotor flown by Island Airlines that is pictured on the sign was the last one they owned I believe. It was nearly destroyed in a crash on South Bass Island back in the early 1970's. Rebuilt at great expense, the airline tried to make a go with it but eventually had to sell it and begin fl...

Does anyone know anything about the swap meet held at McDonald GMC/Cadillac in Saginaw? This year's meet is on January 26th and advertises "Car Parts for all Makes and Models." I found it on a Model A events listing. They've been doing it for 38 years and I just wonder if they usually have many T pa...

I know this thread is about vintage chains but to hijack the subject slightly, a Google search brought up a few places that will make custom chains for any application - which I assume includes our Model T's. If you want a set of chains to allow you to operate your car more safely in the winter and ...

Today the temperature almost hit 50° here in Michigan's Thumb... with a forecast of temperatures in the thirties and snow by the weekend, I decided that one more trip in the Model T was in order. I dressed warmly and headed down the road for a delightful drive, receiving many thumb's up from the dri...

A few replies - to all, thanks for your nice comments about my return to the sky and kind thoughts during my recovery. Rusty.... Old Bloviator - gave me quite a chuckle.... It is probably a more accurate description---especially if you ask my wife. Otrcman.... I had the knee surgery on Halloween and...

I probably shouldn't post this here as it is not Model T, but I wanted to share a milestone I passed today. Some may recall that back in January I broke my ankle rather badly in a tractor accident. A few months earlier I'd had knee surgery (same leg) which didn't help. As a result, it has been 16 mo...

I would have thought the amount of force required to do that would have ripped the screws holding the wheel to the spider right out. It just doesn't compute...

Wow! 20° of twist? You've got to wonder how that happened...

Make sure the steel thrust washers haven't slipped off the pins during reassembly. Don't ask me how I know

I see mine isn't the only thread asking this question <https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8325>. I know that a Ruxtell or Warford is the way many have chosen to go, but that isn't in the budget for me. I have purchased disc brakes and floating hubs to install, all in the goal of making my ...

Dallas - what a beautiful photo! Thanks for sharing.

Bud - we've still got a lot of crops in the fields and the foot of snow we got has put a stop to the harvest for now. It's been a rough year for farmers in my area.

From those of you who have tried both, I'm curious as to what differences I can expect if I swap out my 11 tooth pinon gear for a 10 tooth. In addition to performance, what did it do to your gas mileage?

When I was a kid we'd load all the neighborhood kids in my dad's bobsleigh pulled by a team of horses. We'd tie a couple of long ropes from the back of the sleigh and hook several sleds to them. We'd run thru fields or down back roads when the snow was deep enough to cover the gravel. It was great f...

Ahhh.... makes sense. Fortunately my felloes and rims are in pretty good shape and the bolts easily removable. I just assumed the wear on the lugs was due to being slightly loose over many years of use. Have you seen bolts so badly rusted in place that you'd risk damaging the felloe if you tried to ...

The comment that "One tab has an elongated hole so that it can swing onto the felloe..." has me a little stumped. I had a couple of rims with elongated holes in tabs that we welded up and re-drilled. I just pushed the bolts back into the felloe. When it came time to install I just squared up the rim...

Here in the Thumb of Michigan we went from green to white overnight..... if the forecasters are right, 14 inches by the end of Tuesday and lows around 20°F. I have an aluminum Z head so I run antifreeze year-around to reduce the risk of corrosion. It's also nice not to have to worry when the temps t...

Forget the sawdust. Have you taken the quadrant apart to check the condition of the pins and gears? If that is where the slop is they make replacements - even oversize ones. I don't think you want to take a chance with your steering binding up while you're going down the road.

In my opinion, common sense is not that common....at least not these days. One reason for all the safety devices is the "unexpected." Who leaves home planning to slip off the road and hit a tree? On our color tour last weekend we passed a modern car that did just that - hit it so hard the front end ...

I'm not so sure about the driver's door(or lack of same) explanation. I have a 1917 touring and there are doors on both sides of the passenger compartment. I always assumed it had more to do with the difficulty of climbing in an out with the lever, wheel and pedals in the way. Canadian cars had door...

Another consideration is that an improperly installed car seat is often worse than no car seat at all. In Michigan, the rules apply are those in force when the car was built....that doesn't mean you can't be hassled by ill-informed officials, but it won't stand.

Geez! How about a little clue other than size, like what part of the car it's associated with?

Sunny and 63° today in Michigan's Thumb. The color is still good so the wife, dog and I went for a 40 mile tour of some of the nicer back roads. I'm trying to get as much in as possible before the white stuff puts an end to my Model T driving for this year.

Although I am new to Model T's, I volunteered to lead the Michigan Casual T's annual color tour after the previous sponsors had to cancel. I moved it to the Almont, Michigan area where I grew up. It was short notice and Tropical Storm Olga was threatening rain, but we still had seven Model T's, a Mo...

Luck can manifest itself in strange ways.... your experience is a good example. I've been warned that a leaking starter cover can ruin your engine in no time.

I'm back on the road. The ball-bearing fan cartridge install went smoothly and the unit seems to operate well. The design is such that short of the bearings going bad I don't see how it could bind up. Since I smoked my fan belt I've talked to others that have suffered similar problems, often without...

Dallas, The Michigan Jamboree is probably the biggest tour held in the state each year. They always base it at a hotel that also has camping nearby. Three days of touring with interesting attractions worked in is the norm. Many out of state visitors usually attend - I personally met folks from Flori...

I'm curious what you want them for....a collection?

I see a Norwalk Lever handle extender in the background...what do you want for that?

As mentioned in other posts, all the Model T Chapters in Michigan are affiliated with the MTFCI, the sole exception being the Piquette Chapter, which belongs to both national clubs. There is no chapter in the UP, and the closest chapters of either club to the western UP are in Wisconsin. The Michiga...

"Black fly season typically starts in the middle of May and runs through late June or early July. They're often gone by mid-July." You can find them later in the year in certain areas, but generally August and later are OK. When I travel the UP enroute to Oshkosh in late July each year they've never...

Why don't you preemptively treat the inside of your tank with a sloshing sealer such as PQR15? After cleaning my original tank I treated it and it has worked well. No exposed metal means no rust

As a troll (I live below the Mackinaw Bridge) I must admit that I love the UP. I've driven the sandy back roads along Lake Superior (Whitefish Point) in my M38a1 Jeep and imagine that they would be good for a Model T. The Keweenaw, Porcupine Mountains, Pictured Rocks, Grand Marais, and many other lo...

Wow! I guess I dodged a bullet. I got a similar email from a guy telling me to try Gene Morgan as he had some NOS New Day brushes to sell. After a couple of email exchanges I decided to pass.....lucky for me. The email I was given was <Genem365 @gmail.com>

Off subject somewhat but look what I found in the cabin air filter of my Jeep Renegade this spring. Reminds me it's time to put the decon out.

That would be a wonderful trip. I second the suggestion of September - My daughter went to Northern Michigan and that was a great time to visit....less traffic and fewer tourists, state parks less crowded. Just wait until after the Old Car Festival which is usually the first weekend after Labor Day....

When I was restoring the car I did take it apart, inspect and grease it. It wasn't loose on the shaft and spun easily. You could turn it by hand with the belt installed so it wasn't too tight. I don't know what happened today but the fan definitely locked up briefly and smoked the belt. I removed it...

Greased - No, not rebuilt.

Today was a beautiful fall day in Michigan and with rain in the forecast for the next few days I decided to take my 1917 Touring for a spin. About seven miles from home I got a whiff of burning rubber and thought "Some farmer must be burning tires." The next moment there was smoke coming out of the ...

1200 miles and 5 days later I'm back from my first trip to Hershey. What an incredible event! I swear you could find parts for any car ever built! I was a bit lost at first but once I learned to read the maps (get the program) and read the row marks on the pavement I was actually able to find some o...

I tried the "bag trick" unsuccessfully and decided to take my tires to a local tire shop (not a big name franchise). For $10 a tire they mounted the tires complete with flaps and did a nice job. They were actually excited to work on something that old so I took the car over after I got it running an...

I buy red Timken grease online - tubs and cartridges. I suspect any good bearing grease will do. Lubricant technology has advanced a great deal since Henry's day.

I recently bought a 30 x 3.5 demountable wheel with the intention of sending it off to be re-spoked. I have one front wheel with a slight wiggle and this was to be it's replacement. Awhile back I purchased a hub thread chaser from Snyders which I used successfully to clean up the threads on my other...

My compression readings on a broken-in engine with aluminum pistons varied from 80 to 75. The dyno showed 25 hp at 1600 rpm

Thomas, "If you aren't willing to keep abreast of the amount of fuel in your tank then maybe you should have something other than a Model T." I just came off the Covered Bridges Tour in Indiana. My "stumbling" incident occurred before we had come upon the first gas station on the published route. In...

I just got back from the Covered Bridge tour in Indiana. Plenty of steep hills on the tour routes. One time going up a steep narrow dirt road my car acted like it was going to die a few times. We made it to the top (thankfully) and filled the tank about 5 miles later. I put a little over 5 gallons i...

My reverse is a bit weak. I don’t want to get it too tight. IF the band was too tight would the car tend to creep backwards in neutral?

If you've installed a oil filter under the cover, what difference would it make how the cover is installed?

Thanks....sounds like we picked a good one (newbies luck.) Our T is loaded and we leave for my daughter's Thursday - on to Parke Co. on Friday. We're scheduled for the Friday Amish dinner so that should be interesting. For those of you who are going...see you there. For the rest, I'll report how it ...

The end of this week I'll be heading to Parke County Indiana for the Covered Bridge Tour. For those who have gone on this tour before do you have any advice for a first-timer? My wife and I will be camping at the fairgrounds.

Here's the latest - I replaced the socket in the headlight - I couldn't see anything obvious wrong with the old one but I can't see what's going on between the contacts because they're encased in a rubber cylinder. I also cleaned the mounting shaft on the headlight and the receptacle in the frame to...

If you want to know more about Wills, the museum recently published what they claim is the only book on the man. https://www.willsautomuseum.org/newbookonchwills.htm

In addition, if you contact the museum they could put you in contact with Wills two granddaughters who are volunteers there.

A little off topic but in case you wondered what happened to Harold Wills (Henry's chief designer of the Model T) after he left Ford in 1919, he went to what is now Marysville, Michigan, and founded the Wills-Ste. Clair car company. This past Sunday a small number of members of the Casual T's follow...

I almost hate to ask this of you but I guess I'm going to Hershey for the first time and will have a table there....long story. I have a number of items left from the restoration of my 1917 touring (sept 1916 build) that I have no idea what a fair price would be. Can those of you in the know help me...

I almost bought a sight gauge but then decided to go with the dipstick sold by antique auto ranch. With my bum leg and less than perfect knees, I was looking for an easy way to verify oil level. Anything that required turning the oil petcocks on a regular basis had little appeal. I've had the dipsti...

Ok - first to clarify a few things. I'm running the LED Headlights from a 12 volt battery-not magneto. The left headlight is fine, the right flickers. No change if I swap bulbs. I'm using the two contact type connectors. I apparently misunderstood how the bulbs are wired internally. I thought one co...

Thanks Dan - great explanation. Allan, soldering a ground also sounds smart. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

I have to get at my headlight socket as well. Dan, do I understand that the reflector has to be twisted to remove? I'm afraid of damaging the reflector so haven't done anything more than remove the bezel and clear lens. Mine is a 1917 with the two-contact connector originally designed for magneto bu...

If your wheels move through a normal range with the pitman arm disconnected the problem must lie in the steering shaft. With the pitman arm disconnected does the steering wheel turn freely? If not it could be binding in the lower bushings but the most likely explanation is some binding between the g...

I converted my headlights to use a 12 volt LED bulbs wired in parallel. I chose bulbs that work with the original BA15 sockets. The left one works great - the right one flashes on and off with no rhyme or reason. I've: 1.) Swapped bulbs 2.) Changed plug-in sockets 3.) Ran a separate wire from the + ...

Model T's are a traveling car show. I have never yet stopped for gas without attracting people. I usually add at least ten minutes for answering questions. I've also noticed as I drive down the road or thru a town that the sight of my T brings smiles to the people I encounter. Get used to waving. Mo...

I'm size 14 EEEE - three days after I started driving my T I ordered a reverse extender (I already had extenders for the others). No regrets

"Understanding wife." Funny thing... my wife has tolerated all my other adventures but she actually likes the T and the activities that swirl around it. We've been married 47 years and in all that time she's never taken any interest in things mechanical. Lo and behold, the other day she came home wi...

The model T is one of the more affordable classic cars. Despite it's age parts are readily available - it's biggest attraction is the camaraderie you'll share with like-minded people and the opportunity to drive and socialize. Model T owners enjoy driving their cars more than parking them at car sho...

Spring separator - lets you lube between leaf springs.

I may drain the radiator down some just in case. It would be just one bolt at a time but then again, why risk it? I'm waiting on a horn I bought from Hank and don't know if I'll use the bracket on it or adapt it to the one already installed.
Thanks for your comments

Nice read, I appreciate you sharing your adventure with us and apologize for anything that was less than perfect during your stay in Michigan. Without going into detail, if you want to know Michigan you've got to get out of the Metro area. Also, as someone who turned 70 less than two weeks ago, I ob...

Quick question - If I remove a bolt from the elbow (cooling system) attached to the side of the block will coolant run out of the hole? I may need to install a bracket and want to know if I need to drain the coolant down before doing so.

OK - Hank is going to fix me up. Thanks Hank and thanks MTFCA.

Not the greatest advertising......

Ed - PM sent

Scott,
I think I know where you got the "originals" you used for analysis. You have certainly done the T community a great service by producing such a fine product.

Ok - I know Michigan gets a bad rap for some crummy roads but I have to tell you, they are mostly found around urban areas whereas the roads in rural areas like where I live are actually pretty good. Bad roads are not unique to Michigan.

I had a "missing" problem that stumped a lot of people and took awhile to figure out. The engine started and idled great but stumbled when you tried to go down the road. Turns out the spring in a brand new timer brush was partially collapsed so it wouldn't push the brass brush out to make a good con...

Is the spring in the New Day brush holding the brass brush out all the way? The pin should be all the way at the top of the slot. Don't ask me how I know this

Does anyone have contact information for the gentleman (I believe from Michigan) who repairs electric Model T and A horns? He usually has a table at Hershey.

Thanks!

It was nice to put some faces to people I've conversed with on the forum.... too bad that more guys weren't able to show up. On a different note, the weather could hardly have been any better. The number and variety of cars was almost overwhelming. If you were there, like me you must have had a grea...

So sorry... the care you have shown your mom does you credit though not without a personal toll. Take comfort in the fact that you were there when she needed you. No mother could ask for more.

Marty,
I'm looking at a map and am not quite sure where you are talking about for the gathering. Could you be a bit more specific? Also, there is a large open area where they play old-time baseball and the like...that would also be a good place if you want some cars in the photo.

OK... has there been a decision as to a time and a place for the "meet and greet"? OCF is upon us.

There are dropping resistors available for a "real" 6 volt Ahoogah horn

Yeah, I know it's not original but..... I installed a 50+ year old 12 v ahoogah horn that belonged to my father-in-law on my T and my wife loved it. Unfortunately, one of the motor windings went up in smoke so I need a replacement. Can you help me out? I'd prefer to avoid the plastic ones available ...

Regarding using a GPS - I have an old 3.5 inch Garmin Nuvi 1250 that I plan to use - primarily for the speed, distance and direction function. I have a 12 volt battery and will use a USB power cord into a hidden USB port to power it. The small Nuvi's are often on ebay for $20 or less which makes the...

Might have some - will look tomorrow

What was the composition of the original New Day timer brushes? The ones available now use a brass brush.

I'd like to buy some NOS or like new condx New Day timer brush assemblies. Anybody got any to spare?

Dick-I've had them on my C85 for over 20 years. Also used them on a big 0-470 and LYC 0-320. No leaks-reused over and over. I think you could get away with gluing one side to the valve cover of a T- I'd just leave the mating surface clean. I'm going to have to think about this one before proceeding....

Does anyone sell or has anyone made silicone valve cover gaskets? You can get them for aircraft and they are nice when you want to be able to remove and reinstall the cover without a lot of hassle. Mine were taken off to get at the valves on a tour a couple of weeks back and I need to install new on...

You need to be invited or have a good reason if no military ID.

To attach my "Ford" insignia I took two of the long skinny bolts (machine screws) that Langs sells, wired the "Ford" to the heads, covered them with thin shrink tubing and slid them between the fins of my new Bergs radiator. I used neoprene washers front and back and a dime sized flat washer on the ...

Can't answer about OCF - for Motor Muster, the military vehicle group I belong to is allowed to camp in our area down by the Cotswald Cottage. I don't remember seeing anyone camping elsewhere in the village except for some folks staying in RV's parked in the lot behind the Eagle Tavern where they pa...

Sounds strange - what shape is the insulation on the wires? (Batt / mag/ common) Also, I don't think the insulation was cardboard - perhaps someone replaced the original. You may want to get something like this: https://www.modeltford.com/item/4730INS.aspx

A worthy idea but flying a drone might be a problem - Greenfield Village lies under the Detroit Class B airspace, right near the edge of where it extends from the surface to 10,000 feet. Getting FAA permission to fly a drone there (not to say that of the folks at Greenfield Village) might be difficu...

Just to clarify, MTFCI does not have a big tent at OCF, they save that for Hershey. In the past Brian has set up a sunbrella-type canopy where T folks tend to drop by during the OCF.

Marty's idea will let you put faces on many forum members after which you can choose to gather wherever you wish.

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