MTFCA Forum

Wayne Sheldon

When Kevlar bands were first being used for model Ts, there were a few tries made at getting a balance between a cushioning effect and harsh realities. Some of the earlier efforts were too harsh. However, I "think" most of those issues got worked out some time ago. There was also a change in manufac...

Wayne Sheldon

The SFV club was such a major force of the early MTFCA. So sad to hear of their dissolution.

Wayne Sheldon

Right and left are NOT the same. Kurt A is correct.

Wayne Sheldon

If I am not mistaken, that "threshold" is a 1911 or 1912 running board.

Wayne Sheldon

1912 was basically the only model year in which Ford offered the model T in a Ford factory supplied delivery car. However, literally hundreds of after-market coach builders offered locally built bodies for the model T all across the country and even around the world during all years of the model T. ...

Wayne Sheldon

Wonderful! I hope to see some pictures somewhere.

Wayne Sheldon

I had a 1924 coupe. As I recall, it had something similar to hold the deck lid up, but somewhat different. This may have been from some other car, or even a piece of furniture or tool box.

Wayne Sheldon

AC magneto versus DC battery timing change when starting? The DC battery is flowing and active all 360 degrees of engine rotation. The AC wave form is not. There are sixteen nulls per revolution. The length of each null depends somewhat on how strong the magneto is, however roughly, about one quarte...

Wayne Sheldon

Add me to the list of those making special size rivets from long shank bolts. Done it many times. How hard a steel bolt is best may depend upon what it is holding together and the stresses under use involved. Just some food for thought. To shape the head? After cutting the shank to the desired lengt...

Wayne Sheldon

They create wear marks on steering system components, such as the spindle arm and tie rod. Over time, they can create deep grooves. I think twice I have seen front axle assemblies that had grooves worn so deeply that the tie rod broke! I had a spindle arm that was worn a quarter of the way through ...

Wayne Sheldon

Those do not actually do very much to help with the steering. Mostly, what they do is if bushings and pins are loose, they reduce the intensity of the rattles. In some cases they might help steady things a little bit.

Bonjour.

Wayne Sheldon

There is quite a bit of misinformation "out there". Some letters were sent to the dealers from the factory and sales literature published regarding "standardizing" of the cars coming up. But the simple fact is that it never happened. Open body cars continued to be offered and sold with clincher demo...

Wayne Sheldon

I would guess 1911. The rear fender appears to be wider at the front whereas the 1909 and 1910 rear fenders were parallel lengthwise. Also, the engine pan appears to have the removable cover underneath.
Neat car regardless! In spite of the people in the way.

Wayne Sheldon

They do tend to be a tight fit. Otherwise, loose connections would be causing intermittent misfiring a lot more often. I have had a few that were really tight under deep cowl speedsters that were particularly difficult. Simply grabbing them with your fingers on the point's posts is the best way, but...

Wayne Sheldon

Number thirteen is a nice 1914 runabout with after-market fenders all around. Several companies made similar fenders to upgrade the outdated style of the Ford car. Most Ford owners were too practical for them sell in large numbers, but occasionally we can see them in era photos. I have seen only a f...

Wayne Sheldon

I know several people that run a good overdrive on top of three to one rear end gears, and they love it, in speedsters and racing cars with low wind resistance and lighter weight. I would NEVER recommend a significant overdrive over three to one gears for a stock-ish full body car. For a full-body c...

Wayne Sheldon

Link?
I "think" they used a special carburetor to burn kerosene and the double-back exhaust was used to heat the kerosene (or other fuel oil?) such that it would burn better in the engine.
I have seen one similar to that before.

Wayne Sheldon

Just another tidbit detail of model Ts having spot welds. The move to slowly updating the bodies and style of the model T, for 1915 Ford moved to a small cowling surrounding a smaller firewall than in previous years. Prototypes had been hand made in the summer of 1914. However, production problems s...

Wayne Sheldon

"AI" equals automated incompetence or automated idiocy. Google was always questionable in its quick answers, however, in the past year they have become laughably unreliable.
Yeah, Henry used electrical spot welding going way back.

Wayne Sheldon

One of the couplets that has been on eBay for many years was a later fixed roof removeable pillars coupe, likely a 1918 version. It was owned by a major collector in Montana that liked to "share" some of what he had by listing things on eBay at very high prices. Stan Howe personally knew the fellow,...

Wayne Sheldon

Cannot be certain without closer looks at the hood, hood sills, firewall, and radiator. However, it appears to be a 1923 roadster/runabout model T. What is special about 1923 is that for United States production (Canadian production on these details was actually before US production), 1923 was the f...

Wayne Sheldon

Bent pans are very common! But so are pans where the bushing is worn crooked. How much wear and how much crooked in what direction depends on what sort of use the hand crank has suffered from over the past hundred or so years. Fixing it properly depends upon first determining what is or is not bent ...

Wayne Sheldon

They were still pretty much transportation all through the 1930s depression years, and even beyond into the 1940s through the war years. Parts and tires were readily available in most small towns and all major cities. During the war years, many middle class high schoolers coming of age got a used mo...

Wayne Sheldon

The gasoline tank should reside under/inside the driver's seat, under the small cushion. It is a sort of square/ cube shape, with a slightly slanted top. It is accessed by removing the driver's seat bottom cushion. The seat needs to be unbolted from the floor to remove or install the gasoline tank. ...

Wayne Sheldon

I find it interesting that the publication was "Hawaii Territory" and the British word "bonnet" was used as the hood over the engine. A lot of newspaper articles in that era got mixed up with automotive nomenclature. The automobile was still so new, and evolving quickly, that things like how the cyl...

Wayne Sheldon

I think his snarky attitude and cluelessly self-centered nature are what makes much of his life difficult in ways he does not understand. I don't let people like that bother me very much (I don't know if it is because I am "thick skinned" or "thick headed", but I just care much what people like that...

Wayne Sheldon

It was a long time ago, but if I recall correctly? These can be easily adapted to fit and work on a model T car. The biggest problem is that the magneto sits out somewhat beyond the outside of the frame rail. Not much of a problem for some speedsters, however a stock bodied car with stock hood has a...

Wayne Sheldon

"Weston"/Joshua Harington and the flooring appears to be an obvious spam posting.
Nice though to see this old thread again.

Wayne Sheldon

Pure speculation. Probably, someone in the past wanted to try to pass this later 1909/1910 block as being a much earlier engine as an early 1909, while not understanding that a "15XX" serial number would have only been on a water-pump engine, NOT the typical open valve engine. Many years ago, in som...

Wayne Sheldon

Ed and Karen are two of the most wonderful people I have ever known! And their kids and grandkids are pretty great also. So many times, I have seen that wonderful car going down the road on Endurance Runs and other tours. I have seen videos of it at the Monterey Historic Races, I never get tired of ...

Wayne Sheldon

Ford did not offer a tourabout body in 1912. I agree with advice you already received, forget about making it correct, fix it up as is and enjoy it. Absolutely TRUE! However, a few were likely put together after-market by replacing the mother-in-law seat on the rear of the roadster with an acquired...

Wayne Sheldon

Unless already personally known? ALL brass era Ts are suspect for authenticity until at least somewhat verified by someone really familiar with the hundreds of minute detail pieces. Few, if any, are a hundred percent correct. Most, of any brass era year, are more fake than authentic. While a 1914, 1...

Wayne Sheldon

Oh, WOW! Wonderful to see.

(Further comments withheld as an incentive for others to click in and see it for themselves first!) (Probably will add later)

Wayne Sheldon

Hey there Martynn! I have very little real hands on experience with the very early model Ts. So most of what I know of them is from reading the books and forums over many years. So many details about them I am not familiar with. Also, common or accepted "knowledge" about the early Ts has changed con...

Wayne Sheldon

Not wanting to cause any significant thread drift. Just pointing out a statement error and giving its correction. "The 1909 Water Pump Engine! The first 2500 or so cars had this configuration which changed somewhere around 1911, to Thermosyphon - " The last of the "water pump" engines was installed ...

Wayne Sheldon

I believe an about 1906/'07 Cadillac runabout with a pickup box added onto the rear. That round thing above the hood is an acetylene gas (large) spot lamp. An after-market accessory that some people in the early days would choose over two headlamps for night driving. More common on automobiles and t...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number six appears to be a model S from 1908, but not the S roadster (which today is often called the SR, but that is not historically correct?). It appears to be a couple years old and has been modified a bit making identification questionable. Number thirteen is another fine 1915 runabout! T...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number five is probably one of the earliest TT trucks you will find a photo of! Non-demountable wheels, square wooden felloe fronts, solid tire rears. I am almost certain it has an over axle wishbone with an added under axle brace, although I cannot see enough details of any of it to actually ...

Wayne Sheldon

Been a long time since I had one of those Ford Faithful oilers. However I do really like them. As I recall, that little weep hole often plugs up with the myriad bits of debris and band lining material. I usually packed some paper towels behind the FF oiler before removing it. Usually, I could catch ...

Wayne Sheldon

Especially with the earlier. late brass and late 1910s cars? "More or less" is a rather loose term. From about 1919 or 1920, I "think" the doors are pretty close to the same sheet metal through 1925. I could be wrong about that, having worked on so few post 1921 model Ts myself. I know there are min...

Wayne Sheldon

Those late brass/teens bodies can be tricky? My early 1915 runabout body (original body tag dates it as a February 1915) was missing its door. I had to try five doors to find two that were close to a fit. One was an unknown year, but 1915 or later front door. The fit wasn't great, but close enough I...

Wayne Sheldon

I have missed you Scott, and your informative posts! A lot of high end expensive automobiles of the 1910s used exhaust pressure to pressurize the fuel tank and deliver gasoline from far back and/or low level gasoline tanks up to the front. I do not think I have ever heard of one exploding or causing...

Wayne Sheldon

I believe that is a driver's side. Those mount to the front of the firewall, flat side back onto the firewall. They offset inwards from the frame. They have to! If they offset out from the frame? The hood hooks could NOT be mounted in the frame, they would have to be about an inch outside the frame....

Wayne Sheldon

Also depends on whether or not there is any added restriction in the fuel routing, either by design (like an added fuel filter?) or by material failure (kink in the tubing, Shellac build up due to old gasoline, rust flakes, or any of a hundred other things?). On level roads, any standard model T sho...

Wayne Sheldon

Many years ago, the prevailing wisdom (wrong!) was that Ford factory started using steel firewalls much earlier on many cars. This was due to so many late 1910s and early 1920s surviving Ts had steel firewalls. I even saw a 1915/'16 with a steel firewall. They must have had fun cutting the drain cha...

Wayne Sheldon

The steel felloe with integral clincher rim (I believe actually made from two steel pieces?)? 30 X 3 1/2 or 30 X 3? I know that some literature indicates that that style rim was used in 30 X 3 1/2 only for all four wheels? However, surviving front wheels, and era photographs indicate that many Fords...

Wayne Sheldon

We all miss Bud. I think of him, and so many others from years ago, often.
You I am sure miss Bud more than anyone.
W2

Wayne Sheldon

Bill D, Most of the insulators are also hiding in the haze of the photo, probably bad lighting among other things. I can see about fifteen or twenty insulators, and suspect there are a whole lot more! The phone wires in those days were usually single pair of wires to a party line for local service. ...

Wayne Sheldon

I knew that several model Ks, both touring cars and roadsters, had had windshields back in the day, and that a couple touring cars have them now. But I also like the "wind in my face" feel of open speedsters and other cars early enough to have had no windshield when new. Just had to razz you a littl...

Wayne Sheldon

A windshield now? Oh - - Rob?

I guess it looks okay.

Wayne Sheldon

That is a neat one Herb I!
I think you are right. It appears to be a 1912 open roadster with the seat base removed, and maybe the standard seat remounted low and tilted back, firewall modified with cowl added, steering lowered, and no tool box. Makes a darn nice speed car!

Wayne Sheldon

Your T is looking great in the more recent photos!

Wayne Sheldon

Always nice to see you posting here Eric S! For newer regulars on this forum Eric used to live in the United States, and was very active with the model T hobby, participating on this forum often. Then family and circumstances had him moving to Spain, and he took his model T with him! I am glad to se...

Wayne Sheldon

One point to add?
The three speed progressives and the two speed under or direct transmissions used different housings.
The TT ad that Dan T posted is for the TT three speed progressive shift version.

Wayne Sheldon

Universal made several variations of driveshaft mounted auxiliary transmissions for model Ts and TTs. I have had several of them over the years, and really like them. The underdrives are desirable to some people in the HCCA crowd for early model Ts where they want the advantages of a Ruckstell for h...

Wayne Sheldon

I am sure that you must have enrichened her final days immeasurably!

Wayne Sheldon

(PS - Wayne, did you get my email of Apr. 28 ?) :D I found it just yesterday. Was hoping to respond soon! I have been having fits with yahoo lately, all their BS game playing the past half year has been disgusting. I opened my account and have had the same email address since the late 1990s. They p...

Wayne Sheldon

I really don't know the answer? Personally, I have seen so very few original low crown steering wheel nuts? I am not even sure how close they are to the available reproductions. I "think" they went from low crown brass to high crown brass around 1913? I "know" that the prevailing opinion forty or mo...

Wayne Sheldon

Tom R, I am sure you have spent many many hours providing us with so many hundreds of wonderful photographs! As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. If it must, it must. I hope you will post often of your progress on T projects and adventures. You are an important part of the T ...

Wayne Sheldon

Photo number; 1. Can be difficult to tell on after-market commercial bodied Ts. Appears to be a 1915/'16. 2. 1913. Difficult to tell from this angle, but RF fender appears to be one of those odd 1913s with the under front lip angling forward. 4. 1917. Has the even folding hinges with the lower frame...

Wayne Sheldon

Which style fan hub? If the fan hub bushings on a later style (1919 through 1927) hub are in really good condition, motor oil will work, but leak out slowly and need to be replaced often (routine model T maintenance). They have a small screw plug to add in oil. Earlier style fan hubs had a hollow sh...

Wayne Sheldon

Congratulations on the L to B acceptance!
I know you have been before, in a borrowed car. This should be an even better experience!

Wayne Sheldon

Thank you Jim for your comments. I had notice right away that their "covers" were not up to the standards generally expected of male soldiers in the day. I was wondering if it was because the women's corps was less strict or? If I recall correctly? That style "hat" was called the "campaign hat", and...

Wayne Sheldon

May be giving a lesson on how the internal combustion engine operates to a bunch of wannabe mechanics. Fact is, that most people in those days barely understood the workings of an internal combustion engine, men and women alike. The women's Army Corps (did they call it that then? I actually do not ...

Wayne Sheldon

Tire circumference varies by minor size variations due to brand, batch, and wear. A two percent error is about as close as it gets.

Wayne Sheldon

That style column tube was used for nearly three years actually. Beginning in late 1914, ONLY for center-door sedans and couplets, it may have been used on some cars. I am not sure about the earliest ones which would have gotten the cast brass spark and throttle quadrant, they might have been a bit ...

Wayne Sheldon

Many young women in the First World War did enlist into the army for a women's motor pool. If they could pass the test, they would be trained and drove various transportation and delivery tasks including ambulance, all in non-combat areas. I suspect this photo was of one of many training assemblies.

Wayne Sheldon

A nice enough early one like that? I think should be repaired. Make a new pin, with a little "V" ground along the slot, and braze it onto the piece you have. Then use it on your late brass era T.

Wayne Sheldon

Seen a lot of those keys over the years. And had a few of them myself. A lot of the ones with the round pin attached do have a rivet in them. However, I have seen and held in my hands a few that there was no sign of what was holding the pin onto them. And I have seen and had a couple where the pin w...

Wayne Sheldon

Sure would be wonderful to be able to see one of those three cars today!

Wayne Sheldon

Well William May, hello to a fellow typesetter!

Wayne Sheldon

Four and the enlargement five, looks like one of the nicest brass era speedsters I have ever seen! Nicely painted all over in a sporty light color (or white?). I wish I could see more photos from other angles. Can't tell from this how well or badly the overall proportions of the body styling are. Ho...

Wayne Sheldon

Looks like it might be a model N? Can't quite make out the fender well enough to be sure.

Wayne Sheldon

Second clipping, Harry Houdini Buys a "Gord" 6-Cylinder??? Interesting typo. In 1907, even major newspapers did a lot of hand typesetting. I find myself wondering who and how the error was made. Assuming it was an error, and not some other thing I am not aware of? Part of my curiosity stems from som...

Wayne Sheldon

Finally, spending a few minutes relaxing and looking at these photos again. Photo number six is a good look at an improved two door (advertising sometimes called them a tudor) sedan. The angle of view should see a headlamp bar if the car had one? But no such bar appears to be there. So the car most ...

Wayne Sheldon

Picture number four needs an immediate comment! In spite of the poor quality of the photo? The angle and the lighting is perfect! Zooming in closely, it can be clearly seen that the oil sidelamps (diver's side absolutely, passenger's side likely?) are one of the early interim style lamps used in lat...

Wayne Sheldon

Leo v S, Before Ford began offering factory bodies on the TT in 1924, many things were commonly done to prepare the TT for its working career. Of course the nice after-market bodies, made both by many large national companies and literally hundreds of small local companies all over the world are the...

Wayne Sheldon

And the Ford pulling (?) the big car is a model R or S from 1907 or 1908. The big car "might" be a Peerless. Difficult to know due to fuzzy details of the photo. Photo number ten is a 1908 model S roadster. I sure do like the 1915 T touring car! Still shiny, and looking so nice. I wish I could see t...

Wayne Sheldon

Yikes! This I had not read about before. I have often pondered the "what ifs" of if Henry had not made the tremendous success he did. My primary reasoning (aside from all the hundreds of things that could have happened?) was Henry's age. He was considerably older than were most of the automotive pio...

Wayne Sheldon

I have no idea who labeled the fifth picture "the start", or why? But it sure is fitting. The "start" of the automotive era and traffic! At least six automobiles (I think a seventh in the dust cloud?). The nearest one might be a two cylinder Reo. The next nearest one coming toward us appears to be a...

Wayne Sheldon

Hard to tell in the photos. But the seam patterns and rubber texture seem to be different on all three. They could still be from the same supplier, and even the same manufacturer. (Maybe?) However almost certainly from different batch runs. Innertubes without a tire to restrain them, air pressure do...

Wayne Sheldon

Thank you Jerry!

Wayne Sheldon

I would be curious to know if any such three pedal two lever model T was ever built? Even in the prototype stage, I seriously doubt one was built. I can't imagine how it would have functioned, practically speaking. But it could be possible. I have seen the pictures, and read discussions a few times ...

Wayne Sheldon

In the "For whatever it is worth" department? And - - - shhhhh, don't tell anyone? The brass era outlets to the radiator have been hit and miss for many years. Reproductions have been made and sold in significant numbers. The original brass era necks were cast iron, a bit short, a bit thin, and ofte...

Wayne Sheldon

The third picture.....Speedster. Here is a picture of what looks to be the same body. WIN_20250401_09_59_08_Pro.jpg Lyndon, Several companies manufactured and sold kits with a very similar style. Some had larger gasoline tanks, some had smaller tanks. Exact shape of the trunk and the lid varied som...

Wayne Sheldon

Erik J, I like the couplets. They are an odd anomaly in the early years of the model T. A bit fancier than they needed to be, and more costly than Ford was targeting. The removeable pillar couplets were manufactured for less than two years, beginning about mid 1917 model year and continuing through ...

Wayne Sheldon

Number twelve is a model N, no running boards.
I see that the wheels have bolts all the way around the felloe. I wish I could remember which company made those wheels?

And, Rob, which wheels did your N number three have originally?

Wayne Sheldon

Thank you Rob! The angle of the photo of the R/S appears to me to show the wider rounder rear deck rather than the pointier one. But I have been wrong about that before with other photos. The car also appears to me to have the larger 30 inch wheels. I don't have my book handy. Would those details na...

Wayne Sheldon

Several nice pictures of speedsters here! Photo number seven is of Edsel Ford and his speedster, built in the late brass era. Edsel played around for awhile with that car. I have seen several variations of the car, changes of the fenders, even without fenders. Other photos show variations/changes ma...

Wayne Sheldon

The first thought that came to my mind was a mix of early and later clutch parts. There was a change in the brake drum in the mid 1910s. The early design required a special first disc in the clutch and/or a spacer to prevent a couple clutch discs slipping off the end, which in turn caused a few inne...

Wayne Sheldon

Russ F needs to chime in here. I certainly am NOT the expert on these. However, I "think" that the earliest folding top couplets built late in calendar 1914 that had no "lid" on the top of the turtle deck, instead using an awkward small door on the back of the turtle deck might have used a "spade" m...

Wayne Sheldon

I "think" that the prevailing opinion today is that the "brass" top coils were originally some blackened treatment on the metal tops. That treatment apparently did not last very long, and by the time the coils were ten years old, most of them had very little if any of the blackening left. More recen...

Wayne Sheldon

Technically, an artist's rendition. However, one of the first thousand model T Fords produced, late in calendar 1908 or very early in calendar 1909, as a 1909 model.

Wayne Sheldon

Low rpm low compression engines can get away with worn valve stems or guides, for awhile. One unavoidable problem with running worn stems or guides, is that wobbling valves wear the seats quickly, and result in block seats being badly damaged. In the days before replacement hard seats, that often re...

Wayne Sheldon

Even harder to find, Gary H, I have never even seen one like this!

Wayne Sheldon

Very hard to find!

Wayne Sheldon

Model R or S, 1907 or 1908. Model R I "think".

Wayne Sheldon

I wish I could afford it.
Thank you for the information.

Wayne Sheldon

Looks really good! I don't know why I should ask? But does anyone know what someone wanted for the 1927/8 Whippet roadster? My dad had one when he was going to college, and commuted between Elko and Reno Nevada in it postWW2. I have always wanted to have one, but cannot buy anything right now. Thirt...

Wayne Sheldon

In those days, most new automobiles were shipped from the factory to dealers in standard rail freight cars. They would be tilted, rolled, or stacked in any way to squeeze as many automobiles into a freight car as possible. Tops, windshields, and fenders were usually left off at the factory, and ship...

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