MTFCA Forum

Chris Barker

I've been using this one for 1300 miles

Chris Barker

The 'UK Chapter' - the Model T Ford Register of Great Britain undertook a Round Britain Tour earlier this year to celebrate the centenary of Ford UK driving the 250,000th British Ford on a similar circuit in 1925. 5 cars drove the full 2717 mile route in 16 days, but more than 100 other Model Ts joi...

Chris Barker

The claims on 'page 39' are almost good enough to have been generated by AI!

I would not have much confidence that the relative timing of each cylinder was at all consistent with such a small radius, and spring loaded contacts

Chris Barker

They say that the two best days in a boat owner's life are the day he (she) buys it, and the day he (she) sells it. The two best days in a Model T owner's life are the day he (she) buys it, and the first time he (she) drives it with a properly adjusted set of coils. Anyone who disagrees has yet to e...

Chris Barker

Don't drive it or go on a diet!

Maybe loose covers?

Chris Barker

We joined the 2025 Round Britain Tour - celebrating the centenary of Ford taking the 250,000th British built Ford on a similar tour. We joined at Bridgwater and travelled to Lands End, then back to Somerset. About 450 miles for us, but the core group of 5 Ts did 2717 miles all round Britain. About 1...

Chris Barker

I see that you hope that capacitor is .47uf.
That's right for modern 'orange' ones, but I think that Ford originals are about 1uf.
Now, most of the originals need replacement - they will leak DC, but not all.
Will your beeper tell you if you are lucky enough to have a good original capacitor?

Chris Barker

I have continued to enjoy the very smooth performance I get with my 'timer with points' which floats on a bearing on the camshaft.
About 250 miles so far....

Chris Barker

According to Google's AI, the one with the big rock is on Oahu.

I had to edit out the car, or it just told me it was a Model T!

Chris Barker

Jeff, that's all very impressive. Well done indeed. In my search for a good spare starter I found that the majority of them had good field coils etc, but the armatures were shorting to ground. It seemed that rewinding an armature was going to be very expensive indeed. Is the world short of good arma...

Chris Barker

Fuel may not be getting through. Some modern float needle valves have a hole smaller than the original. Adding a fuel filter to the Model T's system which relies on gravity is not good - or the original filter below the tank may be blocked. The easy check for all these is to remove the carb bowl and...

Chris Barker

Further to my post above where I thanked the designers of three coil testers, I would also like to thank Ron who, more than 15 years ago, guided me in The Ways Of Truth on coils - in both theory and practice.

Chris Barker

I can't answer the original question - though I have to suspect that there may be some anomaly with that particular powered HCCT. However, I have been fortunate enough to make similar comparisons between about 20 coils tested (and originally set up) on my Strobospark, a borrowed ECCT, and also a FAC...

Chris Barker

all of this makes me very grateful that:
1. I bought a Strobospark from Fun projects many years ago

and

2. The enthusiasts here went to enormous lengths to develop and document the DIY FACT device and help make it freely available

and

3. Tim Law helped me get set up with a FACT.

Chris Barker

If you think those prices are high, imagine what they would be if shipping to me in the UK were added!

Chris Barker

"The Ford system was reliable and easy to diagnose and service. Ford was set up to manufacture it in mass quantities at very low cost. It weighed about 70 pounds less than a battery/coil/generator outfit, and was less likely to fail out on the road." True in 1908, but for 1919 everything was differe...

Chris Barker

I can understand why the 1908 Ford had the system it had. But I have never understood why, for 1919, when Ford added the 6v generator and starter, with battery, they did not take the opportunity to just fit a normal distributor and coil. The cost savings would have been enormous - no 'magneto' coils...

Chris Barker

I have a Laycock OD in my Sunbeam Alpine. Indispensable in that car But it needs 12v to power it. It takes 17A during engagement and about 3A when engaged. And they are quite heavy. Would need support if hung off a Model T transmission. Rootes made their gearbox output shaft the OD input with the ec...

Chris Barker

I notice that coils often appear on eBay as 'Model T Batteries'

Chris Barker

Jerry responded to my timer post: I would suggest running a dedicated ground lead to the timer body, and not depend upon the ball bearing to conduct to ground. Not that it won't, but it will be at the cost of bearing life. You're probably aware that years ago, folks tried using ball bearings in plac...

Chris Barker

For 22 years I've been unimpressed by oily rollers, wobbly brushes and colliding flappers. Inspired by the Duntley timer, I set about creating a timer with proper contacts, and one that isn't messed up by lack of concentricity. I did acquire a Duntley, but its 0.027" smaller than the recess in the t...

Chris Barker

In the UK, the main parts suppliers are: 1. The Model T Ford Register of Great Britain, the UK club which is a MTFCA chapter. We get a few parts made here, but most come from Snyders 2. Neil Tuckett (Tuckett Brothers), who buys, sells, repairs and generally lives Model Ts The T Service and Tudor Whe...

Chris Barker

I will pay for plastering walls and ceilings, and anything involving heavy concrete, blocks, slabs etc. Otherwise, I'll attempt most things, even if it involves having to watch INTERMINABLE YouTube videos, where 2 minutes of information is squeezed into an hour. I wish the people who upload YouTube ...

Chris Barker

'26 Coupe
About 35000 miles in 22 years.
Used once or twice a week, mostly around Somerset, England.

Chris Barker

what's the contraption on the front axle of the first photo in the 2:25 posting please?

Chris Barker

I used genuine Harris Tweed to replace worn-out material from a kit from around 1988.
It matches the existing headlining and has the vertical stripes.
In the attached photo, the door cards have been done, but the seat is the old material

Chris Barker

Terry,
I seem to have more than enough old timers - but that's useful as I'm recreating a modernised Duntley using Lucas points......

Chris Barker

Constantine Mandilas posted very interesting material here about this some years ago, but I can't find it. The armoured cars were used by Royal Navy forces in Romania in 1917-18. They were built by W G Allen in the English midlands. He quotes from a book by Conrad Cato which related an episode where...

Chris Barker

Studying Lex's excellent essay above, it's interesting that the timing he calculates for the stock head (18BTDC at 800, and 51BTDC at 1600) make it clear that Henry's magneto timings of 18 or 41 are, by luck or test, about right for normal T driving.

Chris Barker

Lex, that timing diagram in your original post - much reproduced - is actually useless and wrong if you're running on coils and magneto. With the magneto, you get just three basic choices of timing. 15.5 ATDC (just for starting) 18.5 BTDC 41 BTDC If the lever allows it, you could have 63.5 BTDC but ...

Chris Barker

I have a very old note (c.1920), apparently from a Ford dealer, and apparently enclosed with 2 parts he was supplying, and saying he was out of stock of the third.

But I can't find the numbers in any list I have. They are

1629
1884
2371

Can any of you identify them please?

Chris Barker

So, is the colour posted by Ssrushton Highland green?
Assuming Russ is correct, it's lighter than Channel green.

Chris Barker

I have run my '26 with a Vaporizer for 22 years.
From cold it it always start if I turn 4 compressions with full choke first, before turning on the ignition.
And never start if I don't!

Chris Barker

Among the thoughtful points made above is the basic fact that the front axle support structure and probably the wheels are just not strong enough for front braking. They were never designed to take torque. Rear brakes are self limiting. When you brake, weight is transferred off the rear. Brake too h...

Chris Barker

I tried to answer this some years ago, but it's not easy. I think the membership of the two American clubs is around 6000 to 8000 each, but some will be members of both The UK Register has 500. I think other clubs (Fr, Aus, NZ etc) are smaller. So even allowing for those with 2 or even 10 Ts, and al...

Chris Barker

I think that the bigger mystery is why Ford didn't move to a normal distributor and coil when they added the 6v system in 1919. The tremblers and 'magneto' must have been very expensive in comparison.

Chris Barker

Ron was very helpful when I was trying to understand coils about 15 years ago, and the knowledge he passed to me has now benefitted many here in the UK.
Thank you

Chris Barker

It seems to me that you would only need it if you have engine pans fitted. And that's when you can't use it!

Chris Barker

Interesting that no one has even tried to answer your question! Maybe because only time will tell. However, reputable companies such as Wynns and Miller offer products which should help, and are sufficiently low in cost to be worth trying. Another possibility is that although people have encountered...

Chris Barker

As I understand it _ I could be wrong, these are just springs in series, so they soften the ride. I don't think that they have any damping function, unlike the Gabriel snubber which is a rebound damper

Chris Barker

The prices are surely going up because folks like you lot above, and many others have built up their own lifetime collections!

Chris Barker

I agree with Mark; I find that the coil is best set up with just the fibre washer under the contact plate, above the coil spring.
And then TWO nuts above, locked.

Chris Barker

It's an early hybrid. Toyota copied the idea for the Pious

Chris Barker

It's quite common for British middle-aged men to go through a mid-life crisis and buy an American machine which is noisy, vibrates a lot, is uncomfortable and doesn't handle very well.
But mine has 4 wheels.

Chris Barker

I have found that it is easiest to carefully remove the left side of the coil to gain access and remove the old glass and capacitor.

Chris Barker

I think you are confusing two things and making it too complicated. Before you go any further, I suggest you jack up the front and spin each wheel to assess sideways 'run out'. If that's excessive (maybe more than 1/4" side to side variation as it turns) you must at least take account of it, and may...

Chris Barker

Yes.
With the ECCT you mustn't touch both sides of the points if you hold them open with your fingers.

Chris Barker

As Pat says, your Ford ammeter will only read up to 20A, even if your alternator generates more, which it probably is. And as he says, you need to find out why. Modern alternators can produce over 100A, and even small ones manage 30A or 40A. With that sort of current, something somewhere must be get...

Chris Barker

If you are asking in connection with Model T coils, the important parameter is what is termed dv/dt. This is the device's ability to survive a rapid voltage rise - hence change in voltage divided by change in time. Most ordinary capacitors are unable to work very long in the T coil environment. The ...

Chris Barker

I have owned the Alpine for 50 years. The Model T was my mid-life crisis car - just 22 years.

Chris Barker

Ford USA allocated batches of number to the UK plant where Danish engines would be made. So you cannot precisely date an engine as youy can with a Rouge motor

Chris Barker

By 1922, Ford's Trafford Park, Manchester factory was fairly self-sufficient, and it supplied the mainland Europe territories (while Canada supplied overseas Empire markets), so I believe that most of these crates would have come Manchester via a ship canal to Liverpool.

Chris Barker

... and before her dress got muddy!

Chris Barker

You could do worse than invest a few dollars in this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ford-Model-model ... 1845849914

Nowhere near as comprehensive as McCalley, but more aimed at people in your position.

Chris Barker

A couple of points: 1. Some friction is good. It provides damping to stop the wobble instability that Ts tend to suffer at about 12 mph. I think one of your spindles is too loose. 2. tightening the top of the spindle will give you a bit more friction, but then when you tighten the bottom lock nut, i...

Chris Barker

A washer is useful when you have tightened the nut and the split pin hole doesn't line up with the nut castellations.

Chris Barker

I thought that between '16 and '20, about half the people wore MAGA T shirts???

Chris Barker

What is that large rectangular thing in front of your rear axle, where I would expect to see a cylindrical silencer??

Chris Barker

I am convinced that the points are not 'hard' throughout their thickness. When they are less than about half their original thickness, they burn out very quickly.
Can anyone confirm this? How thick is the 'hard' part?

Chris Barker

Can anyone explain why Ford located the valve very close to the split line where it is in danger of being damaged by the 'joiner' as you push the rim out?

Chris Barker

I understand your reasons for having the original ignition system in 1909 so that the owner was not dependent on a battery but - Why when you added a battery, electric starter and generator in 1919 did you not replace the magneto, magnets, coil box, 4 trembler coils and timer with just a simple dist...

Chris Barker

I would just like to point out that here in the UK there is a Model T Ford Register - in fact that is the name of the Model T Club here. One of the founders' aims 63 years ago was to find and record the details of surviving Ts in the UK. I think we have about 1200 known now, about half were Manchest...

Chris Barker

My '26 Coupe came to me with an upholstery kit made by one of the usual suppliers for the T Coupe and fitted by the previous owner around 1988. That had the same material, a wool with a fine vertical stripe, on the seats, door cards and the small panels aft of the doors. The headliner and upper side...

Chris Barker

Some years ago, here in the UK, I set out to understand T coils and ignition and he gave me every help.
What I learnt, I passed on to others and many people here now have the understanding and equipment to get the best from their Model Ts.

Chris Barker

How strange to find colour photos in a post of yours!

Chris Barker

I wouldn't spend much time on the plastic one, but if the secondary coils measure around 3200 ohms, the rest should be restorable with new points and capacitors. Remove the tiny nails from the bottom of the large side, slide it out, then lever off the narrow side OPPOSITE the coil to access the capa...

Chris Barker

'Normal' is about 1 turn from fully clockwise, and the engine will normally stop if you turn the adjuster 1/4 to 1/2 a turn from 'normal'. be gentle when turning the needle to fully in or you damage the needle faces and jet seat. Maybe they are already damaged and that's why it still runs when fully...

Chris Barker

Assuming your Coupe is 6v, you might find advantages in fitting 12v turn and brake lights and a small 12v battery as used in alarms.
12v bits are cheaper, more plentiful. Of course, it all has to be LEDs. The battery will then last for months between recharges.

Chris Barker

Four on a tour in England by Robert and Elizabeth Shackleton.

Two American couples just a few weeks before WW1 began in summer 1914.
They sailed to Liverpool and took delivery of a new Model T from Manchester.
Drove 2927 miles all round the UK.

Chris Barker

An unwanted - and probably unexpected - consequence of LED bulbs is that because they take very little current, the contacts in switches etc have to be very good, very clean. I have found that LED torches work very well when new, but after some months, they don't always come on, and you have to remo...

Chris Barker

If it fires at TDC, you could leave it alone.

Chris Barker

It looks as if the ratchet mechanism design was adopted for the late Model T jacks which were laminated sheet steel rather than castings.
Is that correct?

Chris Barker

Is it possible to insert, via the trans cover hole, 10-32 screws UP through the damaged holes, held by adhesive, and then put nuts on top?

Chris Barker

The tie rod is carefully designed to carry just end loads - tension and compression. And it's a tube.
I would not want that device adding bending loads, with an added risk of fretting or compression at its attachment.

Put it away with any water pumps you may own.

Chris Barker

Now you know how it all fits, you may find getting there has problems. I suggest that you first assemble the lower nut, plate and lower spring into the chassis. Then put a piece of tube - maybe a socket - on the stud above the frame and fit and tighten the top nut to compress the lower spring. Push ...

Chris Barker

Did they pay you to take the water pump??

Chris Barker

The video is helpful, but first you need to check the capacitor: Hold the points open, Meter set to Cap Leak, press Test - should be zero or close Hold the points open, Meter set to Cap Value, press Test - should be 4.7, but 2 to 10 will work Only then go to Coil Amps, medium magneto, press Test and...

Chris Barker

Replacing 2-piece valves is a good idea, but first, look down the oil filler (with a light) at the cam gear while someone else slowly turns the crank. I think you might see the gear 'jump' when it clicks. You might even be able to feel it with a finger on it.

Chris Barker

The clicks are heard every half-turn of the crank so it's likely that for each pair of valves there is a point where the loads from the springs down through the followers onto the lobes drive the camshaft across the gear backlash and cause a click. Not a problem unless the backlash is very large.

Chris Barker

Water pump, distributor, 12v battery, disc brakes, flower vase,

Chris Barker

Motorcycle lights supplied on rubber stalks, underneath

Chris Barker

I attached mine to the underside of the hood rod, at the rear, facing forward.
(I don't have a water pump, but it seemed a better location than on head studs.)

Chris Barker

I did it successfully this way: First, I painted outer part - etch primer and satin black. Then formed the lengths to fit the curve of the car. Most of the length has a constant curvature, but it tightens at the rear. I fastened the inner part in place with small screws. The rearmost screw should be...

Chris Barker

I have had a look at my frame and removed that small screw. It's hard to see exactly what's there, but it goes through the outer frame part, then another piece - as you show, and then I can see threads so I think there may be a small nut. Is you frame fully painted? I wouldn't assemble it until it i...

Chris Barker

Steve's tool is very elegant, but a tape measure works fine if you have a friend to help.
Check that neither front wheel has significant sideways run-out before you start.

Chris Barker

I did as Rich adviszes about 15 years ago and mine are fine.
I suggest that if they are straight pieces, you form the curves before any painting.

I expect you are now going to ask how to fit them!

Chris Barker

The high-set driver is better placed to be clear of the horse's toxic emissions.......

Chris Barker

So that's two yesses and two nos!

Casting vote:
As long as there is grease on the gears, I think it's enough.

Chris Barker

The shimmy that is most often encountered happens at about 12mph. No credible level of imbalance will cause shimmy at that speed with 30" diameter wheels. Out-of-round might precipitate it but what has not been mentioned in any of the above - though there are clues - is damping or, a simpler word, f...

Chris Barker

I'm pleased to have my suspicions confirmed. Thank you Ron, and others. Although the error is in the MTFCA publication, the diagram was also the Ford Service Bulletin of March 1st 1920! That bulletin covers both starter and generator but if you read it carefully, it is clear that they are describing...

Chris Barker

My thanks to Richard - a very interesting link. However, the material there seems to confirm what I still suspect. Which is that the diagram I posted is not correct, at least for some starters. Neither of mine has been converted for 12v. The field coils are connected as two pairs in parallel, not 4 ...

Chris Barker

The attached diagram appears in the 1988 MTFCA Repair and Restoration guide (p22) and in Service Bulletin Essentials (p143). However, the two starters I have worked on are different. The two short connecting wires are actually joined to each other, and are located opposite the main terminal. If I we...

Chris Barker

It doesn't look 'folding' to me. More like 'lift off'

Chris Barker

I believe that the 6286 has minimal effect on the mixture; that is entirely governed by the needle valve and its jet. If you were to screw it right in, no fuel would reach the engine.

Chris Barker

FROM 20 YEARS OF VAPORIZER DRIVING:

If you pull the choke and turn over 4 compressions, ignition off.
Then push the choke back, turn the ignition on and press the starter, mine starts every time.

If I don't do the first part, it will never start.
I richen about 1/6 turn for starting too.

Chris Barker

Physics tells you that if you have 2 wheel brakes, 50/50 front/rear weight distribution and no weight transfer under braking (which is impossible), the best you can hope for is 0.5g or 50%.
0.41 is very good.

Chris Barker

Sorry if someone has already pointed this out, but the Fordor has a shorter scuttle to provide more interior space. Hence no room for a tank there.

Chris Barker

Introducing pads only under the mounts will not isolate vibrations as the solid path via the bolt head and nut remains. And rubber in compression is virtually solid so if you put them above and below, it won't do much. i certainly wouldn't bother. The important thing is not to only just 'nip' the ho...

Chris Barker

Thanks to Brexit and Mr Putin, if Blockleys are priced in £ Sterling, you should be able to buy them for a very good dollar price now.

Chris Barker

Time for a new speedometer for my '26 Coupe!! I have been driving with a bike speedo in a wooden case for 20 years (photo), but found the trip miles hard to see. So this month's project has been to make a better one. I found a Cateye Velo 7 which has large clear numbers. It can be programmed to the ...

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