MTFCA Forum

OilyBill

I like the part about 1500 revolutions per minute, like South American dictatorships.

OilyBill

Chris - final development - The choke shaft was mis-drilled. A new reproduction part. I located the part by installing an old shaft in my cross drilling jig, and after aligning the holes, pulled the old shaft out, inserted the new shaft, and put the hole in the correct spot. Actual drilling took 30 ...

OilyBill

Chris, that looks like a very nice air filter! Does it work pretty well?
I am wondering how to fit one, as I don't want my engine inhaling all kinds of dirt, dust, and monkeys.

OilyBill

THANKS VERY MUCH!!
I will be seeing if that arrangement works tomorrow morning. It looks like it will.
Your additional info on how the choke plate moves, and when it snaps back to open is invaluable. I will see if mine will set up that way with the holes that are existing in the choke shaft.

OilyBill

Anyone have any handy tips on the Vaporizer Carb Choke assembly? There is a spring under the lever cap, which I can see only can fit one way. What I need to know is the orientation of the tab lever on the inner end of the choke shaft. It is held in place with a pin, but what is the orientation of it...

OilyBill

Thanks for posting this! Very informative, especially showing it in operation!

OilyBill

Chris Barker: If you run electricity through a bearing, it can fail, due to sparking between the bearings and the races. I used to do lightning strike inspections on aircraft, and that was one of the cautions. Evidence of a lightning strike on a flight control meant removal and close inspection of t...

OilyBill

Thanks for the info! I am looking at doing that for my 1914 Runabout. Looks like they work very nicely!

OilyBill

I saw a post once on Bengal Tigers. They gave them some appliance boxes, and the next pic was of the tigers each sitting inside their boxes. It must be a feline affinity for corrugated cardboard.

OilyBill

Are you going to to name your car "Ned" by any chance?

OilyBill

This is absolutely awesome! This is the first time I have seen pictures of what it was like to assemble a "knocked-down" Ford automobile out of a boxcar!
And the analysis by all the experts revealed a LOT of info in addition! Glad we have people with sharp eyes!

OilyBill

When my grandparents died, my family moved to their home, outside Milwaukee. I was only in first grade in 1964, but I remember the back yard of the farm was filled with Packards, which are the only car my grandfather ever drove. He had owned the farm since the 1920's, and never got rid of anything h...

OilyBill

If you can remove the center piece from the speedometer knuckle, I can broach the keyway deeper, so you can insert the speedo cable end all the way. I have a machine shop. My contact number is 520-272-4752. message me with what number you are calling from, so I can program it into my phone, as it re...

OilyBill

Just heard on the news tonight that UPS and FedEx are not accepting any more packages, other than for people they have contracts with. The USPS is reporting that they are getting an additional 6 MILLION packages per DAY above what they had last year. USPS says they won't catch up until the first wee...

OilyBill

Very nice work!

OilyBill

I was fortunate enough to meet him and spent a lot of time with him on the 2003 Ford Centennial Model T Tour. I think I must have talked to him nearly every night after the day's touring on that trip. He was truly approachable and a very nice guy. His level of knowledge was astounding, and unlike a ...

OilyBill

The little bow makes it look quite dandy!

OilyBill

Looks like the damages in #8 come out to at LEAST $4.00. Maybe even $4.30, if you replace the hubcaps with new.

OilyBill

It is mounted on the top of the gas generator, and is used to control the water drip rate. The upper cylinder is the water tank, and the lower cylinder of the gas generator has a basket with the carbide in it. I always have assumed the numbers are "drops of water per minute". But you would have to t...

OilyBill

The animals pictured here are all FAR more productive than any of mine. For one thing, they are awake. That is pretty critical to efficient shop operation. Mine are only awake for rides. Sometimes after a day or so, I will give them a poke, (Or hit the can-opener for a second) to make sure they have...

OilyBill

"Ford Methods and the Ford Shops" is a really EXCELLENT book. It is comparable in standing the the Nevins history of the Ford Motor Co. They deal in the most extreme detail on nearly every Ford Model T manufacturing process, for nearly every major assembly. It took them nearly a year to get ALL the ...

OilyBill

Excellent pics!

OilyBill

I have seen dry-running recommended for making sure all the moisture is out of the block before storage. Drain the coolant, and fire up the engine and run it for a minute or so to warm it up and dry up all the water that pools in the different areas of the engine. Not like running it for an hour or ...

OilyBill

Tom, I don't know where you get all these pics, but they are amazing! Thanks for posting them!

OilyBill

You kids today!! Needing some diddlybob shift handle, when you could have a car with 3 pedals you can stomp on!! Those shift levers are a menace! You should keep both hands on the wheel at all times. Except when you crank, of course! Next you'll probably be putting one of those dad-blasted "Windshie...

OilyBill

John Codman hit the nail on the thumb. A lot of mods, and IF they were well done, it MIGHT be a good car. But if they were all botch jobs, then you would have a LOT of work ahead of you, getting it drivable and also RELIABLE. I think that might be why the price is so low. When I see mods on a car, e...

OilyBill

Thanks very much, Jim! I really appreciate the help!

OilyBill

Anyone have some pics of the trunk lid hinges, and how they look when installed? I understand you have to put one on complete, then install the trunk lid, swing it into place, and then install the second hinge assembly. But right now I am trying to find a pic of the hinges, to see what they consist ...

OilyBill

Thank you James, for the reply and information. I will start looking for a copy of that book. I know it has been reprinted. And THANKS to all the others who replied. I am still hoping to hear from someone who has done some research at the Benson Ford Center, and may have come across this kind of inf...

OilyBill

Nice pics and a beautiful area!
I can tell that the cat is wanting to know when the catered meal is to arrive. He also wishes to remind you of the obligatory cat massage due directly after the meal.
In case you were wondering.

OilyBill

Does anyone have any idea of how many actual assembly points there were at the Highland Park plant during the Model T era? As closely as the Ford Motor Company organized things, there MUST be a list somewhere of each assembly station, what they did at that particular point, and what order each assem...

OilyBill

Sad to say, I think Model T prices ARE softening. Our local Model T club has an annual Christmas party, gift exchange, and club auction in the first week of December. I went in 2017 and there were probably 40-50 people attending. I missed 2018. In 2019 I attended, and the number of people was basica...

OilyBill

Great pictures! I was trying to figure out what happened to #4, and I deduce that someone drove into a car elevator, without the elevator being there, , and wound up at the bottom of the elevator shaft. I assume the big springs are what the elevator car rested on when it was at the bottom of the bui...

OilyBill

Better than it ever was on a production car, I'm sure.

OilyBill

The "Cleveland" was a VERY high quality car. My understanding is it was made by the ex-employees of "Lozier" after "Lozier" bit the dust. That is, all the managers and engineers were the same people. "Clevelands" were on a plane with Packard and Pierce-Arrow. I have only ever seen a few. There was o...

OilyBill

Who you gonna believe?
Your wife? or a fortune cookie?
Since your wife never mentioned it before you got the cookie, I would say the fortune cookie is probably correct.
Sometimes, you just have to back your luck!

OilyBill

Early octanes were probably in the 50's, or even less. "Phillips 66" was the brand new, hopped up "racing gas" with an octane rating of 66. Union Oil bumped it up to "76" octane. By God, that was some REALLY HOT RACING FUEL! "Be careful you don't blow up your engine!" I doubt any Model T could tell ...

OilyBill

Very nice job!

OilyBill

You kids today!
I've always bought tires that go flat on the TOP and not the BOTTOM, so I can always get home.
Just saying.

OilyBill

What you may have is the turret engine for a Panzer 4 German tank. They used a separate engine to drive a generator for independent power for moving the turret. It mounted to the L/H side of the engine compartment, and the generator supplied the electric drive turret motor, so the turret could be mo...

OilyBill

Robert, you have one of the few "Eared" eccentric supports that I have ever seen that is still intact. Usually, the ears are broken off. This did not happen always, just nearly every time. Be gentle with yours, as you have a pretty rare setup, from what I have seen. In your case, I think the washer ...

OilyBill

I love the USPS, and prefer them over all the other methods of shipping. I have a close relationship with my local carrier, as I see him nearly every day. He has tales of rapid sorting machines being taken out of service for no reason, and reductions and eliminations in overtime work, even if they a...

OilyBill

Mike, can you order additional rims in excess of your production requirements? It would seem quite simple to add 4 basic rims to your order of someone needs just the clincher rims.

OilyBill

I know 2 companies that the Model T had a huge effect on: The Brush Runabout Co. They were selling their single-cylinder cars for $485, and Ford blew them out of the water with his 4 cylinder car. It basically put them out of business. Harley-Davidson They were trying to enter the cheap transport ma...

OilyBill

I have a 1926 Franklin, and I have a lot of copies of the original factory blueprints for the car. The floorboards in the Franklin, have drawings that note "To be made from Linderman Stock" Franklin had a LOT of small scraps of wood around, since their chassis frames were wood up until about 1929. (...

OilyBill

Looking for the little lever that shuts off the fuel on the 26-27 drain valves under the hood, at the R/H lower side of the cowl. Apparently they are no longer stocked by Langs, Smith and Jones, or Ecklers. I need 1 each to complete a fuel valve I am working on now, but would like to find 3 more, fo...

OilyBill

That's Mark McLaren. I have been trying to reach him as well. Have sent him several e-mails but no reply.

OilyBill

I had a long-running argument with a car friend of mine about the use of white and black tires. If you look at McCalley's book on the Model T. there are white and black tires mixed on Model T's into the 1920's, and this is on the factory model shots, not just people's Kodak prints. Prior to that, th...

OilyBill

I would be patient, keep soaking it, and gently trying to move the parts, until they come loose. You can always use heat as a last resort. All of the internal parts are available as spares, they aren't that expensive, and if you don't get results by soaking after a week or so, then heavier measures ...

OilyBill

My 1926 Franklin Coupe was driven daily by a local guy until 1954, when he took if off the road and put it in his garage to do a valve job on it. He never finished it, and I bought the car in 1996. It still had the 1954 license paperwork and the plant parking sticker for the "Hughes Missile Plant" i...

OilyBill

In addition to all the excellent sealing advice, if you follow R.V. Anderson's method, you may also want to paint the area of the joint with GLPT resin, which is used as an insulator and sealer in electric motors. It was also used quite commonly as an internal sealing layer on the engines and transm...

OilyBill

Dennis' comment is most pertinent. Because the softer bronze bearing ears don't appear worn AT ALL, and neither do the clutch arms appear to have oblong holes, I would say this is a very lightly used setup, and probably you don't need to worry about it. When they DO wear, the eccentricity is VERY ap...

OilyBill

For the price they are charging, they ought to throw in a restored Model T for each tenant!

OilyBill

In Dan Treace's post, those must have been the COOL CHICKS. They have both natty looking bumpers, and also the gypsy curtains.
Twenty-Three, Skidoo!!!

OilyBill

Hey, Bron! From the forum threads you included, I have identified them as a "Marquette" brand bumper set. I have both the fronts and the backs, so the set is complete. Thank you again! I have been making the dentist a 3 ring binder of everything special that I have done to the car (i.e. "Fourth Main...

OilyBill

I think he can get 4 good operating coil boxes out of his assortment. He will have to replace some parts, I'm sure. But he will have to work on them quite a bit. He might want to see if he can trade them in as cores on some rebuilt and adjusted units. That would be the easiest route. I know a LOT of...

OilyBill

Yoda - messing with the coil boxes while the engine is running, learns a valuable lesson, he does!
Don't mess with the "Power of the Fords!"

OilyBill

Thanks! That answers a lot of questions!
Apparently it IS a stock ford bumper bracket. It's just that few people have ever seen them before.

OilyBill

Awesome!
And thanks for the pics of producing freeze plugs from nickels! Very handy!

OilyBill

Dear Bron: I wonder if that last set are some kind of aftermarket set. But they are a direct match to what is on this car, which is an absolutely original 1927 that was never touched until I started the restoration. It only has about 20,000 miles on it, and it is immaculate in every way. This partic...

OilyBill

Thank you VERY MUCH!!
The last set are the ones on this car!
I really appreciate the help!
Bill

OilyBill

Does anyone have some pictures of the rear bumper bracket installation on the 1927 Coupe? I had posted this earlier, but the post disappeared. I saw someone had answered, but I did not have time at the moment to write down their contact info, and now the post and info are gone. Please DO NOT delete ...

OilyBill

And it sounds very nice, too! Congratulations!

OilyBill

I am in the Horseless Carriage Club, and our local group decided NOT to post lists of cars owned, because there were several attempts at burglaries (Fortunately all unsuccessful in our area) that have happened in the past. I do know one gentleman (in another state) who had a burglary and they remove...

OilyBill

Anyone have a good set of pics of exactly how the rear bumper brackets mount on the frame for a 1927 Coupe? These are the Ford brackets, but for the coupes that have a split rear bumper, for space for the spare tire. They are NOT the brackets that hold the bumper that covers the entire rear of the c...

OilyBill

I have my vaporizer carb on my bench now, after taking it apart after being soaked in Evaporust. Evaporust does NOT attack the float, the brass parts, the copper parts, or anything else. It just removes the rust and leaves everything else untouched. This would be an ideal test for you to try E.R and...

OilyBill

No, there is no acid or base to Evapo-Rust. It does not attack anything except rust, and it removes that chemically, not by eating it away like an acid would. It uses a chemical process called "Chelation" to remove rust. It does not matter how long you leave the part in the Evaporust. Once the rust ...

OilyBill

Something to keep in mind is that if you use 2 nickels, your car is worth 10 cents more than it was before!

OilyBill

In my opinion, Evapo-rust is one of the greatest inventions ever for restoration. You can put the most delicate metal parts in it, and after soaking for a day, take them out, wash the black power deposits off with a plastic or wire brush, and you cannot tell the part was ever rusty. This and "Kroil"...

OilyBill

Thank you very much!

OilyBill

Yes. There are instructions for doing this in the "Model T Service Bulletin Essentials" book. The seat base has 2 holes at the leading edge of the frame. You can move it back one hole if it is not already there. The second thing is removing the seat brace at the top of the seat back, where it interf...

OilyBill

The first pic in the 4th group. "Flapper Wives" was released on February 23rd, 1924.

OilyBill

I second Norman's inquiry. I like to Google map places and see if I can find the intersections that had originally been photographed. Sometimes it's difficult due to changes, and other times in small towns, virtually NOTHING has changed, except the horse hitching posts are gone. Sometimes even the s...

OilyBill

I second Norman's inquiry. I like to Google map places and see if I can find the intersections that had originally been photographed. Sometimes it's difficult due to changes, and other times in small towns, virtually NOTHING has changed, except the horse hitching posts are gone. Sometimes even the s...

OilyBill

Much larger than a Tapmatic machine. But those have the same 2 drive clutches, one forward, and one aft, just like this big boy. The advertisement mentions tapping 5/8" diameters, so this is a heavy duty unit. A Tapmatic has the same arrangement of clutches, but they are in a small tubular head. If ...

OilyBill

If you buy a cotter-pin extractor, especially one from Snap-On, you can have them out in 1 second, whether or not you straighten the ends. I've been using one for 40 years on aircraft. There is no argument or hesitation or fuss. No blood and no small cut off parts to retrieve.

OilyBill

I like the 4th photo, where the guy has just broken his wrist from cranking.

OilyBill

My understanding is that Mark McLaren is still making the rims. The gentleman who took over the McLaren Wire Wheel business apparently still buys the rims he uses, from Mark McClaren. I need to contact Mark, but cannot find his phone number. I need 3 each 24" plain clincher rims for my 1910 Brush Ge...

OilyBill

12 volt coils don't run on 12 volts. I think they actually only run on 8 volts or so, and if you check, the car manufacturer uses a resister wire to power the coil, which drops the voltage from 12 to whatever actual value the coil is designed to run at. Same thing with 6 volt coils. I think they ac...

OilyBill

After reading the writings of Herbert Franklin (Franklin automobiles, who got his start by perfecting the die-casting process, which gave him the money to start building automobiles) the explanation is fairly simple. Die cast parts are made with zinc. The more zinc in the mix, the easier the part is...

OilyBill

12 volt coils don't run on 12 volts. I think they actually only run on 8 volts or so, and if you check, the car manufacturer uses a resister wire to power the coil, which drops the voltage from 12 to whatever actual value the coil is designed to run at. Same thing with 6 volt coils. I think they act...

OilyBill

You can tell it was a small town, when his phone number was "2". I wonder if the Mayor's phone number was "1"

OilyBill

BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN TO PIPE THE EXHAUST OUT OF THE AREA! Your body has 5 TIMES the affinity for Carbon Monoxide that it does for oxygen. If you can smell exhaust, you are taking in carbon monoxide, even if you are in fresh air. Your body will act as a selective filter, and pull in all the carbon m...

OilyBill

I'm sure many of you have heard of the "Doctor's Coupe". This is just another example of a specialty coupe, but this one was the "Aerialist Coupe". Also known as a "Trapeze Artist Coupe" They were very limited production, available only on April 1, 1920, and only by special purchase by "Aerialists" ...

OilyBill

I was looking for some also, for use on a Ford Quadricycle replica. I found some in Europe, but they wanted $1600 for it. Not worth it for me. I'll just use regular chain and not worry about it. When it's moving, you can't tell the difference. In the Quadricycle plans set from the Early Ford Registr...

OilyBill

The smoke from the western U.S. fires has now crossed the Atlantic and reached England, Ireland and Denmark. It is visible on satellite weather pics from Oregon to Denmark.

OilyBill

Glad everyone got out OK. That is the biggest thing!
Walt Rosenthal, who always advocated accessory brakes and was a big booster of them, died this way, in a car that did not have them.
Things could have been MUCH worse.

OilyBill

I have my "Ford" shop coat that was a gift to each member of the Centennial Ford Tour in 2003. I believe Glen Chaffin helped sponsor that, but they were embroidered with the very early FORD logo and design, from the very first days of Ford, and I assume with the permission and assistance of the Ford...

OilyBill

Exceptional example, very well done!!

OilyBill

Brush Runabouts were also available in 60" tread.

OilyBill

The guy in the third pic, probably rode a LOT at night, and got tired of those puny type lamps.

OilyBill

Also, it probably only cost them 25 cents to get it done. Ford Universal Service.

OilyBill

You should note that the dog is thinking; "SO! NOW I don't get to ride alongside you?!?!?! You can find your OWN birds, buddy-boy!! Or maybe you can take the cat with you next time!"

OilyBill

For those prices, it would be cheaper and better to just duplicate one from a picture. Any special sheet metal can be laser cut at any large sheet metal shop. Even with the laser cutting, you will still probably be under the cost of a rusty, beat up used one, that has loose cage pieces and missing p...

OilyBill

Unfortunately, it will be pretty much useless, unless you can find a new NOS stock crankshaft to install it with. I have a complete KR Wilson T and A Overhaul machine, and it has all the standard Ford reamers. I don't anticipate ever using them, since every crank now is undersize by some amount. It ...

OilyBill

If you are talking about Freistadt, I know it well. I grew up in that area, a lot of the people still spoke German into the 1970's. My father used to take me to Boehlke's Hardware to get stuff. When I was there in the 1960's, Boehlke's still sold cases of dynamite. Also beautiful horse saddles. Two ...

OilyBill

As an auto hobbyist, I am PRAYING for the day that driverless cars make up the majority on the roads. A computer does NOT care what you are driving. You are a number algorithm, just like every other vehicle on the roads. They will take instant account of your presence, will always make the right dec...

OilyBill

Being concerned about all the statements made about the hazards of acetylene and copper tubing, and being unable to find any reference to an acetylene explosions on an automobile using an acetylene gas system due to use of copper tubes in any of my early books on automobiles, (You would have expecte...

OilyBill

Mark, I like your Coolidge sticker. Wish I could find one for Woodrow Wilson. A clever one, that is!

OilyBill

Chris, I am very impressed with what they did with Model T's, running them against Bugattis. Obviously they were very talented, and mechanically skillful, because the stock Model T was laughable when put up against a Bugatti, or any other high class French or German car, for that matter. If they wer...

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