MTFCA Forum

OilyBill

AWESOME! Thank you very much!

OilyBill

You might want to buy the latest edition of McClanahan's "EZ 66" book..... If it solidifies, I would LOVE to take this trip! Hi Bill: Thanks for the tip on the book. If you send me your email I'll keep you in the loop: gregl@mail.fresnostate.edu There is lots to think about but first priority will ...

OilyBill

You might want to buy the latest edition of McClanahan's "EZ 66" book. It is an absolutely complete guide to the entire route, from Chicago to the west coast. It has page by page maps and instructions, along with an excellent guide to things to see along the way, or nearby to the 66 route, and it AL...

OilyBill

WHAT IS MARTY FELDMAN DOING BEHIND THE CAR IN THE FIRST PIC??

Is he back there with Frau Blucher? Or perhaps carrying a jar with "Abby Normal's" brain in it?

Model T's WON'T whinny when you call out "Frau Blucher!!", either!

OilyBill

Thank you VERY MUCH for making this available. Doing this is good for the hobby, and probably will be good for your business as well, once people see what is involved in doing this work! As ever, doing things RIGHT takes time and commitment, and people can now see EXACTLY what it takes to do your le...

OilyBill

Removing the gas tank on a 26/27 is REALLY not that hard. You might want to order replacement rub strips, and a new piece of cardboard for the front, to reduce noise and prevent any damage to the tank. The straps themselves are not that hard to remove. You will need to remove the drain valve, petcoc...

OilyBill

Removing the gas tank on a 26/27 is REALLY not that hard. You might want to order replacement rub strips, and a new piece of cardboard for the front, to reduce noise and prevent any damage to the tank. The straps themselves are not that hard to remove. You will need to remove the drain valve, petcoc...

OilyBill

Malcomsen's "Aerocar" was pretty much a bust. He was using contracted 4 cylinder air cooled engines made by the Reeves Pulley Company for his Aerocar and when Aerocar shut down, they still had about 700 engines at Reeves that they had not yet paid for. My assumption is the engines were small and und...

OilyBill

This doesn't say FORD on it, so I couldn't venture a guess. Ford used babbitt from MANY suppliers, in fact, he bought from several different babbitt suppliers, and didn't care much, as long as they met his specs for the material they supplied. Does this have the material specs on the back of it? Is ...

OilyBill

If I remember correctly, the Gridley boat actually used a large part of the Model T frame for the engine mounting and support inside the hull. The St. Lawrence marine conversion used the Model T, Model A, and V-8 Ford as the basis for their conversion, but the Ford parts were installed on the St. La...

OilyBill

Should have wire spoke wheels and hubs. Are they available with the car?

OilyBill

Sorry to hear of such bad flooding! Hope the rain quits soon, and there is no more loss of life! Is this your normal rainy season? Just going over the top?

OilyBill

I vote for Evaporust! It doesn't attack the metal, no matter how long you leave it in the solution. It doesn't harm any other parts, such as brass rivets, other attachments, rubber, plastic,etc. When it is done with the rust removal, all action stops. Also, Evaporust does not attack other alloys tha...

OilyBill

From the pics, it appears that the original poster's photo is of an oil can holder for a Franklin Automobile. I have one that is identical on my 1926 Franklin Coupe. Since they are riveted to the splash pans next to the engine, if someone gets rid of the pans, there is no longer an oil can holder, e...

OilyBill

Why would floating hubs be illegal for the Montana 500 race? I thought that safety hubs were used to make sure the wheel did not detach from the vehicle in the event of an axle failure. Is this not correct?

OilyBill

Franklin Automobile Co. made EXTENSIVE use of "Linderman Machines" on virtually all wood parts except chassis frames. (Frame laminations were all knot-free Ash or Maple of a specified size and thickness. The wood chassis frame on my 1926 Franklin is still in excellent condition, and the doors are pe...

OilyBill

When I was in High School, in my sophomore year, I took a course in printing, and we had to pick a type box, go through it and sort and correct all the letters. ("Watch your "p"'s and "q"s!) and then print an 8 page folio with typeset print in a printing frame, fully justified so it looked professio...

OilyBill

What's the price on these for 4 lbs? I understand shipping is additional. No problem there!
Thanks!

OilyBill

As a patternmaker, I can tell you that molding in sand DOES wear the patterns. You will note the date tags, which obviously attached with screws, and must have been changed daily. I wish I knew what the lifetime was on a sand casting pattern at Ford. From what I have seen in the foundry videos, it a...

OilyBill

Also, were those Marines with fixed bayonets keeping the riff-raff away from the Congressmen, or were they keeping the Congressmen from sneaking out of Naval Hearings, and scampering off down the road?

OilyBill

Be interesting to find out if those stolen cars are still owned by someone today! I remember a clipping from "Old Cars Weekly" from 60 years ago, that one of the people was mentioning the old car he owned and had put on display in some Antique Car Museum, had simply disappeared when the museum close...

OilyBill

Asking price?

OilyBill

The first pic looks like one of the 1920's versions of the 1970's "Pre-Prom Don't Drink And Drive" efforts, put on at the football field the week before prom by the local police and sheriff's departments. Always some cheerleaders and football players performing as dead people in the scene. About as ...

OilyBill

893 miles, divided by 25 mph, gives a total driving time of 36 hours, approximately. If they drove 10 hours per day, that would have been about 4 days total. Wonder if they ever had their trip written up in a newspaper? I know the guy who took the Brush cross-country with his wife, drove every day f...

OilyBill

You might want to just throw a bottle of "Bars Leaks" in, and see if it stops on it's own. You might never have to mess with it again, until you overhaul the engine. At that point you can get it weld-repaired, and be done with it. I agree with all the others that it is an OLD failure, perhaps 50-75 ...

OilyBill

Thank you! That is REALLY AWESOME!!

OilyBill

Perhaps 1/8" or 3/16" dense particle board? Not the light colored pressed wood, but the very dense and hard dark brown particle board, that you have to drill to make a hole in. I'm not sure what the technical name of it is. It has a shiny finish that is very hard. It is almost like brown phenolic, b...

OilyBill

One of the best things about Macpherson College, is that they have a total endowment of over $1 Billion dollars now, so if they need equipment or facilities, they don't need to scrimp and raise money for it. I expect they will grow considerably over the next 25 years or so!

OilyBill

Along the same lines, does anyone have a light trailer they can tow with their Model T? Or have plans for such an animal? I would like to tow a small trailer with camping gear and equipment (Mostly so I can attend the camping events in Lake Tahoe and in Northern California.) Perhaps 150 lbs. total l...

OilyBill

In looking at it, it appears that the perch you mention is not used on this set you have. It appears one mounting spot is inboard on the main spring, (which you seem to have intact on your examples) and then the outer connection is made from the original Ford Spring shackles, hooked up to the end wh...

OilyBill

I believer "SNYDERS" can actually still make seat spring sets to order, even for specials. I understand that is what they started doing when they went into business, and I think I last asked them a couple years ago if they could still do that, and they said "YES! Send us your old seat spring set, or...

OilyBill

Your wheels look very nice. You will know as soon as you drive on them if they are OK or not. If they make noise, then you have some other problems to solve. But it sounds like you got them off to the best possible start. I hope you tour happily with them for many miles! As far as natural finish whe...

OilyBill

Thank you, Rob!

OilyBill

Thank you! A VERY interesting post! I never knew a test track existed a the plant side on Piquette!

I know the powerhouse is long gone. Does anyone know what kind of engine and generator they had installed in it? Was it an Edison DC installation?

OilyBill

330 Michigan Avenue is now a municipal bus servicing building. Polack's bar is long gone, unfortunately!

OilyBill

Yes, THANK YOU ROB, for your work on this aspect of the Ford Motor Company. In my opinion, these earlier years are FAR more valuable and critical, than stuff found after the Model T went into production. Once the Model T commitment was made, the future of the company was basically locked on that cou...

OilyBill

I note that the motion was carried anyway.

OilyBill

This must have been a VERY irksome situation for Henry Ford to get Couzens to write this letter to the Dodges. I know Henry absolutely detested the piece-work pay arrangement that the Dodges had with their workers, but this situation must have added fuel to the fire. Yet another jab to make Ford com...

OilyBill

The pic doesn't fool ME! Those loafers are talking baseball scores, while laying in the shade under the cars! If you were expecting some productive work, you will be waiting a long time!

Harumph!!

OilyBill

Research shows he died on November 11, 2023. The obituary says he built a total of 4 of these conversions. He was a very skilled machinist that worked on coal mine equipment for many years. Someone might want to contact the family and see if his drawings still exist for the 4 wheel-drive conversion,...

OilyBill

I have polished all the brass on the early cars at the Rolling Through Time Auto museum. My go-to is Simichrome. It gives a better finish, with the least amount of work. (and polishing brass is a LOT of work!) The shine also seems to last a longer time than with other polishes. I started volunteerin...

OilyBill

No problem with showing non-Ford Speedsters. This set has some beautiful looking Speedsters, that might inspire someone to work on a Model T Speedster!.

OilyBill

Did someone take over his business? Or is it gone forever?

OilyBill

Thank you! I will be ordering a set! I cannot make them for what you supply an entire set for!
Awesome!

OilyBill

I have a complete K.R. Wilson Combination Tool for the Model T and Model A. The ONLY thing I am missing is a set of the "W-G Quick Detachable Main Bearing Bolts", used to speed the work on attaching and removing the main bearing caps during engine work. I have a couple of questions: It says a set of...

OilyBill

Whatever improvements you made, they have REALLY perked up the site! The site now scampers right along, like a Model T, rather than dragging itself down the road, like some old, worn out Chevy.

OilyBill

Also, it appears to me that the driving differential, must have been mounted directly on the back end of the transmission, and the drive axles run straight out both sides to the center wheel, so there probably was no real driveshaft. It still has the rear pumpkin, but I don't know if THAT was the dr...

OilyBill

Could this have been the first Ford experiment in building a tank in WWI? I understand they build a small one, using TWO Model T engines, one for each track, but it was not considered usable enough to go into production. Other early tanks apparently already had it beat on performance and reliability...

OilyBill

Wish he had kept that on the later Model T's! Other than THAT SINGLE FEATURE, most of Ford's design work is pretty good.

OilyBill

The guy with the missing tire is just stopped and waiting for it to catch up to him. It will roll up in about 15 more minutes!

The guys with no steering wheels are using a "vise-grips" to hold the steering shaft. They cut the upper steering gearbox off with a hack-saw.

OilyBill

What about getting back into the Tulare Fair Grounds? Is that an option? I know we got kicked out due to the flooding but that is now a couple years in the past. Are the Fair Grounds even open any more?

OilyBill

I have always considered this SINGLE FEATURE as being absolutely the roughest and crudest thing on any Model T Ford. That should have been a forked roller of some type. It is the ONLY thing that makes me wince when operating the car.

OilyBill

WHOO-HOO!!! Not just a CANDY store! They had a "PALACE OF SWEETS"!

You couldn't beat that, even if you DID have a big stick!!! I bet that town had a MARCHING BAND, TOO! Not just the kind that stands around on the rotunda in the park!

OilyBill

#4! They not only sell DOUGHNUTS, but also Rubber! Wonder if they sell boiler packings as well? Obviously they service the doughnut crowd, as well as the steam threshermen!

OilyBill

I volunteer at that museum. It is a FABULOUS collection. Not only the cars, but there is a fire truck room with dozens of interesting displays, (including the actual ladder truck that was used by firemen to assist the John Dillinger gang members down from the 4th floor of the Hotel Congress, when th...

OilyBill

You might want to check at a used tool store and see if they have an aircraft cylinder base wrench, which are specially bent to fit nuts like this. Just make sure you confirm the size of the nut. It would be cheaper to get a wrench at Harbor Freight, and grind, bend, and heat it as you need to, to m...

OilyBill

If you have a sample one, or one made in steel or cast iron, I can cast one in brass for you. (You would have to do the polishing. I don't have time for that.) You will notice that the one in the Lang's picture has some blemishes in the surface finish on it. Mine will come out about 3% smaller than ...

OilyBill

John Maxon; They probably have an old Magnaflux unit they are using. These are common in A&P schools. We had one in the school I went to back in 1976. These are students just starting out, so I assume it is just to give them the opportunity to see what a crack indication looks like, versus uncracked...

OilyBill

Thank you for all the replies!

The school is located in Clearwater, Florida. Is that near to any of you gentlemen?

I am no expert on the geography of Florida, since I live in Arizona. But I know that just because somewhere is close, DOES NOT mean it is easy to get to.

OilyBill

Hey, everyone! The National Aviation Academy in Clearwater, Florida is looking for a KNOWN CRACKED CRANKSHAFT, for instructing students on crack detection. Cracked aircraft cranks are EXTREMELY RARE, (I have been working on aircraft for 49 years, and have only seen 2 actually cracked aircraft cranks...

OilyBill

Susanne:

Yeah, but instead of handing her a key, they handed her a hand crank and a tire patch kit! "Happy Birthday, Sweetie! NO scorching!!"

OilyBill

Ohrts' Garage looks like they put a lot of money, time and energy into that gas station. Not many early gas stations look as nice as THAT one! That's
a true "high class operation! Wonder if it is still standing somewhere?

OilyBill

20 years ago, I attended a fellow club member's family sale of a HUGE collection of Model T Parts. I wound up getting a complete 1926 chassis, but it had no wheels. I was stressing over how I was going to move it. One of the senior members of the club had a simple solution. He said: Come over to my ...

OilyBill

If Bryan does not want it, I would be interested. I need a tail lamp for my nearly drivable 1914 Runabout. Thanks!

OilyBill

7th picture: She must be one of those "Fast Women" I'm always reading about, but never seem to meet!

OilyBill

In the "Winegar" photo, (town is now known as Presque Isle.) the Model T with the trailer belonged to the town photographer. The building in the distance, slightly up on the hillside, was the Lumber Co.'s Superintendent's home. The town was "Dry" but did have some gambling machines in the bars. They...

OilyBill

Thanks for posting this, Ron! Very interesting!

This would make you the owner of the LAST Model T Ford EVER to be registered!

Plus now you can tell people YOU ARE THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE CAR!

OilyBill

Can you discern a brand on the pump?
Thanks!

OilyBill

Thanks very much for these! When I travel, I try to find where old Ford shops were. Usually it is obvious on main street in small towns, but a lot of towns it is hidden somewhere on a back street. It is hard to find the actual addresses, but I stumble on them occasionally when looking through old ne...

OilyBill

Ford did not use packing crates, but he probably DID use what is called a "Linderman Machine". This takes small pieces of wood, and edges them so they can all be glued together into usable wood boards. The reason I know this is that the Franklin Automobile Co, used a Linderman machine in their produ...

OilyBill

I highly recommend Ford's Theater, and the house across the street where Lincoln finally died early the next morning. It is an incredibly moving piece of history. There is a museum in the bottom of Ford's Theater that is absolutely amazing!

OilyBill

I vote for Allan-From-Down-Under's advice!

OilyBill

Those brazen hussies!!! I can see ANKLES!!!!

Why, I had to cover one of my OWN eyes, just to keep from being outraged!

Whatever NEXT!?!?!?

OilyBill

Both the inside of my 1926 Franklin engine and transmission were coated with Glyptal, as a means of stopping irritating leaks in the aluminum castings used at the time, because they were so porous. I have seen several other older cars with aluminum engine cases and transmission cases that were treat...

OilyBill

Both the inside of my 1926 Franklin engine and transmission were coated with Glyptal, as a means of stopping irritating leaks in the aluminum castings used at the time, because they were so porous. I have seen several other older cars with aluminum engine cases and transmission cases that were treat...

OilyBill

Thanks very much, Dan!

OilyBill

That LAST car. It's hard to imagine how they got it in or out, without scratching it up. I would have thought they would have loaded them fore and aft, and it would have been a LOT easier to extract them, even with one end high up in the air.

OilyBill

Mr. Man; Many of the early advertisement talk about how 'THERE IS NO BATTERY EVER NEEDED FOR THE FORD MODEL T!" , so part of it is Henry being frugal, and the other part is probably Henry being stubborn. There was NO change to any Model T that was not approved by Henry Ford, so I think that is reall...

OilyBill

Well, it WAS possible to order a bare chassis. The woman may have known a coachbuilder, or been related to one, and they told her to just order a bare chassis, and they would build her a body for it. (Father or brother who worked in the carriage trade, perhaps) This might have been their last carria...

OilyBill

REO offered such tops for their cars. I have a 1917 Roadster that has it in the catalog. They also show one for their Touring cars. I don't know when they started or ended availability of this type of top. They DO NOT look like folding tops at all. They look very substantial and solid. I have never ...

OilyBill

And THANK YOU to EVERYONE who supplied information for me! Each little tidbit helps., and that is why these forums are so valuable!

OilyBill

Ken, Thanks very much! My car was made in October of 1914, so I assume by then they were just using whatever parts they had on hand to finish cars, before they started the 1915 run with the cowl dash they used in 1915. I did not have the original dash board, so cannot say how the holes were drilled,...

OilyBill

My experience with gun bluing (which actually gives a black finish) is that you have to not just use the bluing, but after the bluing is finished and the parts are black, they need to be rinsed in water, dried off, and then coated with linseed oil, and allowed to bake in the sun for a day. This "cat...

OilyBill

The Ford V-8 club members, the Model T club Members, and the Model A Club members in Tucson all have their meeting on the same night, the first Tuesday of each month, and run the meetings one after the other, all in the same place. Since many members belong to all three groups, a lot of people just ...

OilyBill

I have a 1914 Runabout with a set of Corcoran headlights, stamped "FORD". I am missing the side lights and the tail-light for the car. Does anyone know what specific Corcoran number side-lights or tail-light would be correct for my car? I would like to find out what Corcoran number the lights would ...

OilyBill

Just Google them. They are a BROKER, and don't even have any trucks. They have bad reviews going back 6 years. As a broker, they sell you a transport deal, and THEN THEY TRY TO FIND SOMEONE TO DO THE TRIP, IF THEY CAN. If they can't, you are just out your deposit, or whatever money you gave them up ...

OilyBill

Thanks very much! This is EXACTLY the info I was looking for!

OilyBill

I think the Model T size thread on the early wheels were just an industry-standard thread, used on industry-standard wheels. My 1910 Brush cars both have the exact same thread size and style, and the caps are actually identical to early Model T Hubcaps, except they don't have the Ford stamped logo, ...

OilyBill

Rich! I almost forgot MY senior moment, except it was when I was 25 or so, and had just gotten my first Model A Ford. I spent about an HOUR trying to get the light bail back on the end of the steering column, the one that retains the light switch assembly. I finally stumbled on the fact that, if you...

OilyBill

These are relatively cheap entertainment and it only gets worse. Mine was new radiator only to have extreme boiling after installation. The problem turned out to be a black plastic cup installed in the lower inlet to prevent dirt or critters from getting in. :oops: I removed the cup, and all was we...

OilyBill

I filled my sand blast cabinet with media yesterday and when the trigger did not produce any flow, realized that the bottom media door was wide open and I had dumped an entire bag of coal slag on the ground. Spent 1/2 hr sweeping and sifting up all the media and kicked myself for not checking and t...

OilyBill

Can anyone tell me whether wire wheels were only optional on the 1927 Fords?
I had understood that they offered wire wheels as an option in 1926, versus wooden artillery wheels, but that in 1927, only Ford wire wheels were supplied. Is this correct, or wrong?

Thanks for any input!

OilyBill

What's the difference between an alligator, and a crocodile?

The alligator, you'll see later.
The crocodile, you'll see in a while.

OilyBill

Something important to note about the Lancaster is, THERE IS ONLY ONE PILOT'S SEAT. That guy flies the ENTIRE mission, without a break or swapover on who's flying.

The biplane you mention has a jet engine mounted on it. Probably the first time a jet engine ever was put on a biplane.

OilyBill

If you back up some, it looks a LOT longer! OR, it could be a REALLY FAST Model T. Einstein proved that things get shorter, the faster they go. That applies to light speed, but I assume that Model T had his lights on, and therefore the effect was visible. Either THAT, or because just shut up!

OilyBill

Well, Heli-Coils are approved thread repairs by the FAA for aircraft use. So, they must be equal to, or superior to, the original installation. I would assume they are superior because you are actually putting a thread in a larger load area, versus the original thread area. I worked on Learjets, and...

OilyBill

Is that a Ford Model K in front of the Freeport Garage? (last picture) Could they have been a Ford dealer? I see and NRS out front as well.

OilyBill

Ummmm.............do they still cost 14 cents?

OilyBill

I understand there is a company in Indiana or Ohio, the "Paper Pulley Company" which can still supply the friction drive pulleys for Metzes. They specialize in different pulleys, but they have all the equipment for doing Metzes, and have been supplying them for over 100 years. I hope they are still ...

OilyBill

Yes, and with the gas lights, it would not have been an electric-equipped car. It probably IS a starter-generator unit. I wonder where they mounted the battery?

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