MTFCA Forum

Jem

As someone who lives on the other side of the Atlantic I find the idea of a mid- Atlantic meet quite surreal

Jem

I did not realize Rich had passed, I haven't been diligent in reading the Forum this last year. A great loss, his artwork was phenomenal.

Jem

My 09 got me into the movie business in 1981 at Shepperton Studios, UK - Ragtime, James Cagney's last film. Later in the 80s I had a bitsa T which I put a C cab on and faked up various bodies - stake bed, huckster, ambulance. Had a lot of fun

Jem

Steve, your fame has spread across the Atlantic. I doubt I'll get to the US again to meet you but I love your videos and photos. Merry Christmas and a full recovery in 2024.

Jem

Great news! And I'm thousands of miles away and never met Steve, but I am delighted he's getting better

Jem

Get Put And Get Under has the greatest Model T/ silent movie joke. Harold is tinkering with the motor when the whole car starts trembling. Being a silent movie, we think the car started. Harold is in a silent movie so he thinks the car started! Jumps in, stamps on the clutch, nothing happens. Looks ...

Jem

Yes, that's just why my mate Rodney came up with it

Jem

As requested, pics of safety device. Not patented, feel free to copy but ,please, no varnished mahogany and polished brass trim, this is shade-tree engineering for a T, just scrap wood and mismatched nails

Jem

You all need a Safe-T-Block. Take a 6"piece of 2x1, cut it in half, screw one piece across the other so have a T shape. Drop the down stroke piece into the slot in front of the lever and it cannot go beyond neutral. We used this in the movies when actors drove Ts - they could throw off the brake, st...

Jem

Been there, got the T shirt! In 2003 the EAA Trimotor was at the Centennial then moved upstate next day to a provincial airport where they offered rides. By talking nicely to a ground crew member I got to ride the right hand seat in the cockpit and took the stick for half a circuit - cross-wind and ...

Jem

Just had a quick look at my 5 ball, restored by Stan. Balls all measure .435", ports below all .410". Don't have a scale in my workshop but I am guessing that same size means same weight. Not sure how this chimes with the progressive response to vacuum described above. I haven't yet run this carb my...

Jem

This is from our Club calendar for November. Seems to me that the huntsman and his lady friend are below 4ft height!

Jem

FWIW, my Aug 09 has a raised 3 on the side of the block.

Jem

I have been watching this saga with horrified fascination, it is both hilarious and tragic. If Don Hess did buy a substantially complete #2 car, any value it had has been destroyed by the 'restoration' it has suffered (yes, suffered is the word). Imagine what an important exhibit it would be if he h...

Jem

Of Melbourne to Moscow fame. He had an apartment in Crimea and a Ukrainian girlfriend at one time, which is what prompted his epic trip. Last I heard from was several years ago when he mentioned going to the US

Jem

FWIW, my Aug 17 1909 car #9267 has had a hard life but when it came into my hands in1979 the engine was relatively unmolested. When I stripped it down in the early 80s the crank was still STD and pistons 0.0025" (yes 2 and half thou, not 25) which means I believe that the bores had just been honed ,...

Jem

I think if you approach the car with a pocket knife, Bonhams may have a fit!

Jem

I'm assuming this is the Don Hess car (of disputed provenance) that I saw in Scotland a few years ago.

Jem

I never met Randall but he gave me lots of advice by email and did a fabulous rewind job on my 09 mag ring. Obviously much loved and respected. My condolences to his family and friends.

Jem

One of the links Rich posted clearly states they used British designs. The Model Y became the Koln, the Model C became the Eiffel. The US V8 became the Rheinlander. I can't see a reference to the Model 62, which used the V8-60, that also was made in France as the Matford.

Jem

My long gone friend Eric Goodey, who was around in the 20s, gave me a tip for starting a worn T on mag. Get a tyre lever behind the front pulley and shift the crankshaft forward, that takes up the end float and helps the mag to fire on your first pull.

Jem

https://www.handh.co.uk/auction/lot/76- ... 54841&sd=1

Sold for £33,750 Inc premium. I didn't go to view, would have liked to know if the frame was 1909. Still think the new owner might have trouble getting a UK registration. The more genuine 1912 seems unsold.

Jem

Well I feel quite insulted! Nobody's has tried to scam me, do I look that poor?

Jem

Well, I hoped to provoke discussion and I did! Couple of points others haven't made: RHD - to the best of my knowledge there are none from 1909, the first RHD import to the UK was in 1910, I will check what 'The English Model T Ford' says. There is no paperwork, no registration document, no frame no...

Jem

Anyone recognise this car?

https://www.handh.co.uk/auction/lot/lot ... 2&pn=2&g=1

Jem

There was a period just after the introduction of the electric starter & dynamo when Ford tried to standardise LHD worldwide, so there are original UK cars with LHD, but the majority of cars in our club are relatively recent imports from the US.

Jem

That's in the UK, Model T Ford Register event. The club sells those magnetic signs, no use to me with an ally body!

Jem

Didn't build the Big T but did an SJ Duesenberg in the same scale, that had an electric motor. The big kit maker in the UK was, and still is, Airfix They do lots of classics such as Jag E and even a 1/12 Blower Bentley. I had squadrons of their aircraft hanging from my bedroom ceiling. Their 1912 T ...

Jem

There are several videos on You Tube showing how you can add water to E10 and the water will absorb the ethanol and you can then decant the de-ethanoled gasoline off. Are they right? Very relevant here in the UK as all our standard fuel is going E10 next month. I have one car with 10.5 compression h...

Jem

The reason most front hubs won't accept the hub cap is that they have been spread by having slightly oversize bearing races forced into them. That's why you find split hub caps, they in turn have been forced onto a spread hub. Close examination of my hubs show they have a hairline crack the full len...

Jem

My friend Lizzie will be delighted with William Braybrook as VP of the Michigan Chauffers Association!

Jem

Thanks, that post was helpful. I think mine is also a Lucas repro, certainly that's the name on the valve assembly. Looks like it needs some work.

Jem

A fellow volunteer at our local museum told me her 'family folklore' said that great-uncle Bill was Henry Ford's chauffeur. She doesn't have much detail, but he would likely been born 1870 to 1880 and emigrated to US, married an American and lived in Detroit. Be interesting to know if his name turns...

Jem

Just picked up an exhaust whistle with adaptor for my Model A. Doesn't sound quite right so I checked each tube with the air gun. The 2 deepest notes don't toot so well, any one got tips on how to check the alignment?

Jem

Never met or spoke but we had a lot of email chatter and I loved his posts. His work on my 5ball was sheer artistry. A great loss. Condolences to friends and family

Jem

Looking forward to part 2. In 42 years of T driving, traffic density and speed has increased to the point where we feel very vulnerable now.

Jem

Hershey 1979.jpg Hershey 1979. A kind gentleman (who had served in the USAF in the UK), on hearing our English accents, invited us out of the rain into his RV. As the rain stopped, his friend arrived and said to the son of the family 'Larry, get that car uncovered, it won't sell under a tarp'. This...

Jem

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOHfApjHyNNnCxTbujefEAhP4p_QZztfi8jWc4SX8RF41o0vpNtuQGQP8x-ox3iGg?key=TmZwd2llVEtRWXhHNndIOUJSTDdDVmNDUVdZNF9R https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPrQKUH05xoZjjUdXR7puQoj-7ttK7GptrVxsCCRJJPxOTvkplPbYjkDoVI5_KCbw?key=S0ItRGdGcjdaWHltbkx5N2VIelpsNkRJeDEwalNR I ho...

Jem

Inspector's stamp?

Jem

Rest assured, Steve, I am not about to buy it!

Jem

This eBay item shows the evolution of Ford logos - is it correct?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383787300453?ul_noapp=true

Jem

There's a good last line in Whispering Jack Smith's Gimme a Little Kiss

I'll even take a Rolls with a chauffeur man,
But gimme a little Ford, and I'll give it right back to you

Jem

Well, I thought I had a pretty good collection of sheet music, 78s and downloads until I saw Dan's list. I need to go shopping! Here's links to my sheet music and 78s. https://photos.google.com/u/0/share/AF1QipOHfApjHyNNnCxTbujefEAhP4p_QZztfi8jWc4SX8RF41o0vpNtuQGQP8x-ox3iGg?key=TmZwd2llVEtRWXhHNndIO...

Jem

Stan Howe you are a National Treasure. Someone needs to put a Preservation Order on you.

Jem

Yes, thank you, a most excellent collection, thanks for sharing.

Jem

Well, my car is #9267 dating from Aug 17 1909, so I think they're slightly over-egging the pudding.

Jem

And when you get to fitting them, don't trust the 'as supplied' wrist pin clearance. I've had 2 engines seize up with tight wrist pins after a couple of thousand miles.

Jem

There are several forms offering 'drop-in' packages to replace the motor on conventional cars, but to retain the T trans would require some extra engineering since it is built-in to the motor and relies on it for lubrication. Electric motor doesn't need the gearbox, I'd hook up direct to the axle. Y...

Jem

Happy Birthday Kim!

Jem

I'll second that! Happy Birthday to our hero of the carburettor and teller of country tales.

Jem

What's an alternator? Next thing I'll be hearing someone talking about replacing the crank handle with an electric motor! Fools! It'll never work.

Jem

Merry Christmas everyone and let us hope for a happier, healthier New Year.
Jem

Jem

Herb, the moment I posted that subject line I was waiting for someone to come out with that line!

Jem

A friend recently hit a pothole. Stopped, couldn't see any damage. A mile later the steering locked up. The front main leaf had broken across the centre bolt hole, the 2 sides worked out of the spring clamps and the front of the car dropped down. Never heard of this before, but it is an obvious stre...

Jem

As Hap has quoted me at length (Cripes! am I now a grey-haired T guru?) I'll put in my two-pennyworth. Sounds very like the problem I described, but it really only happens at parking speed, because it is right at the limit of applying lock. You need to look at all the other suggestions if it happens...

Jem

Rich Skinner here in the UK has built at least 1 ambulance for the Great War centenary, have a look at his site 'Tudor Wheels'.

Jem

My pal used to work for a Ford dealership parts dept. When the monthly price update showed a part increasing in price, he knew it was about to disappear. e.g. they had 100 left, so the individual price would be increased to the point where if they sold 1 or 2 they had covered the cost of the other 9...

Jem

Dr Noel is right. I have one and have no problems working around any electrical stuff. I have been told you can weld as long as you avoid high amperages but haven't tried yet. But if you do get it near a magnet, it will turn back on as soon as the magnet is removed. I have heard of people having pro...

Jem

I have a T, an A and a V8. In the past I've had Model Ys, Prefects, Populars, Thames van etc. All got their good and bad points, had fun with all of them.

Jem

Not one for naming cars generally but when I got my 09 back in 1980 I took it to show to an old-timer. He came out of his barn, stood in front of it and said:
Now that's The Proper Mr 'Enery Ford!
So, The Proper Mr 'Enery Ford it is.

Jem

My wife usually says 'now what have you bought?' Today she said 'That looks nice, what is it?' It's Donnie Brown's repro of the Stevens Tool Catalog and it is beautiful! Thank you Donnie. Just so frustrating that I can't actually place an order for all these lovely tools.

Jem

How does it work? The picture is a bit difficult to see, looks like it hooks back the pedal

Jem

Just seen that the Automobile did a Newton Bennet article in 2008, they say there are 5 survivors, so they will have photos in their own archive.

Jem

great stuff Allan! Certainly looks like they stole the rad off a Newton Bennett.

Jem

Nice photo stolen from the Automobile Sept issue. Any ideas on the source of the radiator? RHD English registration

Jem

A further thought. 1911 is outside our area of interest because bodies were made by outside coachbuilders, e.g. Beaudette, who would have supplied floorboards with the body. Anyone got a 1911 Kansas City trade directory?

Jem

The only problem I have with that, Pat, is that it was established in old threads (see Cudaman post further up) that floorboard makers put their name on their products supplied to Ford. To know that those boards are from crates we have to know what Simplex Manufacturing made in 1911. If it's stamped...

Jem

Thanks gentlemen, a fount of knowledge as ever. Thanks Mark for sending me off down the rabbithole of vintagemachinery.com. And Dan for the interesting letter from Office of Edsel Ford. But the one I had never heard of from Wayne was that Ford did runs of special colour cars for Government orders. I...

Jem

Yes I can see that as wartime expedience, there was probably a shortage of timber in the war zone.

Jem

The September Automobile magazine has a Model T article. One owner repeats the old 'Henry made suppliers size their crates to reuse as floorboards' story and says it's true 'cos his floorboards have company names stamped on them. He also claims his 22 touring is a Texas fire chief's car with origina...

Jem

Oil drain hole?

Jem

There seems to be a surprising number of 09/10 survivors, given the times they lived through. Mine is #9267, Aug 17 1909. For differences, check out the encyclopedia on this site.

Jem

I want it! Wife says NO.

Jem

Wonderful set of photos! I want to change my name to Cookenboo. Where does that originate?

Jem

There used to be an old guy here who ran an SU off a 1960 Morris Mini along with the Mini distributor running horizontally from a bicycle chain drive. Went very well.

Jem

Yes there is a screw behind my lamp

Jem

Here's my unrestored Aug 09 (not totally unmolested, it had an incorrect repaint circa 1950) The bottom screw is 1.5" from the bottom edge, subsequent screws are 5.25" apart. The screw is a raised countersunk 1" long with 0.25" wide head. IMG_20201006_164158600.jpg IMG_20201006_164125411.jpg IMG_202...

Jem

I have a small pile of these from my engine rebuild, but I'm the other side of the Atlantic. There must be someone over there with one. Kim Dobbins?

Jem

That's not a T sold in the UK, it's LHD, pity we can't see the number plate.

Jem

Went to a Flathead & Hot Rod swap meet Sunday. Stole this for a fiver. No dents, no cracks, all glass good, just very dirty and minus font and burner.

Jem

Yes please.

Jem

I have had oil sucked up into the cylinder by a poor fit of the spark plug, the thread in the head was worn. Not sure of the physics of why it did that but I fixed it by wrapping some aluminium foil round the thread. Warped manifolds are common, you can heat it up to cherry red and clamp to the bloc...

Jem

An old timer, long gone (Eric Goodey, of the famous Berkshire clan) told me an old trick for starting was to use a tyre lever to tweak the pulley forward and narrow the mag gap enough to get it a spark on the first pull on the handle.

Jem

IMG_20200820_100035331.jpg The wreck is a circa 1920 Rolls Ghost. The recovery vehicle was once a Daimler car, probably a limousine that spent the Great War dragging generals about. Lots of people donated their cars to the war effort. After the war's end, many ended up in a big vehicle dump in Slou...

Jem

A fellow near me with a 09 Stanley told me he had his brass gold-plated so I never needed attention 'It was surprisingly inexpensive!'. But he owned half the county, so his idea of inexpensive may vary from ours.

Jem

That bus is mind-boggling! How does a 20hp drag all that body along, let alone filled with passengers. Imagine if a bunch of kids rushed to grab the back seats - the front wheels would lift off.

Jem

I have just submitted an article for our club magazine on the joy of slow driving. Throughout the T era, 1903 to 1930, the national speed limit in Britain was 20mph.

Jem

Working tractors here have to have a roll cage, most have an air-conditioned cab and are quite fast; seat belts would seem quite sensible. Going back to vintage vehicles, belts won't help in a major accident but they will stop you coming out of the seat under heavy braking or a swerve. I know a coup...

Jem

I remember discussion of the driver's door and whether the license plate was Canadian. Following the Shorpy link doesn't show me any info on place or date.

Jem

I confess. I don't use them in my T, but my V8 & my VW camper.

Jem

I use a small orbital sander to vibrate the stem.

Jem

If you follow all the suggestions above and it's still stiff, consider this. I had 2 engines partially seize after 2000 odd miles. The cause was wrist pins seizing in alloy pistons. I had to pull the pistons and hone the wrist pin holes. I also drilled oil holes. If you pull the head you should be a...

Jem

I stand corrected. I just saw a foot throttle and 2 pedals going down to the left, missed the reverse.

Jem

Good film that. History takes a beating all right, the pedals the driver slams in his emergency stop don't belong to a T.

Jem

I think there is more than 1 1915 used on Ragtime. Half the film was shot on a big backlot set in Shepperton Studios just outside London, England, so I think we had a duplicate car in the UK. First film I ever worked on, it was b####dy freezing on that lot, we all wore 3 layers under our costumes. M...

Jem

I've told Ian there is an article to be written here. He has photos pre- and during-restoration. The car was previously owned for a long time by one of our club members Rodger Florio who sadly died just before the restoration was completed, so never saw it. I don't know if we have any history prior ...

Jem

Teddies on lockdown! Left the Model T ticking over outside the garage and a Teddy decided to go for a ride. His feet couldn't reach the pedals so didn't get too far. Only a broken lamp and ,luckily, no stuffing was spilt.

Jem

The chauffeur IS Ian, the owner & restorer, not a model hired to add period effect

. And I am sure he'll be pleased with the positive comments.

Jem

My near neighbour Ian Braban has spent about a decade restoring this Manchester T Landaulette to a standard that would be the envy of a Rolls Royce shop. Check out the photos on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldefule/ ... 850294526/

Jem

We have to remember these early bodies were craftsman made so there may be no single standard, it would have varied depending on which man was doing the job and what hardware was available. Like linestriping which varies from car to car. Re my axle, that needs cooperation with a machine shop, not po...

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