MTFCA Forum

Jugster

Been a while since I've done this. Here is this season's opener of "Spectators and Funny Hats."

Jugster

I’m dealing with a clogged and varnished-up gas tank. The few local establishments that clean and coat gas tanks charge about $600.00 which, to me, feels awfully pricey. Is there a do-it-yourself bottle of magic chemical that I can pour into the tank, agitate the tank, pour the magic chemical out a...

Jugster

The Mighty Ahooga Head.jpg The visual impact of a Brass-Era automobile is so striking, it can overshadow the other senses, which is kind of a shame because the way these cars sound is also wonderfully unique, and everyone who works with them just loves the low-revving grumble of a long-stroke engin...

Jugster

My Flivver Still Hates Me E png.png After my last few breakdowns on the road, I thought long and hard about what could be my repetitious problem. My Model T Ford would run happily for about a mile, and then it would surge and buck and the engine would quit. My previous problem with an very rough-ru...

Jugster

I had a bucking, surging and stalling problem that vexed me for quite a while. I found out that as the gas tank empties, fuel pressure decreases due to the reduction of weight (not to mention the Model T's lack of a fuel-pump). Anyway, I found that the higher the fuel level in the tank, the less li...

Jugster

Poll:
How low can you run the fuel level in a cylindrical, under-seat, 10-gallon fuel tank?

Jugster

Thanks for all the replies. The surging would indicate a fuel starvation problem. I have no filters and no fuel pump; I'm just gravity-feeding as per original configuration. I think the next step is to check the gas-cap for venting (but it won't be that), then pull the fuel tank out of the car to h...

Jugster

My Flivver Hates Me.png My Model T’s engine has been giving me fits for about two years. Just for instance, this summer, on the way to a car-show, the Flivver started bucking and a minute or so later, stalled out completely. The engine would restart, run for five or ten seconds and stall—over and o...

Jugster

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but two of the fabric straps on the inside of the top on my '15 Touring broke. The fabric is pretty weak and dry-rotted from age, but because it is original I'd like to make an attempt at mending the straps with a fabric patch hidden from behind. Problem is, I do...

Jugster

Thank you both. Exactly what I needed.

Jugster

Where on the frame would be the best place to mount a starter solenoid? If you have one installed, would you please post a photo? Thanks.

Jugster

Some folks are purists and my hat is off to them. It takes a lot of work and dedication to maintain a car in perfectly stock condition—and keep it operating. My '15 Touring is a "driver" and it's all I can do to keep the thing running. I've been using the same rubber-stem inner-tubes for about a do...

Jugster

I have a 1915 Touring with the usual radiator-mounted choke-rod. Also have an NH carburetor on a high-flow manifold. My problem is that I see a hazardous possibility of the skinny choke-rod getting hooked onto and interfering with the thick throttle-rod (where the cotter pin fastens the throttle ro...

Jugster

Santa Car Flat.png I was attending a car-show with my 1915 Model T Ford on a hot August day—I mean like around 101 degrees—HOT. After four hours of shooting photos of people posing in the old car and giving rides, I was over-heated and exhausted. Now, with the show starting to break up, I was not e...

Jugster

The commercially available, floor-mounted, replacement starter-button for Model T Fords is a worthless piece of junk. It is so bad, I have to replace the darned thing every two years. Because the dummy-door on the port side of my Touring doesn't open, any work on the driver’s side mechanisms—in thi...

Jugster

Okay, so let's say I get my car to a welding shop for the purpose of re-magnetizing my magneto magnets. They're not going to let me handle their equipment, so what instructions do I give these guys? How does one go about this operation?

Jugster

I have a 1915 Touring, which, of course, was not manufactured with an electrical system. Because I wanted to install an electric self-starter, turn-signals and reliable lights for night driving, I had a full 12-volt electrical system installed. This consisted of a belt-driven alternator and an Opti...

Jugster

My thanks to those nice folks who replied to my question. In answer to some of the questions: My magneto has always run the engine with less authority than the onboard 12-volt battery. As of late, it has become more noticeable and now the engine won't run on magneto except at high RPM. That tells m...

Jugster

My magneto won't keep the engine running except at high RPM's, so running on magneto is no longer practical. Looks like I need to recharge the magnets. I suppose I'll get to that eventually, but not now as it requires three 12-volt batteries, the cables to connect them in series, etc. (I mean who t...

Jugster

Since I bought my Model T a dozen years ago, my engine has always idled faster on battery than on magneto. I have always suspected that my magneto's output might be a little bit weak, but that condition has gotten more noticeable lately. Today I was driving the car and it was running just fine. The...

Jugster

I've been dealing with a very rough engine for quite a while, now—much too rough to drive the car. We've tested everything, tried borrowed known-good coils, borrowed a known-good carburetor, replaced the ignition harness, spark-plugs, spark-plug cables, changed timer three times, rebuilt the coil-b...

Jugster

The Motorcraft F11 spark-plugs are no longer being manufactured which, to me, is kind of a shame because my engine runs best on them. Yes, I've also used Champion-X plugs, but the F11's gave my engine noticeably more power. I cannot account for why this is.

Jugster

I'm going to refer to the late Harold Sharon (the brass-car guru and engineer who wrote "Understanding Your Brass Car"). His position was that the ideal weight for reciprocating parts is zero. Of course, that's not possible, but the closer you can come to that number, the better for vibration, wear...

Jugster

I've heard of petrified tires that were so difficult to dismount, some owners actually resorted to power-tools (specifically, the Sawzall—and no, I'm not kidding). But really, it's not necessary to deploy such weapons of mass destruction. I myself have had to peel off a tenacious set of old Wards R...

Jugster

Glad to hear the good news about Steve. Thanks.

Jugster

New Mine no sig.png "Y'know, your tires really ought to be white." A car-show attendee had just caught me off guard while I was unloading a beach chair from the back seat of my '15 Model T Ford. But hey, I'm sharp, so it didn't take me more than a split second to respond, "Huh?" "Your tires. They s...

Jugster

I recently installed one of Scott Conger's enlarged aperture float-valves in my NH carburetor and I'm just delighted at the far more authoritative way my car goes uphill. The difference is quite noticeable.

Jugster

This video should help...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMi8uIc ... WL&index=1

Jugster

So I recently found myself in the unenviable position of needing to replace a Ford roller-timer. Because finding a new-old-stock or refurbished roller-timer isn't as easy as once was the case, I've had to make do with the low-quality, rough-hewn, but nominally functional stamped roller-timer that i...

Jugster

I'm not a physicist, not a metalurgist and not a mechanic. When I hear people using terms like "harmonic balance," I know I'm out of my depth. From the point of view of someone like myself, knowing what to do about the problem is more important than attempting to understand the esoteric, scientific...

Jugster

Hi, Gang;
.
Does anybody know where I can purchase a good, rebuilt roller-timer?
.
Best Regards,
Bob
jugflyer@aol.com

Jugster

If those timers are still available, would you please e-mail me at jugflyer@aol.com?

Jugster

When I've experienced that kind of problem, it's usually because of the timer. I'd say the first step is to clean it.

Jugster

This video is about 90% accurate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnaocIwRPjo

Jugster

Scott_Conger wrote: ↑
Sat Jul 22, 2023 9:32 am
A T which cannot climb steep or long hills with less than 5 gallons of gas are almost always running an NH carb.

There is a simple fix for that

Quite correct. I'm running an NH carburetor (and a high-volume manifold and a high-compression head). What is the simple fix to which you refer?

Jugster

So I've got what seems to be a little fuel problem. When driving up a long, but moderate incline, my engine will start to surge as though starving for fuel. This effect is especially obvious when I have less than five gallons in the tank. When I throttle back a bit, the surge disappears unless I'm ...

Jugster

I ordered an upper coolant outlet to replace my old one which is rusty enough to be flaking apart like an apple turnover. The new part will come either unpainted or in some kind of primer. Either way, to match the engine, the outlet will need to be painted black. Now, I have an old can of black Rus...

Jugster

I had a bad experience with mixing two kinds of grease. The grease liquified to the consistency of motor oil, leaked out of my grease-gun and made a great, big mess on the floor of my garage. I don't think there's anything to be gained by mixing two kinds of grease. Stick with whatever you've been ...

Jugster

I did something dumb; something embarrassingly amateurish. While reinstalling the upper radiator hose fitting on the front of my aluminum high-compression head, I cross-threaded one of the two bolts into the soft aluminum and now the bolt won't screw more than halfway in, and at something of an odd...

Jugster

I need to replace the upper coolant hose.

Now, the hose looks very short and I'm wondering whether there's a trick to performing this replacement such that I won't need to unbolt the metal outlet from the front of the head.
Any advice?
Thank you.

Jugster

New Mine no sig.png "Y'know, your tires really ought to be white." A car-show attendee had just caught me off guard while I was unloading a beach chair from the back seat of my '15 Model T Ford. But hey, I'm sharp, so it didn't take me more than a split second to respond, "Huh?" "Your tires. They s...

Jugster

avoiding flat tires (15) flat.png I put about 500 miles per year on my Model T Ford (when I'm not recovering from surgeries or waiting out a pandemic) and in a dozen years of ownership, I've had but one single, solitary flat tire. And that was because some knucklehead had dumped a pile of building ...

Jugster

Ran into this one on e-bay. Seems rather nice:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295429789526?h ... olid=10049

Jugster

Just wanted to put out a reminder that the very first official meeting of Long Island's brand-new Model T Ford club is scheduled to take place this evening, Tuesday, October 4th at 6:30 PM. at Benner's Farm. All are invited. The address is: 56 Gnarled Hollow Road E. Setauket (631) 689-8172 And the ...

Jugster

I've been having trouble locating what used to be an easy-to-find part. Anybody know a supplier who still has this style of starter-button?
jugflyer@aol.com

Jugster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzJkD87eQNI

Jugster

I managed to rip two of the fabric straps under the internal headliner of the 2-man top on my 1915 Touring. So now when I put up the top, it just sags everywhere. To make repairs and properly put it back together, I need a reference photo of what the inside ceiling of the top is supposed to look li...

Jugster

If you're shipping a single wheel to Noah Stutzman (I sent mine one at a time), you need little more than a cardboard box and some bubble-wrap. It doesn't really matter if your wooden spokes get damaged enroute because they're all going to be replaced anyway. The solid rim and heavy metal hub are r...

Jugster

Abbott and Costello art clear.png ABBOTT: Driving a Model T Ford is simple, Lou. You just have to remember the names of the controls. You can drive a manual transmission, right? COSTELLO: No problem, Abbott—I learned how to drive on a stick. So okay, where's the stick? ABBOTT: Well, there IS no sti...

Jugster

In The Garage flat.jpg Well, Long Island got hit with another load of snow—on Superbowl Sunday, no less. Wasn't nobody goin' nowhere, so there was nobody comin' over to watch the game and eat the ton of hot-wings, chips and salsa-dip we got. And now, on Monday morning, temps are in the low twenties...

Jugster

I'm on Long Island. Please get back to me with additional info?
Bob Coiro
jugflyer@aol.com

Jugster

Every Model T I've driven behaves that way. The car needs an intermediate gear between low and high, but of course doesn't have it. Make a habit of accelerating gently until you're out of that pesky vibration range.

Jugster

Getting Started Brown flat Cropped.png For the most part, the antique car hobby is a pastime of the working class. Oh yeah, there are the affluent Pebble Beach/Amelia Island aristocrats who own Thomas-Flyers and Stevens-Duryeas, but most of us car-guys eat at Red Lobster, shop at Target, wear Timex...

Jugster

For a good many of us, the experience of driving a century-old car isn't about convenience or reliability. In fact, historical purists see frequently required maintenance and inconvenient breakdowns as part of the game. Other folks are just looking for some reliable fun. They're okay with putting d...

Jugster

Comfy Are We in a Ford Model T.jpg The Model T Ford is an ergonomic nightmare. At five feet, eleven inches, I'm of average height, but the driver's seat of my brass-accoutered pride & joy is mounted so far forward, I ride with my knees high, the steering wheel rubbing my thighs and all my weight on...

Jugster

Model T Ford Driving 101 I'm going to oversimplify and tell some mechanical "half-truths" here, which might be helpful for a new driver to understand (and then I'll make them full truths at the very end). The Model T Ford has two forward gears and one reverse. _Each gear has its own clutch and beca...

Jugster

Well, it's gotten to be that time when I need to get my '15 Touring reupholstered. Getting the kit is no problem and I'll probably use Classtique. The problem is finding a brass car-qualified auto-upholstery shop within driving range of my 30 mph Model T (I don't own a trailer or a pickup truck wit...

Jugster

00 2nd thur Safety with Subtlety 10 Spectators flat.jpg Well, this is the last installment of Safety with Subtlety and now is the part when you, the reader, get to decide whether the modifications made to this horseless-carriage were justified, or whether I, as its custodian, did something terrible...

Jugster

Thanks, Eric. Will do.

Jugster

00 2nd Wed Safety with Subtlety 9 safety wire flat.jpg Back in the days when I flew airplanes, I learned about how safety-wire was good for holding such things together as the FAA and I would rather not have vibrate loose and come apart. And so, it wasn't long after buying my Tin Lizzie that the ca...

Jugster

00 2nd tue Safety with Subtlety 8 cockpit, plugs, filter flat.jpg Motometer combo.jpg My Model T has three gauges, none of which were original equipment. Bill Clough installed the ammeter when he put in the electrical system and I added a winged motometer. Ford had problems supplying speedometers i...

Jugster

00 2nd Mon Safety with Subtlety 7 easy things flat.jpg Bill Clough, the gentleman from whom I bought my Model T, did all the heavy lifting and I did the embarrassingly easy stuff like wiring up the turn-signals and bolting on a running-board tool box. Here's some more of the easy-peasie stuff: My c...

Jugster

Duey, I'm concerned with two switches on my Model T. First is the starter switch. Mine failed after about five years and luckily, it did so in the open position. I need to keep my eye on that thing and think of it as a limited-life part which needs replacement on schedule. The other one, of course, ...

Jugster

Safety with Subtlety 6 lots of lights flat (1).jpg For obvious reasons, a Brass-Era car which is frequently driven in modern traffic needs a lot of lights. We're talking brake-lights, turn-signals and 4-way flashers; and then for night time driving, head-lights and tail-lights. My headlights, which...

Jugster

00 Radiator, Brakes, horn flat.jpg When I bought my '15 Ford Flivver, it was already equipped with a few non-standard items; a flat-tube radiator, a set of Rocky Mountain Brakes and a nice, loud hand-Klaxon horn. The original Model T radiator had a core made up of round tubes and even without a wat...

Jugster

00 Fri engine choke, oil line.jpg At some point after January of 1912, the engine of the Model T was de-tuned and down-rated from 22.5 horsepower to an even 20 horsepower. This was accomplished, in part, by reducing the compression ratio. Okay, but why? Well, by that time, the prodigious production...

Jugster

00 thur Safety with Subtlety 3 Steering FE flat.jpg In 1919, Ford changed the Model T's original over-the-axle front radius rod (wishbone) setup to an under-the-axle type. Now, some people believe this was to save the production cost of a couple of fasteners. Others say it was the result of an acci...

Jugster

00 Wed Safety with Subtlety 2 Electrical flat.jpg For most folks, the idea of installing an electric self-starter in a Brass-Era car borders on desecration. If you happen to be healthy and only reasonably fit, hand-cranked starting is no big deal—until you stall the car in heavy traffic, in which c...

Jugster

00 Tue Safety with Subtlety 1 the purchase.jpg This will be a 10-part series with an an additional chapter each day, keeping within this thread. It's mostly about safety modifications made to my Model T. I hope you'll find it worthwhile or maybe just entertaining. There are two primary levels of pa...

Jugster

Another Opinion on Originality.jpg One of the hottest topics among antique car enthusiasts, one that never seems to cool, is the subject of originality. It's been done to death, but it won't go away. In that realm, we use different terms of only slightly diverging connotation; words like "stock," "...

Jugster

The Touring body of my '15 Model T Ford, with its large, flat expanse of blackness is... well, nothing special to look at. That's the reason I decided to go heretical and finish my wheels in clear varnish over stained wood-grain; the car just needed some detail when viewed from the side. The color ...

Jugster

On the Road Again b flat.jpg . So I went for the second of the two vaccine shots about a month ago and from what I've been told, that's supposed to do it. Hard to believe that after twelve months of hiding at home, grocery shopping at dawn to avoid humanity and the quest for toilet paper, it could ...

Jugster

Wow! Nice job. And what a useful tool! I gotta find me one of those!

Jugster

When the front wheels of a Model T are properly aligned, the car will naturally tend to track straight ahead on a dead-level road. Unfortunately, there are very few dead-level roads. Most are crowned in the center for the purpose of drainage. And because we, in the United States, drive on the right...

Jugster

DRIVING A MODEL T FORD 101 I'm going to oversimplify and tell some mechanical "half-truths" here, which might be helpful for a new driver to understand (and then I'll make them full truths at the very end). The Model T Ford has two forward gears and one reverse. _Each gear has its own clutch and be...

Jugster

Commutators b flat.jpg For a good many of us, the experience of driving a century-old car isn't about convenience or reliability. In fact, historical purists see frequently required maintenance and inconvenient breakdowns as part of the game. Other folks are just looking for some reliable fun. They...

Jugster

You Can't Make This Stuff Up.jpg Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I posted a want ad in the antique car classifieds. See, I was shopping around for a Brass Model T Ford, something I'd wanted since I was a kid. Well, middle age hit, my daughter was grown up and with the credit cards mostly p...

Jugster

Here in Suffolk County, New York, the hottest hot-spot for the Covid-19 virus in the United States, I and most of my neighbors under the protective custody of voluntary house-arrest are just about climbing the draperies out of an odd combination of boredom and anxiety—two paradoxical emotions which...

Jugster

a complicated man f.jpg Henry Ford was a difficult man to understand. Those who invested in his vision did, for the most part, come out ahead in terms of dollars and cents, but when he parted company with the likes of Alexander Y. Malcomson, John and Horace Dodge and several others, it was not on g...

Jugster

'15 Roadster

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184173477519

Jugster

The neck of my radiator drips anti-freeze and this tarnishes the heck out of my brass radiator. Of course, I need to get that fixed, but in the meanwhile, is there a coolant (besides distilled water) that does not tarnish brass?

Jugster

Somehow, I got placed on a mailing list that features several Model T auctions every week. Most are steel cars and hot-rods. Very few of these are 1916 and older, which makes me suspect that the owners of brass cars just aren't as willing to part with them as once was the case. That's why, when I g...

Jugster

1915 Touring.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174113184028

Jugster

Excellent! Thank you.

Jugster

: Understanding.jpg (36.36 KiB) Viewed 5672 times

This is pretty much the only book of its kind. It deals with nomenclature, theory and everything from simple tips to advanced repairs. The writing style is breezy and enjoyable, not at all like a dry textbook. Very informative and very enjoyable.

Jugster

Is there such a thing as an anti-freeze which doesn't tarnish brass?

Jugster

New Patina Combo b jpeg.jpg One of the hottest topics among antique car enthusiasts, one that never seems to cool, is the subject of originality. It's been done to death, but it won't go away. In that realm, we use different terms of only slightly diverging connotation; words like "stock," "unmoles...

Jugster

My '15 Touring had the same habit until I switched to 5W30 oil.

Jugster

There seems to be some kind of mystique surrounding old-stock Champion X spark plugs. When reading about these plugs on the forum, I can faintly hear the sound of angels singing and herald trumpets blowing. Super Spark Plug.jpg So I purchased a set of Champion X plugs and used them to replace my or...

Jugster

You can order Lang's old-fashioned paper catalog for free and find it in your U.S. Mail box within a few days. It's as simple as picking up the old-fashioned land-line and dialing (800) 872-7871 and talking to a real, live human being who will not only mail out your catalog, but also give you that ...

Jugster

Jugster

I'm in a bit of a quandary as to how to solve an upholstery problem with my '15 Touring. See, my upholstery looks okay; it doesn't have any rips or threadbare spots or anything like that. The problem is, whoever did the last upholstering job overstuffed the seats to the point where I lost about thr...

Jugster

Brake or Break E flat.jpg A couple of years ago, I read in Car and Driver of a 680-mile race between a new Tesla and a century-old horseless carriage whereby the drivers of the latter sustained highway speeds for protracted periods—even at night. Luck wasn't just with those guys, it was bear-huggin...

Jugster

When it comes to slow-moving cars such as ours, it's probable that just about any automotive grease will do just fine. The problem comes in when we mix two different types and I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I started out with the usual red Timkin wheel bearing grease, but when that ran ou...

Jugster

I've seen car-show spectators do the darndest things. The first and most memorable incident took place at the annual AACA show at Westbury Gardens. This is the show that many very serious award-winning competitors attend and their cars are either restored to almost unattainable standards or careful...

Jugster

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123925670453

Jugster

coolant man.jpg If your engine and radiator are not clogged with gunk, you should be okay without a water-pump. This will be especially true if you have a flat-tube radiator rather than a round-tube radiator. If you climb steep hills, your engine will run hotter and you'll feel the heat coming up t...

Jugster

You guys do go to a lot of trouble. When I unexpectedly got sidelined by medical issues, the Model T sat in the garage for almost two years. Since there was anti-freeze in the radiator, I didn't worry about it. For all the horror stories I've heard about the way today's alcohol-infused gasoline goe...

Jugster

Hi, Neighbor in Northport; The reason we need to run high pressure in clinchers is to avoid shearing the air valve off the inner-tube. Higher pressure forces the rubber clinchers more tightly against the rim, thus preventing tire slippage. If the tire slips along the rim (and this tendency is stron...

Jugster

Click below to see a Model T Ford buyer's guide. There are things in there of which every first-time buyer should be aware. My thanks to Steve Jelf for hosting it on his webpage.

http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG98.html

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