MTFCA Forum

Since the brad marks on the magnet screws look like factory bradding marks the ring gear could be a turned down ring gear. Just out of curiosity if it is a factory turned down ring gear it should have Ford on it and “maybe” a Ford no. on it? I can’t remember if they had Ford markings or not. But if ...

That’s a good question! Maybe some one has a parts book to see if the non starter cars had a different part no. for the later non starter cars. Your flywheel should have a T no. stamped on it.

So does the flywheel have the starter era Ford ID no. on it? I’m thinking the ID no. would be for the starter era flywheel since the fly wheel is machined for a ring gear. Or so it seems. Does the transmission cover have the starter accommodation? Somewhere down the line things were changed. Or so i...

Some older farm tractors had Continental engines in them also.

Use some type of lube to help them to turn. Light oil, WD-40 etc.
When they begin to turn take your time and they should separate.
Can you tell if they is a ridge on the gear or bushing?

Interesting comment on the MTFCA encyclopedia about 23-25 tops and window spacing. It seems to be about the Tourings but maybe the information could be for a Roadster. Just guessing about that but it does give the rear window sizes but the spacing between them varied. If that’s true I wonder why it ...

Go to the home page of the MTFCA website and go the encyclopedia. Click on carburetors and you’ll see a description and pictures of most Model T carburetors used from 09-27. No aftermarket I don’t think are shown.

That’s sad Dallas about the owner being hardheaded. There are his of course but to see old cars just rot away is just plain sad. I’m 71 and remember seeing cars in like situations when I was in high school and going back a few years later only to find them weathered and done in by the weather. Sad.

We have to remember that modern cars come up real quick when your driving 25-maybe 40mph. Most people are not use to slow cars much less ModelT’s. Besides our T’s can’t get up and go fast enough in today’s traffic when you really need to. I’m fortunate to have farm to market roads to drive on but yo...

I also have to say that if you closely at the milk cans you can see the bottoms are long gone. That place must be off any well traveled road as it looks like the car remains were brought in and just left for a loooong time.

Not many of those around anymore. Reminds me of the local junk picker yard about 3 miles from us when we growing up. Use to go over and look and dig for cars and parts in the 60’s. About 20 years ago the son-in-law of the owner took possession of the property and wasn’t at all interested in the old ...

So after reading the information about the Ford Trimotor sign, was there an authentic sign made? If there was does anybody have one or is there a source of a pic of the actual sign?
Maybe a collector of Ford signs has one?

Most any old flat head engines have recessed spark plugs. This is another accessory for those who like to give a T engine a customized look I guess. To each his own.

Usually the older original signs were porcelain. If it’s porcelain and a repo at least it’s a higher grade ‘repo’.

Going to Chickasha a few years ago on the last day a guy was selling out at almost giveaway prices and I bought cans of Model T bolts and nuts to last me for quite awhile. Right place at the right time I guess! Years ago I learned to save those rusty and greasy T bolts. They have come in handy over ...

The parts suppliers use to sell bolt sets for engine, the transmission cover and etc for Model T’s.

Just because you heard the plastic coils aren’t good isn’t always the case. If they are still working use them till they won’t work. I also heard they weren’t any good. Never used them but others have with no issues.

As you have probably read on the forum if the radiator is an original it may or may not cool even after a clean up. Hopefully it’s still good but old radiators can fool you even though they may look good. Pulling the head off isn’t all that difficult. And if you do that cleaning out the water passag...

Don’t know how much you had to do get your TT going but looks like your doing a good job. If you are a hands on guy you can figure out what needs to be done as far as fine tuning your truck can be found on the forum. And in the end nothing is a better teacher than using a hands own approach. You pro...

You may have already checked this out but make sure the timer case terminal wires are not touching the block or when the timer is advanced they are hitting the spark advance rod. If the car was running pretty good and wasn’t really missing bad it would seem that when you changed the wiring something...

When you replaced the wiring harness’s to the coil box and timer did you use the color code as your guide OR go from terminal to terminal regardless of the color on the wire or the tracer.

The 2 holes are in there for a reason. Maybe mounted in a lathe to ream? Is the reamer a taper fit? If it is maybe it also could be used to put a drill bit in it. Just guessing but the way the bracket is made it looks like a steady rest of some sort.

I also would like to thank Barbara for clearing up the concern about any copyright issue. Since the copyright issue has pretty much been cleared up now maybe someone who has a genuine interest in Model T’s will pick up the good work that Leon was doing. I only met him once at Chickasha years ago but...

That’s a nice car! A typical T to be sure. Slow oil leaks on the clamshell differential and on the axle housing! Wouldn’t be a normal T if the leaks weren’t there. Is it black or a dark blue. Looks like it hasn’t been hurt a bit going by the pics.
Congratulations on a great find.

It always comes up when discussing the plans worries about the copyright comes up. I had a set of Roadster plans which others surely also bought years ago when Miller was selling them and they had a copyright on them. Without a doubt like in my case they were sold to others needing them. And again w...

As others probably have I’ve been interested about the future use of the plans and what would become of them. It would seem to me that if the plans would eventually become the property of the MTFCA that would be the best way for them to be used and sold through the MFTCA as one of their products. Mr...

Looks to me the 13 or 14 T was being put into shape enough to get it home and then to be made into a cheap farm or go to town or so driver. Just a guess but a lot of T’s that had torn up bodies but serviceable chassis wound up that way. And then the inevitable but trusty trailer!! Model T bones foun...

Posting items for sale on the classified adds doesn’t always mean the items get sold or looked at quickly. Hopefully things get looked at to create interest but not always. Just what I’ve noticed. I look at the adds nearly every time I look at the forum. There are some good deals to be had but I jus...

Looking closely at the 4 cars under the open bldg next to the bowl you can see a guy bending over and doing something. Maybe cleaning? Could this be a prewash operation for the body? These cars were getting ready for a final chassis wash to remove road salt and etc? New one for me. Anybody know what...

The fiber washer between the axles was all it took for the axles to bind up on the last axle I did. I removed it and carefully sanded it down a bit on a wide file. Removing just a little material worked OK and all was good. Didn’t think about using a brass washer at the time. Maybe next time. The ax...

More than a few coil boxes that were in the scrap pile were thrown away over time when the contacts should have been saved. A few years ago I began saving the contacts and have been saving enough for my use. Those mashed and rotted down boxes a lot of us just didn’t think about had contacts in them ...

When starting my 21 I retard the timer or spark lever and advance the gas lever about 1/4 of the way. When the engine starts I then advance the spark and there is a very noticeable increase in rpm. If your T doesn’t speed up a bit when advancing the spark lever something isn’t hooked up right. Ask s...

Go to the MTFCA home page and click on the encyclopedia. Go to painting and there you will find out lots of information about painting, paint application and the processes involved.
This is a great source for Model T information and most questions can be answered there.

Whatever the source of the drawing or computerized image it’s not accurate. It has a mixture of parts from 24 -27. Look the the pedals, large brake drums, fenders, round gas tank and etc. Its a ‘generalized’ image.

Don’t know how long the head has been on your 15 but if it’s been on for many years now is a good time to check the water jacket holes in the head and block. You can use a 1/4” drill bit to carefully clean out the holes. You might be surprised how the small holes can get encrusted and get stopped up...

Yes. Set the carb mixture a bit more rich. In other words about an 1/8 turn more. I do that with mine if they have been sitting up a while. After it starts let it run and speed up the engine then readjust the carb setting. Should be OK. My 54 Ford NAA tractor does the same thing about starting and d...

Does your 23 have the brackets going over the body or through it. The earlier Touring 22 and back, had the brackets going over the body while the later Touring had the bracket (or arm) going through the body. The earlier Tourings had a 5 piece back section. The later Tourings had a 3 piece back whic...

Curious but who makes Model A wood. Is it avaliable for most A’s? I have Model T’s along with most on the T forum and getting a wood kit for T’s isn’t always easy and for some T’s getting harder to find a supplier that’s easy to get a hold of. Most of the time!

The frame rails (if that’s what they are) look like they could be for a Roadster of some kind.If you have a T measure the distance between the front and center body to frame rail mounts ,center to center. If you have some holes that measure the same distance on your wood maybe that’s what it’s for??...

Changing the differential gears from original has shown to be questionable after years of reading different outcomes on the forum. More than a few have noted that overall leaving the original gear ratio is the best way to go. Different opinions on this will always arise.

As Rustyford noted the car has been repainted if you look at the paint closely. That’s not a deal breaker. What’s noticeable is that there aren’t any pictures of the engine and the selling point which is ‘30,000 miles on the odometer. Nevertheless the car is in good condition overall. If someone was...

Add in PowerNation Daily says it has 30,000 miles on the odometers? Hmmmmm. Wished they would have posted a pic of the Odometer. Guess the car was found in Texas and found it’s way to Conn.

Have you replaced or checked out any or other bushings in the entire front axle assembly? If the spring perches are worn than probably all or most of the rest need to be checked or replaced. You may have already replaced some of them but if you haven’t now would be a good time to drop the front axle...

If you removed the 2 extra clamps you would have the original set up for your car. The one in the center. The earlier and wider set up that Steve Jeff posted was used up to early 22 but maybe earlier. Others would know for sure. Someone added the extra clamps to make it a little better in their mind.

The earlier T’s used a one piece wider bracket to clip the front spring to the front cross member. Maybe that’s why the 2 extra clamps were added to add more substantial bracing in their mind like the earlier ones were. If that’s what was on their mind maybe they couldn’t find the earlier wider spri...

This is a good survivor that probably will need a new radiator. Looks like a honeycomb radiator but won’t know for sure about cooling until it’s started up and driven for a while. For now I would clean it up, see how runs and drive it. If you want the correct engine for the era you can do that later...

There are screw on hubcaps that are close to the size of the neck on your radiator. I would highly suggest you try to use a temporary cap of some kind and make sure it will still cool before spending time on the radiator. Old radiators can sometime be OK but most of the time their not.

Going through a 1926 Western Auto Ford owners supply book picnic supplies with thermos bottles, jars and etc were accessories that come the closest to liquid containers. But as the other poster said nothing about cups or holders is mentioned. Canvas water bags were listed also. I can’t imagine not h...

Don’t know if you’ve rebuilt the coil box but an intermittent can certainly occur because of an original coil box. Age catches up to coil boxes as with other original electrical components.
When restoring a T the coil box is the first thing to rebuild in the electrical system.

If you have checked the connections as mentioned above maybe it’s a bad solder joint somewhere on the mag ring. But before you pull the engine to remove and check the mag ring I would double check all the outside connections first. Is the original mag ring in the car and not a rebuilt? Maybe others ...

Sounds like it has an intermittent connection cutting out. You say it runs fine on mag but then just cuts out. Start the car and switch to mag. Star jiggling the connections. Have you removed the mag post and cleaned off any lint or etc? Also check to see if the mag post spring is making a good cont...

To check it closer remove the complete column and see if the shaft will go out any further. If it does then you know it has something to do with the firewall positioning. If it doesn’t it may be the shaft is to short.

Was the steering column a complete unit when you got the or are you assembling it from what’s supposed to be correct parts.

If the bits are magnetic it could be the remains of the magnet that comes with the oil filter screen thats installed under the transmission cover. Just a guess but when you mentioned the bits are magnetic that’s what comes to mind. There are older posts about them coming loose from the screen. But a...

Wonder what’s under the hood of the Model T Coach. A T Coach engine?
Very suspect in not posting any engine pics to begin with. I would pass on this and not look back.

JF Carlin and Arthur Howell started making sheet metal parts for Model T’s in the 70’s as I remember. Carlin may have sold T wood parts also but don’t remember if they did. I had a parts catalog from Carlin and had bought some T sheet metal parts from Carlin and I started getting their parts pamphle...

All I will say is the wood spokes on the wheel better be in good shape. They are all that’s keeping the hub from breaking out.

The only time a T was ‘right’ was when it came off the assembly line. End of story.

Could be a tailgate in the early 30’s era.

Looks like it was put together with a mix of T parts to make a tractor. Wonder if the transmission is modified for slow tractor speeds. Interesting.

That’s good to hear that can still be reached. Hope you get the body wood in a reasonable amount of time. It usually takes persistence to get a hold of them. That’s what it took when I ordered the tack rail kit for my 21 Touring. But I don’t think they make the composite tack rail. They must get it ...

Mark O. I wonder if the hole was factory or drilled later for something. I have 3 T’s and they don’t have the hole. At first glacé it looks the hole has been there a long time and factory drilled. Something was mounted there way back when? Hmmmmmm

I didn’t know either about the Ford script being on the cross member until I started cleaning the frame up on my 1919 Runabout. Steve Jeff has a pic of a really nice cross member with mint script on an earlier thread. I’ll bet a lot of guys didn’t notice it either until they cleaned up the frame lik...

There probably is slack in the steering box but there is some also in the rest of the front end. The overall best thing to do is to drop the front axle assembly and replace all the bushings in it. If you check it might surprise you what’s worn. A T is easy to do and you can put the axle assembly on ...

As far as tractors go Ford tractors had hand cranking ability along with electric start thru 1954. I have a 54 Ford NAA tractor and it can be hand cranked if need be. Not sure when hand crank capability was dropped but pretty sure it lasted longer than 54. I would imagine other tractor makes did also.

This is the passenger side door handle on my 24 Coupe. What would be the best filler or whatever to repair the handle where it’s cracking out. I’m sure others that have the closed cars have had this issue with the aging handles. The other handle is fine but this one began cracking out 2 years ago. C...

Without even thinking about it or seeing pictures of folks driving along with small kids in their lap I wouldn’t drive any vehicle much less a Model T with kids in my lap. That ain’t smart.

The initial adjustment for the clutch fingers is found in the Ford service manual transmission overhaul section. Page 83, paragraph 315 and fig. 206. That’s the initial adjustment for a stock T clutch.

2 man tops are used on the 14-early 22 Touring cars. A Roadster top in the 14-22 era isn’t called a 2 man top. It’s simpler to install than a Touring top as it has just 1 set of bows. ( 2 bows). Touring cars have 4 bows in there set. Make sure your top bows are in good stable shape and the wood in t...

Maybe the guy was thinking that the kiddo should have been in a belted car seat. Your suppose to do that in Texas. Don’t know about anywhere else. But the car didn’t have factory seatbelts in it .Depending on the judge it would be a judgement call. I have a feeling he would rule for the kiddos safet...

It looks like a 26-27 magneto post. It has the outside oil line hole in the side and someone put a plug in it.

Here’s a pic of one of the front cushions burlap that was in my 24 Coupe. The other cushion padding was long gone. The T no. is on the side facing up. The spring side of the burlap didn’t have anything. I assume it’s a Ford no. I wonder if your original burlap has any type of number on it or if any ...

Whether or not if you use an outside oiler it’s a good idea to use the oil filter screen that fits under the transmission cover door.
Lang’s, Snyder’s, Smith and Jones all carry the mag post oiler. I have the mag post oiler on my T’s along with the transmission oil filter and they work fine.

Good questions about the oil and the temperature in the garage. You said you just purchased the car. How did it start when you were checking it before buying it. Was it in a cold environment? A good way to find neutral is to put the car in neutral by having the hand brake in the straight up position...

Thanks for answering the question.

I guess it depends how correct you want to be. I think there is a ‘mystique’ about Champion X plugs but I have had just as good service with Motorcraft. And they are a lot cheaper. I have some old Western Auto plugs and they run fine. I took them out of my 21 Touring just to keep them and put the Mo...

Neat find Mark! Did you notice any T factory numbers on the burlap or padding?
I have a 24 T Coupe and discovered the T factory number stamped in black ink on the burlap. If I can find where I put it I will send a picture of it. It was in block lettering about 1-2 inches in size if I remember.

If your building a very early T and need the correct transmission cover the price would be whatever your willing to pay for it. They aren’t common.

I don’t know how much profit there is to be made in making Model T body wood kits. Seems like it would be enough to make a living but I’m just guessing. Seems like in the past I ‘heard’ that Cubel’s kids took over the business. But again it’s sort of hearsay. If that’s the case that’s what happened ...

Ace hardware has safety wire in different sizes.

So what was the way to adjust the pressure to the lights. Just using the off/on valve on the tank to regulate it? Is that the way Ford recommended to owners how to do it?
Just wondering since I have black era T’s and not brass.

Good job Mark. The first time is always the hardest. The 2nd time it’s almost a piece of cake. Videos and advice from others helps but hands on experience is ALWAYS the best teacher.

Model T leftovers were common for building all kinds of trailers for the farm and utility use. Use to see them at farm auctions all the time. Still do but not as often. Looks to me somebody used the front axle assembly, then used a T frame with the pipe down the middle for a tongue. Money wise worth...

The Ford (tractor) pump is really neat! I bet that Ford pump was made in the 8-9n Ford era which was 39- 52. Could be later but not much later. The braided cloth covered hose goes way back anyway. The fluctuating needle brings backs memories when airing up a large back tire on the back of the Ford t...

Steve isn’t that the near NOS cross member you found? It’s a nice clean one.

No video here but before you compress the springs move the 2x4’s to where you can get your crimpers in to do most of the crimping. Once you’ve done that compress the springs and crimp as much as you can. Carefully loosen the 2x4’s and move the spring over one way or the other so you can have room fo...

Does the later antique auto swap meet attract many T and A cars and parts? Never been to that one. It seems it’s on or close to the prewar meet location.
It’s for all old cars newer or older or so it seems.

Well at least you have some wood structure to by. Sort of and better than nothing. I guess!?
Good luck!

We had a spark plug pump we used to pump up tires on the farm. I think it came with 3 adapters. TSC and Western Auto sold them. Do they still make them? If the plug was easy to get to it was easy to use. But when they were popular flat head engines were common so it was easy to hook one up. Not so m...

I believe the issue would be what caused the drum to get overly hot and not any issue with the drum.

The tool that kwtownsend shows on his post worked good for me. It’s a sheet metal crimping tool I believe. Anything that will crimp the metal channel will work. Just do it evenly and it will come out great. I went along the seat and crimped it about 3-4 inches apart to evenly get the seat material i...

Thanks for reply and info.

There was a earlier post about a few days ago about removing the no. 4 rod bolts for rod adjustment and etc in the earlier 3 dip engine pans. My question is did the earlier rod bolts use larger nuts on them? Scott C posted a pic showing the offset rod bolt wrench. I have that wrench but I’m thinking...

The starter screws installed with the correct size screw driver need to be tightened hand tight. And don’t forget to use the lock washers.

“When guys who really know can’t agree that confuses me” Yes that’s usually the way it goes. From self appointed experts to wannabe learners and everything else between. The best thing to do when something on a T is locked up and you want to move it any distance would be to back a trailer to it and ...

Wonder what ever happened to the car. Probably was put in a backlot and the body taken off. The chassis was probably used for something else.

In 1959 my Father and my Uncle towed my 24 Coupe I inherited from my Grandfather. It was about a 12 mile trip one way. I was 11 years old at the time and had just got home from school and minor knowledge about a T. My Father had a chain run through a piece of pipe to keep the T from running up on th...

If that’s so the attendance being up and more vendors being there than before indicates the interest is there. Time will tell.

Thanks for the video Steve! I was thinking either Jack Benny or Bob Hope. As far as Pate moving to TMS it’s pretty much classic era cars and everything else in between now. Not much prewar cars or parts other than Hot Rods when I went. You can walk a mile and maybe you’ll see a spark coil. What’s go...

Sounds like it will be a nice Swan Song. And who was it who sang Thanks for the Memories!?
Anybody remember?

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