MTFCA Forum

The surest way to promote disinterest in older stuff is to destroy older stuff. I'm thankful for the generations of people who did NOT scrap old stuff.... making it possible for me to own, enjoy and share that old stuff today.

Engine has aluminum pistons....

Cold this be a job for...... MARVEL MYSTERY OIL?

Used to be a '29 Chevrolet 3 window coupe around here that had a pickup bed in the trunk. It was all-wood, and someone had done a good job of it.

Do you have a water pump on the vehicle?

Scrap metal is a strategic resource.

Japan was aggressively buying scrap metals in the years leading up to 1941.....

Ring gap specs are probably based on an allowance for the gaps to increase due to break-in seating. The problem with a ring gap that is too small is that if you have trouble, it will be BIG TROUBLE. The piston to cylinder fit is also critical, and the fit needs to be correct for aluminum pistons, if...

The crankshaft main bearing end play is important to obtaining correct magneto air gap spacing, and assembly of the magnets must be done carefully to get them all the same height. I believe a gauge is used to do it. If the job is not done right there is potential for big trouble. The same is true of...

I'm thinking counterbalanced, 30 HP @ 1900 RPM, 2100 RPM capable, all new material. You can spend a lot getting an old engine in a similar condition.

A Burtz-type T engine might revive interest.

A fence builder with no gloves
Loses blood.

Model Ts have no oil pump to force oil into the bearings and they have wide crank and rod bearings, so some clearance is necessary to allow oil ready access to the bearing surfaces. Use of multi-grade oil, such as 5W30 or 10W30 will facilitate bearing lubrication. I would not hesitate to use 0W20 in...

You'd need an accurate drill guide, no matter how you do it.

I had no idea my gas cap was that valuable.

I'd run it. That's the best way to assess your engine, magneto, radiator, ignition, carburetor, etc. It's best to run it in a drive-able chassis, but running it several hours in the frame will be revealing. With rear axle and wheels in place you can get some idea of how the transmission performs, bu...

You might be able to drill it by using a right angle drive attachment and a short bit on a hand held drill.

Model Ts run fine on regular gasoline with up to 10% ethanol. Higher ethanol blends can cause problems. Ethanol free gasoline is best, if you can find it and afford it.

I'd also read up on wood wheels. They're probably OK, but if any of them aren't you want to know it. Clutch/brake linkage adjustments are critical. Don't mess with them without doing some reading. Band adjustments, likewise. It is normal and correct for the pedals on a Model T to go to within about ...

Try buying used "modern" for $7K....

Note: Slippage in low or reverse probably isn't the clutch. Slippage in high is probably the clutch/brake linkage adjustment.

If it runs well, I'd drive it, and do major mechanical work later, if it proves to be needed.

A car that has not run in some time probably has stale gasoline in the tank. Draining the tank and putting fresh gas in it, and cleaning the fuel filter is a good idea with any car that has been inactive for more than a month or two. Stale gasoline can cause a lot of problems, including hard startin...

The cold starting difficulty could be related to the choke linkage not working properly or to the carburetor adjustment being too lean. That's what I'd check first. Carburetor adjustment is also important. Seating the carb adjustment, then opening it 1 full turn usually gives good results. Most link...

You'll get better results with a good 10W30 detergent oil. Regular 10W30 oil, synthetic blend, or full synthetic all work fine. In cold weather, 5W30 or 5W20 are best. Both the engine and the transmission need a light bodied oil that does not thicken up in colder weather. Multigrade oil will outperf...

Too hard, I'd think. I had a riding mower with electric start, and the ring gear broke during the winter. I guess it was too hard or too tight. The puny little starter and plastic pinion sure as heck didn't break it.

If you carry loads, a Ruxtel would be a good accessory. Improving the brakes will have benefits, but you will still have very limited braking due to lack of any front brakes. The disc brake conversion would pair well with a Ruxtel axle.

I would not put STP or any similar product in a Model T engine. Model T engines and transmissions require "light cylinder oil", according to period Ford specs, which is about what today's 20W is . 10W30 detergent oil does a great job in a Model T under most conditions. If you drive in colder weather...

I don't know why flat braided battery ground straps and engine ground straps were widely used, but a round cable of the proper size will work just as well. Round cable was commonly used for both "hot" and ground cables on many applications, including dual and quadruple battery set-ups and vehicles w...

I'd stick with steel on a Ford.

Ford Model T dot net offers a lot of information. See also Cimorelli Model T, and, of course, this site.

I would get an accurate, dial type tire gauge and put 28 PSI (cold) in all four tires. That is plenty of pressure for a late T coupe with starter and battery on balloon tires.

If you drained out a quart and a half at the drain plug, the engine probably had a little over 2 quarts of oil in it. Not enough, by any means, but unless the car was driven very hard with low oil, it probably did no harm. It's also possible that the oil was diluted with gasoline when the car was la...

What we have here... is a failure to insulate!

Removing the hogshead cover plate will allow getting a good look at the insides of the transmission, which can reveal heavy sludging, if present, and worn bands and drums, if present. Removing the valve cover plates may reveal sludge or other debris. Black oil caused by an over-rich fuel mixture may...

Black oil can be the result of not changing it often enough, but it can also be caused by running the engine with an over rich fuel mixture. The safest way to clean out the engine, after removing the crankcase plate and cleaning both it and the horseshoes, is to run fresh multigrade detergent oil in...

I'd definitely want to add a transmission cover screen and check it every couple of hundred miles for loose debris. It's always a good idea when changing oil to drain it (hot) into a clean pan and then check for excess debris in the oil.

Several applications of contact cleaner might do it. I'd think it would be a challenge to get anything to stick to that. But if you could get something to bond to it, it might help prevent more of the material from flaking off. When the coils were originally potted, everything was clean and dry, or ...

It looks like someone daubed some kind of goop over old, existing damage. Note the old carbon deposits on the copper winding. Anything you put on the oil soaked winding will probably come off sooner than later. I'd be concerned about loose flakes of the goop that has already come off being in the oi...

In Houston and across South Texas, I'd run 10W30 all year.

In the case of a clincher tire with 50 PSI (cold) coming off the rim while running on a straight road, I wonder if the tire had not sustained a puncture and lost air pressure before coming off the rim?

I liked the old style steel quart oil cans... but the liquor bottle style plastic quarts are easier to store in a car. All gas stations used to have air and water for free.... and most had motor oil out front in a rack. But most no longer have water or air, and convenience store oil is often high pr...

If I ever make it to Hershey, it won't be to make money. But I would hope to have some spending money to take with me.....

I used a small file to mark mine at the low level, the high level, and halfway between the two. I run the car with the oil on the halfway between mark. With aluminum pistons and modern rings, my car uses very little oil, and most of that is probably leaked. The oil stays clean, probably due to the u...

Your engine will benefit from using multi-grade detergent oil. That's a FACT. 10W30 is a good choice for most USA summer driving. If you drive your car in cold weather, 5W30 or 5W20 is a good choice. Regular oil, synthetic blends, or full synthetic oils work well. I drive my T a lot, often in very h...

I believe they had the little flip top oilers. It would probably be best to oil them sparingly.

"You are recommending modern detergent motor oil?" Yes. 10W30 detergent oil. If you run your car in cold weather, use 10W20 or 5W20. Ford recommended what amounts to 20W oil. Multigrade oil was not available in the Model T era. Detergent oil will help keep a clean engine free of sludge and varnish. ...

You'll probably have to make one out of a flare nut wrench.

I'd drain the oil with the engine hot. Don't flush with kerosene or any other solvent. You can remove the plate on the bottom of the crankcase to check for sediment and crud as advised above. Replace the dip pan and gasket, and refill the engine with 3 1/2 to 4 quarts of 10W30 detergent motor oil. Y...

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The tire from OP's front shows very even wear.

Is there any way to repair chips in enamel signs?

If you have significantly irregular tire wear, you have a tire problem.

My car has one. It works just fine and has caused no problems.

Early tires were made with natural rubber and no carbon black. It was found that adding carbon black to the rubber made the rubber far more durable. It also made it black. Ever since the WWII era, most all tires are made of synthetic rubber, or a blend of natural and synthetic rubber. Synthetic rubb...

You can spoil a set of new whitewall tires by storing them with the black side of one tire in contact with the white side of another. But you do as you like.

To the best of my knowledge, belted bias tires were not available until around 1970, and have never been available in antique sizes. In spite of that, bias type tires can give even wear across the tread if inflated properly for the load they are carrying.

Overinflated tires will show more rapid wear in the center of the tread on all 4 wheels, assuming the car is in good condition. Be sure your rims are in good condition. Many are not.

For a touring car with high pressure tires, try running 50 PSI (cold) in all 4 tires, unless you are carrying a full load of passengers or whatever. When the car is fully loaded, run 50 PSI (cold) up front, and 60 PSI (cold) rear. Get a good, dial type tire gauge and take good care of it.

According to the Ford instruction manual of 1911, it is normal for the rear tires to wear more rapidly than the front ones.

All else being equal, with a bias ply passenger car tire, tread wear rate will depend in part on how "hard" the tread rubber compound is. Softer rubber will give good traction but will wear more rapidly than harder rubber. Tire inflation, driving habits, vehicle characteristics, and road surfaces al...

I've put over 15,000 miles on Lucas 440/450 X 21 tires. The rear tires are worn to the cord, but the front ones still have some tread left. These are a low priced, lightweight tire. I have a '26-'27 roadster on Ford wire wheels, and I keep the (low pressure balloon) tires inflated to 25 to 27 PSI, c...

Find out what a safe minimum pressure (cold) is for your tires and run them at that pressure, unless you have your car well-loaded. I suspect that you could get by with 50 PSI, cold. A car that carries a heavy body, or that is routinely well-loaded, might require more.

My car is a '26 roadster, and I drive most miles on 2 lane roads at 40+ MPH. In this situation, I believe faster rear tire wear is normal, since the rear tires are doing all braking and also pushing the car down the road, while the front tires roll freely unless cornering. Tire wear is even across t...

Looks like too much pressure in the rear tires for the load they are carrying. The front tire looks normal. My T wears the rear tires faster than the front. Driving habits and traffic conditions will affect tire wear. Excess wear in the tread center almost always indicates too much air pressure for ...

You want to move oil, but you don't want to build a fluid drive that hydraulically couples your flywheel to the block and hogshead.

Oberfield's Garage:
We sell and service Chevrolets.
We drive Fords.

I've never encountered an aluminum cotter pin. Rotating the flywheel back and forth a few degrees may loosen the object, if it's stuck. You might be able to move it using compressed air.

With the Ford magnets in place, the number of magnets reduces the amount of pressure on each one of them as the assembly spins. Each magnet is in the "shadow" of the next one. With 3 or 4 steel vanes, each one gets a better "bite" on the oil, and probably has a lot more turbulence to deal with. I'd ...

I'd definitely pull the head first to look for leak a source. There are a couple of spots on the block that look like there may have been a gasket seep at some point. I'd find a set of the steel braces that attach from the two top hogshead bolts to the rear engine mounts, too, and check for the late...

I believe that some inner tubes will cause tires to yellow or brown. Red natural rubber tubes would probably be best. Some tires and tubes have a very strong odor. I suspect the low odor tubes would be a better choice in a white or whitewall tire.

I used to source tires from a junkyard. "Good live rubber", as the old proprietor was fond of saying. Many of the 16" tires probably dated to to WWII, since many had boots and vulcanized casing repairs. I learned to avoid the tires that looked good, with deep tread, in favor of those with half or mo...

I don't see any damage to the nut.

I doubt if Wards ever actually operated a tire factory. It may be that the actual manufacturer of the Riverside tires continued production for some time after Wards stopped selling them, using some other distribution channel, or perhaps someone had acquired the molds, but had not acquired rights to ...

12 volt abuse? Too much spark advance on starting?

My guess: They may be "seconds" sold for off highway use only.

To keep them white, keep them away from heat and sunlight and other tires, so far as is possible. As far as I know, using care and patience is the only way to keep cleaning products off paint. Having rinse water ready to hand would be a good idea. Rinse any spatters or drips immediately, and before ...

Well, the price is certainly right...

I believe that Ford was compelled to build cars within the British Empire in order to sell cars there ... which was darn near everywhere but here back then.

I have no doubt that both manufacturers and retailers sell products at a markup. Henry Ford did. Interests up and down the retail chain do likewise. To the extent that these interests provide a service to me in making products readily and conveniently available to me at a reasonable cost, I don't mi...

If you mean Trump, rumor has it he was born rich. Unlike many very rich American politicians, he came late to politics and was already rich when he entered.

All tire pressures were thoroughly checked, Your Honor!

After a proper rebuild, the new owner will no doubt have more $ in the car than "market". However it will be a reliable car with a long mechanical life expectancy that could be expected, with reasonable care, to provide many, many miles of reliable service with minimal further expense.

As far as I know, Ford didn't use X'd rods. They did describe the correct way to finish new babbitt.

There's a 1915 down this page.

Too much oil in the crankcase will sap power. 1 gallon is usually too much on a refill. For a refill, 3 to 31/2 quarts ought to get the oil level up to the upper cock with the car sitting on level ground. According to Ford, "best results will be obtained with the oil level halfway between the upper ...

A '25 coupe ought to do 35 to 40 MPH on level ground with no trouble. (Or more)
That assumes all 4 cylinders are operating on a good fuel/air mix, that timing is correct for the situation of the moment, and that brakes and bands are not dragging. If you have "balloon tires", 28 PSI is plenty.

Someone may have fit aluminum pistons to the original Ford spec, which is for cast iron pistons and is too tight for aluminum pistons. New pistons in a worn and out of round bore can also cause trouble, as can new pistons fitted in a tapered bore. Model T transmissions have some critical fits, and i...

No shims and file marks indicate a worn engine with a shoddy "overhaul". In recent decades, any decent overhaul or valve service job would include replacing composite valves. Ford disowned the composite valves around 1926.

It's become very difficult in the USA these days NOT to buy imported merchandise... of any sort. But major importers/exporters have legal staff to keep up with the ever-shifting minefields of regulations, exchange rates, language diversity, feuding between governments, and other sundry other complic...

If Blockley were to establish or authorize U.S. distributor, I'd buy a set of 5 tubes ASAP. In the mean time, I have no desire to deal with governments, my own, or any other, as an individual.

Automotive tempered glass is odd stuff. It can be very difficult to break. I locked my keys in a 2004 GMC pickup, and used a 24" pipe wrench to attempt to break the passenger door window with no success. I swung the wrench at the window several times, which left marks on the glass but did not break ...

I've had that happen on old stems and some not so old. I used the soft wire method with good results.

He is perfectly evil, and he makes Hitler look like a prim little nun!!!

The piston is scored badly. The cause could be improper piston or ring fit, a bent rod, piston pin too tight, or lack of oil. Overheating is another possibility, but given that the #2 rod bearing is completely burned out, I suspect improper fit/installation issues, or someone ran the engine without ...

It's a grinding process. You have to go slowly with light, even pressure. You could probably do it with valve grinding compound and a worn out hole saw.

I bought a set of 7.00 X 16 reproduction Firestone tires recently. They were marked "Made In USA". No duty or hassles. I'm not sure exactly who made them or where.

I don't recall ever seeing anything for sale here marked "Made In Australia". Virtually everything for sale here is marked "Made In China". Is Trump requiring Australians to pay duty on British products manufactured in Viet Nam?

Do you know how much the engine has run since it was rebuilt, if it was rebuilt?
Another thought: Starting a new or rebuilt engine that has thick oil in the crank case in cold weather can result in oil starvation to bearings.

So, sue him.

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