MTFCA Forum

Art Wilson

The first photo with the mountains in the background is of the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson Arizona.

Art Wilson

I'm thinking that a small hole could be drilled through each triple gear pin at an outward angle from the engine side of the flywheel so that oil being slung off the flywheel could be picked up and directed to the pin bushings.

Art Wilson

Another area that needs to be looked at when assembling an engine is the amount of connecting rod clamp force on the wrist pin. If it is excessive it can cause the wrist pin to warp and bind the pin to the piston. I have seen that happen with large engines with 1inch wrist pins and with Model T wris...

Art Wilson

A discarded Model A shift lever is a good candidate for making the Ruckstell shift lever. It is tapered, gives a more factory like appearance and is easily threaded for a shift knob.

Art Wilson

Rich, I have seen wrist pin seizure caused by the piston pin being deformed from tightening the small end connecting rod bolt. This was on a large diameter piston with a 1inch diameter wrist pin. Also I have seen Model T piston pins that had turned blue from the heat generated from the tight fit of ...

Art Wilson

I read that Phillips head screws were designed to "cam out" the factory powered drivers used to install them on the assembly line at a certain applied torque.
This was before accurate torque limiting drivers were available.

Art Wilson

Thanks Kerry, I agree using a split pin "cotter pin" is a better way to secure the upper rod bolt and is less likely to vibrate apart and dance around inside the engine. While on the subject of engine assembly, when I assemble connecting rods with Chevy dippers I bend the ends of the dippers up agai...

Art Wilson

I found that when securely tightened,the bolt that holds the piston pin in place can cause the pin to deform and bind in the piston. This occurred on a large 4 cylinder engine with 1 in diameter pins. It did not take much tightening to cause the pin to deflect a small amount. I think this may be the...

Art Wilson

Thread the holes and install flush 1/2 in pipe plugs as was done in the 1913-1914 blocks. They don't fall out.

Art Wilson

Pierre, The oil slingers shown are too thin and will break. I have seen a setup like what you show last for about 20 minutes before breaking. Also they are not needed, The teeth on the flywheel ring sear will move lots of oil. I have a Scat crankshaft in my car with no slingers and have run it hard ...

Art Wilson

Definitely not needed. The flywheel alone will sling plenty of oil. I have been running without slingers for 20 years or more. With a splash system however, it's a good idea to have an accessory oil line that moves oil to the front of the engine, especially when climbing steep hills. A story about a...

Art Wilson

The real reason stock Model T's run rich on the front two cylinders. The problem is due to the design of the carburetor and the shape of the intake manifold. The carburetor supplies fuel at the bottom of the venturi in the form of a puddle. The bottom side of the intake manifold is gently curved fro...

Art Wilson

I think the 2nd and the 3rd and maybe the 4th bows are too high. To see if that is the case, the front bow can be lifted up a couple of inches or so to see if the front of the top fits better. For reference the 2nd bow on my 1911 T is 32-1/2 in. high from body pivot to top of bow. The third bow is a...

Art Wilson

Hi Dave, Looks like you are having fun. Our car does not have any magnets or slingers on the flywheel to splash oil. Only the bolt heads that attach the starter ring gear. I do have and recommend the accessory oil supply that attaches to the left side of the hogshead and feeds oil to the front of th...

Art Wilson

I had a petcock come loose and fall out when I used Teflon tape for sealing the threads, but only tightened it to the position I wanted instead of fully tightening it.
Luckily I caught it in time so no damage occurred.

Art Wilson

For minimal cost versus driving improvement, I would recommend the following: 1. Increase the compression ratio with a high compression head. This will give the biggest horsepower gain alone, above all other additions, and it is easy to add. 2. Add dippers and X-groove the connecting rods to get bet...

Art Wilson

I like to thread and plug the core holes as was done on the 1913 and earlier blocks. The existing core holes sometimes do not even need to be tap drilled as the holes are nearly the correct size for a 1/2 in pipe tap. I start by getting the tap to go in a short distance. Then I install the pipe plug...

Art Wilson

Gene, Glad to hear John is still making top socket sets. A belt sander can make fitting the top bows in the sockets go much faster. As you are fitting the bows in the sockets, install the assemblies on the car in the folded position to make sure they align with each other, and that the sockets fit t...

Art Wilson

Gene, I had John Boorinakis make new top sockets for my T about 10 years ago. I think he is still making them. He can make complete sets or use your original ends and pieces and attach new sockets on them. He fills the sockets with Epoxy or something similar to keep them from rusting inside. I am ve...

Art Wilson

Here is how I did our 1911. It is similar to what was done on many cars of that period. I made the end covers to hold down the tack strip. Makes for a finished look and they don't come loose. The small strip that covers the front of the windshield frame doesn't keep the rain out. At speed the top ra...

Art Wilson

Many years ago while on a tour I had number 1 rod get loose in a freshly rebuilt engine. When I dissembled the engine I found a longitudinal crack on number 1 crank journal. It was about 3/4 inch long and could barely be felt by dragging a fingernail across it. So I'm of the opinion to get a good us...

Art Wilson

Out of curiosity I would like to know what the bearing inner diameter measurement is using a precision inside micrometer. My suspicion is the bearing is within tolerance. Since the Ruckstell bronze part is relatively soft, it is easy to form it under size if the bearing tilts ever so slightly while ...

Art Wilson

Get some glass fiber reinforced packing tape. It doesn't stretch. Carefully apply the tape on the flat part of the inside perimiter of the steel felloe next to the spokes. Cut the ends of the tape so they just touch. Remove tape and re-apply on a flat surface. Measure the length and divide by PI. (3...

Art Wilson

I found on our car when attempting to chase the petcock threads with a new 1/8 pipe tap, that the tap would bottom out against the flywheel before enlarging the threads in the pan. The tap length needed to be shortened to work.

Art Wilson

I used a small external extension spring to keep the NH carburetor choke lever open on our car. I installed one end of the spring in one of the holes in the choke lever, then stretched the spring down and around the float bowl and attached the other end to the drain spigot handle. I did it in such a...

Art Wilson

The VW distributors need an external ground from the distributor head to the engine to insure electrical continuity while the engine is running. Otherwise the vibrations from the running engine can cause an intermittent connection between the distributor and the ground path and cause rough running.

Art Wilson

With the magnets removed from the flywheel, it is common to add flappers to churn the oil. Contrary to what many people think, the flappers are not needed, especially if there is a starter ring gear installed. Also, the flappers are prone to breakage if not built strong enough. I have seen that happ...

Art Wilson

Lots of warm engine free starts may indicate that the carburetor mixture is set too rich.

Art Wilson

Tony, After messing with the radius rods on the rear end of your car, you should check that the rear wheels are properly aligned. Fellow club member Less V's 13 touring was wearing out rear tires way too soon. He found the rear wheels had considerable tow-out. He was able to correct it by adjusting ...

Art Wilson

Steve, If you haven't already, Try adding compressed air through the spark plug holes. That may help in determining where the compression pressure is escaping. Another thing to help identify the problem is to look at what has changed since it was running well. Doing this is not easy and requires lot...

Art Wilson

I had a timer brush spring that had too much force fail on a tour years ago. The spring got hot enough from the friction of the brush against the timer contact face that it lost its temper and collapsed. I replaced it with a spring from a ball point pen and continued on the tour. The car ran for man...

Art Wilson

There are several things that can be done to help prevent the pistons from seizing. The aluminum pistons that are available today are not optimally designed and manufactured. The areas where the skirts attach to the top part of the piston is comparatively large and lets a lot of heat to transfer to ...

Art Wilson

Big Boy 4014 Linkages

Art Wilson

Catalina Island 1988; K thru 8th grade school kids posing in car.
I think 11-13 kids got in the car at once, because who wants to go second?

Art Wilson

I found on a couple of 1925 1926 blocks I disassembled that the rear main bearings had a considerable amount of contaminants embedded in them. On earlier engines that was not the case. I believe this is because the later blocks have oil supply holes for the rear main drilled on both the front side a...

Art Wilson

I have seen a piston pin become slightly tight in a piston after the pin clamping bolt was tightened in the connecting rod. The pin fit was fine before the bolt was tightened and fine when the bolt was loosened. I think it is because the rod does not clamp the pin with even force around the perimete...

MTFCA Forum

Search found 36 matches

Re: Mojave

Re: Seized Triple Gear Bushing

Re: Measuring piston clearance after rebore

Re: Left Side Rux shifter

Re: What have you done to your Model T in March?

Re: History of wood screws and Ford bodies

Re: Connecting rod shims

Re: Connecting rod shims

Re: Head gasket?

Re: Triple gear bushings melted ???

Re: Flywheel Oil Slingers with Full Pressure Oiling

Re: 13T - Fouled plugs

Re: 11 Top fit

Re: Magnets Vs. Slingers

Re: Oil drain petcock

Re: HP At A Minimal Cost

Re: LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!

Re: Are These Irons Restorable?

Re: Are These Irons Restorable?

Re: 1911 Top windshield seal

Re: Dare we analyze my cracked crankshaft?? I say we do.. but INTELLIGENTLY

Re: Ruckstell Bearing/Bronze Plate (P211/P139) Fit

Re: Measuring Felloes for new spokes

Re: Oil petcock help!

Re: First Start of the Season Fuel Mixture Problems

Re: New T Help Needed

Re: where did this come from???

Re: free starts

Re: Hard crank on my 1909 touring.

Re: The frustration of incompetence

Re: New Day Timer Brush

Re: 23 Center door engine locks up and then starts again???

Re: Foto of the Day

Re: KIDS AND CARS

Re: Those mysterious main bearings

Re: Seized piston