MTFCA Forum

Erik Barrett

Check out the article in the latest Vintage Ford magazine for input on what you are looking at.

Erik Barrett

I have had to repair many transmissions with triple gear bushing failures. All of them were built with reproduction bushings and then set up too tight. Bushing seizes on the pin and either disintegrates or rips the pin out of the flywheel. Lang’s has Ford spec bushings but they are out of stock. The...

Erik Barrett

Jeff is a friend. I will get in touch with him.

Erik Barrett

My number doesn’t come up when I go to edit profile. Just asks me to enter it if I know it. I will make the call tomorrow. Thanks for the input.

Erik Barrett

How do I find my member number so I can post on the classified pages? I have no idea what mine is.

Erik Barrett

Yes, that’s the one!

Erik Barrett

I’d love to put up a pic of one that’s available nearby but it’s easier to change a T clutch spring without removing the engine than to put pics up here with an IPhone. Pm me you want details. Car came from Southeast U.S. but currently in California. Rajo B overhead with Winfield carburetion, Buffal...

Erik Barrett

I know of one.

Erik Barrett

Tried to post a pic of the race car but it’s easier to spank model A’s with a model T than to post pics here.

Erik Barrett

I have one dated 2/29/12. Leap year apparently.

Erik Barrett

Nor Cal, you are welcome to be a part of our crew. Details are not clear about this year but when our own race team comes in 2027 with the DO model T you can be a part of it. We will take the game to the model A boys again. I expect them to be ready this time.

Erik Barrett

If I go this year it will be as crew chief of the Sherman racing team in support of the fastest flathead T ever to run at Long Beach by Jerry Sherman, sr. His son Jerry jr. will pilot the car at Lincoln. Our own team was very much encouraged not to bring the Wild Cherry II back there. As the first T...

Erik Barrett

These two will be available for adoption there.

Erik Barrett

I am familiar with this combo having used it in my dump truck for years. I have used it in passenger cars too but found it unnecessary if your engine has sufficient power. The best thing about this combo is to be able to split shift the transmissions for perfect gear spread. You can use the Ruckstel...

Erik Barrett

Well then it would seem that your solution is a good one.

Erik Barrett

These things want very thick lube. 90wt won’t cut it. Use the 600W from the vendors or put in a bottle of STP or similar product and top off with 85/140 gear lube. This helps with three issues. It’s less prone to leakage, makes shifting easier, and cuts down on the noise Muncies are known for. May h...

Erik Barrett

Completely superior to the original puller.

Erik Barrett

Anyone considering using the turbo clutch be advised these plates were designed to be applied by hydraulic pressure, not a coil spring. As such always use a new spring. They have a little more tension than the originals and that is crucial to successful use of the turbo clutch.

Erik Barrett

Dan, put me down for one please.

Erik Barrett

After the meet we will have a trailer headed East to New York via I-80 with enclosed space for a model T or similar size machine.

Erik Barrett

Just today we made a tool to replace the camshaft without removing the head and valves, while not using the original tappets with the hole provided for the job per the Ford manual. All things are possible. Ford manual describes a process to change the crankshaft gear without pulling the engine.

Erik Barrett

There are lots of these popping up for sale at very affordable prices. It’s a buyer’s market now. Check out Facebook marketplace for sure.

Erik Barrett

I have a video of our Gallivan/Rajo running on my Instagram page
Rumbleseat Garage. It’s a wicked brute. I can barely post pics here, a video or link to it is beyond me. We have a couple races coming up where we hope to turn it loose.

Erik Barrett

Rod and piston.

Erik Barrett

Another pic.

Erik Barrett

Pic attempt.

Erik Barrett

Tom, more info for you. Gemsa used the Gallivan patterns to make his DO heads. They were essentially an aluminum copy of the Gallivan/Rajo DO. That’s what is on Casmir’s car. The one Gemsa made for LaRue Thomas was converted to a dry timing belt instead of all the gears. I saw the car a few years ag...

Erik Barrett

Tom, that’s him! I just couldn’t quite come up with the name. He did some amazing stuff to this engine. They used an uncut full dimension model B counterbalanced crank. This is not normally possible in a T block because the diameter of the mains is larger than the distance between the T main bolt ho...

Erik Barrett

My race partner Robert, and I of the Wild Cherry race team actively race the only Gallivan/Rajo DOHC we know of currently being run competitively. And compete it does. Likely one of the quickest T’s running now. Handled right, it will lift the left front wheel off the track in first and second gear ...

Erik Barrett · Re: 3/06/25 NEW STEVENS FRONT AXLE TOOLING RUN I’m in for a set.

I’m in for a set.

Erik Barrett

Dan, put me down for a set when they are available please.

Erik Barrett

Jack, put me down for one please.

Erik Barrett

Here is a pic of the column.

Erik Barrett

I made reservations at the hotel. I have no problem with that. Steven went to a lot of trouble to secure RV camping near by. I would be fine staying there but I don’t have a motorhome like I used to. If this venue is a good one it will be worth playing by their rules.

Erik Barrett

Great news! I’ll be getting the word out.

Erik Barrett

Two of them are 26/27 cranks. Magnaflux those and have them ground if they pass. The rest are earlier. They are like a hand grenade with the pin pulled. Sooner or later…. I do not use them. In fact l have scrapped so many of them over the years I could have made a neat picket fence if I had saved th...

Erik Barrett

Great news! I’ll be there for sure.

Erik Barrett

I hope that’s true Steven. It’s what Bill would want for sure. We should call it the Bennett memorial swap meet. It’s awfully late but if anyone has the connections you know them. Anything I can do I am available

Erik Barrett

Definitely not going to happen this year, maybe never. Got the bad news on FB this morning. Diesman garage posted it. Tragic loss of a great guy. RIP Bill Bennett.

Erik Barrett

With the KC Warford all you have to do is decide what gear you want it in and stab the lever into that gear. Care must be taken not to jab it into low at high speed because the KC doesn’t care what is going on in front or behind it. It’s going into whatever gear you select. Clutch, no clutch, any sp...

Erik Barrett

Jay has a model T that he drives more than any other car in his collection.

Erik Barrett

Range of motion. Spell check strikes again.

Erik Barrett

Your bell crank link is on backwards. The long end should be on the bottom end connected to the rod at the steering column. Installed the way you have it gives the distributor too much ring of motion. Up on the spark lever will be too retarded and down too advanced.

Erik Barrett

Never seen a helicoil for pipe threads. There are other options.

Erik Barrett

As late as the 1950’s California issued driver’s licenses for model T only. There were still people then who had never driven anything else.

Erik Barrett

I always put them away from the camshaft but it really doesn’t matter.

Erik Barrett

You can tow it on a trailer without destroying the transmission.

Erik Barrett

I always use the new ones in transmissions builds, especially if the customer requests a turbo or other modern lining clutch. They are not that expensive and good insurance.

Erik Barrett

How often do airplanes crash? Only once.

Erik Barrett

Only once.

Erik Barrett

I have had two sets of these, one on my TT dump truck. The best design I have ever seen on T auxiliary brakes. Work equally well both directions. I have no idea who made them, there are no markings on them at all.

Erik Barrett

Stan was a unique individual and fascinating to speak with. He spoke a lot, and it was fun and educational to listen to. His work on everything he did was second to none. RIP Stan.

Erik Barrett

I sent about 2000 lbs of T stuff to Schnitzer Steel Aug1. Scrap dealers are currently paying better for black era stuff than T guys.

Erik Barrett

Your connecting rod likely failed because it was not properly babbitted. Babbitt is more art than science and is no job for amateurs. This means the others are not far behind it. If it did not scratch the crankshaft too badly you may be able to put in a set of replacement rods from reputable vendors...

Erik Barrett

Yes, you can notch the early field coil for a starter. Done it many times.

Erik Barrett

Got a bunch of stuff here my insurance company says has to go. All black era stuff, No goodies, just parts you need to build or repair a T. Mostly chassis parts and some fenders. Most of this is going to be scrapped but I would like to give away as much as possible to hobbyists first. Too bad, lots ...

Erik Barrett

Erik Barrett

Today I line bored out an early open valve T block that had run the crankshaft formerly directly in the block, to accept babbitt. This was easier to do than to post pics on this site so if you want to see more send me a message and we can talk and share pics. I have another one in the queue. I would...

Erik Barrett

I agree Phil. It should look the part. I am sorry that they are having trouble. I hope they will be back on the road soon. Did the original have any major issues on the trip? If it did I expect it would have been repaired on the sly at whatever Ford dealer was close by and employees instructed to sa...

Erik Barrett

Phil, do you realize this car is not the real 10,000,000th Ford? It’s a tribute car so strict originality is not paramount but they should at least have painted the spokes black. Ford lost track of the real one a long time ago.

Erik Barrett

I hope you will not be skipping the entire Donner pass route. It’s possible to go from Fallon to Sacramento using only about 20 miles of interstate 80, all on the downhill side for your trip. I would like to see you come through Colfax and Auburn. It’s a great dive and I have done it in a car equipp...

Erik Barrett

Early rear end housings are rare for a reason. They are junk and whenever a Ford owner had a problem they were replaced with newer and better parts. So now we have to go to great lengths to repair them and make them work for period correct cars. My solution on these is to replace or reset the rivets...

Erik Barrett

Just one disturbutor drives drives people crazy here. Two of them and they will have a total conniption. Beware.

Erik Barrett

Gene, I will have to look. I can’t see under it right now as it is on the cylinder boring machine. If it helps this was cast on 7/03/13 and built on 7/10/13.

Erik Barrett

Bringing a 1913 block to the Bakersfield swap meet for sale. Working on doing all the machine work at present. Will know asking price when it is ready shortly.

Erik Barrett

People drive model T’s today for the same reason they did when they were new. Simple fact is they are cheaper than anything else available.

Erik Barrett

Here’s a job I don’t much like doing but has to happen sometimes. I don’t have time on this job to wait a week for a new manifold so I had to straighten this one. It was worth doing because it is in pretty good shape other than the warp. It was tweaked so badly I essentially had to break it in two a...

Erik Barrett

Be aware that Muncie transmissions require a special u joint and adapter coupling that are often missing. They scream like a banshee in overdrive.

Erik Barrett

It “represents” the ten millionth Ford. I have seen it at Lincoln and it’s just a 1924 model T with some lettering painted on it. I don’t think anyone knows for sure what happened to the real one. I have seen a couple of coupes claimed to be five million too. Fifteen million car is well documented b...

Erik Barrett

Scrap it and find another. The amount of time to get that far into a model T transmission makes no sense to try and cobble it. That’s cast iron in a high stress area.

Erik Barrett

Best bang for your buck is bolting on a high compression head.

Erik Barrett

A great loss to all of us in the hobby. I am glad to hear he was passing his knowledge onto the next generation. I have a few of his carbs in stock and they just became more golden to me.

Erik Barrett

For small projects I have had great success with my powder spray torch using a nickel alloy powder. Big stuff like rear main bearing webs ripped out by a broken crank I send out to Lock N Stitch in Turlock. They are the best at what they do.

Erik Barrett

Allan, that makes more sense. I missed the fact of your location. Anyway, it’s a very resourceful solution to the problem. That kind of innovation is good, especially when dealing with parts that are not available new. Nice work.

Erik Barrett

Well if your time is worth about $5 per hour I guess it makes sense compared with the cost of a new manifold. When you get done you still have mismatched ports which impede flow and probably poor threads for the pack nut. But you will have the satisfaction of saving an original part that others woul...

Erik Barrett

20K will buy a real nice 15/16.

Erik Barrett

Educate yourself about the cars as suggested here and then buy the best model T you can afford. It will cost you less in the long run. Almost all of them are worth less than it costs to restore them. 15’s are the cheapest brass cars. There is a big price increase in every year prior to that. This is...

Erik Barrett

In the current market a 1920 chassis is worth about $500 in good condition. You can spend the rest of your life being angry or just buy a cheap driver quality model T for about seven grand and enjoy it without having to spend way more than it’s worth restoring it.

Erik Barrett

The BB head came from the factory with dual plugs. 18MM on both sides. If you have pipe thread plugs on the right it is a model B that has been drilled for dual plugs, not a BB and will have a lower compression ratio. The BB is a top end high performance head and was never intended to run with the c...

Erik Barrett

Wayne, when it is ready I will give you a ride that will leave you looking blanched. The Rattler race car is currently down for repairs and upgrades. We are boosting the compression ratio up to about 12:1 and replacing he transmission with one having a better gear spread for the engine. I am hoping ...

Erik Barrett

Norm, it IS a model T block. Here’s another one.

Erik Barrett

The Ruckstell is such a great accessory that it is the only one ever endorsed by Henry Ford for use in the model T. If you look at the cars on any national tour the majority of them will have one, and also some kind of auxiliary brakes.

Erik Barrett

Don’t bother with thrusts on the block. The best thing you can do is put a bronze thrust bearing on the front of the rear cap. Permanent solution.

Erik Barrett

Here are a couple T powered cars. They are really race cars, not very street friendly. The blue one was the 1973 Long Beach champion. The Wild Cherry II is the first model T to take king of the hill at the speedster reunion in Nebraska

Erik Barrett

What Mark said. For a stroker crank job you have to hog the T block all the way out to the bolt holes. Before pouring I plug the holes up to prevent leaks.

Erik Barrett

I assume you used a puller to get the old one off and not a hammer? The last thing you want to do is assault the rear main thrust bearings with a hammer. I always press new gears on before I install the crank but I can’t do that with counterbalanced crank like Scat so I heat the gear to 450 degrees ...

Erik Barrett

The only sure way to save a threatened historic machine is to step up and buy it, then do the necessary work yourself. That’s not always economically feasible. Want to save history? But the SS United States and restore it. It only costs $1000 a day to keep it docked where it is. Otherwise it’s going...

Erik Barrett

I saw one of his cars at his winter estate in Florida. If I remember correctly there was also a car he gave Edison there.

Erik Barrett

These are not lowering brackets. They allow the use of a heavier duty front spring. Not what you want for a speedster.

Erik Barrett

Here is our Gallivan/Rajo powered T race car. Uncut B crankshaft. If there are any others being actively raced, I would like to see them and race them. This one is set up for 1/10 mile sprint, usually on a hill. It’s a white knuckle ride. This is a later head made after Jagersberger took over when G...

Erik Barrett

Sure sucks to have to nearly dismantle the front of an early T to get the engine out. Been there many times, just putting one back together tonight. Wayne, thread drift happens. No harm, no foul. It’s either a 27 or 28 Buick. I can just barely make out the back end of the mascot on the radiator. It ...

Erik Barrett

This happened because the hand brake pawl and quadrant are worn out and/or the spring is missing or broken. You got lucky, others have been run over and hurt. This is a dangerous condition.

Erik Barrett

This one has pretty good V.E.

Erik Barrett

Here is my pressure test setup. Whole thing is filled with water and 25 psi is delivered to the pressure dome on top. Then watch for leaks.

Erik Barrett

Many times I have added babbitt to the front of a rear main cap and faced it to size. Often with the engine still in the car.

Erik Barrett

I make the bronze washers out of cored bronze stock from industrial suppliers. Machine them to size and then slice them off and cut them in half.

Erik Barrett

The cap is milled about .100” shorter. The bronze thrust washer is silver brazed to the cap. The melting point of that process is over 1000 degrees. After that the cap is babbitted and line bored.

Erik Barrett

Here’s a job I do sometimes on model T’s and A’s. Both can have issues with the rear cap. Making just one bearing cap takes almost as much time as all three. You have to pour the cap and a dummy block and bore to the size needed. On this job I am making a cap with a bronze thrust on the front end to...

Erik Barrett

Sure break crank. Hang it on the wall.

Erik Barrett

Scott, thanks for the clarification. Interesting that our DO Rajo was also detuned. It is definitely a Rajo as it has the design tweaks Jagersberger made after he bought the whole project when Gallivan got in trouble for building them instead of Hispano Suiza airplane engines for the army.

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