MTFCA Forum

My sister bought this '24 Touring and a survivor '31 Model A Slant Windshield sedan as a package deal in 2016 from an older gentleman in our community. She said she would give me the Model A if I would put the Model T together and get it running for her. The catch to the agreement was that this T was COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLED! The previous owner took the car apart roughly 35 years ago and and was scattered around his barn and that was the last time it was touched. It was so meticulously disassembled that everything down to every tack, nail, bolt, nut, washer, screw, etc. was removed and put in baby food jars and various containers. I had never attempted to tackle a project to that depth before and we weren't absolutely sure we had all the parts, but fortunately, we discovered we had everything including a few nice bonus items...the engine had been completely rebuilt and waiting to be installed, 4 brand new Firestone 30 x 3.5 tires that had never been mounted, along with various new and nice used parts along with a brand new Berg's round tube radiator still in the factory crate! We also have the complete original top with all the bows and wood, although it still needs to be re-covered.

It's been a long 4 years, but...today was its first time to see the light of day as a complete car in over 35 years, and my sister was all smiles as she drove her Model T for the very first time!!

My sister wanted RED so she got RED! (We still have a lot of driving tutorials ahead to make sure she's competent to drive it, but she's very heads-up and I'm sure she'll do fine)

I'll have to admit, it's very satisfying to put another T back on the road, especially a car that laid dismantled and forsaken in an obscure barn for all those years. I learned a lot from the experience too.

Mike

that looks very nice. You did a great job.

Mike, red cars go faster! My 1920 Buckboard is red too. You have done a wonderful job.

Allan from down under.

Well done. There is no such thing as having too many T's on the road.

Yesss! Neat car and a great story!
And you get a slant-windshield A in the process!

Appreciate all the compliments! It was a fun experience, sometimes frustrating, but very rewarding. And as Duane said, I got a pretty cool '31 Model A Slant in the deal!

Congrat's Mike, nice job! Always cool putting another T back on the road. It is fun you posted here, because I'm thinking about you yesterday. I just finished a 1911 Touring after 8 years of restoration and I face up the same problem than you in October 2014 in your post "Overheating - not sure what's wrong". My Engine was rebuilt by a professional man who pass away 2 years ago. My engine over heating after 15 minutes. I have a brand new radiator, I know retarded spark and or, too lean a gas mixture & fan blades could cause over heat but it is not the cause here. How did you solve the problem in your car? I read your post but I didn't see the end of story. If you have any input could help let me know.


Kind regards,

If it runs as good as it looks, you have a good T. Hope we will all be able to tour again very soon.
Norm

great job Mike, you earned that slant ford, now you know a model t inside and out, what a good brother, wishing many happy miles to your sister, question on the tires, were they hard ,and did they mount up fairly easy, were they 35 year old,

Nice work!

Mine 24 Touring was also stored, long-term. I can fully understand the feeling of satisfaction that comes with returning a T to use like this. It almost seems like the car has life to it and is grateful to be made whole again.

Richard G,
Regarding your comment on the tires...boy, was that experience an eye opener for me! To your question, the tires weren't hard since they were stored inside out of the harmful rays of the sun, but they were in a hot metal barn for all those years and what I hadn't expected, but the tires had actually shrunken in diameter. Fortunately I had a Harbor Freight tire mounting contraption bolted to the floor which gave me a stable mounting platform. 3 of the 4 tires had shrunk so much, I had to resort to employ three 4 foot long pry bars to get them over the hoops. They were still very flexible, and didn't want to mount up without a fight. A liberal application of tire mounting compound also came in handy.

Richard, if your tyres are 35 years old, there is a good chance they are of far superior quality than those readily available today. You are blessed. Rather than fight them and risk damaging the beads with heavy leverage, a trick now commonly used is to fit the tyres over a deflated modern wheel/rim combination and then inflate the tyre to stretch the T tyre beads. Hot sun is a help too.

Hope this helps next time.
Allan from down under.

Hey Mike, Any update how you manage the over heating finally?

Quickm007;
Not sure what caused my overheating issue, except maybe since it was a new engine I might not have had the mixture set just right. I also took it up to a speed she wasn't ready to handle just yet? I'm taking it easy on her for a while to let things loosen up.

Thank you Mike,

My Engine is pretty new rebuilt. Less than 20 miles on it. I probably need to be more patient with her and starting to use her every day with small run like 4-5 miles and increased miles over time. Thank's for your answer. Wish you a nice summer.

Regards,