MTFCA Forum

Just curious. Question says it all.

IMO - either - one just needs to be tooled up for one or the other or perhaps both.

Well with a Model T -- tape, wire and string is all you need to keep one running.

Last year, my has it been that long, we drove to a show, and a visitor informed me that my fan belt was beginning to separate. I had a 12 mile drive home.

I found a rool of duct tape in the boot. That was last year. I do plan to pick up a new belt this year.

To quote my late neighbor, who started working on Model Ts in 1925 and then graduated to Ford V8s:

"Model T Fords are self-healing."

Model a is more conventional and therefore easier to work on with modern thinking and experience. Model t coils, trans, and rear axle are all greek to most mechanics.
That being said, I prefer the model t.

Those who have owned, driven and worked on both should respond to this. (For fun !)

I have found the T bit easier to work on, for the reason I have done more work on the T. The front end and front axle on a T is much easier to work. I have found it easier to troble shoot a Model T over a Model A. As far as engine work, I have pulled engines on both Model T Fords and Model A. I understand the Model T transmission better than the Model A. I have now my 1910 and two 1931 As. I have owned perhaps 12 or model Ts and 8 Model As. They both are interesting.

I have worked on, driven and owned both. Much easier to fix a bad water pump on a T, just leave it off
When a T breaks a fan belt it is not an issue. An A engine is easier to replace, A trans is much easier to work on than a T. An A battery is a nuisance to change out, but I find the brakes are easier to adjust, longer to do, but easier.
I am sure others have other opinions, but the ease depends on whats broken.

The engines are very similar, however the A has an oil pump, distributor and water pump. The A transmission is much easier to repair and with many parts, you just replace the worn parts such as bearings or gears and the A has a disk clutch Both rear axles are very similar The front axles are also similar except for the parts are larger and the King pins are hollow for rods to apply the front brakes. The A also has a steering sector and worm gear. The main differences are the type transmission and the magneto. I have worked on both and when you understand how they work both about equally easy to work on, however with the magneto and transmission on a T there is much more individual fitting. The brakes are also very different between the two cars.
Norm

Both depend on how old you are.......... The T engine and transmission are fun to pull and rebuild...........

I haven't found one easier than the other but there was a steeper learning curve required for the T. The T was my first pre'50's car so I had a bunch to learn. Not hard to learn, just a lot. OK, I'll confess that after a few years I grew frustrated with T coils and switched to a distributor. All the rest was fairly easy to pick up on and work with. After 30+ years with T's I got my A and while modern enough to seem familiar I found lot's of somewhat amusing little twists to keep it interesting. I rather enjoy working on both of them.

For me the A is "easier" but I enjoy learning and working on the T! I grew up fixing 50s-70s era cars, the A is the same technology. Points, coil, carburetor, single disc clutch, drum brakes, balloon tires, etc. I have rebuilt several with standard hand tools.

I have only owned a Model T for 3 years. A lot of the "technology" is different, and I have already gathered some must have items, like a wheel puller, and bearing sleeve extractor. I have done a lot of listening to local club members and poring over Google search results. I just checked my 4th connecting rod bearing with a 3 dip pan, let me tell you that is no picnic...

Both machines have an equal supply of replacement parts. Creative use of baling wire, duct tape and tie wraps will repair either at roadside. Good luck whatever you choose to work on.

Jim had it right. It's far more entertaining to work on a Model T than a Model A.
If the car trouble gremlins show up at my house, they have to just mope on the workbench and wait for something to happen.
The generator gremlin, the last I saw, the cat was carrying him around. My T doesn't have a generator.
The water pump gremlin? He has been sleeping in the lower left drawer of the toolbox. I made him a little bed out of cotton shop towels. My Model T doesn't have a water pump.
The Starter gremlin? He's outside twiddling this thumbs by the rain barrel. I don't have a starter either.
The carburetor gremlin? Well, he's hopeful, but very depressed, and spends most of his time sobbing in the corner. I feel really bad for him. My T DOES have one of those, but it's so simple, every time he tries to climb in to cause some trouble, he falls out the other side. So sad.
Tire gremlin? My tires have been on since 1998, and I've never had a flat. I think he relocated to Florida to live with his elderly mother gremlin.
I DO have a rubber chicken attached. but I haven't seen the gremlin associated with that. I'm not even sure there is one.
Guess I'll just go out and take a wooden stick and see how much gas I have left. Not much else to do right now.

I really enjoyed your post, Bill. You’re very kind to the gremlins. My no-water pump, no-starter T shipped from ‘way back East a few years ago. Any gremlins it had hanging about just waved goodbye.

I've owned both, but just bought my first T a few years ago.

That having been said, a Model A is probably easier for the novice.

Once you're familiar with a T however, it's quite easy and oddly somewhat similar to taking care of a horse. You can ignore a Model A for a while and maybe forget to service it and still get fairly good results. Do that to a T, or a horse, and it'll let you know.

I like how, when I take the T out, I push it out of it's stall, check the coolant, check the oil, check all the fasteners that might come loose, give the grease cups a little turn, pat it on the radiator, talk to it a little bit, then start it up. The T endears itself to you...like a horse, and sometimes makes you mad....like a horse.

With the T's ignition and planetary transmission, I would say from from the stand point of working on A's too, the A. True the A has a lot more parts, but is still like working on a more modern car re how things work.