MTFCA Forum

Some great guys on here have a photographic memory and a great collection of trade books. I’ve seen these in the past, but always thought they were homemade ends for the frame. That is, until I kicked up this NOS unit. Looks like it slips right over the head of the vertical pan bolt nut. Any idea of the maker? We may think of simplifying the ones we make, but we always like to give credit to the original producer.

I have one identical to yours but no name anywhere. Don’t put it too tight, it is merely a backup safety device only. Frank

Beautiful , thanks Ed!

Frank, I’m intrigued by your statement “don’t put it on too tight. It’s merely a backup device.” it has long been my intention to affix a belly band under all my Model Ts to primarily take stress off pan ears. As such; I bottle jack the engine at the oil drain plug a little less than 1” and install its belly pan. I also insert a cutoff rubber from a truck mud flap between the crankcase and belly pan. Of course it has a hole cut out in the center for oil changes. Am I doing something wrong ?

One hook goes in the left belt loop of your pants and the other goes in the right belt loop of your pants and then you tighten the screws until it pulls your belly in enough to button your pants! At least that's how I use my belly band.

George, there were a lot of gadgets on the market in those days to improve your T. I bought this as a cutesy for my car many years ago and the gentleman told my it is merely a backup support. I bought it because I liked the looks only, but it could possibly save me if the pan arms actually break. The advertisement above states it will stop the rattling and so forth and make the car smooth and pleasant to drive. It is merely affixed to the frame in the same place as the pan ears and the frame and if the car was running rough it will still run rough after this pan support is installed. Putting a inner tube piece between the support and the pan might keep it from chafing the pan but it won’t make the motor run smoother. It is a nice looking, just in case the pan arms break, idea only in my opinion. The inner tube idea is good but I was told to install it firm but not crush the pan up. I am getting my motor rebuilt at the moment but will be reinstalling the pan support again, just in case I break a pan arm and the conversation value of the thing.
Please, someone prove me wrong. Frank

Frank
I use these on two of my T's. They help by giving better support to the engine crankcase. My '27 doesn't need a belly strap, as Ford recognized the need for this support, and added bosses to the rear of the block, with angled supports going to the engine frame mount bolts.

On my T's Ford parts are also used, both bolts and wood block at the frame mounts. With the belly strap, weight and torque thrust is more limited by the grip of the belly strap under the crankcase, and the support rods to the sides of the frame.

Remember, the T '3-point' suspension is fine for the give needed to allow frame twist on dips or culverts, drive way cuts and other obstructions to a flat road. The belly straps don't prevent that flex, but do add bit more support to keep the drive train in-line. All forward action underway, shifting to high, etc. throws twist to the engine, and all braking too.....causes twist to the engine.

Pioneer made a later change to the forked style, which I prefer, as it is easy to thread up and around the crankcase ear.

Very interesting ....thanks for all the responses. Now I’m somewhat confirmed by my above-described technique. Rivets and braze after 100 years coupled with metal fatigue incentivizes me to partially remove weight on the 2 crankcase ears with a belly strap. And I do believe the 1/4” hard rubber between the belly strap and crankcase cuts down on vibration.. thanks all !

My drive to make these was getting an engine back from rebuild and catching a very small hairline crack in the pan arm. These can be still found used, but often the threaded portion is in bad shape. iMHO they should be snuggled up so they don’t move, otherwise the threaded portion will be damaged again with movement. That is our reasoning for providing ours with a thin piece of neoprene rubber glued to the bottom saddle. Regular rubber will not survive oil very well, in case you have one of those rare lizzies with bladder leakage. We have sold quite a few, available only through Snyder’s and Lang’s ( sorry, shameless plug )

Dan Treace - I should probably make this a separate post, but then again, might be that this is a good place to ask a question of you (or anybody else) that might have had experience that would answer my question:

I bought a '26 touring that has an original iron Warford already installed. It works very well, however, it has no extra support for all that weight hanging off of the back of the engine/trnsmission. Langs sells an extra support bracket for the Lane Warford, however, at a price of $349.95, I'm wondering if this belly band engine support could be adapted to support my original iron Warford instead. In fact, I could install a belly band engine support under the engine as recommended, and I'm wondering if I could/should install a second belly band support right under the Warford for support. Do you think a second belly band engine support could be ADAPTED for support dirctly under my original Warford, and would that be a good idea? Two belly band engine supports at $99.00 each would only cost a bit more than HALF of the $349.95 cost of the accessory Warford support bracket that Langs sells. What do you think???

First you will need the support, that is a big chunk of iron hanging off the four 3/8 bolts. 2ed, I would be pulling the transmission and checking the input shaft. Without the piece that goes between the cast iron Warford and back of the T transmission, the input shaft is smaller then the hole in the tail shaft. Unless some rework has been done on the transmission input shaft, not good outcome. I saw a photo of one that the output on the T end, the hole was now round.

Harold,
Many of us with the Alum and CI ones have made our own support brackets for the Warfords. You can make it as simple or complex as you want but I think a very good idea even for the alum ones!

Here is an accessory belly strap for the Warford, seems to be a fairly easy piece to duplicate today.

Thank you Mark, Gene and Dan. On one hand, lots to think about here. On the other hand, I think you're right Dan,....I may be "over-thinking" all of this, and it does appear that what you posted looks to be pretty easy to duplicate, an as Gene says, many guys just make their own support. Seems like even I should be able to come up with something that'll work! Thanks again guys,.....harold