MTFCA Forum

I bought my first T back in late 18 (2018 I'm not that dam old) not knowing anything about them. Since then old "Tinker" as well as the forum and a couple of local T owners (and now good friends) that literally hunted me down has taught me a lot about the cars and the "T" culture. I am not new to tearing apart engines and rebuilds but this is definitely a first for me. I am currently laid up from surgery so I decided to start working on one of the many spare engines I have acquired. Yes I said surgery and yes I know I should not be out in the workshop and no my wife is not home...... Anyway I got the engine up on the stand and dropped the pan and this is what I found.....

This is my first T engine tear down and it gave me a good chuckle so I thought I would share. Anybody else ever have a mouse house inside the pan?

Just be very careful and probably wear a mask as there is a fair risk of contracting HANTAVIRUS!

Yes, I had that too on a spare engine. It must have gone in thru the oil filler cap opening. Ruined the crankshaft.

Haven’t had the mouse problem but after having a Model T sit for two years in a barn that would not start found the whole carburetor filled with mud dauber nests…

Discovered this in a freshly rebuilt engine that sat for several years - I won't "start" anyone's engine that been sitting for a spell without head & lower pan cover removal - not much into "surprises" !

We live on a farm and see this from time to time in old storage containers, bins and etc. Old engines are good places for mice and rats to make a home. Hard to get rid of them if your in the country like we are. Just use common sense when cleaning up their stuff and etc.
Old cars with the remains of headliners in them are the perfect place for them to build their nest and multiply.
You have to use bait or cats to keep them thinned down.

This engine came from a barn in Michigan and was sealed up except for the starter and generator holes. The car I bought out of the same barn was ankle deep in nuts and mouse debris so shouldn't be too much of a surprise I guess. I have a couple radiators I picked up and it looks like they were knitting sweaters inside of them, industrious little bastards.

Crazy what those critters can do in an engine aint it? And, small world, you live barely half an hour west of me. I'm in Erie County.
Maybe next year we can do some touring...we have a lot of guys around here with Ts and we're very active in touring.

Thanks for posting this. It would seem good to me for anyone who is going to install an engine which has been setting around, or even one in a car, unless everything is closed, to remove the inspection cover under the engine and over the transmission and be sure everything is clean before starting. Crankshafts are expensive and could even plug the oil line with debris and ruin the whole engine.
I haven't done that in the past, but only used one rebuilt engine which I bought at a swap meet and was lucky. All others I have installed have been recently pulled apart for repairs.
Norm

I didn't try to start this one.

Steve that's a different form of oil dry right there! Wonder if oil in pan would discourage them?. There was just a touch of oil in mine but it was back by the transmission in the sump and the nest was at the front. Steve's looks like a mouse condo community.

Are you sure that a varmint left that? Some old timers put oatmeal in the crankcase to quiet knocks!
Norm

I've never had a mouse or mice in an engine, but back in 1965 when my Dad and I pulled my Grandfather's (my Dad's father) 27 coupe out of a barn on my Dad's farm, the mice had completely eaten and ruined what was left of the original interior. Cotton batting was everywhere in the car and it smelled to high heaven, the car had set undisturbed in that barn from 1951 (the last year it was licensed and driven by my Grandfather) for 14 years, until it was pulled into daylight in 1965. Even it it still ran (which it didn't), he would have needed to do a frame off restoration, just to get rid of the mouse smell.