MTFCA Forum

I just received an early hub with the machined step and three holes for mounting a speedo drive gear directly to the hub. I thought the holes for mounting the gear would be threaded but they don’t seem to be. Should they be threaded and if not, how is the gear mounted?

Three screws into the wood.

Do you need spacers?

This is my 11. I have not installed the small driven gear on the swivel. I think the screws and spacers came from Langs. Art

The hub with machined ring is its own spacer. Like Steve shows, you install long-ish, round head wood screws through the holes and into the wood. There are no spacers, and you'd be hard pressed to get the wood to hold so well that you manage to warp or otherwise injure the gear.

Personally, I'd pre-drill three small holes in the wood, drag the screw threads across a beeswax block and sock it down. Done.

Earlier gears like Art's, mount entirely differently and the spacers are a physical necessity to effect the mount.

Good catch Scott! I skipped right over the “machined step” part of the post. Art

An original speedo is great but you can get a GPS Speedo on ebay for about $50. They say it needs 9v but it works just fine on 6V

I am after a period setup. I don’t have all the parts yet but I am rebuilding my wheels so I am taking the opportunity to mount the drive gear on the wheel.

...I am rebuilding my wheels...

Your wheels originally came from the factory with ball bearings. Later, about 1920, Ford changed to Timken roller bearings. The roller bearing cups were easily removed by hitting them from the back with drift and a hammer. But a drift could not reach the low-profile Timken cups. So Ford added notches to the hubs to allow a drift to drive out the Timken cups. When I was planning new wheels for my 1915 I knew I'd be using Timkens (some of the roller bearing parts are not to be had) so I wanted hubs with notches. But I also wanted the hubs to have the machined flange and screw holes for mounting a speedometer gear. Ford never made such a hub. So I used 1917-1918 hubs (a little heavier and sturdier than earlier hubs) to accommodate the gear, and cut my own notches.

My 1915 is not a show car, but I bet if it were it wouldn't lose any points for those "wrong" hubs. The difference in appearance is so subtle I doubt that judges would even notice it.