MTFCA Forum

I am posting this for Mr. Ben Martin, the Model T Switch Doctor in Tucker, Georgia(right outside of Atlanta). Mr. Ben Martin is having cataract surgery on both eyes soon and is not taking in ANY new switch work for the rest of this month and the month of September. I will provide everyone with an update toward the end of September when he hopes to be able to accept new switch work in October. Right now, he simply can't see well enough for the tedious switch work that he provides for the hobby. Please hold off calling him right now for new switch work. Thanks for understanding!!!

Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin(just FYI to those that don't already know, he can ONLY be contacted by phone - does not have email)

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Ben is the best in what he does. A true asset to our hobby. I pray for success in his surgeries and an easy recovery.

Ben is in for a big surprise!

I had one eye done 25 years ago when I could not even read the big E on the chart top.

I had to go back the next day and have the bandage removed.

I then read the 20/15 very clearly. Even the doc was impressed.

The procedure had improved 5 years later when I left wearing sun glasses and reading the 20/20 line about 30 minutes after the surgery was complete.

I still do not need glasses to read the chart and renew my driver's license.

I did have to use eye drops for a week or two to avoid any possible eye infections.

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I've had both lens replaced in a 2 week interval. No more glasses and no more blurry vision when I wake up. Painless and it took only about 20 mins then an hour for the drugs to wear off.

Highly recommend it. The best part is my insurance and medi cade paid for it.

just sayin'

frontyboy.

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Walt, can you provide us information when Ben will have the operations?

Walt, can you provide an update on when Ben will have the operation and a progress report?

Mr. Ben Martin's surgery for the first eye is scheduled for next week. After recovery from it, he will have surgery on the other eye. Unfortunately right now, before the surgery, he can't see well enough to perform the tedious work that switches require. He told me today that just over the last couple of days he had received over a dozen switches to repair and he will either have to just return them back to the owners or they are just going to be sitting at his house. His hopes are that in early Oct., after surgery and recovery on both eyes, that he can start back on repairing switches and accepting new work.

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I remember one kinda weird thing when I had mine done. They were done two weeks apart, which meant I had some time where one eye had been done and the other not yet. I discovered I could look at a wall, for example, and alternate closing my eyes. The wall became brighter and a different shade with the "new" eye.

That is true in my case too.

The colors went from pastel to brilliant on everything!

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Cataract removal sometimes results in a new interior paint job in the residence. One now see the blemishes that were previously "invisible".

Walt Wise wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 26, 2023 7:48 pm

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Keeping this at the top for others and for my own selfish reason, guess I need to put a note on my computer! I need to send my Fordor's repop switch in to him, it works great on Batt, but I've had it apart and "worked" on it umpteen times on the Mag side and it only seems to last like two or three trips out and starts acting up. Can't figure out why one side and not the other. Crazy. Thanks for sharing this news, he'll be doing fine, they've advanced this so much. My turn on my left eye my doc says in about 3 years!

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I've heard Ben isn't doing well. Too bad. I rebuilt my switch for my '25 myself several years ago, and brought it to Chickasha for Ben to see. He told me he couldn't do any better. Why not give it a try? I even turned down the rivet heads to match the originals, which a lot of people fail to do, so they are the exact same appearance they should be.

Mr. Ben Martin had cataract surgery on the first eye Wed. of last week. Overall, he was pleased and it went even a little better/easier than he thought it would. As it is currently scheduled, the other eye will be done in the last week of Sept., barring any complications. So...it may be deeper into Oct. before recovery of the second eye, but his hopes are he will be able to see well enough for switch work by Nov. Look here for further updates...

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Mr. Ben Martin is still scheduled for cataract surgery on his right eye the end of next week. His recovery on the left eye is getting better daily and he is anxious to have his right eye done so after recovery, both eyes will be in sync and he can get back to "normal"- hopefully with better sight in each eye. So...it will probably be towards the end of October or early November before he will be accepting new switch work. Thanks for understanding!!!

Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin

Mr. Ben Martin has had cataract surgery on the other eye and is now hoping that in a couple of weeks that his vision has stabilized enough that he can resume working on Model T switches. Already he says his vision is much better for distance, without any glasses, but up close vision has a ways to go yet and still may require some refraction lenses. He is looking forward to getting "back to work"! Look here for the next update in another week or so. Much Thanks for understanding! Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin

There are three options with those new cornea lens inserts that I know about now.

You can get them to see long distances without glasses.

I am not an eye doctor, but I took the long distance option 25 years ago and I can still read the eye chart to drive without glasses required.

You can get them to see great closeup without glasses.

Now a newer option is you can get them like bifocal glasses to see long distance or close up looking down.

I was offered the bifocal abut 20 years ago.

Updated Notice - PLEASE Read!!!

Mr. Ben Martin is NOT accepting ANY switches needing work until AFTER the New Year. Customers have continually sent him switches all during the time when he had his cataract surgeries and he is simply overwhelmed with so many switches, he can't "catch up"! If you are expecting a switch you sent to be repaired already, more than likely, you are in for an additional wait. PLEASE give him some time to complete what he already has!!!

Thank You for understanding!!!

Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin

Peculiar thread, not a peep from Mr. Martin, hope he's doing well.

jab35 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 20, 2023 10:09 pm

Peculiar thread, not a peep from Mr. Martin, hope he's doing well.

Much earlier in the thread, this appeared: "(just FYI to those that don't already know, he can ONLY be contacted by phone - does not have email)" If "not a peep" refers to not getting an email from Mr. Martin, that might explain it.

James, you can call Ben or send him a note!

Ben does not do Email.

Thanks, Jim.

Received and responded to your PM, thanks for that as well. Best to you, jb

Updated Notice - PLEASE Read!!!

Mr. Ben Martin is NOT accepting ANY switches needing work until AFTER the New Year, 2025. Due to illness and a backlog of switches that he has been sent over the last few months, he is simply overwhelmed with so many switches, he can't "catch up"! If you are expecting a switch you sent to be repaired already, more than likely, you are in for an additional wait. PLEASE give him some time to complete what he already has!!!

Thank You for understanding!!!

Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin

Walt, I planned to ask Ben's friend at Hershey this week about Ben, but I ran out of time.

Ben has not answered my phone calls for several weeks now!

Please provide us with an update!

Right now Mr. Ben Martin hasn't been feeling well for the better part of the last nine months. He recently had two fairly mild heart attacks over a weekend when I was at his house doing yard work helping him out both Sat/Sun, when on the Sat. he started feeling real bad and I was about to take him to the hospital, but he started feeling better, so I just sat with him a few hours and he was fine, he said. Then the next day/Sun., he started feeling real bad again and this time I got him to go to the hospital. After tests over a three day period, the conclusion was more than likely a mild heart attack on both days. Doctors added two new medications and on the fourth day I took him back home. If that wasn't enough, he has had pretty extreme issues with mobility and a sciatic nerve pain going down his left side to his leg, making it almost impossible for him to get comfortable to be able to sleep at night. So basically, he has done very little switch work and he has a pile of switches that people have just sent him without checking with him first, so he has a large backlog right now, which is growing and growing.

Not to get into a longer story here, but a lady friend bought him an answering machine which I set up for him and thought I had taught him how to use it, but in reality, he rarely if at all checks the messages on the machine until I come over to visit and then help him go through them. I have tried to explain to him that when people leave him a message, they think he will get it that day or at least the next day, but until I visit again, they just sit there on the machine until I help him go through them. Plus like I said already, he can't exactly jump up and get to the phone.

Today, while I was at his house, he wanted me to update this posting which I did. Not wanting to confuse anyone here, I entered the update on a laptop that I setup for him, but he hadn't yet felt like learning how to use it, which may never happen since it has already been about six months.

Bottom line, as I help Mr. Ben go through his answering machine messages every week or so, we always keep the ones on there about people needing switch work done - so he does have the messages, he just doesn't feel well enough right now to do much if any switch work. There is a day here and there where he does work on them, but he has a huge backlog right now, so everyone needs to understand where he is right now - he needs time to get in better health first. Walt Wise

I'm sorry Mr.Martin is experiencing health issues. For the last 35 years have have dealt with heart issues, having what a cardiologist called a "silent heart attack" in the late 1980's and a quad bypass in 2009. Also, like Mr. Martin, I have been dealing with sciatica since 2000.

Now, to get to the situation with the many switch assemblies that people have sent him. As late as the most recent MTFCI Model T Times magazine, an ad that I can only guess that Mr. Martin put in the magazine before his health started going down, IS STILL RUNNING ! People that don't know of Mr. Martin's health situation on an up-to-date timetable, and only get reports, infrequently, on this forum, would automatically think that Mr. Martin's health had improved, since the ad is still asking people to send him rebuildable switches.

I, myself, fall into this category and I applaud Walt Wise for bringing us up-to-date on Mr. Martin's health. If it had not been for this post, I was weeks away from sending Mr. Martin, a box full of switches to him to repair and sell.

Walt, it is great to see a fellow T guy helping another out!
I wish Mr. Martin all the best. Hopfully, this has been completed but.... I hope you two can catalog the switches that have been sent in to make sure the owners are correctly noted should his health continue to fail, they can be reclaimed by their owners.
I recall an issue with carbs that had been sent in for repair & restoration and may have been sold off in an estate sale, after the restorer went on permanent tour, due to lack of cataloging issues.

I just talked with Mr. Ben Martin by phone and he had actually forgotten about the ad in the MTFCI Model T Times magazine regarding switches. Since I don't subscribe to that magazine, I have no idea what it says, but Mr. Ben just told me that the ad was placed a long time ago, only for buying switch cores, so he would have extra parts to fix switches when people sent them to him. He claims it never was an ad for getting your broken/non working switches worked on. He also said he is no longer subscribing to that magazine and expects the ad to be dropped soon.

Anyway, again, he has a backlog of switches people have sent him and he is just not able to work on them right now because of his health. As I said already, there is a day here and there where he does work on them, but for those that have sent him switches already, don't expect them back in the near future.

As far as cataloging switches that people have already sent, if you need them back and working quickly, it might be best to let me know here and if Mr. Ben can't easily resolve you switches' issue, I will help him box your switch up and ship it back to you, so hopefully you can find someone else to make your needed repairs. Either that, or you might be in for a long wait until he is feeling better to work on them.

I am just the "middle man" here with the communication because Mr. Ben Martin currently does no email or postings on this site. Again, yes he does now have a phone answering machine, but almost always, I help him get the messages that people leave. To quote him, "if somebody wants him bad enough, they can just call back - no matter if they have left a message earlier or not". Hopefully everyone understands... Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin

Walt, FYI, here is Ben Martin's MTFCI 'Model T Times' ad from the latest September-October issue, verbatim : " Parts wanted: Help! Help! I recondition Model T ignition switches, 1919-1927, and I need your switch cores - one or 50! Contact Ben Martin" , (his address and phone number are then listed, but I'm not listing them without permission as I don't want to have him have scammer problems).

Well...I will go out on a limb here, without asking Mr. Ben Martin first and say that he has enough switch cores, so I seriously doubt he needs to buy any more from anyone. Again, just my guess, but from what I see in his den/family/TV room, his kitchen, and his basement, he has enough parts to complete at least a hundred switches, if not many, many more.

Mr. Ben Martin has not fixed/reconditioned Model T switches for the money, in fact, he probably loses money on every switch he does work on. As other people that support the Model T hobby making new parts or rebuilding labor of used parts, I read on this site often that it is far from a money making business. Mr. Ben just likes talking to all the Model T owners and repairing/rebuilding/fixing switches is something that he is good at and when healthy, he enjoys it. Believe me, he doesn't make money doing it and even if he did, he doesn't need it at all!!!

As I have said in previous posts, I help Mr. Ben go through his messages on his answering machine, so I hear some of the fairly aggressive messages from some T owners demanding that he hurry up with their ignition switch repair. Even though Mr. Ben is not wanting anyone to send him switches until after the new year, if even then. I am afraid it is time for someone else in the hobby to hopefully step up and take on ignition switch repair.

So...PLEASE everyone, don't keep mailing him switches because you have been forewarned that if you do, you may be in for an awfully long wait. Again, if you have already mailed Mr. Ben Martin a switch or switches, PLEASE contact me and if your switch is not finished, I will help him mail it back to you or for now, PLEASE know that you may be waiting for a long while... Walt Wise for Mr. Ben Martin

Walt Wise, nice of you to help out Mr. Martin. I talked to him a few years ago and he repaired some switches for me. I remember our conversation about the psychology of us Model T types, and how we are willing to tinker and fiddle till we get stuff right. He is a good man and needs a rest. If I wasn't 68 years old, I would think about stepping up. Wish him well for me.

Been there did that My wife n I manufacturing switch backs and contacts for my father n law John Cole Cole’s IGN back in the 70’s -90’s My wife would do 4hrs / day during the week and I would be there all day Saturday & Sundays.

Walt Wise wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:33 pm

I just talked with Mr. Ben Martin by phone and he had actually forgotten about the ad in the MTFCI Model T Times magazine regarding switches. Since I don't subscribe to that magazine, I have no idea what it says, but Mr. Ben just told me that the ad was placed a long time ago, only for buying switch cores, so he would have extra parts to fix switches when people sent them to him. He claims it never was an ad for getting your broken/non working switches worked on. He also said he is no longer subscribing to that magazine and expects the ad to be dropped soon.

Thanks Walt for the updates and help you do for Mr. Ben

Have just contacted the Editor of Model T Times, and was assured Ben Martin's free ad for wanting switch cores, that has been running continuous in the club's magazine, will be removed on the next issue.

DanTreace wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 07, 2024 2:03 pm

Walt Wise wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:33 pm

I just talked with Mr. Ben Martin by phone and he had actually forgotten about the ad in the MTFCI Model T Times magazine regarding switches. Since I don't subscribe to that magazine, I have no idea what it says, but Mr. Ben just told me that the ad was placed a long time ago, only for buying switch cores, so he would have extra parts to fix switches when people sent them to him. He claims it never was an ad for getting your broken/non working switches worked on. He also said he is no longer subscribing to that magazine and expects the ad to be dropped soon.

Thanks Walt for the updates and help you do for Mr. Ben

Have just contacted the Editor of Model T Times, and was assured Ben Martin's free ad for wanting switch cores, that has been running continuous in the club's magazine, will be removed on the next issue.

I was just looking at that ad last night thinking about it and if he was aware that it was still running.