I know it isn’t a model t but this haul from @trevorsworth allows me to put steel wheels on my t, and to be honest it was a great adventure I can’t wait for more, I thought it be a lot but honestly it quite enjoyable thank yall for all the great help figuring out it is a lot of fun can’t wait to see were this road leads. Also cant wait to get the t on the road again so it can be shared for such a great tale it has.
Some kind of adapter needed to mount those A wheels on the T. Not 100% sure on the specifics. We'll get them sandblasted and see what kind of shape they're in.
I had a T about five years ago. It was not running when I got it, although it had been repainted and looked pretty good. I took it all apart and cleaned/painted the chassis, suspension, engine, etc. And fixed all the stuff that was completely worn out. Got it driving pretty well, and discovered it just isn't really practical to drive in the modern world, so I sold it. It was a great learning experience, I'm really glad I had the car. The magneto is kind of built into the flywheel, it sits between the engine and transmission. There are a bunch of coils, and a bunch of magnets. The magnets lose their strength over the decades, so you get to remagnetize them, but that requires taking the car completely apart to get to it! Fun stuff. You can also run it on the battery if the mag is not working, as long as it's one of the ones with a battery. That started as an option in 1919. It runs better on mag, if the mag is working right. The commutator is what you probably think of as the distributor, it connects each of the coils in turn, according to what position the camshaft is in. You adjust the timing (with the steering wheel lever) by turning the commutator housing. There are a few T forums, I found one that provided a lot of help. Also I found a guy in a T club in Tucson who was very helpful, of course he had a lot of used parts laying around that were very useful to me to get mine going (including a non-cracked head). As mentioned, seek these people out while they are still around!
Those are a lot of great pointers I would of never figured that out, thank you so much I’ll make sure to check them out see what else I can learn I want to learn everything on these cars
T wire wheels and A wheels are not the same. T wire wheels and hubs are $$$$$$. You can trim the T spindles off and use Model A bearings and hubs/drums and bolt on A wheels on the front. Rear is a different story. Like buy expensive adapters. A wheels $25 and up each. T wires, $100 each. Dave
Your car is way cool...look at the flat iron bracing for the front fenders.... I am in the 'make it run as is' camp I have rebuilt coils and they are timed....we can communicate. by the time you get a distributor in the thing $ and @squirrel is spot on about a hotter spark....anyway, enough said I run an E-timer in mine...and it is an RAJO OHV conversion...https://modeltetimer.com/ the guys running the Montana 500....a 500 mile race for stock model T's (they even do a tear down tech for the first three places, AVARAGE 53 mph.....yes, I said stock https://themontana500.com/
@Saulman That is the RAJO OHV setup. Big bucks and more complicated than stock. Get yours running first.
I think that RAJO is one of the new reproductions. They are actually F heads I think. Rajo made several different heads, I have a cross flow 8 valve, never had it running though. Same head used on the winner of the 1922 pikes peak race. A poor kid from Nebraska, drove the car to the race and then whipped all the big shots with his little Model T. Next year they put in a weight minimum to keep him out. Noel Bullock, a great story, look it up.
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/106823.html?1253418646 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-history-of-rajo-head-and-ellis.html https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lookin-for-info-on-rajo-head-t-engine.1144647/
Huh... we will check this out. I have a ton of spare A front drums and now we have a handful of A wheels.
Bruce McCalley’s Model T Encyclopedia is available on CD and is an expanded version of his book Model T Ford, The Car that Changed the World. This CD contains extensive and updated information that was not published elsewhere, making it a highly valuable resource for Model T enthusiasts and restorers. It includes detailed technical data, historical insights, and corrections and additions beyond the original book
Just wondering is there any proper way to check coils on a model t I’ve put some in it but they get 12v and just start smoking or nothing at all like there sticking.
I know how to bench test a regular ignition coil, but I'm not sure how to set up a test for the T coils. I still only barely understand the ignition system on this car. We have power to the coil box through the key switch, but the coils do not buzz or spark if one pops the points on them manually. The car has a roller timer. I can't figure out how the points are supposed to work on these things. The coils appear to be energized but nothing is happening. We now have 9(?) coils in total and I would think just by happenstance at least one would work. The wires appear to be all good, we are still just trying to figure out how it's supposed to work so we can diagnose it. Everything has continuity, everything is hooked up right near as we can tell. My best guess is that we still do not have good coils.
not 12 v! https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/599638/655516.html?1467319484 https://www.smokstak.com/forum/threads/testing-a-ford-model-t-coil-with-an-ohm-meter.148480/ https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238698 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL0BtgAfDA8
What is in the electrical system that 12 volts will harm? The generator already doesn't work (the cutout is rusted out). We don't have a reliable 6v battery handy.
When the instructions start with 'use a 6v lantern battery' I assume they do not want you to grab a modern 12 volt battery. I don't have experience in messing with them, so pointed to a number of resources to help guide you guys. I know you are itching to get it going, but you wouldn't jam an old vintage table lamp into a 220 socket to see if it worked, just because that's what's on the nearest wall.
Model T's are also NEGATIVE ground. Besides the good links posted by Rod above, you can always go to google or duck duck, ask a question and include MTFCA in the sentence and its a 99.9% chance someone already asked that, and the answer comes up at the MTFCA forum. Same way I search here, ask a question and include HAMB in the sentence
My friends with A wire wheels on T spindles use the Model A drums/hubs and turn the outside portion of the drums off just past ehw edge of the Model A wheel centers. Threaded end of spindle gets shortened and I believe additional threads extended in. Model A wheel bearings. I'll get more details next weekend. Dave
If I remember correctly, T wire wheel bolt circle is 5" like large GM. Maybe on a fenderless car, 5" to 5.5" wheel adapters with proper spacers for A wheels. I cut rear model A drums centers out of old drums to use as those spacers. Dave
The coils are likely fine after being hit with 12V, when running on MAG the coils can see 25-30VAC at speed. Coils typically have a bad capacitor in them that can be changed out fairly easily, however this job is quite messy. MTFCA forum is great for how to articles on these things. Modifying the T front spindles for A hubs is a bit tedious. The length does need to be cut down about 3/4”, and the threads do need to be extended. Most T spindles have a reduced diameter right behind the threads, so require welding up to provide material for the outer bearing support and additional threads. Spindles are often bent too. Rear wheels must be hung off the T hubs. If you don’t want to spend the money on T wire wheels, you definitely won’t want to spend the money for T wire wheel rear hubs. Adapting to the T wood wheel rear hubs is relatively easy as it is a simple flange with 6 on 5” pattern
Only one actually started smoking and it was one with a rotten case that the points seemed to be rusted closed on... Saul is being a bit dramatic there. That was one we assumed was bad from the start lol. I did some searching on the MTFCA forums before we even started tinkering and the prevailing opinion is that healthy T coils will handle 12v just fine. As Kevin points out the magneto in operation generates a lot more than 12 volts. I do know the T starter can't handle 12 volts as well as the A can, and of course if the generator was any good we would not want to ask it to charge a 12 volt battery. I think the suggestion of a 6v lantern battery for bench testing has more to do with the portability of a 6v lantern battery compared to a 12v car battery. We do genuinely appreciate the warnings, but from what I have learned so far I don't think this is an issue. Of course if the car will run for us it will get a 6v battery, but for testing purposes I have an abundance of hot 12 volt batteries and will use those even at risk of smoking a $7 generator diode before I invest in a good 6v battery until we know the car will run and drive and Saul wants to keep it. If we can get it to pop off it will get a new harness, etc. I have figured out how to bench test the coils. Out of the pile, we have one that buzzes and generates spark. This is using a 12v battery. It was a eureka moment when we got that one to work. Others that look fine do nothing. More research required... We decided to toodle over to an antique store in town that I knew had a bucket of Model T coils when I was in there a couple weeks ago. Closed... for good... and being cleaned out. Ugh.
In testing coils, if they buzz thats wonderful, but really you should be testing the windings to see if the coil winding is good so it can be rebuilt. I have a little coil tester gizmo that runs on a 9v battery, fits in your pocket to carry with me at swap meets. You simply touch it against the 2 side terminals and it'll beep if the windings are good. Then you need a new capacitor. the tester is available at all the T vendors pretty cheap
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