Model T Speedster-pics whose got 'em

Dang!!! If you haven't finished a speedster you don't know what you are missing!

 

Coaltown, get the F.A.S.T. newsletters, from Jim Brierly, if you don't already. There's a large group that build and race speedsters, mostly on the other coast.

 

Collecting the bits and getting a picture of the finished product is lots of fun, cuts out the expence of the restoration.

 

way ahead of you,...been a member for almost two years now. jim's an awesome guy!

yes, see, i was thinking of some east coast action,....something currently lacking to my knowledge??

 

Here's my '26 speedster. I picked it up cheap with a stuck engine. That was an easy fix. Waukesha Ricardo head, aluminum pistons, distributor, 30" wire wheels from Overland, I have no idea what the cowl is. Big wood box body for hauling stuff in while touring around. It ran the perimeter of Missouri in '91. For making kids smile it has a firetruck siren.

I have a 16 valve Laurel Roof head that may go on it one day. Lots of open rockers wiggling every which way would be fun to see! The engine needs major work to withstand the head, although if babied (yeah, right) it would probably last a while.

 

Hope you have an idea how rare those headlights are. They are '15 electrics. Henry, true to form, wanted to use up all the yoke type mounts from the brass lights, so the first few electric lights had the cast brackets to fit on the yokes. When the supply of yokes was used up, the normal stanchion mounts appeared. I looked for a couple of years to find a pair of those for my '15 speedster. Never did.

 

Further to my earlier post and more off the traditional path (sorry), I just found the feature article pages I saved from the March 05 Street Rod Builder on Zane Cullen's gold "32" speedster, which uses the Poliform body, a new Ford I-4 and deuce rails. I really liked this car. The perfect Sunday driver - and it even made the cover. Sorry to say, I can't find any web linx for it - just a few references to it being auctioned off awhile back for a ridiculous amount of $$$. If you have or can find that backissue it's worth a look if you are thinking about building a contemporary speedster for the street. Later, Gary

I thought there might be pix of the car at the builder's shop, but it is presently comatose. http://www.creativeconcepts4u.com/

 

Dean. I agree with everything you said about the early '15 T electric lights.....................but I think the lights on that speedster are Dodge items, just too big for T lights.

 

Question: Who made the wire wheels I see alot of T's running ?

 

Hey Satan- There were a variety of manufacturers that made accessory wire wheels to fit on stock Model Ts as well as racecars and speedsters. The most common are Buffalo which made wire wheels in 30x3 1/2" size for stock style cars and smaller size for racing cars. Other company's included Houck, Pasco, Hayes, Dayton, American Wheel Corp, etc.Most of these wheels were the knock-off style wheel which had a large center nut that held them onto a specially made hub. Others, such as Hayes had demountable rims.
In 1926, Ford introduced a 21" welded steel wire wheel as optional equipment. Many people adapted these to earlier Model Ts-both stock cars and speedsters. These are very similiar to the 1928 Model A Ford wheel except the center is slightly smaller. Today, people building speedsters and racecars try to find these to put on their cars as they are much easier to find (they even repro. them now) and less expensive than the accessories types (like Buffalo, etc). A good set of Buffalo wheels could be well in excess of 5Ktoday, while the 1926-1927 Ford style wheels could be had for around a 1,000-1,500.00.
The photo you have posted is of one of the most legendary Model T racecars in existance. This original racecar is powered by an overhead camshaft Frontenac cylinder head. It was discovered and owned for many, many years by Chris Eggsard of California. He mounted in on this 1920s era Model TT truck and drove this to many So Cal events during the 1970s and 1980s. Chris was one of the first people I met in the old car hobby as a kid and was one of the true legendary collectors of all time. He was known by his friends as Billy Poobah and raced another Fronty powered speedster for many years at the Shell Hillclimb in Long Beach, California where he earned the prestigious King of the Hill trophy at least once.He passed away about five years ago and his collection was sold. I believe this car has Dayton wire wheels.
Let me know if you have any other questions!- GZ

 

Thanks for teh info,,would love to see more detail pix of the car but could'nt seem to find any

 

I think you are right. I didn't click the pic to see the larger version. The mounts are on a rod type light bar that is non Ford. . The yokes are like a T, but yeah, they are bigger than Ford lights.

 

'37 Kid, I have to disagree. DB didn't have mounting like that, always had a center mount underneath the headlight. The headlight rim is not DB either.

 

Gas4blood any better pictures of your Speedster? On Gas4blood speedster the headlight bar is a 27 T modified for the overland lights, The headlights are 1914-1917 Overland. the grill shell and hood is 26-27 T. the front axle is 25 or olderT 26-27 spring. the front fenders are 23-25, the upper and lower windshield is 26-27 T open car, front apron is 26-27, horn is A model

Here is a 1914 Overland Speedster

 

Good eye Speedsterinc, I thought Johnnie Cash only built Cadillacs? It's a '15, '16, '20, '23, '24, '26, '27 Model T. I like it!

 

any info or pix on these quick change wheels hubs? and set ups

 

so are those lock/guide pins in what looks like a bolt pattern ?

 

here is a pic of a larger Hayes setup. Yes, guide pins(these are worn).
The Hayes knockoff caps have a lock thing that dogs into teeth inside the wheel center hub. The teeth look just like syncro teeth in a trans. The Hayes wrench pushes in on the lock deal to release it.

This old stuff is neat as hell. SORRY FOR THE BIG PIC

 

Thank you got it now

 

btt,....keep that speedster history and info coming!!!

great stuff on the Buffalo wires, etc.! Those were many of the same questions I've had,..glad we have such knowledgable fellas here!!

 

So by looking at that , A stock Model T hub could be used to mount the wheels if you installed proper guide pins to fit the wheel ?

 

Are talking about stock wood spoke hubs or the 26-27 wire wheel hubs? What would you hold the wheels to the hub with? The threads for the hub cap wouldn't be strong enough on a wood spoke hub.

 

Could'nt you thread the end of the stock hubs?

 

From what I understand the car hasnt been off of the truck in many many years.

 

That's a real shame!!!

I'd be magnetically drawn to it if it was in my garage!!

I'd do everything in my power to get it running, restored and roaring down the dirt!!!

 

Heres what you got for the front hubs and the rears are different with having the drums attached. There not enough meat to them. The strenght for the T hub comes from having the wood spokes sandwiched between the back flange on the hub and a front flange.

The stock ford T hubs can be redrilled for use with a Chevy disc wheel. Utilizing the front and back flanged with the disc sandwiched between.

 

."....and now,...the rest of the story."

-Paul Harvey

 

To put it in a nut shell. You would be better off machining a new hub that fits the wire wheel properly and safe, or get the correct hubs for the paticular wheel.

 

How would you go about finding the correct hubs to fit the particular wheel,...other than the normal routes of the swap meets...?

and,...

what would you be looking for exactly?
Thanks