Look what I brought home, now i have never ever thought I would own a model T. But after see a early T speedster Ive had a second thought. A friend and I went to the Bremerton swap meet last fall, and we both had a change of heart. And we are both heavily into taildragging customs. But something about this cute little speedster did something to us, and now we both want one. My friend almost bought the one there but missed out making a offer by minutes. So since then we have been looking at model Ts. I found out about this little jewel though the Totem Model A & T Club. Its a 1926 touring that has been stored away for forty plus years. Someone cut the back of the touring body off and made it into a pickup, apparently this was done during the war for a better gas ration. Now comes the fun part, strip it down and start a ground up build, engine turns over and has compression in 1,2,and 4 cylinder but just hear air moving in #3. Looked in the spark plug hole and exhaust valve not seating, that should be fixable but there is a crack in the top front of the block by the water outlet. Thinking of trying JB weld? I also got lots of parts with it and one of those is a block that was bored and honed .020 that had been stored in a wood box and is still in great shape, this I will build up for the speedster with some traditional speed goodies. I dont get much time to spend on the computer, so Im not sure if I should of started a build tread or not or just post some updates from time to time. I have been looking at some of the other T builds on here and was surprised at how many speedster fans there is on here, very cool guys and gals keep them coming. Now time to get outside and start a shelter for my little sweetie (oops meant to say speedster). Neil
Actually my 48 Merc pickup is in one, but I'm putting up another and move the truck to it. Then I'll put the T in it's place to start the disassemble.
Nice start to a speedster. I too was bit by the T bug and am currently building an early style 25 T roadster. You would be surprised how nicely those fit on an A chassis. Looking forward to the build.
Well back online now that the Christmas holidays are over, and back on the T. Got the tarp garage up and so now will stay dry, found a interesting way to hold it down. Mounted the legs to treated 2x6s and then put some 8ba heads and some T heads on them, probably about 400lbs worth. Hi olskool34, nice T your building. I see what you mean about the A rails, looks good. Im going to stay with the T frame and running gear, I have most of the pieces for a Ruckstell and hope to add a auxiliary trans too. I will keep an eye on your build too. Hi keith27T, I see we are almost neighbours . Maybe coffee sometime and look over some Ts. Hi Beth, I have been following your build too. Im enjoying your enthusiasm and determination to try new things.
Took the head off to investigate the valve not closing and got a nice surprise, and one not so nice. First the not so nice is I found a long crack in the head. The nice part was the cylinders look great, would never know this engine has been in storage for 45 plus years. No ridge cylinder walls are in very usable condition. So fix the sticky valve and maybe a quick lap or two on the valves, clean up one of the spare heads and maybe see if she will fire.
Congrats on the find, I see you've been here a while. I grew up in Whalley and graduated from Q.E. many moons ago. Good to see car addicts from my old stomping grounds show up here on the board. I get out there to visit family on occasion. Have you met falcongeorge on here yet? He is also from Surrey.
Nice project, if you need any parts let me know as I have hoards of T parts Cheers Aiden Vancouver Island B.C.
Cool project. My son and I brought home a '26 T speedster last weekend, waiting for warm weather now.
Yep been in surrey for 50 plus yrs. Is that falcongeorge the same old guy that works at KMS. I went to N.S.S.S. class of 75, hum that seems to have been awhile ago. Time goes by quick.
Cool on the stash, looking for wire wheels and hubs. Might go with A wires and adapters, still looking though.
You are about six years my senior, but I know the former wood shop teacher there at North Surrey. Were you ever a Spartan? Looking forward to the build. I'm still collecting parts, but there may be a speedster in my future too. Next planned visit is for the Coastal Swap meet at the Tradex in May.
Thanks, I try to be safe but sometimes the fun gets the best of me. The T build is getting fun already and I've just started. Wait till I get this thing running, I'll probably piss myself before I get to the end of the driveway.
Nope never made it as a Spartan, spent all my time in shop classes. I'm usually at Coastal Swap meet, inside booth with flathead speed goodies. Look for the club banner(my avatar) and stop by a say howdy.
Got these for the my T speedster. They are 19" Model A wires and turns out they are only a inch lower in height the my 21" tires on the car. The treads are almost 100% and the spare has never been used. All the wheels are in great shape need a little touch up on the paint and they are ready to roll. Got all five for $500 and also got the chrome hub caps too. I wasn't planning on running Model A wheels but when I looked into T wires I would have to get different hubs as the wood wheel hubs are different from the wire wheel hubs. So the wire wheel hubs are about $500 for a set and then tires and wheels I figured that would run me another $1500 - 2000. I will need adapters to run the model A wheels but I can get them for $350, puts me in around $850 and that affordable. One day I might move up to bigger wheels but for now this will get me closer to the road, and that what it about anyhow.
Looks like a good start. I have only been building mine for 20+ years. Keep the enthusiasm and it will get done quickly….
You got a good deal on the tires, i payed that much for four tires ,and then there was tubes $ then liners $ , ho i forgot the guy at the tire shop said i could get them from Snyders for less than he could get them( nice guy right?) then when i took them to him to mount he charged me twenty bucks a tire to mount them,then after i fork out the $80. he says, he couldn't balance them
I really like the wheels. Good call because those are going to look great on that speedster. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Sorry haven't done any updates, life gets busy. Anyhow I have been doing some work on it, finally got the wires on it. Had to find some wood wheel hubs and get the adapters, boy those wheel bearings are pricey. Than I have been fixing 2 cracks in the block and ground the valves. Hope to put the engine back together next weekend, maybe even fire her up too. Now time to see what all the other T builders have been up to.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308741&highlight=mrmodelt http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=486634&highlight=mrmodeltl Nice start to a speedster project. Posted a couple links to mrmodelt's build sand our build of my speedster. Any question pm Clayton or me.
Hi all. These T Speedsters are popping up all over the place (well, at least here!!) - so glad my pal The37Kid sent me over to the HAMB recently. We have had our '14 T Speedster project for a month or so now, eventually she will be a full fendered speedster, we have an old fire engine seat, which I am thinking for my size will work a bit better than the buckets!! We will be making some period mods to the stock engine but would like to keep her on the mag at least for now. When we bought it, the engine started in 28 degree weather with the help of a large drill in place of the crank (non starter motor) - and she settled right in and ran real smooth on the mag - impressive after a couple year's sleep. Likely going Rootlieb for fenders as we have the Rootlieb hood, which should make for a little easier prep work when it is time to paint. But lots to do before then... Those into T speedsters as well as speedsters of any kind might find this link interesting. (I actually suggested it a couple years ago and the guys over on AACA added this section to their forum) Enjoy. http://forums.aaca.org/f230/ Steve
Thanks Chris, I have been going through all the post on yours and Clayton T's and thoroughly enjoyed them. I have gleamed lots of info from them, you guys have done a great job and helped many more builders through your sharing. I will take you up on the pm when I run into a snag, which I'm sure is not far away.
Well made some more head way. After the crack repair I thought I might as well paint it. So I cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more and then painted. Now start putting it back together.
The Jalopy Journal
