Let the harvest begin!

I am happy to say the 1921 Model T I purchased in Brockville, Ontario is safe and sound in my garage. I rented a 12/6 covered trailer from my local Uhaul. With the help of the seller we loaded the frame along with the engine, transmission and front/rear axles. It was quite heavy, I used my Buick Rendezvous to tow it home and lets just say that for a trip that normally would take one tank of gas it turned into three full tanks. Regardless, the trip was success!

Canadian built Ford Model T

I didn't know this until I first laid eyes on my 21 T, but the engine block was stamped "Made in Canada".  The Canadian Model T's are rare, and when fully restored are worth a considerable amount more than the American version. The engine block that came with 21 T is cracked and it's really not worth attempting to restore as it's in really rough shape.

Here is the major difference between the Canadian vs American Model T:


Early American Model T's came as a three door car meaning that the passenger door and two rear doors were functional. The driver side door didn't open. From what I have read Henry Ford mandated that driver door on all Model T's not open as a safety measure to prevent the driver from exiting the car into traffic. Another reason was the hand break/gear shifter. Imagine sitting in the drivers seat and on your left side is a large metal rod coming out of the floor. This made it difficult to enter/exit the car.

Canadian Model T's however came as four door models with the driver side functioning as a regular door.  These models still had the problem of the hand break/gear shifter being in the way, but at the time Canada was still using the British "right hand" drive in many areas of the country. To accommodate this, all four doors were functional.

Another interesting fact I found was the first Model T to cross into the USA from Canada was by rail. The tires were removed from the rims and the car was placed on a railway track and drove to the US over the railway as there were no roads to take at that time.

Enough history, lets get back to my Model T!

Here I am unloading the front axle.

This a nice shot of what I purchased. Believe it or not there is value in this. Notice the pedals coming out of the transmission. These are hard to find.

Yesterday I was finally able to start working on harvesting this new T. Below is the transmission cover I was able to pull off. It wasn't easy, almost a hundred years of rust. This piece is hard to find. When I first saw it in the original pictures I new buying this car was a good deal . I don't know of any companies that sell clones of this part. I did find some people in the US that were selling used ones between $400 - $600 without pedals. I only paid $500 (including gas and trailer) for this Model T, basically if the only thing I use off this car is the transmission cover I got a deal. Rest assured I will be using quite a few parts off this T. 

My brother was over helping me and he pulled off the rear brake drum.  The drum I can use, but the pads and springs I will need to purchase which is fine because I can order those new. The below picture is a little dark but you get the idea:

Here is a nice shot of the transmission without the cover. I have all these parts already, but it's nice to see one actually put together. It makes a good reference, also if needed I could use these as replacement parts.

My Dad was kind enough to purchase me a nice propane heater for my birthday! It's 40,000 BTU's and is great for when I'm working in the garage. Here is a pic:

As I mentioned before the engine block is cracked on this motor rendering it useless. Once I remove the block from the frame I will send it the local scrap metal company. It's a shame, but the downfall a lot of these guy's who restore cars have is maintaining a high level of clutter. Clutter only distracts you from the end result and as I have said before this isn't a lifetime restoration project. I have set certain deadlines and I intend on keeping them. Otherwise whats the point.

Until next time.......... Adam

Tin Lizzys

I mentioned in my last blog post about a company in Buffalo, NY that sells Model T parts. It turns out that although their selection is great, they do not carry every part. Some "T" parts you just have to get original. 

On Thursday, my first Model T part arrived from El Paso, Texas from my good friend Armando Villalobos. I found him on Ebay and purchased an original radiator fan! This is not a reproduction, this bad boy is original with FORD script:

You can purchase reproduction fans, but you can't purchase the attached "pully" system with it so this was a great find.

Keeping in the spirit of original parts.........I am now the proud owner of not only one Model T, but two!

(hence the plural blog post title "Tin Lizzys"

This week I purchased a 1921 Model T. It's currently in a field in Brockville, Ontario so in the coming weeks I will be towing it to my house to strip off as many parts as I can to use for my restoration project.

Here's the story on the 21 T:

Last week I came across this Ebay auction for a 1921 Model T. I placed my highest bid and the auction ended with the reserve not being met so I didn't win. I put a low bid in hoping to get lucky but it just didn't work out. A few days later, the seller contacted me and asked me if I was still interested in the car and if I wanted to make deal........advantage Henderson. 

After a bit of negotiating, we agreed on a price and now it's mine.  

Here is the original auction description

1921 Model T - The Frame is in good condition for what it is, but the front axle is not attached but is in"rolling condition". it has the whole back suspension and front, original drive train, transmission (pedals still move), rear axle, engine black (cracked), and has one running board. it also has all the other attachments that you see in the picture. there is also 1 spare tire with it, as well if u do need extra wheels i do have some for sale. 

Below are the pictures they are a tad grainy - Don't Laugh:

The above picture is what caught my interest. I am missing the transmission cover, pedals and oil pan screws (all in the above pic). These items can't be purchased re-manufactured. 

This comes with five wheels which are all in horrible shape, but it doesn't matter because all I need is the  hub assemblies which all seem to be intact. Other notable parts I can use are the engine mounts, bolts, fender arms, possibly the lone running board, battery box, u joints, and rear suspension mounts. 

Soon it will be time to break out the old angle grinder and wire wheel to start blasting off the rust. 

Two new developments.............

1. I sent out my engine head to Car Quest in Kitchener. They have a machine shop and they are going to machine the engine head and test it to make sure it has no cracks. Here's a pic I took just before I dropped it off:

Next blog post I will have an updated pic of the head all nice and machined! 

2. I talked to the owner of local Radiator shop in Kitchener (right around the corner from Car Quest) about testing and possibly recoiling my rad. 

Phillips Bros Radiator on Charles Street (http://www.philrad.com/).

Lucky for me this company has been in business since the 50's and is familiar with this style of rad and has assured me they have the knowledge to get it in working order.

Stay tuned! Thanks for reading and if any of the above doesn't make sense it's probably because I have been drinking and blogging. It's Friday give me a break.

Here we go!

Ok, so much for "trying" to post every week. I will at the very least give a monthly update.

I have made some progress since my last post!

First off, lets quickly talk about headlights and brass just as an update. I went to Princess Auto and purchased metal cleaner and low and behold was able to get the brass from the headlights nice and shiny.

Now as you can see, from this picture the top has come out fairly decent. The next step is to actually boil the entire lamp in hot water and baking soda. Brass is a soft metal so the heat from the water will expand the metal allowing the residual paint that won't come off with the metal cleaner to peel right off (hopefully). Once that is done I can take a metal polish to even out so the tiny nicks and scratches that have accumulated over the years. I have been going to thrift shops trying to find an old pot to buy so I can boil this metal, but have had no luck. I think I will just buy one from Wal-Mart I think they are only like $20 bucks.

Let's talk Suspension!

As stated in my first post, the goal for 2012 is to get the car mobile. I am not going to worry about the body and everything else that goes with it until 2013. The first order of business is to get the original wood body kit off the frame of the car. This is very important because the suspension, drive shaft etc are heavy items so you need to be able to move the frame with ease. The body kit that came with the car is an additional 100 plus lbs at least, so this will make things easier once it's off the frame. 

Here is the before picture (with body kit):

Here is today's picture (just the frame):

If you look at the rear of the frame you will see to U joints that actually hold the rear suspension in place.

Below is a better picture, the screws hold the plates to the U joints and that's what  holds the entire back end of the car. Very simple, the only thing is that the leaf has to line up perfectly in the frame or you won't have your wheels aligned correctly. The leaf is surprisingly heavy and fitting it to the the frame is difficult. The Ford Model T handbook says the best way to get it in is using a jack, so stay tuned. 

The front suspension is less difficult, it only has one U joint in the centre of the leaf. At this time I don't have that U joint so I am going to need to make some purchases. 

Next month I am going to take my family down to Buffalo, NY for dinner at Cracker Barrel and to make a stop at Mac's Antique Auto Parts. This place sells everything Model T. I can buy any part I need (remanufactured of course) to complete this project. What's great is they use the original Ford part numbers on their website, so I have been able to tag the parts I have with part numbers. I am in the process of coming up with a list of parts I need, but it's a bit tricky because they sell individual parts and kits. In some cases the kits are better and cheaper than trying to use pieces I already have. This trip to Mac's I plan purchasing the parts I need for the suspension to be completed (front and rear) as well as hub assemblies so I can get the wheels attached to the car. 

All I want for Christmas this year is to get the wheels and suspension on the frame, this will put me ahead of schedule in 2012.

http://macsautoparts.com/

Tks Adam 

The Journey Begins!

Last week I stopped at the service centre in Ingersoll, Ontario for some lunch. It's a big place with a Wendy's, Mr. Sub, TH, and an Esso Station. So I'm sitting there about to bite into my sub and I just happened to look up and low and behold the above picture was just staring me in the face. You could have knocked me over with a feather, my exact words were "oh my god that's my car". This came as a bit of a shock to the few people who were around me eating their lunch because I was sitting by myself. I quietly wrapped up my lunch and went over to take a picture. As you can see from the photo this mural is quite high in the air and doesn't really catch the eye unless your looking up. I start taking pictures, and next thing I know I have a small crowd of about two or three people also looking up trying to figure out what I was taking a picture of. I thought I would share this story because since I have started to read and learn about this Model T I find myself having more and more moments like this. 

Let's talk Lights and the Henry Ford Museum!

The 1914 Model T was equipped with five lights to my knowledge. All the lights were in brass cases for this particular year. The two headlights on the front attached to the rad were powered by a small gas generator that sat on the drivers side fender. I don't have the generator, but I have found the original head light brass cases (with no lights). 

The top of these lights say"Model 66" which is actually a set of lights. They were used on the 1913 & 1914 Model T. As you can see from the picture they look a little rough, but in reality they are not to bad. They seem to have some black paint and what looks to be lacker on the outside. The plan is to just buy some heavy duty brass cleaner and hope for the best. I have priced these lights online and they can range anywhere from $200-$600 for the pair depending on the condition. 

The above picture isn't the greatest, but you get the idea. These are the oil lamps that go on each side of the windshield. They have wicks, and basically you just fill them up with oil and light them up. You will notice these lights are square, most Model T's have round oil lamps but in 1913/14 they were square. These lights are in better shape than the headlights. The square part will be repainted black and the top and bottom will be cleaned with the brass cleaner and hopefully will shine again.  I have priced a pair of these between $500 - $1000. They are a little more rare because they were only used for two model years.

The above light is the last of the five, can you guess where this goes? Believe it or not this is the tail light. It is also has a wick and is powered by oil. This light is probably in the best shape of the five. It has a red lens and a green lens. Not sure what the green lens is all about. It's a really good thing I have this light because they are rare and expensive. Same as the side lamps I will repainted the square part of this lamp black and the bottom and top will be cleaned with the brass cleaner. I have priced this one light between $500 - $1000. 

I'm not 100% sure what these lights are. I believe they belong to a late Model T or even a Model A. All I know is they are too high tech for my car! 

Henry Ford Museum  - Dearborn Michigan 

Back in 2005, I had the chance to take my family to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn just outside of Detroit. I am thinking it might be time to go back. The place is truly remarkable to say the least, especially if you like history. 

A few of the highlights that stick out in my mind are seeing the US presidents limos. Beginning with FDR  right up to Bush. They even had the limo that JFK took his last ride in. I got to sit in the "Rosa Parks" bus, see the "Wright Brothers" glider, Thomas Edison's lab,  and I could go on and on. One thing I did miss was the Model T building class. They have a class that is free with admission where you are given a Model T in pieces and they show you how to build it. Here's a link:

http://www.thehenryford.org/events/buildAModelT.aspx

That's a picture of Quinlan my oldest son in front of JFK's limo (yes that's the final ride). That roof does come off to allow it to be a convertible. 

This picture is of my younger son Carleton with me in front of FDR's limo. I must say this one was my favorite. It's a beast to say the least, and you can guarantee it's probably 80% steel.

Ok well that concludes this weeks blog post. I will be back next week. From now until the new year, I will keep posting blogs like the above. Right now I am really just in the search and discover mode. The more I learn, the more I will post.

Tks Adam 

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

The T has arrived !!!!!!!!

The above picture is the last section of the Model T frame leaving "The Seegmiller" house on Sept.10/11. I rented a uhaul trailer and was going to tow it to Kitchener using my Buick, but thought it would be better to pull it using a Ford.

History Model T 1908 - 1927:

This car is not only a important piece of automotive history, but an important piece of American and Canadian history. This is the car that motorized North America and quite frankly the world. It was the first car to be mass produced on an assembly line and priced to sell to the average middle class family. The sure simplicity of this machine is what made it such a great success. Over the span of almost twenty years, 15 million Model T cars were produced world wide. Henry Ford insisted that year to year changes of the Model T be minor only so that parts for the car would never go obsolete and be interchangeable throughout the years. That is why almost a hundred years after these cars were being produced by Ford in Detroit and Toronto they are still being reproduced and or restored by everyday people.

Ford's most memorable quote regarding the T was "You could have any colour you want - so long as it's black". Interesting fact is that the early Model T 's 1909 - 1913 came in all different colours. It wasn't until 1914 that the Model T began being produced in black only.

Model T 1914 Touring

The car I have, or probably more fitting to say is the car parts and frame I have is a 1914 Model T Touring.

Quick history:

The touring model consists of three doors, two front headlights, two oil side lamps, seating for 5 and a convertible top. It was powered by a four cylinder four cycle 20 horsepower engine. Top speed of the "T" is approx. 70 k/m per hour. The original purchase price was $550.00. Henry Ford promised to refund $50.00 of the purchase price if he sold 200,000 cars. He made the quota and issued refunds to all everyone who purchased a Model T that year.

The above picture is the frame of the car arriving in Kitchener at my house.

This car orginally belonged to Stewart Seegmiller, who was great man that we lost suddenly back in 2010. He owned this car for a very long time. I am still trying to piece together the history of it. I didn't speak much to Stew about the car in these last few years. I do remember that it was orginally supposed to be completed in 2003 before my wedding. At that time the car was sent to be restored by a father/son team up north somewhere (I think it was Barrie). Tragically the son died of heart attack during the restoration and the father passed shortly after that.  Stew, my younger brother Andrew and their friend Dwayne went up North with a cube van to get the car after they got notice about the passing. I have heard the story many times from Stew and my brother.
Basically they arrived at this huge garage and there were about twenty people grabbing any car parts they could. I guess they were restoring ten or twenty Model T's at the time. From what I understand they fought their way through the crowd and found Stew's Model T in pieces. They grabbed as much of the car as they could and loaded it up into this cube van and brought it home to Stew's garage. I know Stew was angry, and rightfully so. He dropped off a full complete Model T to be restored and came back with a truck full of car parts. The parts have sat in the garage until this September when I moved them to my house to begin the daunting task of inventorying every piece and trying to figure out what it is I have and what I need to get this project complete.

It's important to me to get this car restored to full working order. I know Stew would have wanted this car completed and I want to see this car completed.

That being said......... once I got all the parts to my house I attempted to place every part that I had in the location of where it would be on the car.

Don't laugh... it's a work in progress. I do have five wheels (one is a spare), an engine, engine head, transmission, radiator, suspension, drive shaft, gas tank, three steering wheels headlight cases (no lights), side oil lamps, rear lamp, coil box, hand break, front and rear fenders, two doors, a horn, and the list goes on. Notable things I am missing off the top of my head is a manifold, pedals, rad fan, a few belts, carborator, spark plugs wires, and a firewall.

As you can see the leather was redone, which was a nice bonus. I don't have the actual seats with springs but this shouldn't be a huge expense. 

This picture is showing the top view of the frame. Notice the coil box sitting on top of the dash panel. These cars didn't have a "key" to start them. They used a magento engine switch, or you could also start the motor with a hand crank at the front of the car. That big cylinder where the front seat goes is the case tank, a 10 gallon tank that takes gas or kerosene. 

Now that's a nice clean windshield. I won't post the before picture, but lets just say it took some elbow grease to get it to shine again! Notice the yellow, somebody painted it that colour. It will be stripped down and painted black again as Mr. Ford intended!

These two shots are of the engine. As you can see the inside of the block has been machined and is looking pretty sharp for being almost a hundred years old. The head needs to be machined or I may possibly trade it for a refinished one depending on cost. I traced the serial number of this motor with records from Ford and it was made in August of 1913 in Detroit.

Here is some other misc. parts I found in a box. I have found a lot of parts that don't belong to the Model T. As I mentioned earlier in this post, when Stew, Andrew and Dwayne packed the parts up many years ago they just basically grabbed whatever they could. That being said I have a lot of parts from other cars, most notably Model A parts. The Model A was the successor to the Model T.


Alright I am going to sign off on this first blog post. This is all still very new to me, but I will try to keep this blog updated as often as possible. I really want to have this car completed by 2014 which will be the one hundred year anniversey. A quick timeline: 2012 I will be focusing on getting the chassis completed with engine wheels suspension. 2013 will be dedicated to the body and interior of the car.

Wish me luck! and if anyone wants to send me any information that might help me on this journey please don't hold back.

Adam