Model T Ford Speedster Specials: With Regret......

Friday, 30 December 2011

With Regret......

I have decided that I will have to sell the T Speedster project. I have limited time and storage space at the moment and think it unlikely tht I will have the funds to get it built the way I would like it in the near future.

What you get is a complete 1926 Model T Pig n Ford racer in ex track condition, was last running about 18 months ago and drove around the yard. Still fitted with its original 1926 T motor and 2speed transmission.. I have a dating letter from the Model T Register to verify its originality and make registration simpler.
Currently fitted with a pair of Model A wire wheels on the back which have been welded to the hubs. front wheels are 16" tractor type, I also have a pair of 21" T wire wheels for renovation (see post on blog)

Ignition is by total loss through the original T trembler coil setup, which works okay, I intended to fit a 4cyl type aircraft magneto which will be included in the sale along with the helical gear that I bought to drive it from the crankshaft.

Also included is a Warford 2speed Auxiliary transmission, which will need a repair to the selector lever but is otherwise all in serviceable order.

The T is currently stored near Inverness, delivery can be arranged to mainland UK addresses, or the shipper of your choice.

For more detail please contact me by email steveplowman@hotmail.co.uk

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The Plan .....................

You've got to have a plan!

Started out looking for a Model A engine to fit into a 1927 Austin 10 rolling chassis that I had been offered, I wanted to build a VSCC eligible vintage sporting trials car with a bit of a lean towards a period hotrod. I got put in touch with Phil Wells thru Britchopper Magazine who in turn put me in touch with a guy called Nervous Bob, a deal was just about done then II happened on an ad for the ex Pig N Ford racer and the plan changed!!!
Another deal was done, some bikes n bits were traded and the T arrived on the driveway.
So, the plan is still to build a vintage sporting trials car, keeping as much of the character and patina of the existing '26 T racer, adding some minimal bodywork and making it road legal. Maybe i'll put a roadster pick up bed on the back but, for now I'm going to concentrate on making it run handle and stop!

Tuning a Model T

Cant remember where I found this but its all good stuff!

Just changing the body could add 10 to 15 miles an hour to the top speed.

Sometimes it was necessary to remove a leaf from each spring because of the lighter body, and you had to lower the steering column because the new sporty body sat lower.

If the hot-rodded Model T was to be used for race-track work only, the suspension could be lowered, and there were several ways of doing that. The best way was to have a new front axle made which effectively raised the axle spindles and lowered the front end. A cheaper method was riveting pieces of channel iron on the front of the frame, letting them stick out in front about 5 inches.

The back could be lowered by cutting off the side members in front of the rear axle and installing modified steel forgings.

Hotting up the engine was just as important as changing the body, and there was a lot you could do Ford's early four-banger.

Heavy cast-iron pistons didn't like to rev too high, so aluminum ones could be used. If you were financially challenged and brave as well, you could lighten the cast iron pistons by drilling holes in them! You could do the same to the con-rod, drilling holes in it and carefully dressing it with a file. (Don't try this on your car!)

Raising the compression wasn't hard. You could use an earlier cylinder head with shallower combustion chambers, or you could plane 1/8 inch of the existing cylinder head. You could even buy an after-market sixteen-valve high-compression head for the Model T.

The breathing could be improved by using larger valves, and there were several types of high-speed cams available. For racing, stronger valve springs were recommended but they were noisier and likely to break valves, though you could buy tungsten steel valves as well.

A larger carburetor "say of the 1 inch size" and a larger intake manifold were both par for the course to get more power.

For a free flow exhaust the muffler could be removed for racing, and for road use you could remove the baffles or drill extra holes in them. To get that racing car rumble from the four-cylinder Model T engine, you could run the exhaust pipe into a larger cylindrical amplifying chamber, with a metal cap in the end with several holes drilled in it.

It was good practice to add an auxiliary oiling system and better cooling because of the extra power and higher revs. Better brakes were a must as well. The rear brakes of the Model T weren't that good, so you were looking at around $16 a set for the best aftermarket brakes.

For a moderate price your Model T Speedster could most likely hit 70 mile per hour, and if you wanted to spend more money, you could pick up a few more mph.

So it seems our grandfathers and great-grandfathers weren't all that different to us when they were young. Nowadays young guys hot up engines, upgrade the running gear and change the bodies.

Nearly ninety years ago, when my granddad had returned from the war to end all wars, young guys were hotting up engines, upgrading running gear, and changing bodies. The Ford Model T and the new after-market industry gave them the opportunity.