THE MODEL T PROJECT

Pic of the frame we started with before sandblasting

This is the rear end and drive shaft that was on the original car. Unfortunately we found the axle housing to be bent by about 1/8" so we changed housing but we kept the differential and the drive shaft from the origianl car. We also found some better exels in two other rear ends so we changed thos out as well.

These are the housings we used. We wire brushed them clean and welded up some draing holes. They showed a bend of about 1/32" so that should be exceptable tollerance.

The inside's are pretty simpe and small inside these cars. Also unlike todays cars you can't pull out a shaft with out taking abort the hole assmbly. We made sure everythig fit up well and then lubed her up ready to go back in the housings. We also picked up new brass thrust washers to replace the babbited one's they came with. It is highly recomended to make this switch over on all the rear ends as the babbited one's can crumble and fall into the housings bottom as originally happened on ours.

The drive shaft was in great condition there was no end play on it but we took it apart to check the bearing and replace the thrust bushing. The original thrust bushing was made of babbit and the new one is a cast bronze bushing. The old one was a little worn which is why we decided to replace it but unlike the thrust washers it's not required unless due to wear.

Well here she is all assembled and with fresh paint.

Here is our motor freshly rebabbited and honed. We got extremly lucky with only needing to hone the cylinders. We will be reusing the original cast iron pistons and the origianl cam shaft. I had the crank turned seeing how I was rebabbiting the motor and also decided to put in new valve seats for rewgualr unleaded gas. I picked up new valves and lifters as well. I decided to get the adustable lifters so I don't ahve to grind the valve stems for proper adjustemnt.

I had the head cleaned up and then trrued up the bottom. As with anly flat head design the heads would warp or twist at kleast a little so it's always a good idea to have them shaved down back into square.

Here's the pistons and rods all cleaned up and ready to install. Make sure your rods are straight before you send them out or it may cost a few extra bucks. I also found out that not everyone who babbits the blocks will babbit a rod for you. I did pick up some new style piston rings for the original cast pistons. Fortunately these are easy to get a hold of, all the major part suppliers carry them.

Well Here she is with some paint and getting assembled. First I recomend that you have your block dipped before machining or doing any work for the matter. The reason for this is it will get out all of the old grease and dry out the block. This is very useful for checking the block but also got cleaning your water jackets. Withj the old blocks it is very important to blow out your water jackets to remove any of the left over garbage.

Here's a nice pic showing the valves installed. As you can see I have painted the inside of the block with electric wire insulation (glyptol). The reason for this is not only does it look nice but it will keep your motor cleaner by sealing off your pores from the oil.

Another thing to note, when installing the pistons be sure the bolt on the rod faces tha camshaft. Also if you had new studs put in check each piston after you install it to check for clearances between the cam and the stud. I had to grind down my studs a bit so they would clear the cam.

I finally got the trany and magneto all cleaned up and mounted. I learned a few tricks while doing this and found out some some things not to do. First don't waste your money on new magnets. You cna charge them yourself with your coils and two 12 volt batteries. If you want to know the whole process feel free to e-mail me and I'll tell you how. As far as some things not to do well I found out you do not want to use any steel cotter pins or steel wire in the motor. The reason is if this stuff is dropped or comes out in the motor it will stick to the magnets and tear up your magneto. So go to your local parts dealer and order some brass cotter pins, it will be well worth it if one falls in your freshly rebuilt motor.

Finally it's time to start the reassmbly prcess. I dropped in the oil pan first and then lowered the block on top of it, I found it easier to lign everything up with out scratching as many parts this way. Make sure you take your time doing this and have someone else helping you if not two (this is the last area you want to screw something up on).

Ok so here we are finally at full mock up wood fenders and all. Well this is where things really get interesting. First I came to find I bout a hood for a torpedo, big problem seeing they are much longer, so $300.00 later and a differnt hood were good again. That was just the beginning, now it is normal with all reproduction parts to do some tweaking. The front fenders and aprons had that normal tweaking required. However, the rear fenders was a completlty different story. These fenders had to be majorly worked over as they were off by 6". Yes that is correct I had to move them that much to get the lines where they needed to be. My advice is if you are doing this time ara go with the straight rear fenders then you won't ahve this problem. The floor is made completely from scratch I just drew it up on my own and had at here. It actually isn't as hard as you think just make sure you have enough for two sets of floors. One for your mock-up and one for the final. Another tip is if your pedals were bent at all don't buy the formed pedal trim, you'll be tweaking the pedals alot if you do.

Here is the seat Dad and I made for it. Yes we cut and bent the seat on our own. We also made up our own gas tank to fit inside of the seat base.

Final assembly is always the best part of any project, you're so close you can taste it.

Ok I know I skipped a whole lot here but here it is at my wedding not 100% done but close enough to do.

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