Brrrrr !!!!

This week's efforts included finishing up the back of the seat and installing the fenders and running boards. Those went well. However, I'm having trouble getting the hood to fit right. I'm not sure if the radiator is a little out of square or just what. Here's a picture showing the results to date....
The next picture shows my helper for the week posing with the truck. Ronney, Karen and kids are at Roosevelt Lake in Arizona for spring break fishing and visiting with Ronney's family, so I have a garage dog for a little while. It was pretty cold yesterday and today, so work was minimal. The low last night was 3 degrees, and we got five inches of snow. The moisture is certainly welcome, but I wouldn't mind if it was a little warmer.

Next week I plan to install the windshields and rear glass and finish installing the hood.

It Lives ! ! ! !

Rossi came up this morning, and after installing the bendix cover and a little fiddling with various things, it fired up. It took a little doing, but with his knowledge of Model Ts and my mostly watching him work, the engine smoothed out and began to purr. We tightened up the screws and bolts to stop the worst of the oil leaks, and greased the fan, which was making a lot of noise. We probably ran it on and off for an hour or so. Then we took it for a spin. He drove first to show me how it's done, then I drove it with him instructing me. After that, he left for home. I'm sure glad he came up to help me, as I would have been in trouble otherwise.

After Galena got off work, she took a couple of videos. They're really big files, so it may take a while to download them. The first one is of starting the engine.... I think I'll keep the starter. It sure makes it a lot easier to start.

And the second is of the Model T coming up the driveway.

Next week I'll work on the hood, try to fix the back of the seat, and maybe put on the fenders and running boards.

More to Come .....

Rossi came up this morning. We installed the starter, but he forgot to bring the cover that goes over the starter bendix, so we couldn't start the engine without it running oil all over everywhere. However, we did turn the engine over enough to get oil flowing and everything lubed. It was pretty dry from sitting so long. We checked the coils to make sure they are working. Everything appears to be a go. He's coming back Friday morning with a cover so we can start it up. I have to go to Albuquerque tomorrow, and will be gone all day.

I had an enjoyable time visiting with Rossi. It turns out that he knew some of the same people I did back in the sixties. He was into super modified racing, so knew Charlie Strance and some of the others that had race cars.

I did work some on the bed. I'm trying to decide whether to rebuild the whole thing or just fix it up enough that I can paint it for now.

I'll update the blog Friday afternoon to let you know how it went. It looks like it ought to go fine.

Musical Chairs

Rossi is coming tomorrow to help me get the engine started. Meanwhile, I've been sandblasting some of the tools that we found in the old garage on the farm last week. I need to put together another parts order so I can put the windshield and the back glass in. I need new gaskets for the glass as well as the "h" rubber that goes between the upper and lower panes of the windshield. I need a number of new screws that go in the door hinges and latches, too. Some of them I can find locally, but a few are odd shaped, so I'll have to get them from one of the Model T parts suppliers. Here's a picture of the tools I've cleaned so far.


This afternoon I spent shuffling things around. I loaded the Model T grain bed onto my trailer with the tractor, then put it on some saw horses under the leanto on the side of the garage. I spent more time hooking up and moving trailers than moving the bed. Here's a picture of the bed loaded on the trailer and strapped down.


This is the bed on the sawhorses. Now I'll be able to take off the metal parts of the bed to sandblast and paint them.


Here's a picture of the rear of the bed with the Kansas antique plate. ELRJ stands for "Earl, Evelyn, Larry, Robert and Joann.


I hope I have time to update the blog tomorrow to report how it went starting the engine.

Makin' Time !!!

I made pretty good progress this week. I completed the majority of the wiring, installed the dash and seats. The carburetor finally arrived today, and appears to be in good shape. I got it installed this morning and put some gas in the tank to check for leaks. There weren't any, so I went ahead and poured oil in the crankcase and coolant in the radiator. Still no leaks !!! So now I'm ready to see if it will run. However, that will have to wait until week after next, as we're going to Kansas next week. I talked to Rossi Morris, and he's going to bring a starter up after I get back and help me see if it will run. That will be a major step!

Here's the engine with the wiring and carburetor in place.


This is the dash. The picture's a little hard to see..... too much black I guess.


And here're the seats. They look good, but I've got to do some work on the top of the back seat. The upholstery was over the metal strip that bolts into the body, so I had to cut some of it off. I'll have to figure out some way to fasten it down better.

I spent most of today cleaning the garage, which was badly needed. There was a lot of dirt and dried mud on the floor from parking muddy vehicles inside over the winter. I may try to work on the seat back tomorrow if I can find some kind of cement to fasten it back down.