# YAY!  We got the Ford Model T to run!



## quads (Jun 13, 2012)

Check it out, we got my Great-Uncle Clifford's Ford Model T to run! Runs pretty good too, for 90 years old.


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## fishingpol (Jun 13, 2012)

Very cool. A piece of auto history right there.

I happened upon this site earlier in the year.  

http://modeltfordsnowmobile.com/indexPastMeets.htm


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## quads (Jun 13, 2012)

fishingpol said:


> Very cool. A piece of auto history right there.
> 
> I happened upon this site earlier in the year.
> 
> http://modeltfordsnowmobile.com/indexPastMeets.htm


We have a 1930 Model A snowmobile also, that is currently on display at the local antique club.  The antique club claimed it for their own after my cousin passed away.  We told them that we wanted it back, we have the title for it.  They say that since it is in their possession our title means nothing.  And they have no paperwork to show my cousin donated it, and it's not even mentioned in the meeting minutes.  Which is because he did not donate it, just loaned it to them for display.  The estate's lawyer is pursuing it now......


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## velvetfoot (Jun 13, 2012)

WAY COOL!


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## begreen (Jun 13, 2012)

That's a fancy one, with white walls no less. I'm surprised the tires are still viable. Love the simplicity of the Model T design. It's a hoot that you got it running again. How long has it been asleep?


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## quads (Jun 13, 2012)

begreen said:


> That's a fancy one, with white walls no less. I'm surprised the tires are still viable. Love the simplicity of the Model T design. It's a hoot that you got it running again. How long has it been asleep?


This one has only been asleep for around five years.  So far we got several other cars to run that have been setting for 20-30 years.  Including the 7 Litre Ford Galaxie!


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## mywaynow (Jun 13, 2012)

Is that the Galaxie on the left?  Thought that was an Impala.  Looks like the T pitched a bit going through the tunnel turn.  Might want a 1/2 turn of wedge on the passenger side!


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## MasterMech (Jun 14, 2012)

That thing is a time-machine for sure!


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## quads (Jun 14, 2012)

mywaynow said:


> Is that the Galaxie on the left? Thought that was an Impala. Looks like the T pitched a bit going through the tunnel turn. Might want a 1/2 turn of wedge on the passenger side!


That is one of the many Galaxies on the left, but it's not the 7 Litre.  That's a 1965.

HA!  Half turn on the wedge............


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## granpajohn (Jun 14, 2012)

quads said:


> That is one of the many Galaxies on the left, but it's not the 7 Litre. That's a 1965.............


 
Quads, I love your posts, but would you mind not referring to that 429 (I guess) as a "7 Litre"?
That sounds so modern;... so....Canadian.
(IIRC, it wasn't metric even in Canada back in those days)

EDIT: forget what I said. Ford called it that. (tried to attach a picture.)


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## fossil (Jun 14, 2012)

They all came from Ford with a "7 litre" badge on the driver's side of the grill.


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## granpajohn (Jun 14, 2012)

I retract my comment then.

Hmmm, looks like I was wrong about the 429 even...:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/08/curbside-classic-1966-ford-galaxie-500-7-litre/
(This is a pretty good writeup)

ETA: A full read of that link somewhat explains why the auction house estimated such a high price.


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## fossil (Jun 14, 2012)

If it (the 7-litre convertible) was a 4-speed rather than an automatic, it'd be much rarer and worth a bunch more...but it's a Ford collector's dream just as it is.  My cousin has a '66 Galaxie 2-door hardtop that he's real proud of...when I showed him a pic of quads' 7-litre convertible, he swooned.


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## firebroad (Jun 14, 2012)

What a BEAUTY!!


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## fossil (Jun 14, 2012)

Somebody's gonna LOVE gettin' their hands on that beautiful, straight, complete, running, original Model T.  My bet would be that it ends up absolutely impeccably restored...there are some real perfectionists out there looking for cars like that.  Rick


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## quads (Jun 14, 2012)

These are the pics that the auction people took this morning of the 7 Litre (yes, that's what Ford called it, HA!).


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## ScotO (Jun 14, 2012)

quads said:


> These are the pics that the auction people took this morning of the 7 Litre (yes, that's what Ford called it, HA!).
> View attachment 68671
> View attachment 68672
> View attachment 68673
> ...


******wiping drool from corner of my lip*******


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## bogydave (Jun 14, 2012)

Must be getting close to the auction.
1930 Mdl A snowmobile & lawyers. Don't sound like a good mix.
Good luck.
Great pics!


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## Eatonpcat (Jun 15, 2012)

When is the auction Quads??

Love to see the pictures...Thanks for sharing!


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:


> When is the auction Quads??
> 
> Love to see the pictures...Thanks for sharing!


There are two auctions (and I still can't believe they are going to get it all done in two days).  First one is the farm machinery/household items/antiques Friday July 20th:  http://www.gavinbros.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=2184787&NF=1

2nd auction is the cars/trucks/automotive items Saturday July 21st:  http://www.gavinbros.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=2184786&NF=1

There will be a third auction for one of the other farms at a later date, but the date isn't set yet.  4 cars, 2 tractors, etc., etc. on that farm.

Also, the entire contents of his auto parts store are for sale.  If we don't get an acceptable offer on that we may end up having an auction there too.  Mostly 50s-60s-70s parts.


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## Eatonpcat (Jun 15, 2012)

Thanks!


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## firebroad (Jun 15, 2012)

I sure wish I were in Wisconsin, I would love to bid on some of the items in the first link.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 15, 2012)

holy wow


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

firebroad said:


> I sure wish I were in Wisconsin, I would love to bid on some of the items in the first link.


Honestly, I think the first auction (farm machinery/antiques etc.) will be much more interesting.  Sure, old cars are popular, but everybody knows fairly well what old cars look like.  But the first auction will have something for everybody!  It's just incredible all the stuff that him and his mother hoarded over the years.  Way too much to list.  They will have two auction rings running for that stuff, and I'm still not convinced they will get it done in a day.


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## Flatbedford (Jun 15, 2012)

Wow! That is huge! It's gonna be a circus. Please take and post pictures of the whole weekend.


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

Flatbedford said:


> Wow! That is huge! It's gonna be a circus. Please take and post pictures of the whole weekend.


I'll try Steve!  But, with 27 heirs and only 3 of us or so doing anything at all, I might be pulling my hair out instead of taking pictures.  HAHA!  I just hope the auction people have a big crew.


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## Flatbedford (Jun 15, 2012)

If nothing else, maybe you'll get enough $$$ out of this to buy yourself a Fiskars.


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## begreen (Jun 15, 2012)

It looks like they are going to be some incredible auctions. I'm really glad I don't live close by. If I went I would probably come back with a ton of stuff. I had that same 1963 Mercedes, even the same color. It was a royal pain, burned oil badly and the neoprene lining in the gas tank kept flaking off and clogging the fuel filter. I was so glad to say goodbye to the car!


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## MasterMech (Jun 15, 2012)

Whoa! How did we miss this one Roscoe? 







This is gonna be one heck of a day....


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

begreen said:


> It looks like they are going to be some incredible auctions. I'm really glad I don't live close by. If I went I would probably come back with a ton of stuff. I had that same 1963 Mercedes, even the same color. It was a royal pain, burned oil badly and the neoprene lining in the gas tank kept flaking off and clogging the fuel filter. I was so glad to say goodbye to the car!


Sounds like the same car!  ;-)  HA!


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

MasterMech said:


> Whoa! How did we miss this one Roscoe?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


One guy said 440 engine.  Another guy swears that is not true, he says 383.  Me, I don't know one from the other.  I did take a pic of the engine once and have it somewhere if anybody wants to see it.


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## Jags (Jun 15, 2012)

quads said:


> I did take a pic of the engine once and have it somewhere if anybody wants to see it.


 
Yes, please.


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## fossil (Jun 15, 2012)

quads said:


> ...It's just incredible all the stuff...


 
"Incredible" doesn't even come close.


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

Jags said:


> Yes, please.


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## Jags (Jun 15, 2012)

Quads - from the pic I can't see just to the right of the distributor.  If there is a 2x3" flat machined pad it will be stamped 440 with some other stuff.  The 383 did not have that pad.


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## begreen (Jun 15, 2012)

There's going to be thousands of field mice evicted at that auction. Better keep the cats around.


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

Jags said:


> Quads - from the pic I can't see just to the right of the distributor. If there is a 2x3" flat machined pad it will be stamped 440 with some other stuff. The 383 did not have that pad.


The guy that told me it was a 383 said the same thing, something about it does not have the machined pad.  So I can assume it is a 383.


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## quads (Jun 15, 2012)

begreen said:


> There's going to be thousands of field mice evicted at that auction. Better keep the cats around.


Sad thing is the farm cats are all gone.  We trapped them and gave them all away.  I'm not a big fan of cats, but there has been a rabbit explosion since the cats left.  And my garden is even less of a fan of rabbits!  HA!


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## MasterMech (Jun 15, 2012)

Jags said:


> Yes, please.


I second the motion!

EDIT: Looks like a 383 but I'm not 100%.  440 is monstrous in size.


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## Eatonpcat (Jun 15, 2012)

Off Topic...But rabbits seem to beeverywhere this year!


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## Corey (Jun 16, 2012)

Neat old cars...all of them.  We banter about ethanol quite a bit on here, but I'm told the 'T' was one of the first flex fuel vehicles...having carb mixture and spark advance adjustable to change between the two fuels.  A neat throwback to a time when gasoline was expensive / hard to come by and the government wasn't so overbearing.  If the farmer had no gas, he could easily distill some 'shine, change the fuel/spark settings and run the car on ethanol.  Funny how far cars have 'evolved' ... or not in some cases!


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## quads (Jun 16, 2012)

Corey said:


> Neat old cars...all of them. We banter about ethanol quite a bit on here, but I'm told the 'T' was one of the first flex fuel vehicles...having carb mixture and spark advance adjustable to change between the two fuels. A neat throwback to a time when gasoline was expensive / hard to come by and the government wasn't so overbearing. If the farmer had no gas, he could easily distill some 'shine, change the fuel/spark settings and run the car on ethanol. Funny how far cars have 'evolved' ... or not in some cases!


Yes, the spark advance and the fuel mixture are adjustable on the fly!  Confuses a lot of people, but fortunately that engine isn't too fussy about such things.  HA!


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## begreen (Jun 16, 2012)

I like the simplicity of the Model T's systems. You can see and fix almost any issue. There is no waterpump, instead it uses a thermo-siphon system. The gas system is gravity fed. If you are low on fuel and have to go up a hill, go up backwards.  The brakes though were sub-standard. My dad said they used to pop the vehicle in reverse when you needed to slow it down quickly.


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## Jags (Jun 18, 2012)

begreen said:


> The brakes though were sub-standard. My dad said they used to pop the vehicle in reverse when you needed to slow it down quickly.


 
I believe mechanical and rear wheels only.  Only slightly better than the friction brake of a little go cart.


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## begreen (Jun 18, 2012)

Yes, I think there were actually no brakes at the wheels, but a friction band in the transmission acted as a brake on the rear wheels.


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## quads (Jun 18, 2012)

begreen said:


> Yes, I think there were actually no brakes at the wheels, but a friction band in the transmission acted as a brake on the rear wheels.


I haven't looked at it too closely, but I think you are correct!


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## Flatbedford (Jun 18, 2012)

Isn't reverse achieved with a pedal rather than gear shift?


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## begreen (Jun 18, 2012)

Yes, there are 3 pedals and no clutch, throttle is on the steering column.


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## quads (Jun 18, 2012)

begreen said:


> Yes, there are 3 pedals and no clutch, throttle is on the steering column.


I didn't drive it, just took pictures while one of the cousins did.  But I think the left pedal is low, the middle pedal is brake, the right pedal is reverse.  The throttle is on the right of the steering column, spark advance on the left, and the fuel mixture knob is on the dash in front of the passenger.  The parking brake is set by pulling the brake lever all the way back, neutral in the middle, and if you put it all the way forward in combination with the low pedal pushed gives you high gear.  Yikes!  And I could be wrong about one or more.  Maybe I will get to take it for a spin myself before somebody else owns it.


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## fossil (Jun 18, 2012)

Don't break it.  If in doubt, get out.  The thing's worth a bunch to a whole lot of Ford collectors just the way it is.


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