Polarity

When the T first arrived, I put it on a battery charger and left it overnight.  The next day, the starter turned over weakly.  I was really excited by this, because that meant at least the wiring worked!  Soon after, it quit turning, so I put the charger on again.  This time, I could hear the charger clipping.   When I felt the cables they were hot.  I checked everything, thinking I had a short to ground, but everything looked OK.  Took the battery to a local auto supply store.  They put it on a tester - result; the polarity on the battery had gotten reversed.  Negative was positive, and vice versa.  If you looked at the battery, there was a very slight hump in the top of the case.  Only thing we could think of was 1) I messed up hooking up the charger, likely 2) or the battery froze after having sat so long in CA, then in the sub zero trip here, more likely.  Anyway, I am out a new 6v battery the prior owner had purchased.   Now that the slate is clean, I am considering converting to 12v, so that I can run coils without magneto.  I am sure that will warrant comments from T purists.  We shall see - still vacilating on that one.

Firewall

I really wanted a steel firewall to form the foundation of the cowl we needed to build.  Low hood wood firewalls were used approx 1917-1922.  There is a memo in the Ford archives from early 1923 saying that they were going to transition to steel that year, then another in April 1923 that the transition was completed.  My car was built in May 1923.

Model years run according to Ford fiscal year, so a model year is roughly July 1922 - June 1923.  Sometime mid-1923 model year (late calendar year 1923), the "High Hood" style was introduced.  That means that a low hood, steel firewall is bit of a rare deal.

But, isn't the Internet a great thing!  Found one, simply advertised as being straight and in good condition.  When I got this one, it was all of that and more.  It still had factory paint and cowl lacing on it.  Cannot say it had never been used, but it sure appears not to have been used - much.

Jay Leno's Garage

I love Jay Leno's Garage site.  He really appreciates the mechanics that go into a restoration.  I mean the word mechanics in any sense you might think.

Here is a video where he interviews folks with vintage racers from around WWI.  In particular, note the Model T racers owned by Ed Archer. 

His 1915 Rajo racer was found in a backyard during the 1950's.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/edwardian-cars/1152111/

Project Goal

My goal is to build a vintage dirt track racer, similar to what is shown below (sadly I have no idea who this is of, or when).
I want to use only parts available to someone building such a racer in 1922.  That means no wire wheels (yes, I know you could get them after market), hopefully enhanced carb, etc - and little of the brass bells and whistles seen on other speedsters.  This also may mean back to using Coils and a Timer.  You can see that the prior owner put in a pretty nice distributor setup.   He also removed the Magneto.

My inspirational starting point is James Zabala's Model T speedster, whom I have never met, but to whom I owe a shout-out.  See the article about his car from the New York Times.

Sales Tax

Wrote the check today for the re-title and sales tax - amount on the check was equal to the new car price in 1922!

What Do I Have Here

This is a photo of an original, as in stuck in a warehouse for decades, 1921 Ford Model T Runabout/Roadster.  This is how my car would have looked when it began its life.

Here is another photo of a similar one soon after it was sold to a couple of happy folks

Here is a receipt for a similar model.




My engine number indicates that it was built May 1923, almost at the end of the 1922 model year.  It was built at the famous Highland Park plant, as the Rouge plant had not yet been opened.  There are a couple elements that indicate this is a bit of a mutt - the crank has a sleave on it for instance.  Others may see more obvious anachronisms.  But otherwise it is a low hood 1922 with a wooden firewall.

Body Goes To New Home

Red from ND needed a Roadster body for his 1918 project, mine needed a good home. Struck a deal and met by the side of I94 east of Billings yesterday. That part of the T makes its farthest journey back east since it was new 90 years ago.

I think it is probably unhappy, having gotten used to CA weather, then being taken on a trip in January from Wyo to MT to ND. Glad to see it go to someone who appreciates its rarity and will put it to good use...