Getting Back to Automotive Basics
 

Model T anyone?

How to Drive a Model T Ford - NYTimes.com

A little too basic for me. I think a VW Type I is about as old school as I could go for a daily driver.

With a spare engine ready to swap. :D

A friend of mine owns a 1931 Model A. It drives just like a regular car.

With the exception of a top speed of 40 mph, due to front end vibration, and massive amount of heat coming through the plywood 'firewall', you really can tool on down the road.

And it actually is rather comfortable to drive.

With everything in tip top shape I imagine in stock form you can probably cruise at 55 or so. The model t is interesting technically and built so simply it could be repaired with what tools an average farmer had available back then.

The model a is a lovely car to look at and built with all the basic elements still common today, a dry clutch, a transmission in its own case and rear wheels driven.

I have maintained for a number a years that you could park a Model T at any large Mall in the country, and leave it unlocked, and have every confidence that it would be there when you returned. There would be a crowd of people, but not 1 in 1000 could get in, start it, and drive away.
Yet, beneath all that antiquity lies the very heart of the modern automatic transmission--the planetary gear set. Compression ratio of about 4 to 1, it will run on almost any grade of anything that might remotely be called fuel.
For some reason, Henry Ford believed that the crankshaft needed to be flexible to some extent. maybe due to manufacturing tolerance on the early cast blocks. Anyway, that imposes some limits on rpm. The T is happiest below 40-45 mph, and the more robust A under 55-60. However, if equipped with a balanced, and otherwise improved original engine, you might be surprised at the speeds the T can obtain. Of course with only 2 wheel braking, you'd be a fool to go very fast.

One thing to remember in the odd case you find yourself careening down the road in a Model T--pressing any two of the pedals will slow the vehicle--you would either engage low speed, the brake, or a dab of reverse==but since the gears are always meshing, and shifting is done thru brake bands and clutches, there is no gear clash, or damage.

I am still hoping to find a Model T who owner will let me crank start it. I know to keep my thumb along side the handle; not wrapped around it!

There is an elderly woman I know that claims to have broken her arm twice while cranking a T. She says she broke it the first time because she did not know what she was doing and the second time because she thought she knew what she was doing.

This was, according to her, over the course of about 15 years.

But she said it was worth it since the only other method she had of transportation was her feet.

I drove a 50 Packard as a daily driver for a few years. Once I got decent tires, carb rebuild and fresh brakes it was a great, dependable car - even on interstates. Issue was starting it in sub freezing temps and snow traction!!

Back in the 50's a guy I knew bought a VW. This was considered somewhat weird at the time.

It had a notch in the drive pulley that we found was for hooking a starter rope into. He bought one of the ropes, would it around the pulley, made sure the transmission was out of gear, put the e-brake on, turned the ignition to 'run', set a manual choke, turned the fuel petcock to 'flow' and pulled the rope.

It was like starting a 36 hp lawnmower, but it did start on the first pull.

I used to have a 53 caddy. It was a lovely rust free car with excellent paint and decent original interior. After putting on gas filled shocks and modern radial tires it drove better than my benz. Very good brakes, very squishy cornering and slow steering but great pickup and high teens mileage. Utterly bulletproof. I was unafraid to drive it any where anytime.

It had about 70 some thousand miles.

Compared to a Model-T, a '50 Packard, a '53 Caddy, and even a '49 Ford, are high-tech!

Happy Motoring, Mark

Model A has the drivetrain layout of a "normal" RWD car found today. Model T basically has a manually (foot) shifted 2-speed automatic and hand-operated throttle. Control-wise, it's more similar to a Harley than a Honda Civic.

My dad when a kid used to take the model t out for the evening to galavant around the back roads of northern Indiana. they'd start out the evening with some gasoline in the tank and start the car up with gas, then when it was warmed up they would top it off with kerosene and put a gallon of gasoline in back. Then they'd run around until the kerosene ran out and fill it up with gasoline and head home. With gas in the tank so it would start next day. this story is prompted by the comment about four to one compression.;)

Not all that uncommon

I suppose not.