Model T 1913 Speedster WIP ( Done 4/30/22)

Back where I come from as a young kid there is a hill called Ladder Hill for obvious reasons it was steep. And it was actually my dad and mom who told me about Model Ts backing up that hill. My aunt skied those slopes back in the day ( my mothers sister). They had an unckle growing up with a Model T they called Blue Jay. It had the blue body and I assume black fenders of the day. My mom as a child contracted scarlet fever and  she rode in that T the 50+ miles to a Boston hospital in winter time. They had no heater, you could install an aftermarket shroud off the exhaust manifold that piped into the passengers area but it wasn't much use, especially with a roadster. Anyway they made it she survived till 57yo when she passed on from *** cancer. My aunt died a few years later of spinal cancer. Once diagnosed they both passed in about 3 months time.

Not many average folks had cars in the days my parents grew up in, plus the depression came along. But in my era most families had at least a used car. The first car I vaguely remember my dad having me on his lap letting me steer ( sort of) was a 35 Ford sedan. The next thing was a beast of a 1940 Oldsmobile sedan. And on it went from there.

Forgot to say just how beautiful this build is.

Couple more Model T tidbits:

The T's had two levers on the column, three pedals, a lever to the left of the driver and some had a lever to the right if they had an auxiliary transmission that added more gears called a Ruxtel or Planetar. There was also a knob in front of the passenger to adjust the carb mixture.

The left column lever adjusted the spark the right was the throttle. You always started with the spark full up, then brought it down to match the speed you wanted. The throttle adjusted speed, but you had to work both levers to get optimal performance.

The big lever to the left was half the clutch and to set the parking brake. Pulled fully back the brake was set and clutch disengaged. Straight up the brake was released and the clutch still disengaged. All the way forward the clutch partially engaged.

The pedals left to right were the other half of the clutch, reverse gear, and service brake. The service brake was a contracting band on the driveshaft, the parking brake an expanding unlined steel shoe on rear wheel drums.

Twisting the knob richened or leaned the mixture, pulling it out was a choke.

To start a Model T, you pulled the big lever all the way back, set the spark lever all the way up, the throttle lever down about half way, turned the mixture to slightly rich, and made sure the ignition was off. Go around to the front pull the wire attached to the choke lever out, and turn the engine a crank or two, go back and turn the ignition on, double check the position of the spark lever, go back around front and pull up on the crank with thumb outside the handle. Repeat as necessary until engine starts, then quickly run around and pull the spark lever halfway down before it quits. Failure to do any of the above could result in the dreaded "Ford break" broken arm.

As the engine warms up slowly lean the mixture until it runs smooth And enjoy the appreciative looks from your passengers.

To pull away, let the big lever come forward halfway, pull the spark down about two-thirds and adjust the throttle as you push down on the left pedal. Once moving and up to a fast walking pace, let the big lever come all the way forward and let the left pedal come all the way up and you're in high gear. Again enjoy the congratulatory remarks from you're passengers.

To stop, push the left pedal down until you feel the clutch disengage, move the throttle up, and press the right pedal. Allow plenty of stopping space, remember that brake is a contracting band around the driveshaft. In an emergency it was said you could tromp on all three pedals. Enjoy the relieved sighs from your passengers that you didn't hit the cow.

Some states required a special license to drive a Model T. Oh, and if it was raining you had to work the manual wiper by hand while doing everything else.

I have a 1917 Speedster and 1926 Touring Car in the shed out back.

WillysMB

The model T's did not have a pressurized cooling system, in fact they were built without a water pump relying on thermo-siphon cooling although you could purchase aftermarket water pumps. The Motometers were basically a fancy thermometer that read temperature off the airspace on top of the coolant. The flip top versions didn't come in until the late Model A, previous versions being screw on. Similarly, no oil pump relying on splash oiling (and lots of oil) until the Model A introduced one. Gas feed was by gravity, hence as long as the carburetor was below the tank, you were OK. Pre-1927, going up a steep enough hill would result in no fuel flow, so backing up a hill was usual practice. In 1927 the tank was moved to the cowl solving that problem until a fuel pump was finally introduced on the early V8's.

 

Wow! This is so interesting. Shaking my head about backing up a hill! LOL.

Thanks for posting this...

The model T's did not have a pressurized cooling system, in fact they were built without a water pump relying on thermo-siphon cooling although you could purchase aftermarket water pumps. The Motometers were basically a fancy thermometer that read temperature off the airspace on top of the coolant. The flip top versions didn't come in until the late Model A, previous versions being screw on. Similarly, no oil pump relying on splash oiling (and lots of oil) until the Model A introduced one. Gas feed was by gravity, hence as long as the carburetor was below the tank, you were OK. Pre-1926, going up a steep enough hill would result in no fuel flow, so backing up a hill was usual practice. In 1927 the tank was moved to the cowl solving that problem until a fuel pump was finally introduced on the early V8's.

oldermodelguy

he whole thing looks nice, Ford emblem, shell, cap and the black radiator. A clean antique look. As my dearly departed wife would have said " good job well done".

Thanks again, Dave. I appreciate your input. I am so glad this turned out. Especially, after stripping the paint and starting over. Doing that made things a little less nice. The paint stripper (Testors ELO) seemed to attack the plastic some. It gave it a rough surface and I had to clean that up and compensate for what I could not get at. That lead to other things, some loss of detail. I hate stripping paint. Invariably, it leads to some degree of degradation. But what the hey-- All's well that ends well!

BTW. Around 11:00 PM I went to the basement to check something.  I sat down- 3:30 AM I went to bed.  And yes-- I was up for my job -- a little foggy.

I was a brave soul working on this so late. It usually does not end well for me when I am working through fatigue, but the stars must have aligned. I have the radiator mounted along with the front axile, and nothing broken. That will be an update for later. 

BrandonK

Awesome, it looks like a wonder kit.

Thanks, Brandon. Yeah, overall - their kits are nice. They have sharp detail and in general, a good fit. 

It is funny because about a year back I decided to buy several of their offerings. I was breaking my normal operating procedure of not buying for just in case. In this case-- I did. I heard they were good kits and for fear of them going out of production--I decided to get them in advance. I never would have dreamed of this war scenario.

Thanks, TB! 

Tanker-Builder

I do know they had a RedLine just like a tach. It was the absolute pressure allowed before the Poppet Valve inside blew and let steam out. The meter had a hinge just within the housing so's ya wouldn't lose it if that happened!

Very interesting. Thanks for the commentary. I love hearing about how these old cars operated.

Tanker-Builder

 Also, if that happened ya better find some water quick. Remember, they didn't have year round Anti-freeze engine coolant then!

Maybe I should strap some water kegs, like the Beverly Hillbilies car. For just in case. Don't tell Granny I am taking some of her rheumatism medicine. 

oldermodelguy

Very nice !

 

Thanks Dave !

Awesome, it looks like a wonder kit. We all better enjoy these ICM kits now because we will not likely ever see them produced again.

BK

Yes but the whole thing looks nice, Ford emblem, shell, cap and the black radiator. A clean antique look. As my dearly departed wife would have said " good job well done".

Great !

      I do know they had a RedLine just like a tach. It was the absolute pressure allowed before the Poppet Valve inside blew and let steam out. The meter had a hinge just within the housing so's ya wouldn't lose it if that happened!

     Also, if that happened ya better find some water quick. Remember, they didn't have year round Anti-freeze engine coolant then!

Very nice !

Did you say MotoMeter?  I searched through my stash of unused decals and found some gauges that could fit the bill. Not like the real graphic, but close enough for my purposes. Using my punch set I found a good diameter and punched away.

Decal is installed, one on each side. I will dab some future to add gloss and seal it. My other thought is to dab some Tamiya clear red, or maybe green, a sort of colored glass. Most of the MotoMeter images I found appear to be colored. Though, I did find white as well. Going the Tamiya path could be risky. It might drown out the graphic too much.

Anyhow-- this is what I came up with.

Hey there, Greg. Your question sparked another thought I have. This was the process I used on these:

1. Primer, in this case Gunze GSI followed by a light sanding.

2. Sprayed a layer of Testors Glosscote. I do this to smooth out the piece even further. I draw out the gloss, so no sanding is required. If a spec gets  onto the piece, I lightly sand.

3. Spray Alclad Brass.

4. Add a final seal coat of Testors Glosscote. Mainly to protect the paint because is somewhat delicate.

5. Apply a wash.

Step 4 is where it got interesting. I didn't do that this time. Either the hot lacquer melted the clear underneath or, the spray issue I mentioned added a sealant to the Alclad. As I mentioned at times it was spraying clear. So either that was lacquer coming through, or some type of suspension in the paint. The brass paint mixed together with the clear making them one. I didn't have to apply the final sealant. I got a high gloss out of this. It was kind of cool it worked out that way but a person has to be careful that the piece doesn't lose too much detail.

None of this is here nor there but I thought interesting to note. Is it a fluke? Maybe. 

Tanker-Builder

Hi!

      Well, You can imagine my surprise when I found out it was actually a guage for measuring the heat in the radiator! See , even back then some things required good vision! Right now I couldn't tell on one of those things cause I cant see that far on small items.

 

Yes, I CAN imagine your surprise because I just went through the same thing! Lol. 

I am glad you brought this up because I had wondered if that served some other purpose. Initially, before I knew what it is, I was going to move on. Now, I will try to address this before advancing past GO. Doing something, even if crude, should add a layer of realism.

Thanks for sparking this conversation, TB. 

Greg

 

 

keavdog

That turned out awesome!

 

 

 

 

...the radiator, that is. It surely did!

I must have missed something, so did you give up on the Alclad brass that was giving you trouble and use MRP brass instead?

 

Thanks, Greg.

Yeah, I think you missed something. A previous post shows I repainted the radiator using Alcad, though, I mentioned having some spray issues. The latter is probably what skewed you. Brass WAS painted with Alclad. The MRP reference is for the black. Sorry if I confused you.

Hi!

      Well, You can imagine my surprise when I found out it was actually a guage for measuring the heat in the radiator! See , even back then some things required good vision! Right now I couldn't tell on one of those things cause I cant see that far on small items.

Tanker-Builder

Hey ! Bakster!

    Did they include a Moto-Meter device for the Radiator? Grandfather had one on his 24 and his 32. He kept both cars till well into the fifties. And yes, he kept them runnin too! If I remember right he stuffed the worn seat cushions of the older one with curls of wood-shavings from his furniture lathe. Which was powered by the right rear wheel of the "T", if I remember correctly.

   He Made Extry Munny by having " Sunday Hay Rides" for the City Folk whut came to see how Farmers was and whut critter Milk came Frum! OOps! I forgot myself for a minute there. If he ever hear me speak like that I would get a paddling! 

 

Hmm. Not sure. I had to look it up cuz I had no clue what you are talking about! Lol. Wouldn't that be the lollypop device on top of the radiator? Maybe someone can educate us. I found this link about it.

https://www.aacalibrary.org/articles/antique-automobile/more-than-a-hood-ornament/

And if your question is if they included a decal, no they didn't. I had wondered about that but I thought it was just ornamental. I thought about painting something on that just to make it look more correct. Interesting point there TB. 

Hey ! Bakster!

    Did they include a Moto-Meter device for the Radiator? Grandfather had one on his 24 and his 32. He kept both cars till well into the fifties. And yes, he kept them runnin too! If I remember right he stuffed the worn seat cushions of the older one with curls of wood-shavings from his furniture lathe. Which was powered by the right rear wheel of the "T", if I remember correctly.

   He Made Extry Munny by having " Sunday Hay Rides" for the City Folk whut came to see how Farmers was and whut critter Milk came Frum! OOps! I forgot myself for a minute there. If he ever hear me speak like that I would get a paddling! 

keavdog

That turned out awesome!

 

...the radiator, that is. It surely did!

I must have missed something, so did you give up on the Alclad brass that was giving you trouble and use MRP brass instead?

keavdog

That turned out awesome!

 

That turned out awesome!

Success. MRP straight from the bottle. Good stuff. Then a spray of Testors Dullcote.

Not perfect, never is--but it suits me fine.

The marker worked well. Btw. I used it for touchup on one of the lanterns and it was a spot-on color match. I can't tell the difference. What luck.

Now that this is done, I can begin work on the front end. 

PS: Best viewed by clicking on the image.  There is something goofy of late how images look within the post. Some kind of compression going on.

mustang1989

That is some mighty fine work there Stevo!! Excellent replication bro!!!! 

 

That is some mighty fine work there Stevo!! Excellent replication bro!!!! 

littletimmy

I do not recall what year Fords were using acetylene gas for lights, or, what year ford's used arc lights , but I suspect it's one or the other.

littletimmy

Looking good so far.

littletimmy

But, that was back when my eyes worked .... and my hands didn't " twitch"...

Yup. Same here my friend. 

As far as the " element" is concerned,...

I do not recall what year Fords were using acetylene gas for lights, or, what year ford's used arc lights , but I suspect it's one or the other.

Looking good so far.

I built a simular kit wayyyyy back in the day, and I hand brushed the raised lines on the fenders, and the emblem .... it came out perfect.

But, that was back when my eyes worked .... and my hands didn't " twitch"...

Lenses are installed. Future/PFC was used to secure them. Future was flowed over the lens and join, capillary action did the rest.

It wasn't until yesterdays post and the more detailed photo that I realized that the lighting filament should have been in front of the light collector. I made the correction. Btw. If anyone has knowledge of how that filament functioned, please do tell.

More lanterns:

Primer--Clear--Alclad Brass--Black acrylic wash. (The wash not only enhances recess detail, but an overall wash tones the brass down) 

The Radiator chapter two.

Using the same steps as the lanterns, it is ready for black and then the emblem gold.

PS:  I am having a little trouble with this Alclad brass. It has happened several times where it is spraying, but there is little to no coverage happening. It is spraying clear. I must give the brush a big pull on the trigger for a massive blast. That seems to clear whatever is causing the issue. That said, it could have ended in a paint disaster. Fortunately, the paint was forgiving. 

End of update

Working on the main lights.

Below:  Detailed image of a 1:1 light. This is what I am loosely shooting for.

Below: You can see the light assembly I built. I used the backside of these facetted gemstones for its mirror effect. The center crystal is a clear stone facing forward. The wire is hobby wire. Also, behind the assembly is a spacer cut from Evergreen tubing.

Just a note: These facetted gemstones have come in handy on several builds. I have used them for anything like lenses to Nav lights. They come in various colors, and they are not all that expensive. I purchased them at Hobby Lobby. You can see each pack come in varying sizes. The facettes can easily be sanded off and the piece polished.

A closer look.

Installed in the light housings. 

Currently, I have the lenses curing from a treatment of Future/PFC.

I am also making progress on the radiator re-do and my work on the other lanterns.

End of update.

mustang1989

Trial and error are to me the fun part of model building. If every one went together flawlessly there'd be no challenge in it

Well said, Joe. I love fabricating and customizing. That IS the fun part.

mustang1989

There's something to be said for building a great model such as this one and looking back on all the obstacles that are overcome to get such a great result.

Amen. In my opinion, customization adds to potential disasters exponentially, and making it through the gauntlet is something to celebrate, for sure. No doubt about it.

Thanks for the encouragement and the help!