History The Model T will celebrate 110th anniversary in 2019 lets see yours.

Yep! WW2 was hard on the Model T supply.
Thinking about this, The model A, although only 5 million built, was probably still being driven a lot. Thereby saving it from near distinction as all the worn out T's were being melted down. Maybe that's why there are so many more A's left.

 

I wonder how many T's it took to make a tank?

 

Uh... wouldn't 2018 be 110 years?

 

A few more of the speedster...and a couple other T projects I'm working on...

 

I just saw this car in another thread. I really like it, and wondered if you still have the cycle fenders for it?

 

John sold this car last year, he built it when he was a teenager.

I have seen the car many times in the last 15 years and if it had fenders on it he removed them before he relocated to South Carolina. HRP

 

I didn't write the article, I'm just the messenger repeating what I read.HRP

 

That car has a LOT of taste for a teenager.

 

As the story goes he built the car in 1963 and was a member of the Modifiers s in Philladelphia.

 

Young man schools Jay Leno on Hot Rodding a Model T. HRP

 

Nice 2 door. HRP

 

Cool video. HRP

 

Saved her and she's gonna be a Hot Rod.

 

Mostly stock 1925 Canadian car...




Wannabe 1924 Gow Job





And Just for fun, my '23 ish Doodlebug




Some wintertime fun---Skis replace the front wheels

 

Where in the world did you find the ski's? they have to be rare. HRP

 

I wish I had the money to build something like this.

 

Thank you I hung out with a lot of older guys that made a big impression on me.

 

They are actually homemade skies that we're in a very sorry state. A good friend of mine helped steam bend new wood for them.

There were commercially available "snowmobile" kits available way back then that also included a set of boggie wheels so you could run tracks on the rear. Not super rare, but not common either to find original parts. There are repops being made.

 

They look like the originals made back in the day, I bet it's a blast to drive anytime but the ski's have to be fun! HRP

 

There is a club for everything. Bob

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...09BDEB1C95495BBBC4E109BDEB1C9549&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

Thanks Bob, that looks like fun! HRP

https://binged.it/2B6jkW1

 

Thanks Bob, that looks like a lot of fun. HRP

 

mine

 

My current T.
Period correct speedster chassis set up with an enclosed TT cab.

Sent from my SM-N920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Sorry for the short reply initially, I was finishing out lunch break at work.

I am not an expert in the snowmobile conversions, but from the top of my head, The one kit, was from the "Snowmobile Co" located in NH. I "think" the other kit was called a snowbird? Of course there have been many many homemade versions along the way.

http://www.modeltfordsnowmobile.com/lcmainbriefhistory.htm

http://www.modeltfordsnowmobile.com/lcmainlinks.htm

Many of those people in the videos are club members of our local Model T chapter. I actually have never attended one of the meets, but may do so this year (I don't own a 4x4 truck to tow with, so winter driving towing scares the crap out of me). The meet will be in western NY, north of Utica in February.

The story of acquiring my skis is superb.

The same friend that helped me steam bend the new wood for my skis, had some early attempts at making his own. He had told me about different attributes that made the skis work as they should. So I happen to be at a tractor show in Massachusetts for the first time, and while a newly acquainted friend at the time who got me into T doodlebugs got caught up talking to someone about an Irish Fordson tractor, I decided to walk the swap meet. I happened upon these, and there was a gentleman tire kicking them. The seller told him the price, I pulled the money out waiting, the other guy walked and I got them. The best part to come AFTER I had to carry these things that are freaking heavy, 1000+ feet back to my spot. I got as far as my friends spot and dropped them on the ground which is precisely what his jaw did. You see he gets to this show on Friday during the show setup, to set up his doodlebug display and totally missed them walking the swap meet. He was astonished, pissed, and couldn't believe he missed them. And when I told him I paid what his age was he just about fell over having a coronary. The other thing that I couldn't believe, was one of the major Model T suppliers from that area saw them and also passed on them. As I mentioned, they were really rough.

So I get them, I have no idea how to go about fixing them, I have no idea how to bend wood, nor where to get a thicker piece such as were on it. Well, another new friend at the time also into Doodlebugs calls me up out of the blue one day in hot sweltering August and says bring a ski over, we'll make new wood. Low and behold, his father lives next door to him and has 80 acres in Saratoga NY (30 minutes north of me) and they have a small saw mill and cut wood to sell and make furniture with. We go to the wood shed down in the woods, get two honking rough cut pieces of oak, plane them, build a box from scrap lumber, build a form from scrap lumber, and he borrowed a steamer from a neighbor that does wood flooring. It took 9 hours to do all of this, but we bent two replacement pieces for the skis. If you have never steam bent wood, it is a great experience, as well as nerve racking.

Part of doing these doodlebugs is to leave it alone. Leave the natural finish. So short of coating the rusty metal with a preservative coating, the skis are as found. The wood got "aged" to match, and all the new hardware required for the wood attachment got aged as well. The one thing that truly bugs me is that when these were made originally, they welded the outer struts for the skis to the wheel hubs they used, and they did it right on the threads where the hubcap screws on. I just pack a bunch of grease in that area to keep the water out of the bearings.

As found:




Steaming the wood



Bending on the forms---we used every possible clamp we could steal from my friends fathers shop. We also screwed the wood to the forms--which I wasn't crazy about putting holes in spots the didn't need to be, but it really help to take the shape.


The wood stayed on the forms for a week---maybe unnecessary, but we felt it couldn't hurt



The fruit of all the labor. I have more fun than i have ever had driving with the skis on. I dont have a large property (50 x 200 ft), but luckily my neighbor owns the three houses next to me and allows me so far to ride in his back yards.

Also of note, in talking with other T snowmobilers, the conditions of the snow needs to be a dense pack-able snow. Fluffy powdery snow, sloppy wet snow or slush and you couldn't turn these things in 3 football fields worth of space--I've tried, because I tried to ride the streets--couldn't do it.



Video my wife shot:


Video I shot after work one day:


Plowing some snow:


My T doodlebug is basically whats left of a '23. It was a true basket case that I fixed a bunch to make it useful, dependable, and safe. It does not have an electric start, I do have a lower radiator hose heater and can basically get it started in 20 degree weather with a shot of ether in the intake and a couple tries and it fires right up. But warming it ahead of time with the coolant heater makes it SO much easier. The ignition is all stock ford, with the 4 wooden coils. The rear is a TT 7 to 1 ratio and a '23 Buick trans was stuck in between for even lower gearing. Its a ton of fun, and people love it at tractor shows because it's not a belly button John Deere or International.

Sorry for way over steeping this thread, but I hope you all have enjoyed.

 

Thank you so much for all the information, I appreciate you taking the time to explain all that went into making your ski's and the videos.

All this just made the thread more interesting. HRP

 

Went to auction last year, here was this model t, that I remember riding in went I was about five or six years old at threashing shows, I'm 47 years old now. Just had to have it. Plans are getting it running and drive it like I remember.

 

Here is my former 1915 roadster. Not exactly a HAMB friendly hot rod, but it's a roadster at least. Sold it because I wanted to get another T speedster.....

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nice! Hope you still have the '12 to keep it company. Bob

 

Bob- Of course I still have my 1912! Here is the photo that Chris Paulsen took of our two 1912s together many years ago at Ridgefield. The 1912 is still my "go to" tour car.