Repair and Maintenance of the Model T Ford

July 13, 2021July 19, 2021

A Leaky Exhaust Gets New Glands

Our 1915 didn’t sound right. We were planning to take it on a tur this weekend so the source of the exhaust leek needed to be identified and repaired. Looking closely around all the exhaust ports didn’t reveal any sooty spots. So we decided to take the manifold off to see what the deal was.

September 23, 2019

Fabricating an Under Seat Gas Tank Door for your 1909 – 1916 Model T Ford

henry ford thomas edison harvey firestone packard twin six touring — Henry Ford with Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone leaning against Henry’s 1919 Packard Twin Six touring.

Our 1910 touring was in pretty nice shape but had a few flaws when purchased. One of the flaws was a missing door below the front seat. The purpose for these doors is somewhat murky but essentially it perhaps kept mud from splashing directly into the bottom of the seat cushion. It also serves as a good place to park the gas cap while filling the tank. In any case we needed one. With that in mind a few measurements were taken, and a trip to the local home improvement store yielded some pieces of 1/4″ basswood board in various widths, some 2X1 basswood boards, some Gorilla brand wood glue, and a box of wire nails.

basswood, model t ford under seat panel — The materials from the store and a few tools are all it takes to make this part.

August 17, 2019August 18, 2019

Installing and Tuning the Stromberg B No 3 Carburetor on your Model T Ford

This is one of those times the short cut didn’t save any time………

The original steel rings were used with a new set of copper glands on the Stromberg intake manifold.

When we left off the Stromberg B No 3 carburetor was rebuilt and ready for installation. The installation turned out to be easy. Tuning was another matter! Read on to see what we had to do to get a sweet running Model T again.

August 12, 2019August 13, 2019

Rebuilding the Stromberg B No 3 Carburetor for the Model T Ford

A 1916 Model T runabout has been converted to an early version of semi – tractor / trailer.

Alfred Stromberg made his first fortune manufacturing telephone equipment copied from expired Bell patents. Between 1893 and 1905 the Stromberg Carlson company became dominant in the Rochester and upper New York state area. Stromberg and his partner Carlson sold out, leaving both men extremely wealthy but bored.

Stromberg and his partner moved to Chicago, Illinois and purchased two companies. One eventually became Stromberg Office Products, a company mostly known for making time clocks. The other company was the John Goldberg carburetor company. The name was changed to Stromberg Motor Devices company, building carburetors designed by John Goldberg at first.

Image of a Stromberg B series carburetor from the 1909 book “Automobile Motors and Mechanism” written by Thomas Herbert Russell

This issue we will examine and rebuild one of the earliest aftermarket carburetors built for the Model T Ford, the Stromberg model B No 3 .

July 5, 2019July 5, 2019

Rebuilding the Kingston 5 Ball Carburetor for your Model T Ford

Kingston sold hundreds of thousands of five ball carburetors to all sorts of manufacturers. They were used on everything from tractors to motorcycles, boats, and stationary engines of all sizes. The carburetor in this illustration has a threaded inlet, so it is not for a Model T Ford.

The earliest Model T Fords used the Kingston 5 Ball Carburetor. By all accounts the performance was and is great with the Kingston 5 Ball. A few Model T’s in 1909 also were produced using another type of carburetor made by Buffalo, but those carburetors are seldom seen today, and Ford did not use many. The Kingston 5 Ball is a very simple and sturdy all brass / bronze design. The five balls provide a secondary, on – demand air supply for the carburetor. As engine speed increases the decreased air pressure above the balls causes them to lift off their seats as needed by engine demand. One, some, or all of the balls might lift depending on airflow. This makes the carburetor very efficient and helps to eliminate flat spots with various throttle openings. Read on and we will see how to rebuild this carburetor.