The 1911 Model T Ford Part 3 – More Details

The 1911 Model T Fords were different from the previous 1910 model year cars in many significant ways. The restorer has all the information available, and many of the sheet metal parts, complete bodies, lamps, radiators, coil boxes, are available brand new. It seems like it should be easy to get the details right. Let’s try and show what a 1911 Model T should look like.

Above, wheels were dark blue, often with much more extensive pin striping than we see here. Hubcaps for 1911 have Ford script for the first time seen on any Ford. Notice that the Ford script is raised and there is no circle around the word Ford, and nowhere on the car does it say “Made in USA”.

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Rebuilding the drive shaft

The weakest part of the Model T Ford design is the rear axle. OK, sure, it was well designed for its time, and perfectly adequate when the car was new. The fact is, if any part of it fails, the car won’t go forward, and it won’t stop either. People have been killed or injured because their rear axle failed in a Model T.

This article is about the drive shaft assembly. We are going to rebuild it as a Ford mechanic would have done back in the day. First let’s take it apart and see what we have to work with.

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