Model T Racing Thread

A good detailed blow up of Roof's racing chassis which is 90". It has the Laurel lowering brackets on the front and rear. The metal on top of the frame goes in to meet the narrow body.

Roof was always thinking. His engines were set up with a sub oil pan and he put a tray above it with holes drilled in it for the oil to drain into it. This is what is today called a windage tray. It keeps excess oil from traveling around with the lower end assembly which causes a horsepower loss.
 
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This Roof head is called the Victory eight which I believe is an OHC conversion for the earlier Libery 8-valve. It has cup shaped tappets and is chain driven.

Roof stated that this head would run an engine to 6500 RPM without a load and has pulled 4200 RPM for 6 miles at 100 MPH.
 
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I did fine photos of what is under the hoods of the #2 and the #4 that we looked at earlier. Both have BB Rajo's..... The #4 has two updraft barrel valve carbs and the #2 has two side draft Linkert motorcycle carbs.
 
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A very tastefully done car with semi ecliptics up front and detachable rim wire wheels.
 
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Another extremely well done car. This is a line up of four of the nicest T racers out there.
 
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t-head said:
Well, you are welcome here and I hope you can add to what I am trying to do.

Build the best T racing and speedster spot that we can.
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..I would hope so! :D

This is a fantastic thread with tons of great info! Thought I would post this photo here as well...Edsel Ford observing the ingenuity of the racers and "Hot Rodders" of tomorrow. Just a great photo, tells a great story...inspired me to build my T :)

Wish I knew the story behind this photo, any body here know it? Been trying to find a large, high-res copy to have printed and framed.
 

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The recreation of the famous Winfield Two-Up Two-Down racer with the original Ed Winfield engine. We looked at this earlier and this is a photo of it running at the Monterey Historics last year.
 
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s1b said:
On the #12 car, what is the tank for on the side of the car. Oil?
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Good question.....Yes, it probably is an oil tank as early racing cars leaked and burned a lot of oil. The air pump on the cowl no doubt pressurizes this tank with air. An oil line was run from the tank to a valve accesible from the cockpit which would allow you to put as much oil in the engine as needed.

On some engines that were set up with a dry sump system, a tank like this could also have been used to hold the oil, cool it and then it would return to the engine.
 
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t-head said:
Good question.....Yes, it probably is an oil tank as early racing cars leaked and burned a lot of oil. The air pump on the cowl no doubt pressurizes this tank with air. An oil line was run from the tank to a valve accesible from the cockpit which would allow you to put as much oil in the engine as needed.

On some engines that were set up with a dry sump system, a tank like this could also have been used to hold the oil, cool it and then it would return to the engine.
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Thanks T-head. Very much like what the salt flats guys did. Guess this is where they(salt flats guys) got it from.
 
DAYTON or BUFFALO wire wheels, do you have a favorite? For some reason I think DAYTONS were more popular of full race T's, Buffalo's saw more street use. The location of the cars may have an effect on which wheel was more popular.

I need a left front and both rear hubs plus 4 20-21 inch Buffalos to complete a set.:rolleyes:
 
Roadster62 said:
DAYTON or BUFFALO wire wheels, do you have a favorite? For some reason I think DAYTONS were more popular of full race T's, Buffalo's saw more street use. The location of the cars may have an effect on which wheel was more popular.

I need a left front and both rear hubs plus 4 20-21 inch Buffalos to complete a set.:rolleyes:
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I think you are right, the Dayton's have a much stronger wheel hub and the dental drive can't be beat. It think all of the serious racers who could afford a set used them. But I think they must weigh a little more than the Buffalo's if weight is a consideration. Let's put it this way, I'll take a set of what ever you bring me when you come to visit. LOL

I want the same exact thing...... a set of 21" wheels with lock rings and hubs. I will pay a fair price for a good set that run true and do not need a lot of work. PM or email me. Thanks T-H
 
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I may come back to Robert Roof's chassis pieces later but before I finish up for now I want to show two of the most important T innovations he came up with.

We will cover racing crankshafts later after cylinder heads but you need to see what he came up with to solve the broken crankshaft problem. He probably had castings made which were then machined to fit. He somehow machined the inside of the block to hold these pieces that where then bolted in.

A three main crank in a four will always wear the center main more than the others. It also is not enough support and what he came up with was the ultimate.

The other key was his ball bearing 4th main which when set up in good alignment with the crank was a big help in longevity and reduced friction.

I would be really interested in seeing a good picture of Roofs #2 & #3 crankshaft supports if anyone has one.
 
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The next plan here is to cover another cylinder head manufacturer. Instead of jumping around to much I am wondering if anyone has anything to add that I may have missed on Roof heads. I have tried to cover what I have good back ground info available on. I am sure there are some variations as racing is a constantly changing thing. Stay the same in racing and you get left behind quickly.

I am going to double check and I may add a little more Roof info and wanted to cover him early because he was one of the pioneers with overheads. The next head I want to cover is another earlier one the Craig Hunt so be on the look out for anything you may have.

The other thing I think would be nice to cover in the future after we get done with the overheads would be flatheads. So if any of you out there have a good archive of info contact me and we can work on a plan to cover them down the road. What I am trying to do with this thread is keep focused on a particular topic until we have covered all or most of the info that we have available. If we do it in this way on our format it will be easier to search later as most of it will be in on area. But if you discover something new about something we have already covered please feel free to share with us what you have found.

And again, thanks to all of you for joining in and we look forward to anything you find that is interesting in T racing. T-H
 
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