Recent content by John Otis

Best thing to do is find a local club or someone nearby who has a T and start hanging around and get some hands on experience with people who know about them. T's are peculiar contraptions and can be real headaches at times. That being said, just monkeying around and riding in one will reveal an...

My boat tail speedster (which was a little on the heavy side for a speedster) had 312 T-bird pistons, high speed ring and pinion and a carb that was a Winfield clone. Exhaust was basically open. Had a stock cam. It had NOS wooden wheels that were put on the car around 1960. They were very sound...

Pull the hogshead and yes be sure to pull the bendix and starter very first thing. If that's the only thing bothering you that's fine. If you have a bunch of leaks I'd pop the engine out. Not really a big deal at all and you can address a ton of stuff when the engine is on the stand like mystery...

I got to the point where I was really good at it and folks brought me a lot of cars of every year to replace band linings. Early ones are a pain. Take your time. Stuff lots of rags in there to catch wayward parts and count the rags going in and coming out. You can do it in an hour or you can do...

15 PSI is WAY too much. These things were not designed to run under any pressure at all. Big mistake to try this stunt.

All you guys seem to have forgotten............. Ford magnetized the entire vehicle to catch the parts that fell off as it was going down the road.

I have had plenty of "stem winders" and I personally wouldn't covert it to electric start.

And also make sure you have the correct belt.

I always just used 2 well positioned floor jacks (with a scrap of carpet on top) and a helper. We used to spin cars all the way arond in the shop. If you get the tires just off the floor a couple inches that's plenty.

Look at the last scene. The lever is all the way forward.

Pull the engine without hesitation. Much easier and quicker that playing contortionist mechanic unless you are 20 years old. Why did the spring break? I've been dealing with these things for decades and never saw a broken clutch spring.

I agree. Usually a head bolt issue is due to crap in the bottom of the hole that prevents the head bolt from getting where it needs to be.

I have had several T's. Most with old freshened up engines in them and a few hopped up ones and I always ran Quaker State 30 non detergent that came in a big round one gallon tin can. We always called it "straight 30". I never had any oil related issues besides a leak here and there.

What diameter and width?

I'd do the least I could to get it on the road and drive the hell out of it. People always loved the rusty hulks that I patched together. Besides that I didn't have to worry about some snotty kid crashing a bike into it and messing up my paint job.