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  1. John Otis

    First steps?

    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...
  2. John Otis

    First T... speedster/hotrod/whatever you call it!

    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...
  3. John Otis

    Can I change low gear notch and housing easily?

    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...
  4. John Otis

    Transmission Bands

    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...
  5. John Otis

    Need Advice badly

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

    Model T magnetized?

    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.
  7. John Otis

    Newbe question..1919 touring

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

    Can't tighten fan belt on 27 Roadster

    And also make sure you have the correct belt.
  9. John Otis

    Moving a 1917 in garage

    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.
  10. John Otis

    Thought i'd share this

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

    Broken Clutch Spring

    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.
  12. John Otis

    1914 with low compression now running

    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.
  13. John Otis

    Recommended Oil for a Model T

    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.
  14. John Otis

    wire wheels

    What diameter and width?
  15. John Otis

    whats my barn find worth

    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.
  16. John Otis

    oil leak

    I always used old fashioned Bulls Eye shellac, thetype made from beetles and not the synthetic crap. I never had an oil leak in this area after some old timer pointed out to me that this was the simple and proven solution. I am sure there are better materials available now but this ALWAYS worked...
  17. John Otis

    Help in finding any part of my dad's historic Model T

    One thing about this........ We all know that chances are that this car was scrapped decades ago. Remember the Thomas Flyer that did the around the world race? It was rescued from the scrap heap by Henry Austin Clark and this was a terribly importamt car that everyone seemed to have forgotten...
  18. John Otis

    The Friday Photo Without a Caption Contest

    Car is an air cooled Frayer - Miller. 830 cubic inch. One of the 3 built for the Vanderbilt Cup race 1906.
  19. John Otis

    Coils

    Ok Guys. I have my old yard driven 27 jalopy. Coils are weak. All I want is 4 coils that work. You can have my old ones. I just want four working coils. I don't need performance tuned ones for extended touring. I just need 4 decent ones that will run my engine. For a rig that is nothing more...
  20. John Otis

    help to ID these coach lamps

    Rule of thumb is that lamps that mount on a tapered post are horsedrawn. They found out early on that with the vibrations from an engine no amount of tightening would prevent the lamps from rotating on their posts. Car builders quickly went to the tapered flat blade for mounting lamps. Sometimes...
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