Farmer fixes
- Thread starter John Duden
- Start date
John Duden
Well-known member
me too!!
A couple months ago,I did a *farmer fix* of sorts.I was driving along a country road when the engine died.The drain plug had fallen out of the carb& the gas was running out.I was beside an orchard so I looked around & found a small branch & shoved a piece of it in the hole & was able to drive home & get a plug from a spare carb.One of the great things about these cars is that it doesnt take much to keep them running.
BILL WILLIAMSON
Well-known member
Rube Goldberg, my HERO!
I wonder if Rube ever had to have his car towed? Bill W's Ghost
I wonder if Rube ever had to have his car towed? Bill W's Ghost
Clem Clement
Well-known member
I have a dissy shaft that has been brazzed and then turned back to true. A lotta work, but if that is the only one you have, it will have to do. ALso a model A wheel with a Chevy rim welded to it.
Clem
Clem
Adam M.
New member
These farmer fixes always look poor, but they are still there for us to find them!
I have a Model A cyl. head that has multiple passes of weld all over it and from one end to the other.
Also nails for cotter pins. I had one model A with a pin for the brake rods replaced with a very small nail! Yikes!
I looked at this yellow Tudor and it had a 3 rib tractor tire that is worn out on the front right.
The last picture is not a Ford, but look at the "Custom" brace to hold up the fenders!
I have a Model A cyl. head that has multiple passes of weld all over it and from one end to the other.
Also nails for cotter pins. I had one model A with a pin for the brake rods replaced with a very small nail! Yikes!
I looked at this yellow Tudor and it had a 3 rib tractor tire that is worn out on the front right.
The last picture is not a Ford, but look at the "Custom" brace to hold up the fenders!
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Mike in NRN IN
Senior Member
Here's what I found when I started 'tearing down' the steering.
The column was broken, but the fix was to wrap it with heavy duty wire and secure it with the handle of a screwdriver.
Return spring on the brake is seen here:
The column was broken, but the fix was to wrap it with heavy duty wire and secure it with the handle of a screwdriver.
Return spring on the brake is seen here:
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Karl
Well-known member
I heard of one guy who had a piston problem . He knew of an old model A motor buried a few years previously on the farm so he dug it up. Pulled a piston out and replaced the one in his car . Bolted it all up and it ran well for years afterwards - Try doing that with a modern car !
Fred K-OR
Well-known member
Red, very "Farmer" like. I think it was a 1 1/2 or 2 inch metal pipe stuck in the wheels where the hub cap are suppose to be, with heavy wire tied between the spokes of each wheel. Worked great(at that time). You did what you had to do in those days! Still using the same wheels on the Huckster. Had to straighten the spokes a bit and do some welding on the wheels.
BTW I had one h*** of a time getting that hole patched in the hood-still using the same hood on the huckster.
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Popeye31
Senior Member
Is that the first consept extended cab pickup?
Al Bass
Senior Member
Amazing what a little paint will doThis was my "Farmer Fix" back in the 50's. This is what I used around my fathers farm to pull trees.
It is now this.
garrisonm89@yahoo.com
BANNED
Not necessarily a model A but I remember dad shimming under the inserts on his 1945 flathead with newspaper. He had to do this to keep the old truck running so he could run a couple loads of logs into the mill so he could afford a new set of bearings. A few weeks later everyone was fascinated by the fact you could read the print that was imbedded into the insert. Of course you had to hold the inserts up to a mirror to read them. My dad was 9 years old when the depression hit and everything that had to be fixed was repaired with whatever was on the farm. I always felt so sorry for Mom because that depression style of living still needed to go on until the mid '60's. Our yard was always full of throwaway junk that had to be held onto just in case he ever needed something. Wearing the hand me down clothes and eating food that came from the people who were on welfare because the govt gave them free food called commodities that we couldn't get because the Dad was working was tough. We had our own chickens, milk cow and raise beef calves and hogs to feed ourselves. And I watched Dad make everything work. I watched him pull the rod and piston out of a 216 cu in engine out of a '47 chevy and pound a stick of stove wood into it in order to run it until he could find a '39 engine to put into it. He'd fix radiators by dumping pepper and raw eggs into it. We use to build a fire under the old F14 tractor to get it to run in the winter time. He used the rear end out of a ford car to make a winch on the logging truck and used the brakes to hold the spool so the cable wouldn't unwind and drop the log until you wanted it to. The lever for the brake came off of an old horse drawn sickle mower. He drove the winch with the power take off on the truck. Cracks in the fenders were welded up and broken windows weren't replaced. Stumps were taken out with dynamite that you bought at the hardware store. And it's time for me to quit or i'll be here going on forever. And yes those were the good old days.
dumb person
Well-known member
Roadster Rich
Senior Member
How about a real farmer. I have had my 30 Roadster for 44 years so I knew the car well. I bought a 9N tractor that had the same Model A engine. When I got it, I looked and the four spark plugs had coat hanger wire wrapped aroung the distributor tips and then around the spark plugs. I got such a kick out of that, that I left it that way for the four years I owned and used it.
BILL WILLIAMSON
Well-known member
garrison89,
Are you Chief's long lost brother that disappeared in the woods a long time ago?? Bill W.
Are you Chief's long lost brother that disappeared in the woods a long time ago?? Bill W.
garrisonm89@yahoo.com
BANNED
I don't quite know how to answer your question. I had a cousin that died on the Gunflint Trail about 25 years ago. He was Ojibwe and died when his car crashed. We called him "Chief" for years. He was my cousin but he seemed like a brother. He was from Minneapolis MN but ended up working on the Canadian border as an honest to God "Indian guide".
TK in LA
Well-known member
A couple more items. One looks like a door popper. Helps the door to open? That's my thought. The second is a picture of the steering column. Spring loaded support so some of the tension when pulling on the column to enter is distributed to the springs. The rubber support has dissolved over time.
