New Info on Model A

B

bdotson

Member
It is amazing what one can learn at the local filling station. I was at a local station today when an "A expert" began to tell me all the things one needs to know about the model A. I had a lot of things down wrong but this guy had so much info on them he must be right.

1. I learned my 31 was all right but would be worth a lot more if I had not put the "automatic" starter on it. These things came only with hand cranks.
2. There were a lot of arms broke with those things "Cranks"
3. You have to back up hills because the carb is in front of the fuel tank.
4. These things "A's" will fly if you know how to work on em
5. They will run on Coal oil

"and my favorite"
6. If you put the crank in where the handle sticks out to the side then stand on the fender and jump down on it. You can start it much easier
 
Those rumble seat steps that attach to the right rear fender may fit on the front if you plan any Harley kick starts.
 
I run into a few experts like that.I was at the diner one day for lunch with an old A pickup I had,watching an old fellow telling the younger guys all around him about my A. When I got closer I saw him knocking on a fender telling them,real Henry Ford steel,none of that plastic sh## here.I didn't want to pee in his wheaties in front of his fans,so I didn't tell him he was pounding on a fiberglass fender.I don't know how old he was,but he told me his first new car was an A.
 
bdotson said:
2. There were a lot of arms broke with those things "Cranks"
4. These things "A's" will fly if you know how to work on em
"and my favorite"
6. If you put the crank in where the handle sticks out to the side then stand on the fender and jump down on it. You can start it much easier
Click to expand...

Well, three out of six ain't bad.

I don't have personal experience about arms but, a kickback nearly broke my jaw and, when my tongue quit bleeding, I saw that I had not biten it off. :eek:

They can be made to go faster than they should. ;)

This one is good for the memories of survival. At seventy pounds with my pockets full I would routinely step off the bumper onto the crank to start my A way back when. Once again a kickback ended that habit. :D
 
If these are the things the man told you, you had better forget what he said as he is wrong.

1. The hand crank was part of the tool kit, the engine can be started with the crank if your starter does not work.

2. Arms get broken using the hand crank if you fail to retard the spark before cranking.

3. Backing up hills was an old trick with the Model T, does not apply to the A. T only has 20 HP engine, a stock A engine is 40 HP and has a completly different carburetor.

4. A good motor, distributor, carburetor, and proper timing makes a great difference on how the A runs.

5. Where are you going to by Coal Oil today ?, and if you get some and try to use it you better have a very warm engine or it will not fire.
 
"There were a lot of arms broke with those things "Cranks""

Look up chauffeur break on the internet.

"You have to back up hills because the carb is in front of the fuel tank."

Most of the Model T's had the fuel tank under the front seat. Going up a hill for a long distance or low on fuel would starve the carb.

"These things "A's" will fly if you know how to work on em."

Depends on what you mean by flying and what work needs to be done see the thread on Bonneville.

"They will run on Coal oil."

Some old timers would use coil oil and kerosene as the same thing. I have read that the model A could be started on gas and then switched over to kerosene.
 
I've also read how the Model A engine is capable of running on various alternate fuels. Has anyone ever tested an engine using them and measured the actual performance?
 
I always heard that the reason you had to back "T"s up hills was because the forward transmission bands slipped too much. Many of the tractors of the day would start on gas and switch over to kero as it warmed up. Just to save a nickel a gallon! Which brings me to a favorite subject, why does kero and diesel cost from $.020 to $.050 more a gal. when it used to be less?
Terry
 
The little country store where I live had aload of gas brought and diesel delivered. The man got the tanks mixed up and dumped about 75 gallons of diesel in the gasoline. My lawnmowers and weedeaters didnt run well on it .But my A`s love it......Dave
 
They used kerosene because gasoline was rationed during the WWII. They used a separate tank and switched over after it was warmed up on gasoline.
 
"Arms get broken using the hand crank if you fail to retard the spark before cranking."

You also pulled up on the crank rather than spin it or pushed down on it. Pulliing up would pull the crank out of your hand rather that taking your arm with it. Of course you had to get the arm out of the way before the crank came around again. Voice of experience with the old T.
 
In the 50s we sold kerosene (coal oil) for .15 cents,and gas was around .28 to .32 cents

that was a huge difference in price
we did sell it to car owners to run in their tanks
it used to smoke like mad,as they drove off
 
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