Earning His Keep

Yesterday Clyde got to earn his keep. Finally it has dried out enough that we can get into the garden, so we needed to get some tomato and pepper plants, well Clyde was called on for this duty. Fired him up and Jan and I headed out to Hoffman's green house on Bursley road, this way we could get there and back just using the back roads. Hook's greenhouse on route 18 is out of the question, to much fast traffic for an old "T" like Clyde he likes the slower pace (and so do I). This was Clyde's first trip out of the big city, and onto the open roads. He did a very good job. Did notice what I think is an engine knock at the higher speeds which I have not heard before, so didn't open him up to maximum speed, but otherwise the trip was an enjoyable ride in the country. While at Hoffman's an older fellow came up to us and remarked that he remembered his father having a model T pickup and riding in the bed. (this is what it is all about, rekindling those enjoyable memories of the past).
Coming back on Jones road near the reservoir came up on a couple of bicyclist's , this was the winding section of the road with a double yellow line, no way I was going to get around them not knowing what might be coming the other way, so they became our pace car for the next quarter mile or so until we turned off onto Greenview Ct.
Got home and put in the pepper and tomato plants, went to get the hose to water them down, but it would only reach half way to the garden. Forgot last year the extra hose that was attached had sprung a leak, (cheap Walmart stuff, only lasted 2 years) so needed to run up town and pick up a new hose. Clyde to the rescue. Drove him to Farm and Home Hardware and got a new hose, the same as I already had (which I've had for at least 4 years). Got some paint for Jan and a couple bunches of red onions.
All in all a good productive day for Clyde. This is reason I got him, to just jump in a run those quick trips up town or a ride in the country when ever the urge strikes.
16 miles.

Out and About the Town Again

Took another ride around town, this time touched all four corners of the village. Additionally, my wife and I had a new passenger, Buddy Love, my father in laws sheltie dog. He sat on Jan's lap and took it all in as he was the king of the "T". Unfortunately had no one to take a picture of his inaugural ride. This was his first "T" ride as he has never been in my father in laws '22 touring.
Got better at shifting into high gear, need to throttle way down. Still seems to run fairly hot, on the motometer right near the top, but this is short streets with lots of stop and go driving. Probably not a good parade car with out a water pump. Will need to work on the leak in the pump and see about putting it back on and seeing how that works.
7 miles.

Out of the Garage and on the Road

Was able to get out Sunday and go for our maiden voyage in the topless Clyde. It was a beautiful day with sunshine, temps around 80 and it wasn't raining, for the "T's" first introduction to the village streets. The wife and I took drive around the southern side of town, stopped and got some gas and just enjoyed the ride. After that our daughter and her fiancé came over and I took them both for a short ride around the neighborhood, put a total of about 9 miles of travel on Clyde.

He ran very well, and the wife remarked that he seemed a lot quieter than her father’s '22 touring, to which I agreed as you could clearly hear the coils buzzing away, but I don't have a cover for the coil box and we didn't get much above idle speed in high gear as we were on residential streets. Shifting in high gear is not as smooth as her dad's "T", with a fair amount of rough chatter. Transmission brake was fairly good but could use a little tweak and need to adjust for a better larger neutral position on the brake lever as there is not much movement between having the rear brakes on and before high gear kicks in. No major territory marking just a little oil from the rear of the transmission at the ball joint.

Need to get the new top on, pretty warm sitting in the sun. Hopefully we have finally arrived at warmer and dryer weather and we will have many more enjoyable days of driving.

Honeycomb Radiator

Here are a few pictures of the honeycomb radiator on the "T". I have not had the shroud off so don't know if there are any hidden marks under it.
The first is a front view, the repaired leak was in the lower right corner.

 

The next is a rear view.

Here is shot of the upper right side numbers "159216".

Finally a look at the center rear, can't make out these number "***47"

Water Pump

The original water pump is leaking and looks to have been for awhile as there is a good rust stain at the moter pan joint. The "T" has a honeycomb radiator which the previous owner had just had repaired before I purchased it, (this was in the lower front right corner of the radiator). I thought I would try without the water pump and see how Bonnie/Clyde performs.
Removed the water pump and found that the horn  support bracket that was attached with the water inlet bolts had one ear cracked off so needed to replace it. Attached a new water inlet casting and horn support bracket with new bolts. Found that the horn would now hit the steering column if mounted with an extra bracket attached to the horn. Need to make a new plate to offset the horn up and away from the steering column.
Put the water hoses and pipe on to the casting and attached to the radiator bottom. Refilled radiator with water (no antifreeze yet).

Rear Wheels

Pulled off the rear wheels with the help of a borrowed wheel puller. The brakes are metal shoes without any lining, maybe latter I'll replace with lined shoes. On the drivers side there was a slight leak of fine lubricant. removed the end cap, felt seal and washer, and pulled out the bearing. This bearing had no grease in it just fine lubricant like oil coating. On the passenger side removed the same parts. This bearing was packed with dried grease such that I had to scrape and dig to remove it. Neither side had internal oil/grease seals. Cleaned both bearings and measured them and they were all around 0.498 - 0.497 diameter and looked in good shape (these are the original Hyatt style bearings). The sleeves had some pretty good grooves in the outside edges so replacement was called for. Installed new neoprene seals and bearing sleeves, packed the bearings in grease and reinstalled them. Cleaned out the two grease cups on the axle shaft and repacked with grease. Replaced the end caps, felt and washer with new components, and reinstalled the wheels after cleaning and painting.

Crank

One of the parts that I received was a spring for the crank to keep it disengaged. I installed this spring on the crank. Additionally I installed a front choke wire which was not on the car. Now I can choke it from the front while cranking without opening the hood and stretching to reach the carburetor.