Gerald Le Blanc's 1926 Enclosed Cab

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7-14-05-- With the help of some good folks, we have properly fitting safety glass with the appropriate rubber strips and seals required. The windshield glass is thirty-seven and one eighth by nine and one half inches and the door windows are twenty-four and three eights by twenty and one half inches. I was lucky to have acquired the proper brass inserts that fasten the lower windshield to the cab, mine had deteriorated away. The outside door handles did not fit so we made them fit, I thought I had the correct outside handles, but in time, I may find out what is the exact handle for this truck. The door window pull straps are made from leather with brass grommets because I have heard both leather and web strap so I do not know which is correct. The door glass channels interfered with the new felt channels so I had to shorten them a little so that the window would slide unimpeded. I purchased the roof kit and by using the instructions that came with it and some advice from a guy who had done this before, I installed the soft top. The layers of stuff usually start with a black cloth called muslin to hide the chicken wire support but I used the rough side of a cow hide because they did have cows in 1926 so it could have been done that way by somebody, right? You take it one layer at a time, Muslin, wire, padding, Cobra, stretching it and tacking or stapling it down to the wood. The last layer is the long grain Cobra which you stretch it and tack it and let it sit for a few days to flatten out and get the folds out of it, then trim and tack but do not pull it tight as a drum.

5-15-05-----Painting a cab is somewhat of a hassle due to all of the angles and crevasses. I had to do bottom, interior and outsides separately and continued to stop-drill cracks and replace rivets as I went. I used sandable primer on the outside but not on the inside and the pits are prominent on the inside to remind you of how old and tough this sheet metal is. I threw together a quick and dirty paint booth in the garage and went for it in the middle of love bug season which kept things anxious after spraying. If you can afford a paint shop, I highly recommend using them, a two or three person crew would have made this a lot more tolerable. I did find a handy tool for small parts sanding. As soon as the masking paper was off, all discipline went out the door and we just had to mount the cab on the chassis. Steering column and radiator cap off and the cab hoisted against the ceiling was enough room to roll the chassis under the cab and re-unite what had been separated two years and six months earlier. Only one snag, the cab mount flange goes under the stake bed mount flange which required the cab to move fwd and the bed to be raised to slide the cab into position. Like my little girl tells me, DUH!   leblancnet@att.net

4-5-05------- I built a bigger shower booth and borrowed a bigger pump to use the rust solve product. I did not want to disassemble my cab any more than necessary. It is starting to look good, I found a couple of ten dollar fenders at the swap meet that were in better shape than the ones I had so they are getting de-rusted also. I can just smell that new upholstery already.

3-25-05---------It was swap meet time again. It was torture but one must attend these things to get the parts one needs. I was forced to shop for two whole days and buy things. The holidays and work days have slowed us up but we are still chipping away at it. I found a few cracks on the cab to repair and was able to get a few items from a donor cab. I found my door handles at the swap meet and a bonus high speed ring and pinion in good condition. A good time was had by all.

 Dec 30------ Here are a few misc. items and loose ends. Some of these are the things that some folks do not use but I want the whole enchilada on my Truck because I love my Truck. I good tip I was given was to use wire instead of cotter pins on the wishbone attachment under the engine because a wire will also prevent the studs from backing out but a cotter pin will only safety the nut. I found that my engine runs a little better since I started using the hot air pipe. The tail light wire is so that we can live longer.

12-11-04---I revisited a product that I had tried on the frame that did not work the first time. Rustsolve is a powder that you mix with water and keep it dribbling, spraying or splashing on your parts overnight and when you come back the next morning, the rust is gone and the rustsolve is dirty. You can also submerge parts in it in a tank. The reason it did not work for me is that it has to stay wet for several hours to dissolve the rust which is not what I did. It will work fast on very light rust but heavy stuff needs seventy degrees air temp and to be left alone for several hours. To do this you have to capture the stuff some way and re-circulate it back to your pump. You could possibly do a whole car with ten gallons depending on the condition of things but it is likely to take more depending on the design of your booth, temperature, and intensity of the rust being removed. I tried making a booth large enough to put the whole cab. If you do this, you need to make sure that you have a pump that will lift the fluid with enough pressure to spray it all over your object. If you do this in winter, you need to do it in a heated shop. The link is http://www.cleanrust.com/index.htm

12-06-04---------------- We participated in our local Christmas parade strictly for test purposes of course. We needed to see what the Bead and Trinket capacity was should we ever need to ride in a Mardi Gras parade. I had a genuine Elf on board and the truck did well.
While tinkering with various small items, I installed a new cooling fan. Someone warned me that the old fans sometime break from fatigue and damage the radiator. I noticed that the new fan had much more pitch which was welcome because I seemed to run slightly warm in the past. The results were good, I stayed below the hot line
all during the event. I am de-rusting the fenders and cab right now so that the sheet metal work can begin.

11-13-04--------- I finished the geometry lesson today. That is what the stake boards seemed like. The trick is to keep it all square and evenly spaced and parallel and centered and perpendicular and to be able to hide all of the holes that you elongated when you did not. This week is two years since I brought the truck home. It was supposed to take about six months and about a thousand dollars, UGH!!!!!! I am putting a temporary bench on it to drive until the cab is done. The front stakes were missing so I had to fabricate them from bar stock. What I found is that the closed cab stake bed has a different edge distance from the outboard side than my friends C cab. This caused me to have to cut my front corner hook. Obviously there was special hardware for that corner due to the lack of room to fit standard hooks.

10-31-04------------ We fitted and painted the bed boards, blasted and painted the stakes and bed strips and started putting in the millions of chassis bolts that hold the boards down. One of my helpers has lost interest in the project but I am sure she will return come parade time. Tiffiny meanwhile is under the truck putting washers and nuts on the boards. Time to drill and sand the stake wood and get them ready for paint.

10-19-04------------ Painted the stake bed frame and mounted it, what a job! Lots of surface area to sand and prep and paint. Ready to start milling the swamp cypress boards to fit. We decided to use new wood, the old boards had character, but way too much character. If I plain the wood flat, it would go from 1¼ inches thick to about ¾inches thick. I did not plan on painting the wood black which would hide the wood filler so that's why the new wood. Still tweaking things as needed on the chassis. My chief TT helper is starting to realize that her ride in the next parade is going to be quite roomy.

9-23-04-------- After running around with fouled plugs, it was time to get some spares. We cleaned our box of rusty spark plug parts and took apart the ones in the engine and assembled a set to run and a spare set for a rainy day. The main focus is now the stake bed. The front to rear long beams had areas missing due to rust because it had wood imbedded in it holding moisture. As I rivet the cleaned up parts, I patch the areas as needed and tighten the loose rivets as I see them. The wood gets cleaned with deck cleaner, treated with wood hardener, wood putty, and marine epoxy. Between the termite areas and the rot areas, there is some good wood to reuse. one board had The Mengal Company stamped about every twelve inches. I noticed that the design of the frame is sturdy but it twist nicely so that it can twist with the frame which is
designed to twist as needed.

9-4-04--------- We could not pass up a chance for a parade so we threw together a pickup bed to go with the Cajun bucket seats and hauled the whole family to the event. We learned that if you do not run rich enough, you will overheat, and if you fail to lean it back soon enough, you may be running on one or two cylinders, if you fail to install the mixture knob, you have to jump out in the middle of the parade and make small adjustments and jump back in before the big fire truck behind you gets impatient. After the parade, I checked the plugs and they looked pretty cruddy. We attempted to learn to drive around town but were interrupted at every stop and back street by people who wanted to talk. We found out that in an open model T, you cannot avoid contact with people so the day becomes a series of conversations with strangers, it was a very cool experience. I am very glad to have purchased the moto meter, I was able to control things without guesswork on engine temperature. When we got home, I put the mixture knob and the brake rods on, thought those might come in handy also.

9-1-04--------- After driving around the neighborhood until after dark, we realized that lights might be useful for long life. On headlights, make sure of a good clean ground to chassis, long end first on socket. Dupont 226s aluminum cleaner, available at automotive paint stores, worked great on a bunch of old nasty looking reflectors to remove the crud. I glued the gasket to keep it in place. I had a very rough correct tail light that I modified to have a brake light. A friend prompted me to put a two filament socket in the tail light assembly and run the extra wire. I purchased the reproduction switch that mounts on the bendix cover. Keep the socket flush so that those big goofy looking headlight lamps will fit without hitting the glass lens cover. My friend also recommended spraying chrome spray paint on the inside area to enhance the brightness of the
lamp. The timer felt was just to cover the exposed part of the lamp socket between the license bracket and the mount.

8-25-04------ Received Model T driving lesson, nothing broke, no one hurt, no arrest made, passed course.

8-20-04-------------The first test drive went well, neutral is still small, maybe extend the link another turn, otherwise its time to get the cab on. The Jack Daniel's seats worked
fine as temporary seats until the cab is done. Thanks to my good friend Kirk Hill, I had a Veteran Test Pilot to check it out. Its time for my First Solo.

8-16-04-------- This week, all we lack is the emergency brake rods to make a test drive plus a few loose nuts and cotter pins. I asked someone how I could do a better job with the numerous pins that hold so many components together on these vehicles, his suggestion is as follows, clamp the pin in a vise and flare one end and then put a slight bend in it before driving it in, this gives you one end left to flare after the item is installed and the bend assures a fit that resist the pin falling out should the flare and peening be of poor quality. I had to make the pin for the driveshaft to worm attachment. I was fortunate to have a drive tube that had a brass bushing that was a good close fit so all we needed was cleaning and fresh grease cups. By setting the fwd end of the drive tube on a four wheel dolly, I had no problem by myself installing the drive
assembly to the engine with the chain hoist holding the frame in the air. I included a couple of pictures of a rim that fit and a rim that does not fit to show how close they are. I just could not settle for two to five threads per lug nut holding the wheel on, I would rather see the lug at least flush to the top of the nut. My Tiffiny helped me push it outside which was appreciated because something is dragging really bad making it hard to push. I suspect it is the bands dragging or maybe the clutch plates needing to be seated with a little road action. I know it is not the rear end, it turned great.

7-17-04---------- Battery box painted and installed. Kirk donated a cool little bracket that holds the switch panel on the firewall for use when there is just a rolling chassis. Front wheels are greased and mounted. Slight delay on rear wheels. Seems that my split rims that came on some TT rear wheels really did not mount correctly. They are apparently for some other antique automobile. So no problem, lets use the rims that came with the truck. NOT! Two of the rims that came with the truck do not seat all the way on so that when you put the lugs and nuts on, some of the lugs are not touching the wheel. I tried sanding the paint on the rim and the wheel thinking that the paint was preventing a proper fit but they just barely miss going on far enough to seat good. It may be possible that these are Model A rims with the spokes cut out that are not fitting. Thinking I was about to have wheels on the rear end, I finished up by installing the brake lever and the lubrication ports. I used an adapter and a grease gun to fill the rear axle wheel bearings full of grease and installed the filled grease cups. I got the opportunity to need my restored wheel puller because that hub would not let go my wheel.

6-30-04--------- Finally made a little more progress. I wanted to know how things were looking inside of the engine after about two hours running time. I drained the oil through a paint strainer and cleaned the "low tech" oil screen. I saw a little Kevlar fuzz as expected and a little metal particle as expected. I may do this again after another ten or fifteen hours just to monitor the Kevlar fuzz due the chance of clogging an oil tube. I am using the external oil line modification as an extra source of oil for the front bearing. I started adjusting the bands using a quick measuring stick to start from the bottom loose pedal and tighten until the pedal backs up two inches. I expect to need to do this again after a few hours of clutching. In desperation to get a halfway decent coat of paint on seventy plus year old wooden spokes, I made a rotisserie to paint
them on. This made it so much easier to see the wheel from every angle and allowed a heavy application to some very ugly wood. It is a very nice thing to see wheels hanging on the end of axles, its been a long time a coming.

5-5-04 ------------ We started the engine for the first time. The first start went very well and with the presence of some good friends, some of who are Model T veterans, it was a very rewarding day. The fan and new radiator are now installed. I used an extension to lube the fan bushing. You should be careful not to squeeze too much pressure on the fan bushing with the grease gun or you will blow out the gasket with the hydraulic pressure. We acquired some nickel plated parts for the radiator and headlights which
would have been common in 1926 on most new Fords. The wheel and tire shop was busy assembling wheels and spokes and installing tubes, flaps and tires. One rotted rim that was ready for the trash saved two other rims by using the locks and tabs for repair. The split rim tire jacks are priceless when it is time to install tires along with the use of baby powder, The way I dealt with truing up the front wheels is I installed thin shims between the hub and spokes to obtain as little side to side wobble as
practical. I found that before assembling the wheels, you should use a surface plate to check your feloe for straightness and hammer out any dings which can cause some of the wobble. I used a surface plate made out of a chunk of counter top marble where the carpenters cut out for the kitchen sink. It works well for truing up the coil ring casting also. I used C clamps to apply pressure to the wood when torquing the hub bolts to hopefully prevent the hub from loosening for awhile. I was very pleased with the
front spokes I purchased from Smith and Jones. They seemed to be of very good workmanship. I used the old original spokes on my two rear split rims and I was surprised to find on my spare wheel made from a random box of old spokes from several wheels that the spokes fit very precise as if they were from the same wheel. Two more coats of paint and the wheels are on!!!!!

3-30-04--------------Engine is ready to start, wheels are under construction, funds are being raised, parts are being acquired, money is being spent, time is flying, Wisconsin tour is in doubt, fun is being had. We visited the Chickashay swap meet again and sold a few parts to buy a few parts. We are very happy to now have a new Brassworks radiator and new tires tubes and flaps, new Howell sheet metal parts and an extra closed cab for parts use. The elves decided that my sweat shop does not meet they're financial necessities so they decided to sell Mardi Gras beads at our booth to augment they're meager income. They were shameless in they're high pressure sales tactics. We are learning as we go on constructing wheels. We trimmed the spoke tenons part way so that it would be easier to assemble, The part that is trimmed has no contact with feloe once pressed so why not. The rubber ball just helps hold them in a tee pee until they are pressed and when it is time to press in the hub, I heat up the feloe and the ball pushes the spokes outward to help when inserting the hub for pressing.

1-30-04--------- After much scrutiny of the Ford service manual pictures, every book I could find a picture of wire, email from my good friends and a few phone calls, I think that the electrical portion of this truck is routed accurately. My truck had the remnants of a magneto only system but I do not feel it to be a reach to go ahead with the starter equipped system. Without having the benefit of removing a complete old wire loom, I had no guidance on the location of loom clamps, cable sleeve and loom routing etc. A friend loaned me the deteriorated remains of a battery bracket so that I could make a reproduction of it under the left step. The horn button was built up with J B Weld so that it would fit tight. The amp meter was disassembled as well as the switch and all parts were cleaned and reassembled. Note that the ring in the meter has polarity. After completing the wire loom installation, all coils fire and all plugs spark, when cranked with the starter and the hand crank.

8-20-03-------- Finished with starter and generator, both motor if you attach a twelve volt battery, I hope that means a six volt will work. Finished bolting up the forward frame area which is quite a traffic jam of bolts. Found that my frame does not have a side engine mount hole, only a top hole. I decided that if three out four cab mount brackets are cracked, they need more than just a weld for the long haul. After welding the aft lamp bracket, right aft cab bracket and the two firewall brackets, I applied a reinforcement of carbon fiber to one side of all. If that does not prevent a repeat crack, it should at least keep things from falling off on the highway. I noticed that there is a possibility that firewall brackets could possibly be made to fail prematurely if one has to flex the bracket or firewall in order to line up the bolt holes. One should bend or adjust parts so that the holes fall into alignment without flexing so that there is no preload.  The firewall was pried off of the cab, blasted and painted to accomplish a sense of visual progress. Two steel straps were riveted on the step support strap to repair the previous owners sins. My theory on how to attain four to six good coils is to start with forty or more un-restored coils. Tim and I spent a day removing old points, checking coil circuits and descumming the hardware for reuse. We also purchased a few sets of new hardware. After removing my coil box and observing that it had a bad case of the cooties, I decided that to have one good coil box, start with three un-restored ones. I used the old wood from one of the boxes after re-gluing the loose laminates and sealing the wood.

8-1-03 ----------- Started soaking the cab in penetrant in hopes of prying things apart. The engine has been waiting for the camshaft to arrive before it could be assembled further. No sooner than I glued the oil pan on, and it came in. Upon installation we found that it ran up against the wire that safeties the magneto ring. We also learned why you should have the cam in before you put the spring keepers on.  Off/ON the oil pan, transmission, magneto bolts and associated safety wires. Modifications include countersunk screws for oil pan inspection cover retainer rings, alignment pins for 4th main bearing alignment, and a notch on the cam bushing to improve the lubrication. I made a really quick and dirty mold and rebabbited my 4th main totally unsupervised and had it machined to fit. Using the same glass tape from the magneto ring repair, I patched the field coils and sprayed insulating varnish before installing them back in the starter and generator. I found that I only have top bolt holes for my side engine mounts and no side holes. What will I do with the new bolts and fancy wooden blocks? I spoke with the Rustsolve man that makes the snakeoil that removes rust and he said that if you put the parts in a makeshift shower booth all night, the next day it will be clean. So what will it be, Soda blast or Snakeoil blast?

7-22-03--------- I decided to cherry pick parts from both stake beds because both of them had something to offer but both had damage to repair. I kept the original frame and the latest one donated its deck wood, deck strips, stake fence, and main beams. I already had a repaired lamp holder and lamp. After the carnage, we visited Smith Industries again to see the sandblaster from hell. There is a little repair work to do on the front end of the frame and then we can reassemble the bed with the old boards. I learned a little about shimming the coil ring. It is a must to have a hoist of some kind to do this job in a vertical manner due to the number of times you will get the privilege to bolt and unbolt the crankshaft and the coil ring to adjust shims. One must realize that a shim change in one location changes more than one clearance. Multiple shim peelings are needed on one adjustment to make a move that does not mess up the others. Remember the hurryer you go the behinder you get and that is why the transmission shaft flange bolt holes were misaligned and the triple gear pins interfered with the magnets causing me to get more proficient at transmission disassembly and reassembly. When I cleaned the starter, there was a lot of tar on the field windings and interior parts so we are using the modified bushing that has a little garlock seal in it so the oil does not migrate out of the engine. That way we do not get doo doo on the Mall floor should we ever go there. I am looking into a modern diode to replace the old coil cutoff but I will put it in the old shell for appearance sake.

7-11-03 -------------------- While spreading the word about the need for the stakes for my stake bed, one of those friend of a friend link- ups came up. Kirk Hill had a friend who knew some people that had some stuff in an old storage building and Kirk thought he remembered seeing a whole stake bed, I maintained as much restraint as I could until the invitation to see the stuff was approved. At first, the items were not for sale, but the owners decided that if they sold it, they could apply the money towards the Museum that they maintain next door to the ancient hardware store they operate. Once in the daylight, it revealed a little more work than first thought but it was in better shape than mine and the wood appears to be reusable, so the plan is to reinstall the same boards after the steel is painted. As of the posting of this update, four cans of penetrant have been sprayed to start the not so fun part of disassembly of the frame from the boards. A little piece of history about this family's place is that the building that is now the museum used to be a Brush dealership.

6-30-03---------  I failed to mention that I used oil scoops on the connecting rods and I slotted the rear shims to make it easier to re-shim in the future, ordered parts for starter and generator. Insulators, bearings, mounting screws, small stuff. The armatures check good, the fields were filthy, the field screws were welded and the bendix was a rust sculpture. Ordered coil parts from another well known parts house three weeks ago and still waiting. Construction of the Magnet re-charger is under way with help from my good friend the evil and sinister Doctor Timotheus who is an Aviation technician by day. We have been learning the electrical system and thinking of evil sinister things to do with a model T electrical system. Ordered parts for the carburetor and cooling fan from Sky go farms and as usual, the parts come in quickly. I found that I had the wrong carburetor for my year truck so I had to procure another unit with the U- Joint type adjustment. There is a product called Thermoweld that will be tried on the fan support. It is supposed to be good to forty gazillion degrees so it should fill in pits on my fan support nicely. After sanding it smooth, I painted with high heat paint. When I attempted to re-bush the fan hub, I cracked it due to improper size bushing created by yours truly. Sue me!  The wheels parts are piling up and the stake bed went to the sandblaster the same day I found another complete stake bed, hold everything, I mean complete stake bed with still good wood with paint still on the wood, "BARN FRESH', I always wanted to use that phrase. Later friends, the elves are ready to be tucked in for the night.

6-18-03---------- The magneto ring test revealed some weak poles and physical trauma to various coil wrappings. I measured the size of the coils and unwound, cleaned, varnished, taped, rolled and installed with a coat of marine epoxy all of the coils. Test good now. What a hassle, $140. exchange sounds real cheap now, but the bragging rights are pricless.