Classics, Motoring Memories

Motoring Memories: Hot rodding and high performance Model T Fords

May 8, 2009

The Model T was introduced late in 1908, and as with the later V8, fledgling speed equipment suppliers gradually evolved. After the First World War, a rash of mail order shops sprang up offering high-performance parts that would totally transform Henry Ford’s basic transportation.

Coachbuilders also obliged with special aluminum and steel bodies, and the whole thing took off. By the 1920s, even the most remote farm boy could order parts by mail order and build a T-rod in his barn or drive shed. By the time serious builders got finished there often wasn’t much left of the original Ford except the frame (usually lowered), the planetary transmission and cylinder block. But that was enough to keep it a Model T.

The spindly Ford crankshaft was replaced by a sturdier, counterbalanced shaft, and oil dipper connecting rods improved lubrication. An overhead-valve cylinder head conversion was a must for deeper breathing, and better battery or magneto ignition gave a stronger spark. This also eliminated the heavy flywheel magnets for quicker engine response. For improved cooling, the Model T’s basic thermo-siphon system was augmented by a belt-driven water pump. Dual down-draft carburetors fed more air and fuel into the cylinders.

Popular suppliers of overhead valve conversions were Riley, Roof, Rajo, and one of the favourites, Frontenac Motor Corporation, headed by none other than Louis Chevrolet, a talented practical engineer. After designing and giving his name to the first Chevrolet car for GM founder William Durant, he fell out with Durant in 1914 and left to gain fame as a designer of race cars and his “Fronty” Model T overhead valve heads.

This mechanical metamorphosis was then clothed in a two-seater roadster body, sometimes with a pointed tail, supplied by such companies as F.O. Ames, Universal Body Corp., and Craig-Hunt. The combination of lighter weight, increased power, and better gear ratios gave the humble T a startling performance increase.

Smaller wheels from Dayton or Kelsey-Hayes were usually fitted to banish the spindly appearance, and replacing the planetary steering gear, often with one from a Franklin, gave much better control.

Top speeds of 129 km/h (80 mph) were not uncommon. And zero to 96 km/h (60 mph) times of 20 seconds were good estimates in an era when many cars couldn’t even achieve the 96 km/h mark.

Faster hot rods with more cylinders superseded the Model T sportsters, but in their heyday, a good one could challenge many of the fastest cars around. Just as the stock Model T was everyone’s transportation, a hopped-up T was the poor man’s Stutz Bearcat or Mercer Raceabout.

Pages: 1 2