This weekend I was at my sisters house and her husband showed me two model t's out in the woods at this church. The pastor said he'd be happy if I pulled them out of there, cause eventually they are doing construction. Both are basically just frames / engine / front suspension / gas tank and 'dash board'. One has both front fenders. It was a nice history lesson, my dad went out there with us to look at them. Its amazing how much is still left after all the years. The spark advance and throtle are still movable on the steering column. Im sure the engine is a solid block of rust at this point. Even the fan blade still spins. The e-brake handle is still there. Anyway, pretty cool stuff to look at. In addition, there were two (one almost complete) Mcallister (sp?) International Harvester sickle bar mowers, horse drawn.
So - give me an idea of what I could do with the Model-T's (besides haul them to a junk yard for scrap metal) lol. I looked on ebay and there doesnt seem to be much of a market for parts for them. The frames on both are very solid. I thought about the ebay thing, and giving the money back to the church minus a little bit for labor to haul them out. I know I could get them out rather easily (I have two winches and a 18 foot car hauler trailer).
I love the 'old school' 32 roadsters and "rat rods", but am having a hard time justifying pulling them from the woods. Help?

Yes, the parts should be worth good money. I would split any money made with the church. If I had that chance for "original" model T parts, I would jump on it ! There probably isn't much on e-bay because there isn't much out there ! I would look at Hemmings and see what is there.

If it is not that much work to haul them out I would do it. Strip whatever parts seem like they could be saved and sell all the junk to a scrap yard. With the current price of steel its amazing how much you can get for a pile of rusty junk.

i'd do a search on the web for model T clubs and contact them. if they are salvagable you could make some money, and splitting it with the church is a good idea.

any time i go to a swap meet there's always parts and always guys looking for them.

There are a lot of people in my area that build those cars. I think there are still a lot of people out there looking for those.

The Model T hobby is fading fast (except for the trailered ones), as you can't drive them on public roads; not many people pouring money into them any more (compared to later cars you can drive).
:beers:

is there any bodey panels? If i knew something like that was in ky they would be gone! wish you were closer to me i need some extra frames! :D

Thanks for the posts and suggestions guys. I found a Model T club about 45 min away from here via Hemmings. I sent them an email offering to pull them from the woods if there would be any interest in them. I'd kinda look forward to the challenge of pulling them out, and would hate to see them destroyed with the pending construction at the church.
I wish there was a way to make one of them into a 'rat rod' (I know some folks don't like that term, sorry), because I'd love to have one some day, and getting a free fram and suspension to start with would be a nice deal.
Any other ideas? I'll let yall know if I hear anything from the club.

EDIT - 67Stang - Nope, no body panels other than one has front fenders, one of the fenders is in bad shape due a tree growing up next to it. Both have the 'dash board', but its pretty well pitted. I'd really like to see one of both of them go to a restorer of T's.

YES!!

pdq67

PDQ - I've wondered how long it would take for you to chime in ;) I know your a fan of the 'old' stuff. Any more advice besides 'YES' lol?

We have a saying around these parts....if it's free, it's for me...

I just got an email back from the guy I found on hemmings - he gave me some info on where to look on the engine to deterimne what year it was. He pointed out that over 15 million T's were made, so there are a ton of them out there. He also brought up a good point, that those that grew up with them, or had them as hand-me down's are passing away now, so the market is kinda drying up. He offered to take them off my hands if I can't find a good home. One of these weekends I'll head back over to my sisters with my trailer. Who know's what else is out in the woods :)
And Bonzo - your right, free is always a nice price to pay - 'I swear, it just followed me home' lol.

J,

My wife's Uncle was soo into these motors that he had created AND had cast up Herculoy main caps for them and sold them !!!

He came over from "The Circle" one year driving on I-70 a 23 Bucket-T Roadster P/U at 70 mph that he had owned and driven eveywhere for years!!

It had a Rajo overhead valve head, a Rucxtel(Sp?) 2-speed rearend with Buffalo rims and would fly!! AND also of all things a VEGA aluminum steering gearbox on it!!

His last name was Hill if you want to look into it??

My wife's Aunt Mary, his sister had to dispose of a T frame and rearend he had drug up and never took home after he passed away years back..

Yes, keep and try to sell everything if you can..

pdq67

The Model T hobby is fading fast (except for the trailered ones), as you can't drive them on public roads; not many people pouring money into them any more (compared to later cars you can drive).
:beers:

John, you can't be more wrong. There's a bunch of guys in the little town where I work that collect them. The body shop manager and one of the body men have a couple each. The sign maker in town has a pole barn full of them, and they get them out and drive them as much as they can. One of them has been a feature in the model T Times magazine. (The fish truck, if anyone reads the mag.) They don't over-restore them, they like to enjoy them. Seems the rougher they are, the more they get turned on.

The ruxtell is an auxillary transmission/rearend setup. And actually, the Muncie Transmission Company made auxillary trannies for the model T as well. Long before they were part of GM.
Were there any brass radiator shells, or are they nickel plated?

Well, I talked to a few folks around town that I know and then met a guy that is collects model A's. One of the guys brother in laws collects IH farm equipment and between the guy that collects model A's and the guy from Hemmings, I think I found a home for all of it. I'll probably go dig them out in the next month. If anyone would like one of the frames or the IHC sickle mower (horse drawn) shoot me a PM (this isn't meant to be a classified ad by the way, just doing my part for automotive / farm history) I have no doubt there's more back in the woods.... maybe I'll find a 32 roadster.... but probably not ;)

The Model T hobby is fading fast (except for the trailered ones), as you can't drive them on public roads; not many people pouring money into them any more (compared to later cars you can drive).
:beers:
Stock ones I can see your point, but don't they makes hotrods out of them?

Gary - Thats kinda what Im wondering. I've seen 'T-buckets' before, but wonder if its worth it for me to hold on to the frame to eventually make a hotrod. One of the guys I talked to said that aftermarket frames aren't that expensive.
Anyone out there got 'plans' on hotrodding a model T? I believe the frame rails can be unbolted from each other at the front and rear, so maybe it wouldnt be too hard to store. Heck, maybe after a bit more good luck, I'll have a 'free' hotrod, I'll have the frame soon enough, and have a spare 327 block already, now I just need everything in between.