This will be a long term thread, updated as I get stuff done.
By way of background, I bought this truck for my dad about 35 years ago. Dad was an auto mechanic, so this was right up his alley.
A note about my dad. He was a WW2 vet like everybody’s dad was in my generation. Dad was a Seabee with NCB 40. Spent 3 years in the South Pacific. Was at Espiritu Santos making runways to allow air support for Guadalcanal. Was at Finschhafen, Los Negros and Saipan. Spent a lot of time carving runways out of jungle while being shot at. Dad didn’t talk about the war much. He did show me lots of black and white pics of Japanese soldiers stacked 6 high around Seabee fighting positions. Dad was a BAR guy and was also pressed into duty as a counter sniper, shooting Japanese soldiers out of palm trees. Dad was always a great shot. Anyway, the war got over and dad moved back to Port Townsend and married my mom. They had 6 girls and 1 boy. Dad worked hard all the time. Later in life he wished he had spent more time being a dad, but I thought he was a great dad!
When dad finally retired, he was a bit lost and in my mom’s hair. So I bought him the Model T to restore, figuring it would keep him busy. Dad fixed up a basket case and here is what he ended up with:
Dad died about 5 years after finishing the truck. He loved that thing. Drove it all over Port Townsend and in the annual parade. Even won a trophy or two. After dad died the truck sat in his garage for 10 years. When mom passed away I brought the truck over to my place, squirted oil in the cylinders, and put it up on jack stands. And there it sat for 5 more years. Recently I got the urge to get it running. Last week I spent a couple of days checking it out. It was truly stone cold dead. Battery dead, starter failed bench test, generator iffy. Wiring all brittle. Carb gunked up. Radiator leaks and the water pump too. God knows what else, but a least the motor isn’t seized.
So I have my work cut out for me. My son is coming down this weekend to work on it with me. Just like I used to work on it with my dad. More coming as I make progress!
