Finished up some details on the Model TT Tow Truck. Things I wanted to get done were:
1. Mount Tool Box
2. Add work lights
3. Add grab hook
4. Build steel box for chains
5. Mount spare tire
6. Build frame to support hand crank
7. Finish pawl linkage
8. Extend hand crank
My dad gave me this old tool,box, which belonged to his dad. It’s well over 100 years old.
While looking it over I saw that the bottom was broken. It was made of half-inch softwood.
I replaced the broken boards with half-inch hardwood
Wiped on some black stain to better match the 100 year old grease stained patina
The chest also needed some work on the hinges and a new hasp.
Used some angle iron to mount the tool chest in the bed. Inside the tool chest I carry spare ignition parts, spare fuel pump, tools, fuel line, wire, duct tape and parts to fix whatever else is most likely to break. It’s always something with a Model T.
Getting back to the tow boom, I saw a pic of an original tow truck that had some work lights on the boom. I thought that looked cool. I picked up a pair of old lights at the Early Bird swap meet in February. $10 for a pair. They were in good shape, except the wiring and contacts were rusted out. I replaced that, and mounted them on a 2 foot piece of angle. Then I bolted the light bar to the boom
Ran a ground wire to the frame, and a wire to an old switch on the dashboard that used to control the fuel pump. When I changed the fuel pump, I bypassed the switch and wired The fuel pump to the key. I left the switch there to fill the hole in the dash, and it was perfect for the work lights. Got a keyed hot off the coil lead, that was already fuse protected. Fired up the lights and only one worked. Took the other one apart and cleaned up the ground, and got them both to work
A couple pages back in this thread, member hartcreek suggested adding a hook to the boom to run a secondary chain to the disabled car. That was a great idea, and I already had 20’ of 5/16 chain laying around. So, I ordered up a 5/16” grab hook from amazon. A couple of half-inch holes later and here it is
I didn’t want that chain sliding around and damaging the wooden bed, so I built a steel box for it by adding a piece of angle iron and making a floor from quarter-inch plate
I had to move my spare tire because it interfered with the winch. I was going to put it on the other side of the bed, but the chain pan I just built seemed a better choice. So in goes the spare. Since it was handy, I used the chain to padlock down the spare
Now it was time to build a frame that would support an extended winch handle. By extending the winch handle by 3 feet, it can be cranked while standing beside the truck. This is how it was done back in the day. First job was to to figure out placement and height of the crank shaft.
Then it was time to get a concept of geometry and how to mount the frame to the truck bed. After messing around for a while, here is what I came up with.
I set about to duplicate that in steel. Here it is
Had to drill a 1 1/16” hole for the shaft
Time to finish the linkage for the pawl, so that can also be operated from outside the bed. Earlier I added linkage from the pawl to a bell crank. Now I need to go from the bell crank to the support frame. Since the pawl linkage is spring loaded to close, I needed some way to keep the pawl open while lowering to the winch. I started by making the linkage in two pieces, joined by a coupler nut. Then I built a small bracket with a keyhole-shaped hole. The coupler nut slides through the large end of the keyhole, and then drops down and locks into the narrow end, keeping the pawl open. Flip it up and the coupler nut slides back through the keyhole and the pawl springs closed. Works slick!
Last job was to extend the crank handle. The winch had a 1” x 1” nub to attach to.
I bought a 12” chunk of square tube with quarter-inch wall and a 1” x 1” inside measurement. I cut off a piece and slipped it over the winch nub. Into the other end went a 3 foot section of 1” diameter round bar. Both ends were cross drilled to lock everything together
The round bar extends out through the mounting frame
After shortening the shaft by 10 inches, I added a bearing to make the shaft turn easily, and then another piece of the square tube
For the handle I’m using a big old Proto 3/4” drive ratchet. Using a ratchet handle was another suggestion from member hartcreek. I added an extension, and then an adapter to size the ratchet up to 1”
That wraps,up the tow truck conversion. Next job is to do some work on the engine. New valves, cam and head going in.