Clean Off Grease on Frame and Brakes

Rub off with a rag dipped in clear turpentine and polish with crude oil. Do not let the turpentine stay on any longer than necessary. (Contributor unknown)

Clean Off Road Oil (1916 Style)

Rub with a soft rag dipped in crude oil. After it is dry, dampen another rag with water, sprinkle on a few drops of alcohol, rub off the polished film and give it a final polish with a dry rag (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana).

Clean Cloth Upholstery (1916 Style)

Beat the cushions to get out the dust. Grease or oil can be removed by scouring it with chloroform, which will not leave a circle after it evaporates. Ivory soap and water put on with a woolen cloth can also be used. (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana)

Cleaning Aluminum Parts (1916 Style)

Wash the aluminum foot boards with a strong solution of hyposulphate of soda and water, which will dissolve the aluminum tarnish, and then wash off with water and dry. (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style submitted by R.A.L. (Montana)

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Mix 50% motor oil (10 weight) with 50% kerosene. Clean the aluminum well with this mixture and a clean cloth. Wipe dry and apply a thin coat of this mixture to protect the aluminum. This should be done about twice a year for proper care. (Contributor Unknown+

Cleaning Lamp Reflectors (1916 Style)

Don't touch the lamp reflectors until they become too dull through long service to be useful. When they get dusty blow the dust out. Polish old reflectors on which there are spots or which are tarnished, with red rouge and put it on with a chamois skin dampened with alcohol. Wipe this off with another chamois and dry rouge which will give the reflector a high polish. In polishing a reflector press very lightly on it and give the chamois a circular motion. Old reflectors can be replated with silver and burnishes, then they will be as good as new. (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana)

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Be careful when cleaning your Model T headlight reflectors. Original Model T reflectors are plated with silver. If you have reflectors that are tarnished, do not attempt to clean them with silver polish or Simonize cleaner. Silver reflectors should be cleaned with dry lamp black which is available at your local hardware store.

If you are going to replate your headlight reflectors, do not have them chromed. Chrome is a very poor reflecting surface. Silver reflects 95% of the light. (January 1961 Marc News)

Cleaning Nickel Plated Parts (1916 Style)

Rub them up with lampblack or powdered rotten stone, mixed with a little oil and put on with a soft flannel rag. (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana).

Cleaning Off Rust

Parts which have rusted together, and refuse to come apart. It is possible to dissolve rust by submerging rusted parts in water for up to a couple of weeks. Keep a close watch on the parts by checking every day or two. This procedure is particularly useful if a cast iron piston has been rusted into the block. (Ralph Zajicek)

Cleaning the Vaporizer Heating Plate

Approximately every five thousand miles it is advisable to remove and clean the vaporizer heating plate. This plate can be easily removed by removing the four exhaust manifold cover screws, loosening the vapor outlet tube nut and moving the cover away from the manifold. (Ford Instruction Manual)

Cleaning Windows & Keeping the Windshield Dry

To clean windowsWash with equal parts of soapy water and wood alcohol To keep the windshield dry

You can prevent drops of water from clinging to the windshield in rainy or snowy weather by going over the glass with a solution made of one ounce of water, two ounces of glycerine and one dram of salt. Dampen a piece of gauze with it and wipe the glass from the top toward the bottom. (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana).

Grease Saves Fender Finish

Whenever I have to straighten out a banged-up fender that is not too badly mashed, particularly where the finish has not been chipped when the damage was done, I smear heavy cup grease on the outside of the fender. Then I go to work and hammer the metal back in shape in the usual way. I have found that when the fender is not too sharply dented, a refinishing job is seldom necessary after the greasing precaution has been taken, as the enamel is kept from cracking away from the metal by the heavy-bodied material. (Popular Science, Sept. 1940)

Leather Polish (1916 Style)

Beeswax dissolved in turpentine to the consistency of thin cream makes a fine polish for leather upholstery. (Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana)

Make Your Own Body Polish (1916 Style)

This polish will make an old body look as if it had just come from the painters. Mix one gallon of turpentine, one pint of paraffin oil,3-1/2 ounces of citronella oil and 1-1/2 ounces of cedar oil. Use a little at a time and rub it until it is thoroughly dry. This is far better than mixtures of linseed oil and kerosene or linseed oil and turpentine. (. Maintain a car at low cost - 1916 style Submitted by R.A.L. (Montana).

Proper Way to Wash the Car

Always use cold or lukewarm water – never hot water. If a hose is used, don’t turn on the water at full force, as this drives the dirt into the finish, thereby causing injury. After the surplus mud and grime have been washed off take a sponge and clean the body and running gear with a solution of water and linseed oil soap. Rinse off with cold water; then rub and polish the body with a damp chamois skin. A body polish of good quality may be used to add luster to the car. Grease on the running gear may be removed with a gasoline-soaked sponge or rag. The nickeled parts may be polished with a good nickel polish. An excellent body polish and nickel polish may be purchased from the Ford dealer.

Should the body or other Pyroxylin finished parts of the car become spattered with tar or other substances used on roads, the stops can be easily removed with benzol or gasoline. If full strength gasoline or benzol is used, there is a possibility of softening the finish. It is therefore suggested that the benzol or gasoline be mixed with one-third its own volume of motor oil.

Dip a soft cloth into the mixture and, using only one finger, rub the spot gently until it has been removed. The rubbed spot should then be washed off with clear water. (Owner’s Manual)

Protecting Unplated/Unpainted Parts

Henry Ford was cheap! There are a number of parts on our cars that were never painted or plated (clevis pins, timing and carburetor rods, cotter keys, etc., etc. – even some engines) and are subject to rust and corrosion.

In an effort to protect some of these parts from the elements, rather than painting, I experimented with three different products/processes.

I. Bluing – Bluing is a form of controlled rust and is used on most guns. Surprisingly, it’s quite easy, quick and the results are good.

A. Preparation: The parts need to be rust free and grease free. I used Birchwood Casey Rust and Bluing Remover for rust removal and then cleaned parts with lacquer thinner. Alcohol could also be used.

B. Process: I used Birchwood Casey’s Bluing Liquid. I poured the liquid into a plastic bowl (a Cool Whip container is better than using your wife’s prized Tupperware), dropped the clean and shiny parts in liquid for 60 to 90 seconds, rinsed in water, dried and buffed with a towel.

C. Hint: This works well with new or like new parts. Any trace of rust or corrosion bleeds through. Also, there is a paste bluing compound available for parts that are too large to dip.

II. Stove Black – Stove Black is a petroleum based dye and has been used for many years keeping Grandma’s cast iron stove from rusting. It worked for Grandma and it will work for you, too.

A. Preparation: The parts should be clean, dry and free of grease or paint.

B. Process: Using a steel wool pad saturated with stove black liquid (Black Magic Stove Polish) rub part until surface is black and of a consistent color. Let dry and buff with rough cloth or burlap.

C. Hint: This technique is better for parts that are badly rusted or cannot be cleaned/wire brushed to a perfect condition. In fact, a little light rust appears to help adhesion. It also works well for old Ford tools and I understand it has also been used on unpainted engines

III. Heat/Oil Quench – The Old House Journal provided an old country remedy on protecting metal parts that are exposed to the elements.

A. Preparation: Parts should be cleaned, wire brushed and fairly “shiny”.

B. Process:

1) Heat up parts until nearly red hot.

2) Quench in old motor oil

3) Buff with old towel or burlap

The results are quite good and the appearance is similar to bluing. While I had no problems with my parts, keep in mind that this is a form of tempering and extreme care should be used.

C. Hints:

1) I used my barbeque, placing parts on the coals of my gas grill. Note: My neighbor came over as I was “cooking my parts” on my grill. Take my advice; don’t tell them what you’re doing. All of my neighbors now look at me with strange stares – the word spread.

2) Do this outside. When quenching, a lot of black acrid smoke is emitted. CAUTION: Flash fires may occur, so have a cover for your pan. I learned this the hard way.

3) Do not use your wife’s prized pans for the oil/quenching container. Her home cooked green beans will never taste the same. (Contributor Unknown)

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Coat nuts and bolts under fenders and running boards with milk of magnesia. The nut will not rust and can easily be removed years later.(From the Canadian Klaxon the Southern Ontario Regional Group HCCA)

Save Those Candles (For Rusty Nuts & Bolts)

Bits and pieces of birthday or decorative candles are extremely useful for taking apart rusty nuts and bolts. Even those stubborn exhaust manifold nuts, bolts and studs can be taken apart. Anyone having any suave with the skillful use of heat for loosening rusted and "frozen" parts knows it is a slow, careful process. Heating the bolt or nut to a dull-to-medium red, then slowly and carefully turning with a wrench, socket or whatever, may have to be repeated a dozen times or more. This repetitive step can almost always be eliminated when, after the first application of heat has cooled (just enough not to cause fire), apply a candle to the heated pieces. The wax gets drawn in and cleans and lubricates the threads. Most often, after a turn or two with a wrench the bolts or nuts will come apart with finger loosening. This also works well when removing stubborn bearing collars, or what have you, from shafts. Many times, broken studs can be removed by MIG welding a slightly oversize nut onto the broken stud even if it's broken into the recess, and then applying the melted wax process. (Redwood Review Feb.1995 with credit to Old Cars Weekly News & Marketplace)

Scotch Brite for Parts Cleaning

Throw away your Brillo and SOS pads because we've found something better - Scotch-Brite. When it comes to flawless and effortless clean-up of chrome, anodized aluminum and cast parts, there’s nothing like Scotch-Brite pads to get the materials dirt and rust-free in short order. Scotch-Brite offers the restorer two types of pads: General Purpose and Ultra Fine. (The Feed Bag. DVMustang Assoc. April 1995)

Storing the Car

Drain the water from the radiator, and then put in about a quart of anti-freeze solution, to prevent freezing of any water that may possibly remain. Remove cylinder head and clean out any carbon deposits in combustion chamber. Draw off all the gasoline. Drain the dirty oil from the crank case and flush the crank case, as directed in paragraph “Draining the Crank Case,” page 11. Refill the crank case with one gallon of fresh oil and run the engine enough to cover the different parts with oil. Remove the tires and store them away. Wash the car, and if possible cover the body with a sheet of muslin, to protect the finish. (Owner’s Manual)

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Here is a little hint I found in an Elmira, NY newspaper. I thought it might just be applied to antique cars stored in garages and barns where creepy crawling critters might get into the upholstery of these old relics….it sure might be just the answer!

DEAR POLLY – I would like to tell the reader who has mice in her vacation cabin that the answer to her problem is plain old moth balls. If she can throw them under the house the smell will not be as bad.

I keep mice out of a closet that opens into my garage by using moth balls. I find they repel most animals and I learned about them from our county agent when I had a skink under a house I once lived in. I also once had a marvelous pecan tree that drew rats but the moth balls drove them away. Frankly, I think they work better on animals than on moths. I suggest that the reader scatter them under her cabin and near all the openings where she thinks mice might get in. The weather seems to have a lot to do with the evaporation of mothballs, but I find they usually last about six months, sometimes even nine months or longer. – LUCILLE (From the Texas Hill Country Chapter MTFCA)

Towing

NEVER tow a Model T Ford except in an emergency! Because of the unit power-plant design which depends on the rapid rotation of the engine flywheel for lubrication of all parts, including clutch and throw-out bearing, towing the Model T in "neutral" position results in damage to clutch parts and transmission bands for want of lubrication.

If the car must be towed, then do so with the clutch engaged in high-speed position and with the spark plugs removed so the engine may turn over freely. Keep towing speed below 25 miles per hour. In such dire cases where a tow truck must be used, then lift the rear wheels, lock the steering, and tow the Model T backward on the front wheels.

An alternative method, requiring considerable effort, is to remove the universal joint before towing. (Contributor Unknown)

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