Brass 1912 Ford Model T... 14 years in the making

338375

338375

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My great uncle was a master machinist. Even on his time off, he enjoyed making things in his small shop at home...

Some years back, he decided to make a scale model of a 1912 Ford model 'T' Torpedo out of brass. After talking to some folks at Ford, he was able to get copies of the original blueprints to work from.

Before he could even start building, he had to make the tools to produce the parts, because no one had ever done this before.

Every piece on the car was handmade by him, even screws that were so small you could hardly hold them. The only thing that was not done by him was the seat. He said he could never get it perfect enough, so he had a friend that has an upholstery shop do it.

After 14 years and countless hours, this is the end result. I have always been so impressed with his craftsmanship that I wanted to share it with others. The only problem was, all the pictures I have of it were taken before we had a digital camera, and I could never get them to come out clearly.

A few years back, he decided it was time for it to go to someone else. A friend of his has an antique clock museum in Eugene Oregon called Creative Clock.. He also has other antiques too, so it was a good fit.

I apologize for the pictures, but this is as good as I can get them...

I hope you enjoy seeing this car. It truly is the only one in the world like it..
 

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Heres a few more pics
 

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:eek: Master machinist is right! That looks like some amazing work, would love to see it in person.

Thanks for showing it to us.
 
The pictures really don't do it any justice. It is incredible in person.

Before it was finished, some folks from Ford flew out to Oregon to see it. They wanted to buy it when he was finished with it. He decided he wanted it to go to his friend instead
 
I don't know as much about the Model T as a true afficionado but everything looks right to me, right down to the throttle lever. Are the engine and transmission internals correct as well?
 
Yes they are. Every piece on the car was made using scaled down copies of the original prints from Ford. IIRC the only thing he did differently, was he made a distributor instead of the original timer. I can't remember why he did that though. And to be quite honest I had forgotten about it, until I was reading a magazine article that was done on it...

The internals on the engine, trans and differential are also scaled AND functional :D
It runs, you can shift the gears, you can even light the headlamps. Even the cooling system is fully functional. It has 100 tubes in it just like the original.
He couldn't find the correct brass tubing for it, so he bought brass round stock, and made a drill bit so he could drill out the tubes.

The rubber for the tires is even the correct rubber that was used for the original tires. Somehow he got hooked up with the rubber company and got a piece.

I could go on for hours explaining everything he did. Its one of those things you can stare at for hours. He did a brass steam locomotive too. He finished it before he started the car
 
Thanks . He was in his 80's when he finally finished the car. He passed away last year at the age of 94.

It still amazes me that someone can have that much patience and talent. He told me one time, it probably would have only taken him about 8-10 years to build, but he was such a perfectionist, he made a lot of the parts multiple times, until he was satisfied with them.

He also made a model 'T' tire pump and jack out of brass. I am fortunate enough to have one of those sets he made.
BTW they both work as designed too :D
 
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That is fantastic work. I'll bet that Ford wanted it. The engine work looks incredible.

Thanks for sharing this. It really probably should be in the Ford museum were others can really appreciate it and he gets credit for the great work. I understand that may not be your call.

KR
 
Truly awesome work. Machinists are a breed of there own. My uncle is a machinist he makes scaled working versions of flathead engines and hemi engines. The last time I was at his house he was showing me his handguns that he made along with a 22cal Gatling gun. Very talented but strange bird he is.
 
Wow. I LOVE this kind of stuff. That thing really does belong in a museum. :thumbup: Thanks very much for taking the time to show us this wonderful work of art!
 
Thanks for the compliments. I know he would appreciate them..

It is really sad that the museum the car is in, doesn't even list his name, or tell anything about him , on their website with the pictures. :(

It would have been great if it had gone to Ford
 
As a machinist myself I am extremely impressed...this is his master piece, I have yet to make the item I would call my masterpiece and hope it would be anywhere near as good as that.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Top 10 coolest posts of 2009. Thanks so much for putting this up. You should put up a vid on youtube of the working parts.
 
Well that is just amazing ----So nice of you to show what mankind is capable of if they really try. You've got some good genes there
 
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