What ever you do do not touch these levers
 

My good buddy went down to the coast and pick up a 31 coupe, Typical 80 year old car needs a lot but does run and should make him a good driver what was funny was when he trailer it by my house and was telling me that the last owner fix a overheating problem and the car should be OK now. But before James (my buddy) loaded it up on the trailer the guy lean over and said what ever you do do not touch these levers.(spark and gas levers) hard to stop laughing on that one.

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Yep, Henry Ford liked to play practical jokes by putting on levers that shouldn't be touched!:D:p

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I bought a car once from a guy who had put a Mallory distributor on it because he couldn't figure out how to time it. Said he never used "those lever things." Didn't know what they were for.

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Nice early morning chuckle....

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When I first got my first "A" I drove it 55 miles down highway 101 in California to Santa Barbara with the spark lever fully retarded. What a nightmare as the car backfired and hissed all the way. I stopped at a garage where, fortunately, a guy who knew about the levers showed me the proper way to drive a Model A. The return trip was quite delightful-----60 mph and not a hiccup.

Jack

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I had someone drive my father's town sedan in the memorial day parade a few years ago, and had explained about retarding the spark to start. On the way home, he retarded to start, but did not advance, and when we arrived home with the fleet, the town sedan was boiling, and the manifold was red. Some people do not grasp directions well.

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I remember the first national meet I went to. I was amazed when I saw several of the Model A's had homemade instruction cards taped to the dash/windshield area listing step by step on how to start their Model A. That was about 20 years ago. I have seen this over and over ever since. Not sure what it means.......but was interesting to me.

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I had to do this for my boss' dad. His "A" is the one I get to work on and he only drives it once or twice a year and usually forgets what to do.

I'm also not sure he completely understands the timing advance yet either, but hes getting there.

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I like the look of a cherry red muffler.

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That's not all, most people these days can't drive a manual transmission, they have no idea what to do. I also have a 1949 Chevy with a column shifter which leaves 99% of people scratching their heads, I guess it's a great theft deterrent.

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A year ago on the Mpls news it was reported the a carjacker had to run away without the car because it was a stick shift.

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My wife can drive a manual though she doesn't seem to think so. A few years back she started going ATV riding with me. The ATV she rides is a 6 speed manual.

If only she would realize a car is the same thing with slightly different controls.

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Recently I was at Les Schwab for tires and I had handed the tire monkey my 1957 Ranchero's keys so that he could drive my car onto his lift. He came back to me and explained that i would have to drive the car onto the lift because he didn't know how to drive "three on the tree". I would hate to see him to have to try and drive a Model A Ford. :) Our world is changing quicker than we have noticed.

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Our world is changing quicker than we have noticed??? When was the last time they manufactured a "three on the tree" 1972?

I don't think anything has changed very fast in that regard, however I was born in 1980 and I'll give it a shot. Towards you and up is reverse, towards you and down is 1st, away from you and up is 2nd and away from you and down is 3rd. I'm guessing its a standard 3 speed pattern but sideways and vertical.

Just a guess....

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I have notes on my dash. Although It's not for me, it's for family members who don't drive enough to remember how to start it, especially when it's a cold start.

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MrTube: # gold stars.
I think one reason for the taped instructions and sometimes many of the questions here are that many people never had a model A, many, now retired with a little mad money, are "getting a hobby". Many always wanted "something" and now that maybe the kids are gone, starting retirement.etc are fulfilling a longtime dream. I had them as a kid and then gravitated into street rods (before they were st/rods), sold everything in 72 and had wanted to get back into it, but the only thing I could afford (wife still not happy) was an A as a T-bucket not practical, but I'm starting to re-think that. Many fellows may just not be able to remember the specifics, may not be mechanically inclined, "rocket scientists" with money. JMO
Paul in CT I'm not "knocking" anyone here, just an observation.

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GM trucks still used the column shift up into the 80's,but I don't know just how far up.I was the the JD dealer going over the parts book making up a list to do an engine in an old 1010 dozer.The owners son(soon to be the owner)came up and asked if I could move my Toyota truck,they were changing the display in front of the store.We knew each other well,(I used to work there)and I told him the keys were in it,put it where he wanted.He was back in a minute,kind of hovering around,I thought maybe he had backed into something with it.He said he couldn't move it,I said,won't it start?He said,no,it's a standard.I couldn't believe a guy that grew up in a tractor dealership couldn't drive a stick.His dad grew up in the same place,his first job there was driving the old Mack with a triplex in it.His grandfather started the boys in the lowest,nastiest jobs in the place.They had to know every job in the business.Years ago I has some Saab 96's with four speeds on the column,those were pretty slick.I also had an International cabover truck with a four on the column.It was cable operated,and I got it because the cables were too stiff to shift fast.They had grease fittings on them and had been pumped with too much grease over the years.I put some gasoline in a grease gun and started pumping.It broke up the old hard grease and cleaned it up nicely.I changed the gun over to oil,and while it shifted nice in the summer,when it was cold it took a strong right arm to shift it.My dad had a 46 Ford that he drove out the roll pin in the shift column,flipped the lever over to the other side,and drove the pin back in.Now that was confusing,the shift lever on the left side.

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Don't forget to double-clutch...:p


http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...7/S6000353.jpg

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Hey Jeep44, Is that picture a Dodge truck?

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Not Model A, but I always get funny looks when I ask people to show me how to turn the headlights on in my 38 Delux.