March 2003 Newsletter
Montana 500 Newsletter
Mar-Apr 2003 Volume 3 No. 2
Montana Cross Country T Assn. 7516 E. Mission Spokane, WA 99212
www.montana500.org
2003 Officers and Directors:
President: Tom Carnegie
Vice President: Scott Stubbert
Sec.-Treasurer: Janet Cerovski
Directors:
Rick Carnegie 2003
Tom Carnegie 2005
Janet Cerovski 2005
Tony Cerovski 2004
Rob Flesner 2004
Mark Hutchinson 2004
Doug Langel 2003
Sam Nickol 2003
Scott Stubbert 2005
Meeting Secretary: Marjean Stubbert
Correspondence and newsletter: Tom Carnegie
Membership dues $10.00
Touring class: $25.00
Endurance runner: $35.00
Cover photo: Reproduction of 1923 H.O. Bell calendar.
General News, Editorial and Sermon.
The votes have been tallied. We got quite a few responses. More than normal I would say. I will give the results along with an explanation of what I think it means along with a guess as to why the voting went the way it did.
Issue one: Should accessory wishbones be allowed? The answer is a resounding yes. People that voted “no” felt that the rules allowed for the later “under the axle” type wishbones to be used and that this was a better alternative than using the inferior “over the top” type with a brace. As a result, there should be no more concern with accessory wishbone braces.
Issue two: Should we put signs on our cars saying who we are and where we’re from? The answer is “yes”, by a nearly two to one ratio. Some people that voted “no” had privacy concerns. Start making up signs with your name and hometown. 3 inch high letters are the preferred size. I still have my old ones from 1977 that I think I’ll use again.
Issue three: Should drivers be allowed to receive help from the trouble truck or other people other than other drivers while under time? By a two to one margin we think so. One person who voted this way said it is more fun if you can receive help. The result of this is no change from how it’s been the past several years. You will not be penalized for receiving help as long as you are not trailered in.
Issue four: Should the starting timers be allowed to adjust your leaving time if they think it should be? This is something that we have been doing for years. If traffic or some other thing doesn’t allow a driver to leave at his exact prescribed time, the timers will let him go a few seconds later, then adjust his time accordingly. We voted nearly unanimously to allow this. The result is that the rules come into accord with reality.
Issue five: Shall head combustion chambers be limited to 230cc and be required to have their original shape? This is an issue that I believe still needs to be addressed. The issue failed by a very small margin. Some people that voted against it did so because it didn’t go far enough or failed to really address the problem. As far as I’m concerned, it is still illegal to raise the compression in your cylinder head by any means other than milling. Any alteration of the combustion chamber other than that specifically prescribed in the rules is still illegal. If given the chance, I personally will vote to disqualify anyone who has modified his combustion chamber for any purpose other than to clear the pistons or the valves.
Issue six: Should cast iron cars be required to run restrictor plates too? By a small margin we say “no”. I know some people were working on cast iron engines and felt that they were having the rug pulled out from under them. I personally think that the experiment hasn’t had a chance to play out fully. I would be for waiting a little bit to see how the trend goes then reassess the situation. I will say this though. If I am the only cast iron car ever again, I will voluntarily ask to be allowed to have my car installed with a restrictor plate.
Issue seven: Crystal timers? We don’t care, go ahead and use ’em. Some people who voted “no” felt that to vote to allow them would be a dirty trick. They thought it was not in anyone’s best interest to inflict one of those horrible timers on anyone.
I have posted the new rules onto the webpage www.montana500.org
I have been in contact with Bozeman Ford. They have expressed a desire to do something nice for us. I don’t know just yet what that will be though.
Bozeman local, Bob Braun recommended the Continental Motor Inn as our base hotel. I have talked to them and they seem to be able a accommodate us. They say they have a big parking lot and that there is room for motor homes, trailers and T’s. There are no hook-ups though. The address is 1324 E. Main Street, Bozeman, MT 59715. Phone: 406-587-9231; Toll Free: 800-221-1886. Tell them that you are with the Montana 500 and you will get a good deal. Thursday we will tour Yellowstone. You are on your own for accommodations there.
The Box
By Tom Carnegie
With thanks to Phil
Butch hears his mother’s voice. “Pancakes are ready!” Butch awakens on a Sunday morning. Nearly every Sunday after Butch has eaten breakfast, he goes down to Pinto Bean Lake. If the water is warm he might take a dip. Today Butch isn’t planning to go swimming, as it is pretty chilly. As Butch stands on the edge of the water, he spots a box floating a few dozen yards from shore. With the aid of a long pole, he retrieves the box. When he opens it, he finds one of the best examples that he’s ever seen! He is pretty excited at this point and decides to take it to Mr. Harris’ second-hand store, as he is sure that Mr. Harris will buy it from him. He is feeling cold, but he notices that he has a blanket with him. He wraps himself up in it.
Butch loads his treasure into the seat next to him and heads into Baton Noir. Mr. Harris is not in his shop as it is Sunday and the shop is closed. Butch knows that Mr. Harris lives above the shop so to get his attention he tosses a couple of pebbles against the upstairs window. Mr. Harris comes down the outside staircase dressed in his trousers and undershirt. “It is brrrr-ER-er outside today,” says Mr. Harris. As Mr. Harris says this, his head tips back a little more with each er-er. If Butch thinks this is a strange way to say that it was cold outside he doesn’t acknowledge it, except to pull his blanket a little higher around his neck. He is still cold. Just then he realizes that his blanket is really just a sheet. Butch and Mr. Harris enter the shop. Butch sets his box down and opens it with a flourish. He is startled and displeased by Mr. Harris’ reaction. “Get that out of
my shop!” Butch hastily complies. “I wonder if Joseph is at the Model T Garage today?” Butch, along with Hayes and Jesse Olson are employed by the Laydon Garage, which is known locally as the Model T Garage. Joseph is the manager of the Laydon Garage and sometimes goes to the shop on Sundays to catch up on paperwork. On the way to the shop Butch drives past another garage operated by the Medere brothers.
Butch is surprised as he sees Joseph and Hayes and what appears to be Jesse’s feet sticking out from under a Model T Runabout. As Butch walks in, Jesse gets out from under the car and they all proceed to sit in a semi-circle around the potbelly stove. Butch is somewhat curious as to where the Medere brothers are and why the crew of the Model T Garage is there on Sunday, but doesn’t ask. Jesse then pours everyone a cup of coffee. For some reason, Joseph is holding a piece of twine, which is tied to the leg of a rooster. Every once in a while the rooster lets go with a crow. “Er-er-ER-er” Butch is mildly puzzled by Joseph’s pet rooster, but rather than ask him about it, he decides that this is a golden opportunity to try a little joke on the guys. It is a little trick that someone had pulled on Butch a few days ago, and he has decided to pass it on. The way it works is to ask someone which hand that they used to stir their coffee. When they answer “right” or “left”, you say “that’s funny, I use a spoon!” “Hey, Hayes, which hand do you stir your coffee with?” Without batting an eye, Hayes grabs a greasy, rusty screwdriver off the floor of the shop and says, “I don’t use my hand, I use a screwdriver!” At which point Hayes sticks said screwdriver into his coffee, and calmly begins stirring. Jesse then pipes up, “I don’t use my hand, I use a pistol!” Jesse then reaches into his overalls and pulls out a revolver and begins to stir his coffee with the barrel. Butch is resigned to the fact that his joke has gone hopelessly awry so he heads out to get his treasure to show to the guys. He drags the box in and sets it on the floor. With a big smile, he opens it. The room falls silent. Jesse’s face is one of horror. Hayes’, one of disgust. Joseph’s, one of grimness. Joseph breaks the silence. “Butch, on Monday I want you to gather up your tools and take them and your box and don’t come back. You’re fired!” Butch is numb and he stands there dumbfounded. Joseph’s gaze is such that Butch fears it may burn a hole through him, so he says nothing, picks up his box and leaves. He drives home. When he shows his parents what he has
found, he gets a strong reaction. “Son, I think it is time that you moved out – and I mean today.” Butch listens to his father’s words, then looks to his mother for help. She says nothing, but the look in her eyes tells Butch that she is in full agreement with her husband. Butch lugs his box back to his car. He cranks up his T, then sits in it with his head leaning on the steering wheel. He isn’t sure what to do next. Suddenly the motor makes a strange squalling sound, the likes of which Butch has never heard a motor make before. “er-er-ER-er” it goes. Maybe the fan bushing? No, maybe something in the transmission? Butch hears his mother’s voice. “Pancakes are ready!” Butch awakens on a Sunday morning.
(end of story)
How Do You Make Your T Go So Fast?
Part two: Thermodynamic
By Tom Carnegie
Henry Ford said that the top speed of Model T Fords was 45 miles per hour. A lot of them now days are hard pressed to achieve that speed. Sometimes after someone has taken a ride in my car, they will ask me: “How do you make your T go so fast?” My stock, off-the-cuff reply is that there are only two things to make a T go fast – compression and aspiration. This is essentially true, but is an oversimplification. There
are really THREE things! The three things are: 1. Mechanical efficiency 2. Thermodynamic efficiency and 3. Volumetric efficiency. Last newsletter we talked about mechanical efficiency. This time we will talk about thermodynamic efficiency.
What are we talking about when we say mechanical, thermodynamic and volumetric efficiency? Efficiency is getting as much work done with as little energy (or fuel) spent as possible. Does this mean the best gas mileage possible? It can, but what we are looking for in the Montana 500 is the most power possible given the obvious limitations of the Model T motor. Mechanical efficiency (henceforth M.E.) deals with things such as friction, vibration and wind resistance. Thermodynamic efficiency (henceforth T.E.) deals with things that make the bang of the power stroke stronger. Volumetric efficiency (henceforth V.E.) deals with getting the biggest and best charge of fuel into the combustion chamber. When we say T.E. what might come to mind is temperature since the root word is thermo. Of course we are talking about heat. Specifically, getting the heat produced by the explosion of the fuel mixture to do as much as possible. When the combustion explosion takes place, a good deal of the energy produced is wasted or used inefficiently in one way or another. When we talk about V.E. next time we will talk about ways to maximize the amount of air-fuel mixture that we get into our combustion chamber. For this article, we will assume that we get the same volume of charge for every illustration. Let’s assume that we take in exactly one pint of air-fuel mixture on every intake stroke. What can happen to this charge to keep us from getting the most bang for our buck? Let’s start with factors outside of our engine.
Yes, it is true there are things that can lower T.E. that you have no control over. One is the quality of the air. Three major things can effect the air quality in regards to combustion. Number one: is atmospheric pressure. As the barometric pressure drops, the air becomes thinner thus it is able to hold less oxygen. Oxygen is the ingredient needed for combustion (besides fuel). Number two: is humidity. As the relative humidity rises, the air becomes less able to hold oxygen. Number three: is heat. As the air gets hotter it loses its ability to hold oxygen. That is why using Ford’s carb air heater is a bad idea (from a Montana 500 viewpoint).
Once inside the engine the first thing under our control is air-fuel ratio. This is adjustable on the Model T. The reason it is adjustable is that the requirements for a perfect air-fuel ratio are not always the same. Normally in the Model T you would fine-tune this as you go down the road. In addition to mixing the fuel, one of the jobs of the carburetor is to atomize the fuel. The smaller the droplets of fuel, the more combined surface area they will have. More exposed surface area translates into better combustion. Of course we can’t expect to have a good controlled mixture if we have air leaks in the manifold.
Once the properly mixed and atomized air-fuel mixture is into the cylinder, it is then squeezed. In general, the harder you can squeeze it the more power you will get from the explosion. I say “in general” because some factors like detonation may make this not true. Another factor for power is combustion chamber shape. Unfortunately, the Model T combustion chamber is not the best-designed thing in the world. Waukesha-Ricardo heads and Z-heads and the like have much better combustion chambers but are not allowed on the Montana 500, nor is modifying the original head.
Once our optimally mixed, atomized and squeezed mixture is in the combustion chamber it needs to be ignited. A well tuned ignition system including timer, coils, coil-box, wires and plugs are needed for this. If the coil fails to spark, or sparks weakly or the plug misfires the mixture may not be ignited. It could also be ignited at the wrong time – either before the piston has come up enough or after it has come up too far. There is a perfect time to ignite the mixture that is a function of engine speed and load. The faster the engine speed and the lighter the load, the faster the spark needs to be for maximum power. When running on mag the Model T has only two effective positions of spark advance. The coil is triggered by the waveform produced by the magneto. It is not continuously variable but rather goes in 22 1/2-degree “notches”. The spark timing can vary from cylinder to cylinder as a result of coil settings. If the point gap is wider or the upper point drop is more or the point tension more, the coil could take longer to spark. This is why it is important to set your coils on a proper coil tester.
Once our optimally mixed, atomized and squeezed mixture is in the combustion chamber and ignited at the exact right time, where does the energy of this explosion go? The answer is that most of it goes right out the tail pipe and we can’t really
do a thing about it. Some of the energy goes into the cylinder walls where it is dissipated by the radiator or directly to the air. We can ameliorate this situation a little bit. When the cylinder walls are cold, heat that would otherwise be used to drive the piston, is absorbed. The way to slow this down is to have the cylinders run as hot as practical. Of course you don’t want to get them so hot to where the lubrication is burned off or the pistons grow too big and seize, but in general hotter is better. On modern cars the
temperature is raised using thermostats and pressure caps. On the Model T using the thermo-siphon system, the engine is usually going to be running just a few degrees short of the boiling point of your coolant. The easy way to raise the engine operating temperature is to raise the boiling point of your coolant, namely, add anti-freeze. Anti-freeze doesn’t have the load carrying capacity of pure water, so that adding too much could allow your car to overheat in high stress situations such as pulling a long hill. You may have to experiment to find the optimum mixture. Also never run a water pump or a fan. A water pump defeats the thermo-siphon system and a fan is only needed for long periods of idling and speeds under seven miles per hour. Both of these items also rob power to turn them.
To re-cap: Adjust your carb well. Don’t allow any intake leaks. Mill your head and block as much as is practical. Make sure that your ignition system from the mag forward is in top shape. Set your spark timing in the best spot. Run your engine as hot as possible without causing problems. This should help you to have a thermo-dynamically efficient engine. Next time is V.E. day.
(end of technical article)