2022 MCCTA

Official Montana 500 Website

Montana 500 Newsletter

May-June 2005 Volume 5 No. 3

Montana Cross Country T. Assn. 7516 E. Mission, Spokane, WA 99212
www.montana500.org

2005 Officers and Directors:
President: Rick Carnegie
Vice President: Scott Stubbert
Sec.-Treasurer: Janet Cerovski

Directors:
Rick Carnegie 2007 Tom Carnegie 2005
Janet Cerovski 2007
Tony Cerovski 2005
Gary Ebbert 2006
Mark Hutchinson 2005
Doug Langel 2006
George Nickol 2006
Scott Stubbert 2007

Meeting Secretary: Tony Cerovski
Correspondence and newsletter: Tom Carnegie

Membership dues $10.00
Touring class: $25.00
EEndurance runner: $35.00

Cover shot: T-shirt from 2005 run.

Editor's Messaage

The 2005 Montana 500 was held out of Lewistown Montana, June 19th-23rd. From my perspective it was one of the best on record. As you probably know, Dennis Dakan from Marysville, Missouri won. Pretty good for his first run. I hope he comes back next year.
I will publish the results of the 2005 run in the next newsletter. I found a mistake due to slow time being given to the wrong car on the second to last leg. The mistake only affects the time of non-finishing cars. The fall meeting will be held at Lincoln’s $10,000 bar in Haugan, MT on Sunday, November 13th at 11:00 a.m. Tom Carnegie - Montana 500 newsletter editor.


CORRIGENDUM

The wiring diagram for the turnsignal flasher circuit as shown in the November-December 2004 newsletter has the diode improperly polarized. The diode needs to be turned around from how it is shown in the schematic.

President’s Message
(this space reserved for president’s message)


Another way to do a left-hand Ruckstell shifter
By Tom Carnegie

Some of the folks in the Montana 500 have Ruckstell axles in their T’s. Since they are not allowed to be shifted during the run, the reason people have them is open for speculation. Generally you’d think that a lighter rearend such as the standard Ford rearend would be preferable to the heavier Ruckstell. The only possible advantage that I can think of is the ball bearing in the Ruckstell. The question is, “Does the ball bearing turn significantly easier than either the bronze or less likely, the roller bearing thrust washer?” Maybe it is for touring purposes after the race. I don’t know the answer to this question, but I do know that several people have Ruckstells in their car, and after the run they need to be shifted occasionally.

In the original setup, the Ruckstell shifter handle was pretty much right in the center of the floorboards. For those with 1925 or older cars, this presents a distinct inconvenience as the shifter is in the way when you enter the car from the passenger side. To a lesser degree this is true with all years and body styles. To address this problem, left hand shifters have been designed, and are increasingly popular with the model T folks. These left hand shifters generally lay atop the frame and are held in place by two u-bolts, one on each side of the frame. They are installed by drilling two holes per u-bolt into the top of the frame. The lever then shares the emergency brake hole.

Over the years I have developed a strong aversion to drilling extra holes into the frame, or anywhere else on the T for that matter. As such, I have devised a way to mount a bolt-on left hand Ruckstell shifter that doesn’t require drilling any extra holes. I will attempt to describe it forthwith. What I started with was a normal emergency brake handle and cross-shaft. I dug through my pile and found one that was damaged and therefore of little value. Damaged ones or truck ones are easily obtainable either from club members or from swapmeets or T vendors. Truck emergency brake assemblies are the same as passenger car ones, except the neutral cam is taller to accommodate the thicker frame. For our purposes a truck one will work fine. This first step once you’ve obtained your lever, is to de-rivet and remove the release lever and pull rod. Next, cut off the neutral cam, then drill the rivet and remove the right-hand lever. This will eventually become the lever for actuating the Ruckstell. A pair of support plates must be made for the shifter lever. I made a couple of plates out of 1/4” steel. (See figure 1)

These plates are bolted to the inside of the lower frame rail. They are held by the bolts that also hold the emergency brake crossshaft supports. Slightly longer bolts will be needed as they will be going through the plate in addition to the frame and cross-shaft bracket. The center holes between the two mounting holes are for oil.


figure 1


picture 1
Right and left motion is restrained by the lever and set collar.


figure 2


picture 2

On the passenger side, the lever that originally actuated the right-hand emergency brake is flipped around and put it back onto the shaft. This will be the new Ruckstell actuating lever. (See picture 1) You will also need to build a set collar (see figure 2) to stop the shaft from traveling side to side. The new Ruckstell actuating lever is riveted onto the shaft in the position shown in picture 2. This picture shows the lever when the Ruckstell is in high.


picture 3


picture 4

This shows the shifter rod heading to the front. The rod is custom made from a piece of conduit. Once inside the car, the lever is bent out of the way of the emergency brake lever.


picture 5
This is the position of the lever when the Ruckstell is in "high"


picture 6
This is the position of the lever when the Ruckstell is in "low"


Speedster Reunion Honors Montana 500!

The first annual speedster reunion held in Lincoln, Nebraska August 1-5 2005 honored Dennis Dakan and the club with a special plaque. It has been reported that in addition to Dennis Dakan, Steve Coniff, Nick Nicholas and Dave Huson were also present at the event.


Congratulations to Steve Coniff winner of the 2005 Walter Rosenthal award!

In case you live under a rock and only get your news from this newsletter, you’ll be pleased to hear that the 2005 Rosenthal Award was presented to Montana 500 driver Steve Coniff. The Rosenthal Award is presented to a member of the Model T Ford Club of America who has shown a willingness to help those in the model T hobby. Those of us who know Steve are not surprised that he has won this award. He is always willing to share his knowledge of T with others, even when competing against them. That is the definition of a sportsman.


My impressions of the 2005 Montana 500
By Tom Carnegie

The trip to Lewistown was uneventful. When we arrived several T’s were there before us. Eventually 20 T’s showed up, including us. Nineteen entered the trophy class, one, a speedster driven by Lee Burgess entered the touring class.

The most exciting entry from my perspective was a Purple (that is purple with a capital P) car entered by Janet Cerovski! With Jillian in her Pink car (yes, that’s pink with a capital P too) we had a true powderpuff division.

The pre-run inspection was coordinated by Mark Hutchinson and went very smoothly. Dave Huson had a non-script cylinder head, but the directors voted to allow him to use it subject to the final decision to be made at teardown, if he were in the top three. Ron “Coilman” Patterson was there with his coil tester and generously donated his time to rebuilding coils of anyone who desired to have their coils rebuilt. Many drivers took advantage of this. We had the evening meeting where the next day’s events were lined out. Most of us then joined for dinner down the road a piece.

Next morning we went to the edge of town and formed up. At one point we had a string of twelve non-black T’s in a row. That’s got to be close to a world’s record. The first leg was a rather long (about 70 miles) leg to Raynesford. Raynesford ain’t much. Basically a gas station. We waited and waited. Tony Cerovski showed up on a trailer. He had a sight gauge made of plastic tubing between his two petcocks on the oil pan. The tube came off and he lost all and I mean all of his oil. He put a rod right through the side of his block. Next in on a trailer was Dave Huson. He was having timer or coil problems, I believe. Finally Janet arrived, under power, with her purple car. It was not running well.
The top five cars on this leg, in order, were:

1. Dennis Dakan
2. Steve Coniff
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Rick Carnegie
5. Mike Robison
The next leg was the big pull over King’s Hill. King’s is more than a hill. At 7400 feet it is one of the highest mountain passes around. Jillian had some trouble and put her car on the trailer. Dave Huson continued to have problems, but drove the whole leg. Dave Warhank’s car began to knock on this leg. He decided to pack it in. Stan Howe was plagued with radiator problems throughout the day. No one else had any problems otherwise on this leg to my knowledge. The top five cars in order for this leg:
1. Dennis Dakan
2. Mike Robison
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Steve Coniff
5. Ron Miller
Leg three was from White Sulphur Springs to Harlowton. Jillian broke a timer flapper and Garrett Green had rod troubles. I believe that Garrett also lost a plastic tube sight gauge. The top five cars for this leg:
1. Steve Coniff
2. Dennis Dakan
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Mike Robison
5. Mark Hutchinson
The last leg of the day was Harlowton back to Lewistown. The top five cars:
1. Steve Coniff
2. Dennis Dakan
3. Mike Robison
4. Mark Hutchinson
5. Ron Miller
Next morning we formed up north of town for the first leg to Denton, about 40 miles. Mike Wendland and Dave Warhank decided to head for home, as Dave’s car had lost a rod. I had coil problems, which continued throughout the rest of the run. Jillian broke another flapper and had her timer rod become disconnected. BJ Miller had mag troubles. Janet Cerovski kept plugging along. I felt bad for her having to drive so slowly in an ill-tuned car. I hope she isn’t discouraged and will come back in a car that has been better prepared. Both she and Stan Howe had just recently gotten their cars and neither had time to get them into tip-top shape. Top five cars for this leg:
1. Dennis Dakan
2. Mike Robison
3. Steve Coniff
4. Mark Hutchinson
5. Gary Ebbert
Leg two, day two, Denton to Fort Benton, about sixty miles. I had to stop for water this leg. Janet continued on, although slowly. The timers somehow missed her when she got into town, so Janet phoned in her time! Very resourceful, Janet. Top five cars:
1. Dennis Dakan
2. BJ Miller
3. Steve Coniff
4. Rick Carnegie
5. Mike Robison
We formed up on edge of Fort Benton to flag out to Stanford, another leg of about sixty miles. Mike Robison was complaining that his car had been running poorly (he was clear down to being the fifth fastest car). We took out a spark plug and looked into his cylinder. The valve seat ring had popped completely out of its hole on the exhaust valve. I got a punch and hammer and pounded it back down into its hole. I knew it wouldn’t stay as his block was cracked. Continued to be plagued by radiator troubles, Stan Howe packed it in on this leg. Top five cars:
1. Dennis Dakan
2. Steve Coniff
3. Ron Miller
4. Tom Carnegie
5. Mike Robison
Last leg of the day, Stanford to Lewistown. Everybody ran fine this leg. Top five cars:
1. Steve Coniff
2. Tom Carnegie
3. Mark Hutchinson
4. Dennis Dakan
5. Gary Ebbert
Last day we formed up at the Pamida east of town and began our mad dash to Winnett and back, about fifty miles each way. Gary Ebbert had a little trouble on this leg. Coils I think it was. The top five cars:
1. Dennis Dakan
2. Steve Coniff
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Mike Robison
5. Mark Hutchinson
On the way back from Winnett, we lost another T. Jim Heaton blew a head gasket just a few miles from the finish. Top five cars:
1. Dennis Dakan
2. Steve Coniff
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Mark Hutchinson
5. Mike Robison
After the times were compiled it was found that Dennis Dakan had the best overall time. Dennis and Steve Coniff were subsequently torn down. There was a good deal of discussion on the issue of “porting” of Dennis Dakan’s motor. Dennis acknowledged that he had smoothed up his ports, but did not know that it was illegal. A vote was put to the drivers and Dennis’s car was declared legal. Rick Carnegie then announced that there would likely be a clarification of this rule at the fall meeting.