Montana 500 Newsletter
May-June 2005 | Volume 5 No. 3 |
Montana Cross Country T. Assn. 7516 E. Mission, Spokane, WA 99212 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. 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 Another way to do a left-hand
Ruckstell shifter 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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
(this space reserved for president’s message)
By Tom Carnegie
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.
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
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.
By Tom Carnegie
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
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:
2. Steve Coniff
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Rick Carnegie
5. Mike Robison1. Dennis Dakan
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:
2. Mike Robison
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Steve Coniff
5. Ron Miller1. Steve Coniff
The last leg of the day was Harlowton back to Lewistown. The top five cars:
2. Dennis Dakan
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Mike Robison
5. Mark Hutchinson1. Steve Coniff
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:
2. Dennis Dakan
3. Mike Robison
4. Mark Hutchinson
5. Ron Miller1. Dennis Dakan
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:
2. Mike Robison
3. Steve Coniff
4. Mark Hutchinson
5. Gary Ebbert1. Dennis Dakan
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:
2. BJ Miller
3. Steve Coniff
4. Rick Carnegie
5. Mike Robison1. Dennis Dakan
Last leg of the day, Stanford to Lewistown. Everybody ran fine this leg.
Top five cars:
2. Steve Coniff
3. Ron Miller
4. Tom Carnegie
5. Mike Robison1. Steve Coniff
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:
2. Tom Carnegie
3. Mark Hutchinson
4. Dennis Dakan
5. Gary Ebbert1. Dennis Dakan
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:
2. Steve Coniff
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Mike Robison
5. Mark Hutchinson1. Dennis Dakan
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.
2. Steve Coniff
3. Tom Carnegie
4. Mark Hutchinson
5. Mike Robison