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George Taylor's HeritageOur Model A Ford |
Growing up Near Malvern Arkansas With a Model A Ford Family Car
By George Evans Taylor, Jr
Learning:
We lived on a rocky hill on the Military Road in the Cooper Community North of Malvern and would use the hill as the starter to "save" the battery. Also, dad taught us, when going down a hill to put the gear shift lever in neutral then let the clutch out. This supposedly saved gas. We did this until one time my sister somehow got the gears in reverse then let out the clutch, this burst the side out of the transmission. It happened within sight of the house so we didn't have far to walk. We didn't save anymore gas using that method!
A sister, still learning to drive, also centered a power pole on South Main Street in Malvern while coming home from church in the Model A. The spring steel bumper "gave" until it stopped a few inches from the radiator. This may have been the first five mile per hour bumper!
I learned to drive in our "A" in the fields and woods nearby. We would remove the back seat and sometimes the front passenger seat, drive it to the woods, cut firewood, load it in the car and I got to drive home. Dad always carried his Sears JC Higgins .22 rifle so he could kill a rabbit or squirrel if he saw one. Once he left the gun leaning against the car when we started home, he then thought of it and returned to find it with it's forestock split. I still have that gun with the split as it was on that day. Also in the woods we would find rotted pine stumps. Dad would run up against them with the front spring steel bumper several times from several directions to loosen the stump heart. We would pull the heart from the ground, saw it in pieces then load it into the car. Dad sometimes hauled small pigs to market in a sack in the car. Of course we cleaned the car, reinstalled the seats and drove it to church twice on Sunday and Wednesday nights.
Part of my learn-to-drive experience was to haul wash water from the nearby spring to our house on the rocky hill. I would set an open top fifty-five gallon drum on the front bumper and tie it in place with a rope to the headlight bar on each side. Then I would drive to the spring which was across the road under the hill. I would dip the cool water from the spring and fill the drum to about two-thirds full. Then I would put a "tow sack" over the open top, securing it in place with a rope around the drum. This was so as not to spill the water as I drove home. I would then drive to the house on the rocky hill and dip the water from the drum and pour it into the large cast iron wash pot for heating and the remainder into the wash and rinse tubs. My mom spent many Mondays around that wash pot! I also used the car to haul bushel baskets of beans, peas, corn, etc from the field to the house and from the house to market in Malvern.
Once while driving to Malvern as I was going down the hill prior to starting up "Grave Yard Hill" a pig jumped out of the ditch and in front of me. I dodged it but went into the ditch and back out without stopping. I was one scared kid and decided then and there to never dodge another pig!
Dad bought a young mule from a man at Magnet Cove. The mule had never had a halter on but dad had a plan. It was winter time and the Model A did not have a glass in the front passenger door so dad held a piece of white duck textile mill cloth up to the inside of the door and slammed it. This gave us a way to keep some of the cold air out but it left some loose cloth hanging on the outside of the car. Dad's plan was for us to drive to Magnet Cove, help the man get the mule in the barn stall and put a halter on him. Now remember no one told the mule of this plan! This took place, but with much work. The mule would not co-operate with us. The last part of the plan was for dad to hold the halter, put a nose twist on the mule, walk down the highway a short distance then I would drive past him, stop and wait until he past me then repeat the action until we reached home. This was a good plan but the mule didn't think so. They walked past me with dad more or less pulling the mule. I waited a few minutes, started the engine and drove until I started around them. At this time the mule took the lead position because he didn't like what he saw; the white cloth flopping in the wind. The first thing I saw was dad and that mule going down the embankment, dad holding the halter with one hand and the nose twist with the other. (He could not afford to lose his $25 mule!). The next scene was dad being pulled up onto a small pine sapling, the tree bent over and that is when he talked to the mule! His next plan was to get the mule onto the highway again and head home. We made it home because he told me not to pass him again. The distance he walked/was pulled/pulled by/with the mule was about two and one-half miles. He put that mule in the barn lot and never touched him again until he sold him a week or two later. Some story, but true!
Model A Fords came as sedans, coupes, delivery vans, trucks and a woody wagon. Many, in later years, ended up as street rods. Our "A" was black but I have seen some that were green or a rusty brown.
Mechanical Notes:
The main things requiring repair were the ignition points and condenser, spark plugs, battery, tires, timing gear, and engine rings/rods.
Mounted on the steering column below the steering wheel on the left side was a spark lever, up for starting (retarded) and down for running. On the right under the steering wheel was the throttle lever. On the far right under the dash was the choke rod. Pull to choke and rotate it to adjust the jet in the carburetor. In the center of the steering wheel was the horn button for the old motorized "I Oga" horn. The light switch was also mounted on the steering wheel center, it was a rotary design.
The headlights were mounted on a curved steel rod in front of the radiator and it was fastened to the side of each front fender. In later years some people mounted sealed beam headlights on this bar. They worked good but you could see the beam bouncing as the bar was not very stable.
Behind the front bumper and under the radiator a crank could be inserted to hand start the engine. Out of gear, spark up, throttle down some, choke some to start. If the spark was left down then the engine would kick back when cranked over. The throttle had a "rest pedal" to help hold your foot steady as you bounced down the road. The clutch and brake pedals were floor mounted, they had no non-slip rubber pads so you had to be careful that your foot didn't slip off them.
The front and rear bumpers were made of spring steel. Also they could "slip" through the clamps on each side, this let them "give" when something was hit. The springs, front and rear, were multi-leaf, cross-mounted. Those old cross-mounted springs, when driving on the rough, graveled Military Road, would walk you into the ditch if you weren't careful. It didn't help in that there was 2/3 turn of slack in the steering wheel! What a ride!
The carburetor was an updraft type. Zenith and Tillotson brands were used. Sometimes the float would stick, you could tap it with a rock (there were plenty of those!) to unstick it. This worked unless there was trash in it, then you had to tear it down and clean it. The As got pretty good gas mileage. Sometimes I would "stretch" the mileage by adding to the gas tank some coal oil from dad's fifty-five gallon drum he kept for heating the chicken house!
A two blade fan was mounted on the water pump shaft. The water pump shaft packing had to be replaced and/or tightened quite often or the water would leak out of the cooling system. A hand full of pig feed (bran shorts) was sometimes used for stop-leak. Of course in the winter the water was drained when the car was not in use. We never used anti-freeze, in fact I never suspected there was such a thing!
The battery was six volts, same as all other cars back then. A six volt generator was turned by a belt, along with the water pump/fan by the crankshaft pulley. The generator had no regulator but used a "cut-out" which was mounted on the generator. This was necessary to automatically disconnect the generator from the battery when the engine was shut off. If the contacts in the cut-out burned together then the generator would act as a motor and try to turn the engine. Of course it could not turn the engine but it would run the battery down.
The windshield was hinged at the top. The knurled knob screws at each side bottom could be loosened. This allowed the windshield to be opened (for free air conditioning and free bugs) in warm weather.
The windshield wiper motor was operated by engine vacuum, sometimes while going up a hill you had to let up on the throttle so the wiper would work or you couldn't see the road.
Some timing gears were made of cast iron, some aluminum, some were composite: a hub of aluminum with the outer portion of soy bean material (Henry Ford was a farmer and used soy beans in several of his products). The soy bean gears were much quieter than the others.
The gasoline tank was located just in front of the dash, the filler opening was outside just below/in front of the windshield. The gas cut-off valve was located under the tank on the right side. There was no fuel pump; nor was one needed as flow was due to gravity. The gas strainer was under the fold-up hood on the right side, it caught any sediment or water that was in the gas. The instrument panel was small and mounted in the center of the dash. The gas gage consisted of a cork float with a readout in the upper center of the instrument panel. The speedometer and odometer were in the lower center, the ignition switch was on the left side, the amp-meter was on the right side, and in the center was a small map light. The ignition switch had an armored cable which ran down to the distributor so the car could not be "hot wired". In most older cars the armored cable was missing, only a lonely wire was in it's place.
The car had four wheel mechanical drum brakes which were near impossible to keep adjusted properly. Each pair of the four wheel's brake shoes had a rod running toward the brake pedal and they connected to a cross shaft to which the brake pedal was connected. By pressing the brake pedal you would pull all four rods. This, through cams inside the drums, expanded the shoes and caused friction between the shoes and the inside surfaces of the drums. But there was not enough friction, the brakes were poor to say the least.
The "V" shaped radius rod connected from each side of the solid front axle back to a frame cross member. Here it was attached with a ball enclosed in rubber in a socket. This item sometimes wore to the point that the ball would come out of the socket and you had an unstable ride the rest of the way home while the end was loose.
The solid front axle had, at each hub, king pins and bushings. These would wear out and the old "A" would go shimmying down the road. When they were worn badly you dared not grease them because you could not hold the car in the road it would shimmy so much. Boy, how much fun can one person have?
The front and rear axles had friction type shock absorbers on the outside of the frame at each wheel. The little ball and sockets that connected the shock arm to the axle would wear out and come loose and then you would go down the gravel "wash board" road hopping sideways. This would keep you alert!
The distributor was mounted near the center of the flat cylinder head. It had a bakelite (remember this was before plastic) housing to which the four flat metal uninsulated spark plug conductors were attached. It contained the points and condenser. The condenser was a weak link in the chain as it would cause the engine to shut down, sometimes if you let it cool then the engine would restart. The points were adjustable and were set to specification (or by eye) then the timing was set by loosening the center slotted screw so the four lobed cam could be rotated as necessary. Top dead center (TDC) of number one cylinder was found by removing the protruding screw from the timing gear cover then inserting the other end of the screw into the threaded opening. By rotating the engine with the crank and holding finger pressure on the screw you could feel it drop into the indentation in the timing gear. This was TDC and you could now set the lobed cam to the desired position.
The exhaust system was a long one piece unit, it had a tapered muffler. This made for a throaty, very unique sound which I will always remember. Even now it is a pleasure to hear a well tuned engine with the spark retarded! It was a problem to remove/install the unit because it arched over the rear axle housing. To do so the body had to be lifted several inches.
The tools always carried in the car were a tire pump, patch kit, crank, screw jack, pliers, open end wrenches, a Stilson wrench, screwdrivers, hammer, lug wrench, tire tools and haywire. Never forget the haywire! Using these you could do any work necessary.
For an engine overhaul we tightened the rod and main bearings by filing down the poured bearing caps, cleaned the engine head and oil pan, filed the ridge around the tops of the cylinders, cleaned carbon from all surfaces including the pistons, installed new rings on the pistons, and installed new oil seals and gaskets. Needed new parts were bought at Spence's Western Auto located at Main and Page streets. Carl Spence and his brothers were always very helpful. At this time there was no other place in Malvern to buy auto parts, later an Oklahoma Tire and Supply store was located nearby on Main Street
The three speed floor shift transmission had a standard "H" shift pattern.. The vertical park/emergency brake lever was floor mounted near the shift lever, I don't think it ever worked. We always parked with the reverse gear engaged.
The front cross member supported the engine with a "Y" shaped bolt which was bolted through the cross member. The hole in the cross-member would wear/enlarge to the point the engine would drop down in front. It was quite a surprise to hear this extra noise above the regular noise. The radiator sat on and was bolted to the cross member at the bottom, the top was held in place by two adjustable rods under the hood, fastened to the bulkhead. The radiator was enclosed on the sides by a chromed shell, the nice shiny filler cap was on top on the outside.
There were "running boards" on each side. Often in warm weather if you offered a ride to someone who was walking to Malvern they would just step onto the running board and hold onto the door post and say "let's go".
We repaired the fenders by welding with an acetylene torch using hay wire as the rod. This seemed to be more flexible and lasted longer.
The cars came with 19" or 21" wheels/tires, the wheels were painted yellow and had non-adjustable spokes. During World War II the original tire sizes were not available. We bought used Ford 16" wheels and tires which were available at junk yards and used them.
To change engines we used a home-made come-along hung from an oak tree limb in front of the house, that tree still stands. My first experience working on cars was with dad under that oak tree. I also gained some experience working on Mr. Baber's Model A in VoAg Class at Malvern High School. Once we installed two head gaskets on his engine because it had a warped head and was blowing gaskets. The engine ran very nicely but didn't have much power. I also worked on Model As at Aubrey Stacy's Garage which was near our home.
The starter sometimes failed and needed new brushes and bushings. The starter switch was mounted on the starter and was actuated with a push rod. You pressed it with your foot, if it was about worn out then you really had to press it hard. Sometimes it would "spit" because the high current flow through the worn contacts acted as a welder.
The engine flywheel was very heavy, it's use was to smooth the power pulses between the firing of the four cylinders. One time we heard a "flopping" sound in the engine while it was running. We removed the transmission and found that the flywheel was loose on the crankshaft. The bolts had come loose because the lacing wire had broken. I still have one of these old flywheels and have over the years used it for an anvil. It also, on the outside circumference, had the teeth that the starter engaged to start the engine. Sometimes some teeth would strip in the area most used; then to start the engine you put it in gear and rocked the car back and forth to bump the engine over enough that the starter would engage some good teeth. Once the engine started turning with the starter the stripped teeth would be "jumped over" by the starter teeth.
The spare tire and wheel were mounted on the rear of the car. On a trip a second spare was always tied with a rope to the first. Back then it was a "long" trip to visit my grandparents (Champion and Vera Ennis, Cattie Taylor) just past Princeton, Arkansas which is South of Malvern on SR #9. An annual trip was near Christmas (the other was during the fourth of July holiday), it was cold and we had to keep warm with blankets as there was no heater in the car.
On the road or at home, inner tubes and tires were patched. Sometimes a boot was put in a tire over a crack to protect the tube. This would unbalance the tire and you would go loping down the road, if it was a front tire it did more than lope! The tube patch kit included a scratcher, a tube of glue, some small patches and a large patch which you could cut to size (dad, being a farmer, always had a sharp pocket knife with him). One leaf of an old spring was used as a tire tool. With it you would remove the tire from one side of the wheel so as to remove the tube for repairs.
The car roof was a coated fabric and had to be changed when it began to leak. It was held in place by a rolled edge indented into the roof metal. The cross pieces under the fabric roof were made of wood.
To change a transmission or clutch plate the housing of the enclosed drive shaft had to be disconnected at the bell, the rear spring shackles disconnected and the rear end moved several inches out from under the body. When it was time to re-install the rear end it was quite a job to spread the rear spring and fasten the shackles. Dad always fastened one side shackle and used a long pry pole with my mother's weight (she was not a small woman) on it to install the other.
When I first started to Malvern High School my older first cousin (Norvill Jones) was attending there while he lived on Sulfur Springs Road just South of town. He had one of the nicest Model As I can recall. After I married (Betty Sue Tillery) in 1950 I bought a Model A coupe and ran it for a while. In 1955 I had surgery in the local Malvern Hospital. When I was released and my wife was driving me home in our 1949 Hudson Super Six a young man ran a stop sign and hit our right front tire/fender, he bounced back several feet. He was driving a Model A and I well remember seeing him, just before he hit us, almost standing up while pressing the brake pedal. I can remember the feeling that I am sure he felt and that is the feeling "that the harder I press the brake pedal the faster I go". It didn't hurt his Model A but bent in our fender, those old Model A Fords were tough vehicles. (His dad was a nice man and paid for our repairs).
Model As were a very popular farming family car and could carry a large family. If our old Model A was still around and could talk you could hear many more tales!
May God Bless the many memories of my parents!
Written in March 2000 by:
George Evans Taylor, Jr.
209 Lakeshore Drive
Muscle Shoals, Al 35661-1029
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