Story and photos by Mark Wing

The work party on Saturday, May 5th was relatively quiet.  The primary project for the day was repairing an exhaust leak at the number one exhaust port on Steve Suttle’s very nicely restored 1925 Model T coupe.

Steve’s coupe had been leaking at the exhaust manifold for years, and he finally brought the car to Larry’s garage for repair.  The manifold was removed and Larry used a straight edge to determine that the rear part of the manifold had slumped approximately 1/4″ relative to the number 1 exhaust port – a condition typical of Model T’s that have seen thousands of heating and cooling cycles.  Based on a design developed by Larry’s father George Azevedo, Larry’s fixture for correcting the problem was similar to his father’s with some improvements.  Where George’s design was based on a cone shaped insert to center and apply pressure to the exhaust ports (frequently resulting in cracking), Larry’s version uses slotted plugs that fit snugly in the recess where the alignment glands are located.  The plugs oval slots allow them to move in one axis while preventing the port from deforming and cracking under pressure.  Once heated to red hot in the area of the 3rd and 4th ports, the cast iron becomes malleable.   Bolts located on the side apply pressure to the manifold exterior in the upward direction. The fixture was designed so the bolts would “bottom out” once the correct configuration (all ports in alignment) was achieved. After the manifold cooled, it was successfully mounted back into the coupe and Steve went away a happy camper!

Among other minor projects that day, Mark Wing was disassembling and cleaning windshield parts for his 1925 touring car project and Kirk Peterson was making adjustments to remove play in the pitman arm on “Buster”, his 1925 “barn find” coupe.  In the afternoon, most of the Work Party participants jumped into a few Model T’s and made the short drive to a Village of Corrales annual Tractor Show.  The Model T’s were allowed into the area where the vintage tractors were on display and attracted a lot of attention!

Thanks Larry for a great day at your garage!