Story and photos by Mark Wing

Larry held a Work Day at his garage on Saturday, June 22nd, and was anticipating the arrival of a Model T that he and the club membership hadn’t seen in a while. Tom MacGugan, one of our club members in Las Cruces, NM (approx. 3.5 hours south of Albuquerque), felt that he could no longer safely drive his 1926 Model T pickup truck so in 2018 he sold it to a fellow club member Orlando Ortega of Portales, NM (middle of the State near the Texas border). Orlando had recently acquired a Ford Model A was having second thoughts about maintaining two antique cars. Orlando’s brother Nino, saw the 1926 pickup and fell in love with it! The car now belongs to Nino and on this Work Day, Nino and his sons, Joe and Anthony, departed Portales at 4:30am for the 4.5 hour drive to Corrales, NM with the 1926 pickup truck transported on a flat bed trailer. Being new to the Model T hobby, Nino was told that Larry’s Garage was the best place in the State of New Mexico to have the car’s problems diagnosed and corrected.

This 1926 Model T had been having carburetor troubles while Tom owned it as well as needing other attention to get it to start and drive properly. Repairs included: carburetor adjustments, installing a battery, reinstallation of the carburetor mixture linkage, replacement of the exhaust manifold gaskets, fine-tuning the coils, adjusting the timing and throttle rods, replacing the timer, and checking spark plugs and fluids. In addition to these repairs, Larry explained to Nino, Anthony, and Joe how the carburetor and coils functioned.

With the major maintenance items done, the pickup roared to life and was tweaked until it ran more smoothly. An engine knock is still audible so dropping the inspection pan and tightening the rod caps is planned for a future work party. Nino was given a driving lesson on the streets of the Village of Corrales and, like any new Model T driver, was surprised by how much hand and foot coordination had to be kept in mind and adjusted simultaneously. He also had to resist the tendency to rely on his normal driving experience when operating and stopping a T! No doubt Nino and sons will get the hang of it quickly and really enjoy the experience of driving in the relative low-traffic and rural roads of Portales.

Other projects on this Work Day included Frank Lewark working on a flywheel for his 1924 touring car and Mark Wing cleaning a 1913 steering column.

Frank found that the flywheel for his 1924 Model T project had sloppy triple gear pin holes. Shimming wasn’t going to work so the easiest solution was to find another flywheel. Larry had one in stock and it’s condition was much better than the one it replaced. Measurements showed that the pins on the new flywheel were badly worn (out of round by 0.015″), so they had to be pressed out and replaced.

Mark Wing brought a 1913 steering column acquired at the 2019 Chickasha Pre-War swap meet. This is a correct steering column and is generally in good condition. The steering column housing has been crushed in a little, no doubt due to being put in a vice sometime in the past. This steering wheel is destined for a future touring car project.

Thank you to Larry for an excellent work party and welcome to our new Tin Lizzies members Nino, Anthony, and Joe Ortega!