Story and photos by Mark Wing

This was a special work party as the focus was on two specific projects.  First, work was going to continue on Mark Dominguez’s 1927 Model T touring car engine/transmission assembly and the second was fitting a top to Cole Wedekind’s (Larry and Lorna Azevedo’s grandson) 1927 Model T touring car.  Joining us for their first work party are Barbara and Clyde who recently acquired a 1921 Model T runabout.  They officially joined our club at this work party and Marilyn Duncan, our club Treasurer, was just the right person to provide them with the application form and answer membership questions.  Welcome Barbara and Clyde!

Mark Dominguez, with the assistance of fellow club members including Dave Ferro, Bob Ross, and Paul Duncan, made great progress on reassembling his 1927 Model T touring car engine/transmission.  The reverse drum, triple gears (with new bushings) had been installed at previous work parties.  On this day, Mark was able to do the final assembly and met his goal of having the project completed and loaded onto his truck for installation at Mark’s home.

The big project for the day was installing the new top to Cole Wedekind’s 1927 touring car.  Larry and Cole had been working on this project off and on for approximately four years and now the project is nearing completion.  Luckily, Cole was on spring break from his school in Missouri so he was able to be one of the chief installers of his touring top.  New top irons/bows, and a top kit from Classtique Upholstery (Phone 1-651-484-9022) had been ordered previously. This top was non-standard in the sense that it was ordered with a roll-up rear window.  Although not original for a 1927, the roll-up window feature will greatly enhance visibility, increase rear passenger comfort (by cutting down on swirling wind), and will also reduce the “parachute effect” from having the rear part of the top trapping the wind.  Between Larry, Marilyn and Paul Duncan, there was a lot of expertise on hand to do this top installation.  Marilyn referenced the instructions to make certain that the top was being installed correctly and the steps accomplished in the right order.  As all the parts for the top installation were new, it went together very smoothly and the project was completed in the late afternoon.

Congratulations Cole, your car is one step closer to being tour ready!