As we begin a new year, I hope you realize the speedster of your dreams or com-plete the upgrades to improve the performance of your speedster. We have many capable members willing to answer your questions. Ron Beam: engine, Dave Pen-niman: woodwork, Dave Cufr: woodwork and Art Reichlin: chassis. The contact in-formation for these gentlemen is listed in the back of the Newsletter. We may nev-er “catch-up” with the Ford guys, but we’ll have fun along the way.*** Received an invitation to the “The 2015 International Speedsters Trails & Reunion”. The event is held at the “Smith Museum of American Speed” in Lincoln, Nebraska. The dates are June 24-27, 2015. A schedule of events is included in this Newsletter. Art attended this event but was not able to participate because they did not have a class for non-Fords. However, the rules and class designations have been revised to include Class O, for non-Ford speedsters. Green light for Chevrolet’s and other four cylinder makes produced no later than 1934.*** Last week at the Turlock swap meet I came across an information booth for “FAST”. This group promotes speedsters and modified cars using Model A engines. FAST is an acronym for “Ford A Speed Technology. I was given a copy of their latest magazine. Last year FAST held three Hill Climb events. A list of speedster events can be found on page 9. Miles to Go, Mark

GEAR CHATTER

VOL 3, ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2015

NEWSLETTER

In This Issue:

Gear Chatter: page 1 Henry Ford’s Model T: page 2 Speedster Spotlight: pages 3-7 RAJO Motor & Manufacturing: page 8 Speedster Events: page 9

ESTABLISHED JULY 2012

PAGE 2 JANUARY 2015

HENRY FORD’S MODEL T: OCT 1, 1908 TO MAY 27, 1927 1908 The debut of the Model T Ford: Henry Ford was out of town, hundreds of miles from Detroit, when the Model T made its public debut. He’d gone north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a hunting trip with several men, driving Model T serial number 00001, the first pro-duction model. Absenting himself from Detroit at the most important moment in his company’s history might have been a sign of confidence or evidence of his talent for delegating responsibility. Possibly it was a case of jitters, like a playwright flee-ing the theater on his play’s opening night. Ford had sunk everything he had into this new automobile. His future, And the future of the Ford Motor Company, de-pended on its success. The company launched a national ad campaign starting that first day of October. Full-page ads appeared in magazines like the Saturday Evening Post and Harper’s Weekly. The style of the ads, like the style of the product itself, was plain but care-fully considered, pitched with a perfect ear for the aspirations of its intended audi-ence. “We have no high sounding names with which to charm sales. It’s the same old name, ‘plain as any name could be;’ it’s just a FORD.” For a stripped-down, “unheard of” price of $850 (an extra hundred would get the buyer such amenities as a windshield, speedometer, and headlights), the ads promised “a 4-cylinder, 20 h.p., five passenger family car-powerful, speedy and en-during.” “Your guarantee that this car is all we claim-and our claims are broad-is in the rep-utation of Henry Ford.” Seldom would a man and a mass-produced machine be so inseparable. The machine was an expression of its maker’s worldview, an extension of his personality. It was Henry Ford to a T.

The Impact: The orders began pouring in at once, more than the factory on Piquette Avenue could possibly fill. Not even Ford could have predicted the success of what he had created. Certainly he could not have anticipated the effect the Model T would have for years to come on how Americans lived, worked, ate– on the landscape of the country and the air they breathed– on nearly every aspect of the American life. Douglas Brinkley’s comparison of those sessions in the experimental room on Pi-quette Avenue to the Manhattan Project was apt. Not until Robert Oppenheimer and his fellow scientists met in secret to develop the A-bomb would Americans pro-duce a device of such transformative force. The effects of the Model T worked more slowly than those of the A-bomb, but were no less explosive.

JANUARY 2015 PAGE 3

SPEEDSETR SPOTLIGHT : 1926 FORD MODEL T SPEEDSTER The Model T speedster in this article was designed and constructed by Peder Jorgensen, past President of the Santa Clara Valley Model T Ford Club. The fol-lowing pictures show the many nice de-tails that Peder planned into the build of the speedster. In order to achieve a long and low stance the frame was modified. The frame was extended to 103” from the stock length of 99 inches. The engine sits further back on the frame which allowed for the con-struction of a longer hood. The frame was Z’d over the rear axle, in an arch. The frame modification took longer to complete but the outcome resulted in a nice flowing arch over the rear axle. Front frame horn rails were added in or-der to accept longitudinal springs. The front axle is from a Franklin automobile, which is actually lighter than the stock axle. The steering column and steering box are also Franklin. This was a popular conversion in its time; the axle was light-er and steering handled better. The steering wheel “lock-to-lock” is 2 3/4 turns. This higher steering ratio requires less effort to turn compared to the stock Model T. The speedster has hydraulic rear brakes. The rear drums and brake shoes are 1955-57 Chev-rolet modified to fit the Ford axle. The oil pump, driven off the camshaft, pressuriz-es the Model A crankshaft, rods and mains. The RAJO cylinder head was a popular overhead valve conversion for Model T’s. After the interview, Peder took Ron and I for a ride. After each of us had our turn, we came away with these impressions: 1. The speedster has a soft ride. 2. The Warford transmission of-fers a lot of gearing options. 3. Nice exhaust tone. 4. It’s fast!

Jorgensen Bros. Motor Company

JANUARY 2015 PAGE 4

SPEEDSETR SPOTLIGHT : 1926 FORD MODEL T SPEEDSTER

Above: The radiator was fabricated to resemble a Paige radiator. Headlights are Maxwell. Right: The hood is a three piece design. Atop the center section are three vents for the motor. Bottom: The cylinder is a radiator overflow tank. Peder reports that since building the speedster 20 years ago, he has never needed to add water. He has incorporated this design in his other antique cars.

SPEEDSTER SPOTLIGHT : 1926 FORD MODEL T SPEEDSTER JANUARY 2015 PAGE 5

Left: Foot rest on Passenger side. Vent door on right side of cowl al-lows for air circulation on hot days. There is also a vent on the driv-ers side.

Nicely detailed instrumentation. The knob in center of dash is “pumped’” to pres-surize fuel system. Just above the fuel pressure knob is the pressure gauge. The lever to the left of the knob is the Spark Advance, Choke is on the right side.

PAGE 6 JANUARY 2015

SPEEDSTER SPOTLIGHT : 1926 FORD MODEL T SPEEDSTER

Above: Franklin steering column and steering box. Note the special head bolt to accommodate the temperature gauge sensor.

Below: Specially fabricated water-feed heater jacket to pre-heat car-buretor.

JANUARY 2015 PAGE 7

SPEEDSTER SPOTLIGHT : 1926 FORD MODEL T SPEEDSTER

The rear body and radiator shell were fabricated from Chevrolet step side fenders; they had the required curves. The front wire wheels are Hayes, the rear wire wheels are Mclaren on demountable wheels. Tires are 30” X 3.5”. The speedster runs a Warford transmission. Horn rails were added to accept Franklin axle and 1925-28 Chevrolet longitudinal springs. Headlights are Maxwell.

The outside lever controls the Ruckstell axle, the Ford high and emergency brake lever is inboard.

JANUARY 2015 PAGE 8

RAJO MOTOR AND MANUFACTURING Rajo Motor and Manufacturing Was a manufacturing company based in Racine, Wisconsin. The company built performance enhancing cylinder heads for Model T cars that were designed by Joe Jagersberger (Rajo Joe). The company was named by combining the "RA" from Racine and the "JO" from Joe Jagersberger's first name. The heads were sold around the world. The company's Los Angeles salesman Rajo Jack helped popular-ize the heads. Rajo Motor started out building spark plugs and other various engine parts. Ja-gersberger began manufacturing heads for T’s. The first design was the Model 30 which had 4 exhaust ports and one intake port all on the right side of the head. The Model 31 had two intakes on the right and four exhaust on the left. The Model 35C, first known as the "Improved Rajo Valve-in-Head" and later as the Model C had two intakes and three exhausts on the right. The Model A used the stock in-take ports on the block. It had two exhaust ports on the right. His Model B two in-takes on the right and four exhausts on the left. It came in three versions. The BB featured a higher compression ratio and the BB-R also included two spark plugs per cylinder.

JANUARY 2015 PAGE 9

SPEEDSTER EVENTS 2015 April 24-25, 2015 Unicoi, TN Hill Climb, F.A.S.T. Southeast Jeff Hodge 828-755-1498 ironcreekreunion@msn.com

April 25, 2015 Auburn, CA Hill Climb, F.A.S.T. Nor Cal Ron Ludford 530-906-6183 rledford@pacbell.net

May Spindale, NC Hill Climb Contact: vickyman.tripod.com/spindale.html or hotforhotfours.com June 14, 2015 Santa Clara, CA Speedster Endurance Run, SCVMTFC Bill Bratt 650-341-8859 or scvmtfc.org

June 24-27, 2015 Lincoln, NE Speedster Trails and Reunion Rich Johnston 402-598-2947 rsjohnston@speedwaymotors.com

September 12, 2015 Northwood, IA Hill Climb Arlen Throne 641-420-5502 arlen.throne@gmail.com

1914-1928

All men dream but not

equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recess-

es of their minds, wake in the day to find that it is

vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men

for they act their dream with open eyes, to make it

possible. T.E. Lawrence

Technical Advisors Body and Chassis Art Reichlin: 360-428-7732 David Penniman: dave_penniman@yahoo.com Dave Cufr dcufr@roadrunner.com Engine Ron Beam: rbeam28@gmail.com Editor Mark Garcia speedsters14to28@yahoo.com

“Chevrolet Four-Cylinder Speedsters, 1914-1928” is a Non-Geographic Region of the

Vintage Chevrolet Club of America. Membership is limited to VCCA members.

Membership: Dues: $15/year Secretary: Dave Penniman 4457 Rosemary Parkway, Columbus OH 43214 dave_penniman@yahoo.com Newsletter is published Quarterly in electronic format only: Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct

Mission Statement The purpose of the Chapter is to unite owners of Chevrolet Four-Cylinder

Speedsters, 1914-1928 and to share construction knowledge and experience.

PAGE 10

Frontenac Racer. These racers were designed by Louis, Gaston and Arthur