Last fall I rescued this Speedster from a farm 6 miles from me in an open woodshed. I am the third owner. I spent last winter researching and semi restoring my first T. This has been a learned experience and I most definitely understand the “T” affliction.
Titled as a 1914 this Model T Speedster was built in the early 1950’s by Earl Aldman in Rush City MN. MN Pioneer License Plate is 802, which is a low number also validating the early ‘50s build. There is a show plate under the seat from 1955 for an AACA event in St. Peter, MN. The rear end is ’15, drive shaft ’13-’14, Hogs head ’14, Steering sector ’13-’14, frame ’19-’21. The motor has been validated to be a ’13-’14. No readable serial number. This determination was based on Model T Club membership physically viewing the engine. Fortunately I was able to verify the build with a few local car guys here in Minnesota and understand that a NOS motor was used for this build that was on a shelf in a wooden crate in Boogs (?) garage in Pine City, MN (for the build in the ‘50s). I have been told this was early Hot Rodding. So many parts and pieces of the car were still on the car with the exception of the coveted tool box,. Things like, the hand air pump, extra speedometer, the Carbonate burner and step board gate were still on the car. The brass horn, the radiator and headlights were also still attached to the car. This past spring I went back to the farm, to search for parts and introduce myself to the new property owners. They were not very welcoming at first as they had erected a large gate across the drive on the property. Not exactly screaming, “bring us a welcome Minnesota hotdish”. However, after writing a letter seeking parts, they invited me out as they had found a rear end that was on the car at one point in time, red in color. While loading the rear end I was walking buy a small hog shed surrounded by brush and upon peering in I noticed a yellow rusty toolbox sitting in the dirt. Needless to say I was able to acquire it along with some old tools inside and extra transmission bands.
Trailer- Earl had a small trailer built specifically for this Model T. It has two 6” wide channels and ramps. Pretty slick. I had it sandblasted and entirely repainted. Including the rims and put a set of good tires on. Very heavy duty and obviously built back in the day when things were built to last.
The car runs and drives down the road. The 6volt battery system I installed helps at crank starting. Surprisingly the mag works great and runs noticeably better in mag mode. The rear end should be rebuilt/inspected for the washer issue and the brakes should be overhauled. I have put 70 miles on the car at times reaching 34MPH. I took a club tour for 50 miles this past spring with little to no issues. The Speedster turns a lot of heads, especially with the monocle windshield.
[img]IMG_0911/img]
