The 1925/1985 Ranger .. A Modern Engine running on Timer & Coils

Frank Fenton, South Beloit, IL. Winter, 2003/2004

One of the great engineering features of the Model T Ford is the unique ignition system. In the days where batteries and self starters were scarce, or not invented yet, the Model T was able to be hand cranked with the spark provided by its own internal power source…the magneto.

I decided to see if a modern engine would run on the Model T Timer and Ignition system. I found a “beater” (per the ad) 1984 Ford Ranger Pickup in the local newspaper, and went to have a look. It was truly a beater, and not running. I bought it, winched it on the trailer and took it home. After a closer look, the thought….”What was I thinking?”….kept coming to mind. It all turned out ok, because the title showed it was a 1985 model, and I found 12 cents under the seat. So I gained a whole model year and 12 cents to boot. That made it a good deal.

Here is the vehicle:

I pulled it into my shop…. It’s coming apart…..

I did get it started to pull it into my shop. The engine smoked badly and barely ran. I figured the new fangled ignition system was at fault.

The engine looked bad when torn down…….

I saw rust inside the cylinders…. And maybe a crack…..

The cylinders were egg shaped, so I took the engine to Bob Pake in Janesville, WI. Bob found no cracks, bored it out .020, put in new innards, ground the valves and I picked it up, ready for action. The fun was just beginning…….

Here’s the engine back in the sandblasted and painted chassis:

Got a firewall and body base located with Vice-Grips. A Model T radiator was the first choice to use.

On the side of the engine you can see the timer mounting workings, run by a cog belt from the overhead camshaft.

Yes, that is a 21 inch tire in the lower left, and new shocks inside those coil springs.

Here’s how I mounted the timer:

First, a special hub was machined with sealed bearings, shaft and cog wheel.

It was mounted to the side of the engine lined up with a cog wheel on the end of the camshaft.

Note that the timer is mounted “backwards” to a Model T. That’s because the camshaft on the modern engine, being belt driven, turns in the same direction as the crankshaft. The Model T camshaft, being gear driven, turns counter to the crankshaft.

Here’s a side view. Note the Anderson Rotor mounted on the back side of the housing.

Here’s another view from the back.

I ginned up a “bellcrank” manual advance mechanism with an ATV Brake Cable connecting to the advance lever.

Here’s a picture from the front. Note that the spring advances the timer, so the lever on the steering column has to be held in the retard position. When released, the spring does the advancing of the timer. This was done because the cable is a “pull only” device

Here it is with the timer installation complete.

Here’s a closer look. I painted this timer Ford Blue, and it is a bit special, in that it must work at better than twice the RPM of the Model T. I have run this engine up to 4000 RPM with this timer. I stopped there due to the newly rebuilt engine.

After I got the engine running on the timer and coils, I focused on the other issues…. I wanted the vehicle to operate with the Model T Steering Column, the three pedals and a Model T Brake Lever.

After lining up the radiator and firewall and floor of the cab…..

I welded up an assembly that would use a Model T brake pedal to actuate the Ranger’s Master Brake Cylinder and the Model T clutch pedal to actuate the Ranger’s hydraulic clutch cylinder…..

Here’s a closer picture……

Closer yet……..

Note that I bolted the assembly onto the Ranger Chassis, so that 100 years from now, someone can easily restore the Ranger Chassis to the original as it will surely be deemed as valuable then as the Model T Ford is today.

And another picture……..

The center pedal is returned by a heavy spring, and when slowly depressed, it actuates the Kneuter valve, which is indirectly linked to the Frammus which controls the preload on the muffler bearings.

Of course, everyone has probably already guessed that. (Explanation courtesy of Steve Tanck.)

Now it is time to start on the body and sheet metal for this 25/85 model.

The cab was started……… with the firewall and steering column attached and working.

Look at the fan…it is still running after the maiden drive.

From the back……

Found some sheet metal and had to run a few weld beads….

A closer look…….

No time to make it look pretty for the annual meeting in Ottawa……..

This will have to do………

The rest of the Open Express Body and sheet metal is done….

And from the front……….

Looks like the running boards had to be stretched a bit……..

Yep, that’s the gas tank filler on the side…….

Here’s a tour of the controls………

The steering wheel is directly connected to the Ranger’s manual steering gear…and is much slower than the Model T Steering

The throttle is on the right and the spark advance is on the left….spring loaded to advance, so it has to be held in the retarded position for starting.

The floor controls…. The brake lever on the left is connected to the Ranger’s parking brakes on the rear wheels. The left pedal is the clutch, the right pedal is the brake….and the shift lever (5 speed) is on the right…..

Here’s the shift lever…….

Here’s a look from the side…….. showing the starter button and a battery cut out switch.

Here’s the choke and ignition on/off switch in the upper left corner of the cab……

Here’s the coil box in the cab…….

And here’s the business end of the coil box in the engine compartment……

I couldn’t get enough clearance for everything using the Model T radiator as planned. I took the radiator shroud to the local auto salvage yard and asked for a radiator that would fit in the shroud, then looked through a pile of electric fans to fit in there, too…..

Here’s the back side of the radiator…..

I went to the local sheet metal shop with a cardboard pattern for a partial hood….it goes down to the normal hinge on the side of the Model T hood…..and of course, is a lot longer than a Model T hood…

Here it is nearing completion……….

And from the back…………

One additional item that should be pointed out is that I had lots of carburetion problems…could not get the Ranger carb to run right. I tried to fit a Holley NH, but that seemed a monumental task. A good friend, Don Stein, owner of the local hardware store and old car nut (he has a T) stopped by with a 1940 Chevy Carb. It works great.

Yes, and to the left of the carb, you see the Ranger’s distributor cap. I had to leave the distributor in, since it drives the oil pump….and the modern engine needs an oil pump. I was foiled again by modern engineering.

Here’s that distributor. I left the wires on it….looped over that Chevy carb.

And, the Logo comparison

Radiator Shroud Logo 1925 Modern Engine Logo – 1985

This car will be at the MTFCI Annual Tour in Baraboo, WI in July, 2004 for you to see and perhaps even to take a spin in it. It runs great and with the Model T muffler, even sounds a bit like a Model T.