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1924 Ford Track T Roadster - Reconstruction Masterpiece - Web Exclusive Photos

Pat Swanson's New Sparks For An Old Flame(Thrower)
By Chris Shelton
1924 Ford Track Roadster
1924 Ford Track Roadster
1924 Ford Track Roadster
Even though Pat is a Northwestern... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
Even though Pat is a Northwestern native, his interests compel him to collect Southern California Timing Association goodies.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
The cast-bronze shift knob... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
The cast-bronze shift knob medallion (courtesy of Jack Underwood) and the dash-mounted grille badge both have pre-war histories.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
Back when tube shocks were... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
Back when tube shocks were exclusive to airplanes, several companies offered rotary-style dampers. These Rotoflo dampers look very similar to the Houdaille dampers Ford used until 1946, but they have cast-aluminum bodies. Unlike the Ford units, they lend themselves to owner service and tuning.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
Back when tube shocks were... 
   
  read full caption
1924 Ford Track Roadster
Back when tube shocks were exclusive to airplanes, several companies offered rotary-style dampers. These Rotoflo dampers look very similar to the Houdaille dampers Ford used until 1946, but they have cast-aluminum bodies. Unlike the Ford units, they lend themselves to owner service and tuning.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
True, Pat didn't specify hairpins... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
True, Pat didn't specify hairpins as the Spaldings' car had, but the nerf bars on the '40 Ford hairpins certainly match those on many track roadsters of the era. While there's great debate regarding the veracity of the claim, many believe that split wishbones will deflect more than hairpins, thus allowing suspensions with tube axles to articulate to a greater degree.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
Six in a row will go, provided... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
Six in a row will go, provided you know what to do with it. The head on Pat's '41 Chevy pickup block was number 13 out of approximately 120 cast-iron heads that Wayne Manufacturing produced in the late '40s. As rare as the head is, the Western Mechanical Development valve cover (one of 15 ever made) is exceedingly rare. Take a tip from the spark plug wire looms Butch made for this application.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
While the Spaldings-most notably... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
While the Spaldings-most notably Tom-made their names with their Flamethrower ignitions, they ran a Vertex magneto on their racecar. Mag builder Joe Hunt prepped this particular six-cylinder version decades ago, and it runs one of his magneto collars. The ignition leads are period Packard 440 wires.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
While the original Spalding... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
While the original Spalding car ran one of Stuart Hilborn's first injection units made for engines other than Offenhausers and Flatheads, Pat knew how intractable mechanical injection could be on the street. Instead, he bought two late '40s Flynn carburetors from Don Ferguson and mounted them to a Wayne manifold.
1924 Ford Track Roadster
Tank pumps were more common... 
   
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1924 Ford Track Roadster
Tank pumps were more common to dual-purpose (road and race) cars that ran alcohol in a secondary fuel system (they pressurized the secondary system). At the same time, they also replaced the fuel pump altogether in applications where the engine-driven fuel pump wouldn't be able to keep up with engine demands-as in long-duration, full-throttle blasts on the lakes. This one's a Bell Auto Parts unit.

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