1940 Ford Ore Truck, 1931 Model A Roadster Cowl, Fwd Grille, Caterpillar 60 Seat on 2040-cars
Bozeman, Montana, United States
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This very unusual truck/tractor and trailer combination was built to haul ore at a gold mine near Jardine Montana some time in the 1950's. I am not yet sure about the vintage of the truck/tractor but I hope to figure it out soon. I looked all over the front frame rails today in hopes of finding a serial number but could not find one. This truck has hydraulic brakes and I am sure it is a Ford of some year. The front cross member is specially made to fit the pair of flathead V8 front motor mounts so this almost has to be a Ford chassis. The truck/tractor has a 24 stud late (1949 and newer) Mercury flathead engine that still turns over fine but I have not yet tried to make it run. I believe the transmission is also a stock Ford component from the same era. The rear axle is a two-speed unit and is shifted manually with the short lever located in front of the seat. The steering gear does not match any Ford steering gear I can recall seeing so it may be a larger unit from a larger truck. The grille guard appears to from and old floor furnace and had a cast bronze WW I FWD truck of 1918 vintage emblem on it. The cowl and hood are from a 1930 or 1931 Ford Model A roadster or phaeton. The ornate cast iron seat assembly is from an early Caterpillar crawler tractor. I believe it is from a Model 60 but am not sure yet. I have no idea what the windshield assembly is from yet but I am guessing the back of a sedan from the later 40's or early 50's. I suspect the old non-sealed beam type of headlamps are from a 1935 or 1936 Chevrolet pickup or truck. Please help me out here on the positive identification of any of these components if you can. The back of the truck/tractor has a large chunk of concrete cast into the back of the truck frame for more traction. The only hitch is located at the back of the frame and mates with the hitch on the front of the trailer as you can see in one of the photos. The trailer has a dump box that has a hydraulic hoist under it. You can see the pipes and hoses for the hydraulic plumbing running up to the hitch of the trailer. I can't find any evidence of any hydraulic pump or reservoir ever having been mounted on the truck/tractor. The axle under the trailer has 5 hole Budd wheels so it is probably from the rear of a 1-1/2 or 2 ton truck from the 40's or 50's. I am sure this trailer originally had dual wheels and tires on it and someone borrowed a pair of wheels and tires for another application. I bought this very special combination because of the combined value of the interesting components about 8 years ago but am loosing the storage I had for it soon so I have listed it here. A friend told me that the long stroke Mercury crankshaft that this engine most likely has is worth $750 or so. I believe the Mercury engine in this truck/tractor is the 1949 and later version which is now becoming quite popular with street rodders again. If you need or want this engine, you can buy the combination, swap out the engine with a smaller Ford V8 and resell the combination to someone who is not interested in the larger displacement and horsepower Mercury engine. I think there is a lot of history in this old gem and that it deserves to have a permanent home in a Ford truck collection or a mining museum somewhere. I have seen a lot of trucks in my 61 years but I have never seen anything like this anywhere else. I have referred to the truck/tractor as being the "Mongrel" which is kind of what it really is. I will be adding better photos and more information soon. Thanks a lot, Bob Woodburn - phone 406-799-1847 in Bozeman Montana |
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Auto blog
NHTSA upgrades Ford floor mat unintended acceleration probe
Mon, 17 Dec 2012According to a Bloomberg report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has upgraded an investigation into complaints of unintended acceleration lodged against Ford vehicles. The investigation began in June of 2010 when just three complaints had been received and it only concerned the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, but this was at a time when the phrase "unintended acceleration" made grown men go pale. With 49 additional complaints received since then, the investigation has been reclassified as an engineering analysis - the last phase before a recall - and it has been expanded to include the Lincoln MKZ, making for a total of "around 480,000" units affected between the three sedans from the 2008 to 2010 model years.
The ostensible cause is that floor mats are trapping the accelerator pedal, but according to a Ford statement at the time, the entrapment is due to owners placing the optional all-weather floor mats, or aftermarket floor mats, on top of the car's standard floor mats. NHTSA has backed up that assessment, pinning the blame on "unsecured or double stacked floor mats."
On the face of it, it would appear that NHTSA has upgraded the status not because of Ford's error, but owner error, and Ford has stated publicly that it is "disappointed" in NHTSA's move. On top of NHTSA still being skittish after that other unintended acceleration debacle, it could be seen to be taking its time investigating all of the variables: it's reported that Ford changed its accelerator pedal design in 2010, a "heel blocker" in the floorpan has been considered a potential culprit in how the floor mats could be trapping the pedal, some drivers have said the floor mats weren't anywhere near the pedal, and according to a report in the LA Times, in "a letter sent by Ford to NHTSA in August 2010, the automaker said it found three injuries and one fatality that 'may have resulted from the alleged defect.'"
Ford F-150 EcoBoost in NHTSA probe for acceleration issue
Tue, 28 May 2013According to Automotive News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is launching a probe into 400,000 Ford F-150 models over possible acceleration problems. According to the article, NHTSA has received 95 reports "alleging incidents of reduced engine power during hard accelerations" on 2011 to 2013 F-150 models equipped with the company's 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine.
Automotive News reports that Ford has issued three technical service bulletins "related to intermittent stumble/misfire on acceleration from highway cruise in humid or damp conditions," according to the government agency's documents. About one third of the 95 reports NHTSA has received cited humid or rainy conditions when these problems allegedly occurred.
These technical service bulletins have allowed dealers to address a "condition related to moisture accumulation in the charge air cooler during extended highway cruising at constant throttle in humid or damp conditions," AN reports, citing NHTSA documents. Furthermore, the TSB outlines details for "reprogramming the powertrain control module with the latest calibration and installing a new CAC and air deflector plate."
Ford Fiesta ST in startling track battle against Toyota GT86
Wed, 26 Jun 2013On the surface, there's very little that the Ford Fiesta ST and Toyota GT86 (or the Scion FR-S that is sold in the US, or the largely similar Subaru BRZ) share in common. One is a hatchback with power coming from a turbocharged engine routed to the front wheels. The other is a coupe with power coming from a naturally aspirated four-cylinder boxer engine routed to the rear wheels.
Thing is, both of them are reasonably priced performance cars aimed at a similar segment of the automotive marketplace, so a comparison isn't out of the question. It is with all of this in mind that we direct you to the video below, in which the blokes from Evo pit the two manic little machines against one another on a race track. The result? Well, it can be summed up this way: Fast versus fun.
See how the track battle goes down in the video below.