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Old 01-24-2011, 09:39 PM   #1
powerwagonmaniac1
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Default Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/BECKER%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.png[/IMG]

Well we did accomplish that task. Last Saturday we drove the Becker Special for the first time. It was raining But we had a great time drifting it in the mud and dirt around our shop giving rides to friends and family who have watched this car come from pile of parts 6 months ago!!






[IMG]file:///C:/Users/BECKER%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/BECKER%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png[/IMG]

All we had was transmission break and hand throttle hitched up. Still finishing stuff, foot throttle was this weekends project. soon hopefully Rocky mountain brakes, spare tire carrier ,finished body, paint and upholstery(think a baby 1913 Mercer Raceabout and you have a good idea what it will look like when done).

Clayton and I built this car for my dad as a Christmas present But he passed away on October 13, 2010 and he never knew we were building it for him. He never saw it unfortunately so we are finishing it in his honor.

Here is the back story from the 2010 forum that Clayton posted....

As you know, my friend Chris and I were building this T speedster for his father, Bill, as a surprise Christmas gift this year...Her is a recap of the back story:

"My good buddy Chris and his family have become like family to me over the years and it was actually his dad Bill that sold me the little '26 roadster that would become my lil' black roadster that you all know and tought me everything I know about how to make a project like that work. Both he and Chris helped me put the roadster together and it wouldn't be on the road had they not been there.

Bill has unfortunately been dealing with heath issues (poor joints and leg problems from years of commercial sand blasting) and major depression over the last year or 2 and, as a result, has not had any interest in the cars at all (a total 180 from his usual manor) which has been hard on all of us. Chris also has a wife and little boy of his own now, so does not have much time to help service all the cars up for Bill as he used to do, so I volunteered to handle the maintenance on all the cars in the Becker collection.

This year we were very surprised to see him become excited about car season! I made an effort to get all cars (the 1917 Hupmobile, 1919 Model T, 1906 Holsman "Auto-Buggy" and the '34 PII Rolls-Royce) ready, repaired and tuned for him to start driving again only to discover he can physically no longer get in or drive any of them safely, even his 1919 T touring...a car he has put more mile on then I can fathom! His poor joints and medications prohibit him from even getting his feet on the pedals or even getting behind the wheel of them...which was a big blow for him.

He doesn't really have a problem working the pedals so much as he simply can't get into the cars period...and if he did, they are tight enough that he can't lift his feet up on the pedals. Bill is a big boy and those cars are tight up front (I'm a young and slender guy and I have problems getting in 'em). If the seats were moved back a ways, he wouldn't have a problem. His 1909 Brush has plenty of leg room and he has no problem working the brakes.

Because of this, Chris and I are wanting to but together a another T for him, something simple and low to the ground that he won't have any trouble getting in or out of and be able to drive comfortably. We have a large amount of T stuff already (frame, front/ rear axles, springs, wheels, etc) so we should have a pretty good start


...Oh! and I should mention that this is also going to be a surprise for him...he has no idea we are putting this together for him! :-)"


2 months ago, Bill suffered a choking accident at a church breakfast and, as a result, lost consciousness and both his breathing and his heart stopped. The EMT's were quick to the scene and were able to get his heart and breathing started once again...making him safe for transport to the ER...he did not however, regain consciousness. As much as we had hoped that Bill would return to us, he passed away about October 13th. He had been brought back to normal body temp after the cooling/re-warming procedure was complete...but showed no change. It was determined that he was no longer breathing on his own and had suffered irreparable brain damage and swelling with no chance of recovery. The family made the choice to remove life support and he passed away peacefully surrounded by his family, loved ones and very close friends.

his son Chris and I will continue to work diligently to complete his T as we had planned in his honor.

Chris Becker
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Old 01-25-2011, 12:20 AM   #2
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

Yesterday Chris and I took "The Special" out for her first official road/speed tests. We took the cars (my roadster too) to a good friend and neighbor's place who has a personal air strip on his property so that I could have some decent "running room" to get "The Special" up to speed. I had not yet had the chance to tune in the Holly "94" yet, so the it was still falling into a "hole" when you give her some throttle. This was quite frustrating as the car would fall on it's face even trying to get it moving. As I made my second pass with Chris and his little boy Carston looking on, "The Special" faltered on me again and out of a bit of frustration really put my foot into the throttle.

As I did, she sputtered a bit...then all at once she sprang from her hole like a Tiger, sprinting from it's hiding place in the tall grass after it's prey. I felt myself pushed back into my seat as "The Special" took off for the end of the runway. I was hitting near 40 mph and accelerating with end of the runway and the goat pasture just beyond it getting closer with every second.....still in UNDERDRIVE on the Aux. overdrive unit the entire time. After stopping the beast a few feet short of sailing through the fence and regaining sanity, I turned her around and headed back for another pass. I was not able to get her up to speed enough to shift gears into "Model T Direct" on the O.D. because every time I gave her any throttle I would break the tires loose and spin them the length of the airstrip. I told Chris that "I can't test it here, I can't keep traction"....so we headed out on the road that heads out to the Becker's place: Long, mostly flat and generally free of cars.

As we hit the pavement (Chris following in my '26 roadster), I gave "The Special" a kick in the pants and buried my foot into the throttle. She came alive and tore out the hole like lightning, quickly leaving Chris and Carston behind. As I shifted into direct and dropped the clutch, the rear wheels let out their tell-tail "Chirp" sound and her speed increased again. I estimate that by the time I got her into Overdrive, I had to be doing at least 65-70 mph....and there was still plenty more throttle left. I made a few more passes, adjusting the "94", then turned it over to Chris. On our way back, the input shaft on the O.D. let go and ended our fun for the day.

The Model T Aux. transmissions have a square drive that fits into the end of the stock T planetary output shaft. The square drive on our O.D. was rather warn and a bit rounded and no longer fit. Chris had shimmed this with hardened shims, but the HP and torque was too much for them. We are now working re-build shaft to ensure a tight and proper fit.
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Old 01-27-2011, 09:07 PM   #3
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

Clayton and Chris...you guys did a wonderful job!!! I really enjoyed following the build thread and am always amazed at the work you guys do. Very inspirational to say the least.

Will she be at Bonneville?????

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Old 01-30-2011, 02:19 AM   #4
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

Not this Year We really need to do some engine work on Clayton's Roadster "Josephine".
and still working buds out oif the specil;a yet so next year for sure.
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Old 03-14-2011, 01:02 AM   #5
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!






Well figured I’d update people on how the Special is going. Since the fire up party we have been chasing one problem after another…

First the Warford transmission went bad. Seems the input shaft was really worn out when we got it 10 years ago. In my youthful infinite wisdom I decided to just shim the input shaft in the female end of the stock transmission. First time of course we munched up the shims. Ended up removing and disassembling the Warford, annealed the input shaft so we could weld it. Then we had to go find some 4140 TIG welding rod in small quantity (of course our welding supplier would sell me some, but in a large bundle, like 10-15 lbs of it!). Found some about 2 lbs worth. Had to learn how to use the TIG welder for the first time. Welded input shaft had to re heat treat it again and re-assemble the Warford and put back in the car. Problem one solved.

Stupidity was next. I had to shorten the drive about 2 inches to fit the Warford in. Well instead of machining the square that goes into the back of the Warford, I decided to weld it up. Well the welds broke. So we ended up machining a new drive shaft from our stash to replace the destroyed one.

Well then the carburetor decided to crap out. Clayton discovered that the jets were too small and the Special was starving for fuel. Tried to switch the jets out of the Holley 94 body…guess what one was froze and we could not remove it, destroyed the body of carb in the process. On goes a spare Holley 94 body, in goes new larger jets re-install on car runs great… until…

Head gasket blew up, right in the middle between cylinders 2 & 3. So tomorrow I will be ordering a new head gasket. Oh by the way before the head gasket let loose we did have the Special in Direct and moving well over 50 mph with plenty of throttle leftand one ore gear left.

I have followed Clayton a few times down the street and watched front bounce up and down a little too much for my liking. This weekend I ended up adding in a couple of more leaves to the front spring pack and started wrapping the spring pack with rope to stiffen it. I still need too put new spindle bushing on and to stiffen the steering some more.

Some of the rims have a little wobble to them, so we will be correcting them soon. Clayton’s dad is glassing the trunk so we can finish the body and prep it for paint. We also modified the running board bracket (they came from a junk 1912 Cadillac frame and some left over damaged Model T bracket) and placed the running board on the car too get the proper height so we can start building the fender in the next couple of weeks. Still need to come up with a design for the spare tire mount on the back of the car yet. So hope fully soon we will have her on the road with few bugs.

Chris Becker
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Old 03-16-2011, 08:30 PM   #6
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

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Hi, If I can ask,what did you do concerning the power valve in that 94 and what size main jets did you use ?....Thanks, John M.
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Old 03-16-2011, 11:04 PM   #7
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

A banger doesn't need the power valve on a 94. I will really mess with you head especially at altitude. Use a holley power valve plug to get rid of it.

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Old 03-24-2011, 07:06 PM   #8
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

Quote:
Originally Posted by b67 View Post
Hi, If I can ask,what did you do concerning the power valve in that 94 and what size main jets did you use ?....Thanks, John M.
I just left the power valve in, so far it has been running rather well. I was originally using .049 jets, but they ended up being a bit to small so I switched them out for larger .059 jets with the adjustable main jet kits. It seemed to run great....for the 10 minutes before the head gasket let loose

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A banger doesn't need the power valve on a 94. I will really mess with you head especially at altitude. Use a holley power valve plug to get rid of it.

Andy
Good point. It seems to run fine now, but there is not telling what it would do in higher elevations. I will pull and plug it off.
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Old 03-24-2011, 07:07 PM   #9
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

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Clayton and Chris...you guys did a wonderful job!!! I really enjoyed following the build thread and am always amazed at the work you guys do. Very inspirational to say the least.

Will she be at Bonneville?????
Yes, the "Special" will be tagging along to Bonneville next year (2012). I still have work to do on it and my roadster first.
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Old 03-29-2011, 11:36 PM   #10
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

*BIG UPDATE NEWS*

The "Becker Special"

IS FIXED!.....AGAIN!

(Hopefully it stays fixed this time! )

Well, after Chris and I's head gasket debacle two weeks ago we now found ourselves fighting some sort of ignition problem: No spark on some of the plugs, some of the time...tries to fire some times, but not all...and on and on. After much frustration and confusion, we discovered that the magneto was bad, Eureka...problem solved! Put the spare magneto on and we should be good!

...not so fast. Hmmmm....now it want to back fire up through the carburetor.....

After a quick timing fix (my fault...was off by a few teeth ) it fired right up and ran great! To celebrate, Chris and I took the "Special" around the shop for a few victory laps and a few "cookies" in the end zone!

How many Model T's do you know that will do that....or have owners that would with their cars?


Here are some pics...and a few videos for your viewing pleasure..Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ecVpte9faI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqxkdL_1wTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKgPPKp-kk8

Chris and Clayton
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Old 04-03-2011, 01:13 AM   #11
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

Well after being down at Portland Swap meet all weekend Melissa and I had to take Special out for a blast down the street. Had it up to around 50mph just in direct!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=MVI_0187.mp4

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=MVI_0188.mp4

Chris Becker
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Old 04-12-2011, 11:51 PM   #12
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

Worked on getting running boards bolted up and Clayton mocked up the front fenders.







Chris Becker
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Old 04-13-2011, 02:16 AM   #13
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

hell yeah!

can't wait to see it in person!

you guys=rulers.
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Old 04-13-2011, 02:43 AM   #14
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

The new panels look good. Headlamps look different
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Old 04-13-2011, 02:59 AM   #15
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

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The new panels look good. Headlamps look different
You sir, have the best user name I've ever seen.
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Old 04-13-2011, 12:53 PM   #16
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Default Re: Clayton Paddison and Chris Becker Build a T speedster in 6 months!

The fenders are the new ones we had built for our 1913 White GAF 30 touring car years ago. They are just mocked up on the fender irons. Clayton custom built the fender iron with the thought of building these type of fenders. Fenders will actually be fiberglass as I don't have the metal working knowledge or funds to build them from scratch in metal (and the White fenders belong to the White as they replace badly damaged one currently residing on the car).

Headlights probably came off of a Crane Simplex or some such big car circa 1913 or 1914.

I added 3 extra leaves to the front spring to stiffen it up a little and wrapped the springs as well. Car is about 4.75 inches at the drain plug. Measured from the bottom of the rim to ground on tires about 4 inches with 4.50 x 21 tires.so with a flat I won't hit but will be very close. with the stiffer spring pack and wrapped in the front there is no body roll and it handles like a go-cart in corners.

Still driving with just a tranny brake, (just leave the Warford in Direct gets us up to 55 mph easily), emergency brakes are done getting relined just need to pick them up and I am saving my pocket change to by Rocky Mountain large drums in the near future.



Just a quick comparison of our inspiration. Dad went for a ride in one while working for Bill Harrah during the 1960's and 70's. The shop manager owned one at the time and gave dad a ride. They did a 4 wheel power slide off of I-80 going down the off ramp on the way back to the shops at Sparks! Dad said he was hanging on for dear life!! One of my favorite stories dad told and the inspiration for his car.

Chris Becker
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