Gustaf

Ford put "fake" doors on the driver's side as it was customary to mount from the off side, I normally get into my ambulance from the right even though it is open on the left as well, but you have to get past the clutch lever, spark advance and steering wheel to get in from the near side. Ford figured it was a waste of money to put a functioning door on the driver's side until customer demand and competitors caused him to rethink. Best Gus

Hey Jack, You are way ahead of me on the wheels, I have heard that Stutzman spokes are the best. Building one of these is great fun, but it gets even better when you get done, as replacement parts for the T are so easy to get that you can drive them with out having to worry about finding replacement parts when you wear something out. Best Gus

Make sure that the spokes are tight in the hubs and felloes. If the spokes are loose they willwear very quickly. I have one rear wheel that developed problems, ans was able to tighten it by putting oak veneer strips between the tapered part of the spoke in the hub. The tenons were worn, and I applied high temp RTV (it seems to cure harder) and then wrapped the worn area of the tenon with cotton cord. The wheel has been on the T for about 300 miles with no sign of looseness. This looks like a fun project. Best Gus

This thread makes me want to get 500 gallons of polyvinylsilxene dental impression material and come and get an impression of your vehicle and cast a copy.

You make this look easy, I know it is not.

The rear tires are a larger tire on a smaller diameter wheel, much like the Ford TT 1 ton truck. Even the Ford ambulances had two different sized tires in the beginning, making it necessary to carry two spares rather than one. This is a very nice project.

Bob, the GMCs were used extensively by US forces in Italy and France, they were favored over the Ford ambulances for service in Italy because they had a multi-gear transmission and more substantial brakes. There were more GMCs shipped to Europe than were needed in Italy, so many were used in Sections and companies in France. All of the GMCs that I have seen photos of in France had the closed body as shown inthe photo of the restored ambulance, I have a friend who has an original open body ambulance as shown in the first post. Here is Evacuation Ambulance Company 8 with their Packard truck and 12 GMC ambulances in France in Sept of 1918

Thanks, I have been waiting all winter to get that photo. Best Gus

This morning, I had a flash back to a photo from WWI Best Gus

I just noticed that the MG in the back is a Russian Maxim on a Solokov mount, it even has the snow cap water jacket,

The tires do appear to be the modern balloon tires, they are a bit larger in size, and the wheel has a smaller diameter. The earlier tires were measured around the out side and would have been 30x3½ or 30x3, in the 1920s Ford went to a tire that was measured on the inside diameter and were 21 inch. There were other differences, the newer tires were normally inflated to 32psi, where the earlier tires had to be inflated to 60psi or more. The earlier tire was based on the bicycle tire, and has to be stretched over the rim to be fitted. The modern tire uses either a drop center rim, or in the case of the Ford 21 inch wheel, a split rim to install. Best Gus

Hey Tony, Reading some of the personal histories, they talk about getting one car started in the morning, and then towing the others to start them, during actions, the cars would not set long enough to get cold, and the side curtains help a lot in keeping the engine temperature in the driver's compartment. It was hard work, and dangerous, but far better than being in the trenches. I have a letter written home by a German soldier who was wounded in the early battles in Poland in 1914, and he writes of how the driver of a truck had to warm the fuel before he could start the engine, it is possible that the driver was warming the water for the radiator rather than the fuel, as the soldier was not familiar with motor cars. Best Gus

It is nearly freezing out today, so I thought I would go for a drive since it was so warm. The T handles snow that is 6 to 8 inches deep with out much problem, but the icy roads are fun with slick tires and minimal brakes, but at least I can lock up the wheels now. Best Gus

Wonderful link, Motorfahrer, Here is a link to the site where these pages can be found. http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=aaz&datum=19150321&zoom=33 The coverage of the exhaust heater is interesting. I once had an old truck that the floor boards were rusted out, and the exhaust was a bit wonky as well. I made the comment that it was nice to use the truck in the winter, as the exhaust would come into the cab. A friend commented that he did not think that the exhaust would warm the cab that much, but I pointed out that one of the early symptoms of coabonmonoxide poisoning was a feeling of warmth. In the winter, when you started to unbutton your coat, it was time to roll the window down to get some fresh air. Best Gus

Yes, you are right that is an M1918 with the Hay Dee extension (or possibly a Ford extension) Best Gus

I have seen something similar on the front axle in period photos. Not on the back, but then the front is more often photographed. Best Gus

The bottom photo of post #14 shows an M1917 ambulance with the Hay Dee extension. This is the only photo I have seen of a T ambulance with the extended frame, the report was that the longer wheel base increased the turning radius, so it was determined that the shorter frame was better. I think that it was a moot point any way, at the end of the war, production of the M1917 ambulance was halted, and I have not been able to find production numbers on the M1918, but I doubt that there were more than a few hundred made. Of the thousands of short wheel based ambulances that served through out the war, the over hang was not a problem for the Ford ambulances, but it did create a problem for the GMC ambulances. When the Transportation branch took over the running of the ambulances from the Medical branch, the unites equipped with GMC ambulances were ordered by a major, to remove the step from the tail gate, as this would cause undue load on the rear axle. As the step up into the GMC was substantial, it was likely that the one pound step was replaced with a five pound step stool. Best Gus

Hey DB88 The photos pre-date the ambulance shown in 42chevy's photos, as it is a reproduction. To date, no original WWI ambulance has been located in the US, although I think there is at least one out there some where. Best Gus

Another observation, the litters shown are American made (I suspect that this photo may have been taken in the US, I am puzzled by the construction) The litters are the commercial variety used by the USAAS, and the feet are further from the ends. The early US made ambulances (first 2450 made) were constructed to accommodate these litters as well as the French and Italian ones. It turned out that the standard US military litter had the feet closer to the end, and would not fit in the upper litter rails, as the back feet would extend past the end of the rails so the bodies of subsequent cars were extended by about 3 inches to accommodate the US military litters (referred to as the "long truck model" Best Gus

Hey DB88 The web site is David O'Neal's, he has a thread somewhere here chronicling his construction. The last photo is an interesting one, they removed the gas tanke from under the seat, or added a second to this ambulance, it is one of the ones built in France, probably under the direction of the American Ambulance or the Red Cross, these two groups were nationalized into the United States Army Ambulance Service when the US entered the war in mid 1918 (war was declared in early 1917, but for the most part, the US did not have a presence in Europe for another year). Best Gus

Hey Tony Yes. the American Ambulance was an American supported hospital in Paris and Neuilly sur Seine. The American Field Service was the organization that provided cars and personnel to the American Ambulance (ambulance referred to the hospital, not the car). It is interesting that the AFS went on to become one of the best organizations for the exchange of culture and knowledge through exchange students. The AFS is still in operation. In England, the term "ambulance" was beginning to be used to describe the transport automobile, and partly because the AFS ambulance cars had American Ambulance painted on the side, ambulance became the word to describe the car. It is also interesting that modern ambulances have become the same as the original ambulance (portable hospital) and in many cases, the modern ambulance is a better equipped hospital than the original ambulance hospitals were. Hey DB88, Great photos!

A great shot of an American M1917, and as best as I can tell, it does not have section numbers painted on it. There is even a second of footage of it bouncing off down the road. Best Gus

As an owner of a 1919 Ford Model T, 3- 1942 Ford GPWs, a 1973 F260, 3- 1976 F260s, a 1978 F260 crewcab and a 1969 two ton truck, I would like to say it is nice to have the support of the Ford Motor Company for the forum. Sadly, I have not purchased a new Ford since 1980, as our local dealer is not the best and it is a 60 mile drive to the next town with a Ford dealership. I would rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy, but I am getting to the point that I would rather ride in my wife's Chevy than deal with Goode Motors again. Thanks again FMC Best Gus

Hey Jack, Great project, I too was planning on finishing my T ambulance in time for the centenary, but managed to get it done a bit sooner, and it has been a lot of fun. I am looking forward to your project completion. Hey 4x4founder, I think that the T was the jeep of the teens and 20s, even with 2 wheel drive, it took people places that they had noever gone before in an auto. and you are right about the gearing, the CJs were much slower, but that was a problem on the highway, as 50mph was a struggle for a CJ and the GPWs and MBs could do over 60mph. Best Gus

I do not think the T could have ever been the first jeep, not with out a different transmission and wheel brakes. One of the important features of all the original jeeps (Bantam, Willis and Ford) was the low gearing. The 4 wheel drive on the jeep is not really what gives it the ability to travel where other vehicles can not. It is the short wheel base, narrow tires, flexible frame, low horse power (all of these features shared by the T) but most importantly, low gearing. In my opinion, if you put a different transmission and wheel brakes on a T, it is no longer a T. Best Gus