Grease Fittings That Henry Forgot

By: Wayne Mandeville

Henry Ford did an outstanding job of designing the Model A, but there are some practical things that can be improved on today. You have to remember that Henry built the car to sell at a low price and he was forced to cut corners when possible. In my personal opinion the lack of adequate grease fittings was one place where he did cut corners.

Whether you are restoring your Model A or just doing routine maintenance there are several things you can do to make your car last longer. It doesn’t take a lot of work or much money, just a little time, energy, and patience. Add a few grease fittings in the following places.

First, install grease fittings on the brake and clutch pedal arms/bushings. All it takes is removing the pedals and drilling and tapping holes for the fittings. Screw in the grease fittings and re-install the pedals. It sure will make the pedals operate easier and add life to the bushings.

Second, add grease fittings to the brake cross shaft where it is supported on each end by the brass bearings. This can be a little more trouble depending on how bad the shaft and or bushings are worn. If the bushings are the only thing worn and the shaft is OK, split bushings can be installed without removing the brake arms. Simply drill the bushing support brackets and the bushings, tap out for the fittings, install fittings, and presto you are business. If the shaft is worn, you are in for quite a bit more work. The arms have to be removed to make repairs. Removing the brake arms is difficult but it can be done. Once the arms are removed, if the shaft wear is not real bad kits are available that contain new sleeves with LocTite products to install the sleeves and bring the shaft back to standard. Nearly all the suppliers have these kits and they are readily available. If the shaft is worn so bad that a kit will not work, then building up the shaft by welding and then machining it back to standard is required. This sometimes takes help from outside sources. Also, rebuilt shafts are available with all the work already done. The choice is yours, depending your individual skills and time available.

Third, don’t forget to consider adding grease fittings to the emergency brake toggle arms where they go through the rear backing plate. Once again, to can drill, tap, and install the fittings your self or order new parts with the fittings already installed. If you are already doing a brake job it is really worth the time.

For the purist you might not want to modify your car, but for those who drive a lot it is not a big deal. I don’t think ole Henry would get mad if you improved on his wonderful car. After all it is made to drive and has already survived many years of service. Perhaps this can make it go just a little further and give you many years of enjoyment.

Wayne