wowsk Posted January 6 Posted January 6 After sitting for 75 years the Six Speed Special is back out on the road. Technically this is the second time I've had the Six Speed out for a drive, but the first time was just briefly to try it out. It ran well started on the the 3rd crank at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I took it through all the gears and no noise or grinding so that is good. Took it on a 2 mile drive. I let my cousin drive it back and he got it stuck in 2nd gear, which I knew could be a problem. Got it back in neutral and we were off again. Still have a lot of work but mechanically it is getting close. After 2 years of working on it this was a rewarding drive. Sorry for the poor video quality I had to convert it to a GIF to upload. 18 1 Quote
lotsaIHCs Posted January 6 Posted January 6 There was a guy (now deceased) a few miles from me who had a restored 6 Speed Special. Don't know if he still had it when he passed or not. Looks like a cool project! Quote
wowsk Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 Thanks for the kind words. I forgot to mention my great-great grandfather bought this new in 1929. I have the carbon copy of the original order form. He ordered it August 5 1929. Purchase price was $900. He paid $200 cash and then owed $560 plus "used Ford Chassis" on a note due in one year. 6 Quote
Sledgehammer Posted January 6 Posted January 6 That's pretty special before the family tie. Good on you getting it going. 2 Quote
Powered by IH Posted January 6 Posted January 6 3 hours ago, wowsk said: After sitting for 75 years the Six Speed Special is back out on the road. Technically this is the second time I've had the Six Speed out for a drive, but the first time was just briefly to try it out. It ran well started on the the 3rd crank at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I took it through all the gears and no noise or grinding so that is good. Took it on a 2 mile drive. I let my cousin drive it back and he got it stuck in 2nd gear, which I knew could be a problem. Got it back in neutral and we were off again. Still have a lot of work but mechanically it is getting close. After 2 years of working on it this was a rewarding drive. Sorry for the poor video quality I had to convert it to a GIF to upload. Very neat! You could also upload it to Youtube and post the link here too in the future. Quote
mmi Posted January 7 Posted January 7 On 1/6/2026 at 6:04 AM, wowsk said: He ordered it August 5 1929. Purchase price was $900. He paid $200 cash and then owed $560 plus "used Ford Chassis" on a note due in one year. Ouch ...Good time $$$msrp + 2020 markup, then had to pay the note in bad. Uncle purchased a reo flying cloud early in the year $2200+ - but paid . They traveled the country until '37 it set in garage until '74 Sold it then for good $2000 . Zero market .Fully restored /documented/calendared /yada-yada..Had 2 more owners and stayed local. Quote
dale560 Posted January 8 Posted January 8 SOmewhere here in my boxes of stuff we have an original owners and service manual for a speed special truck. My dads dad bought it new back in the time. Quote
russtred Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Awesome project! How was the 2 speed axle shifted on these? Was it vacuum? I have never been around one other than we had an old hay rack that was made out of the frame of one. Quote
wowsk Posted January 8 Author Posted January 8 6 hours ago, russtred said: Awesome project! How was the 2 speed axle shifted on these? Was it vacuum? I have never been around one other than we had an old hay rack that was made out of the frame of one. Thanks. There is a lever on the floor behide the gearshift. Forward is low and back is high. You either choose low or high, you don't use it to shift up on the go. The high side is like direct drive and low is for going through the field. 1st low at high idle is walking pace. All mechanical linkages from the lever to the 2 speed. 1 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.