Typically, one of the first questions asked when a hot rodder begins a Model T project is, “Will you be chopping it?” Many times, this occurs, but rodders who build Ts often get a kick out of keeping the tall-square look. It sure does make the Model T stand out from the rodding crowd. And that was Lyle’s thinking.

The ’26 Ford Model T sedan is all steel, just as it came from Henry back in the day. From here Lyle fit a Model A front visor, a ’29 Ford front bumper (although lowered and tucked), ’32 Ford door handles, and steel splash aprons punched with louvers by Chip. More custom treatments include the ’35-40 Ford-style mirror stems with Model A mirrors attached and a homemade custom-dropped headlight bar that holds up the stock Model T lighting—note the front and rear lighting are all LED. The four-piece hood is a Rootlieb with side louvers. There was plenty of bodywork to be done but the necessary patch panels were handled by Lyle. The final bodywork was conducted at Ultimate Collison, and it was they, too, who applied the burgundy basecoat followed by the clearcoat.

Inside the stock Model T dash top surrounds a ’32 Ford dash and aftermarket insert that is filled with AutoMeter gauges, Vintage Air controls and air registers as well as the ignition switch. Lyle fitted the Painless Performance Products wiring kit as well as installed the Vintage Air system. The Peterbilt air condenser, complete with its cooling fans and shroud (owner fabricated), is installed behind the passenger side splash apron. The tach is mounted to the bottom of the dash and to the left of the GM truck tilt column that is topped with a Speedway Motors banjo three-spoke wheel. We should note that the column is held in position with a connecting rod serving as the column drop. The front buckets are Model A with custom-made stainless trim to mimic a mid-’60s-looking Chevy Impala. (That’s an L.A. Roadsters Show mug resting on the floor between the seats.) The rear seat is a ’26 Ford Model T. The seating is covered in Chestnut vinyl, the headliner is Chestnut Suede, and the carpeting is German square weave all done by hot rod upholsterer supreme Glenn Kramer of Hot Rod Interiors by Glenn in Arizona.

The ’rails are based on a bare perimeter frame by Californian Custom Roadster (CCR) utilizing a 101-inch wheelbase. In the rear, the frame features a 2-inch kick around the 2×3-inch tubing. From here Lyle welded up the front and rear four-bar kits that were attached to the CCR framerails.

The suspension is comprised of a Pete and Jakes four-bar frontend with a SO-CAL Speed Shop–supplied 4-inch drop I-beam axle, chrome tube shocks with early Ford spindles, and SO-CAL steering arms. The front transverse leaf spring features reversed eyes and has “buttons” between the leaves to ease the ride. The steering box is based on a ’69 Mustang quick ratio that is twisted into action through a ’69 GM truck tilt column. The rearend is based on a ’71 Maverick 8-inch along with a 2.78 ring-and-pinion and stock axles, an owner-built Panhard bar and AFCO coilover shocks from Speedway Motors are used in the back.

The braking is based on a pair of GM metric single-puck calipers along with Speedway Motors vented 11-inch rotors while in the rear there are Ford drums. The brake system is operated by a Wilwood dual master cylinder through a pedal assembly that Lyle hammered out himself. The wheels are the hot rod-friendly five-spoke polished mags. This time the venerable American Racing Torq Thrust II measures 15×4 in front and 15×6 in back and they are surrounded with Vredestein Sprint Classic radial rubber at 155SR/15 and BFGoodrich 225LT75R15 in the back.

Power for the tall T comes by way of a 5.0L (302 inches) V-8 that began its life as an EFI motor. It didn’t take Lyle long to replace the EFI with an Edelbrock Street Master intake and 500-cfm four-barrel carburetor with an inline Holley fuel gauge. The air cleaner is a Speedway Motors piece that was then hand painted with a “Mercury Special V-8” logo while the polished valve covers are the old-school Mickey Thompson (M/T) model. Ignition comes by way of a PerTronix distributor with Moroso 8mm plug wires, a Powermaster alternator, Ford starter, and is lit by an Optima RedTop battery. Coated Sanderson shorty (1-7/8-inch) headers are used along with a 2-1/4-inch exhaust pipe running back to a single Flowmaster muffler. The transmission is a ’66 Ford C4 with a Hughes Street Master 2,500-rpm stall speed converter.

In case you are wondering if this is a driver, think about this. Lyle and fellow hot rod buddy and upholsterer supreme Glenn Kramer drove the Tall T to last year’s Grand National Roadster Show … and back. There’s a 900-mile trip to prove it is a driver.