 My name is David Wayne Payton. I go by "dwp" here on the AACI forum. I was invited to take a look at the American Automobile Club International website by Simon Green as he was on a Saturn car website forum that I'm on also. I came over and introduced myself and put a link up to some pictures of my 1926 Model T Ford roadster and my 1936 Ford 4dr. sedan. And everybody was quite happy to have me here so I stayed. I guess joining a new forum is like walking into a pub that you've never been in before. Folks will either like you or toss you out on the street.
I live in Bakersfield, California; yes I'm a yank. I started in the old car hobby when I was in high school in the early 70's with my 1958 Edsel, Pacer 4dr. sedan. I learned alot from that old Edsel and also joined a couple of Edsel clubs. Later I bought a 58 Edsel Roundup 2dr. station wagon and I also owned a 57 Ford 2dr. hardtop Fairlane.
 One of my Edsel friends in the Los Angeles area bought a Model T Ford, about 1985, and I made a special trip down to see it. After a ride in it to the local In-N-Out Burger I new I had to get one of these things. I Joined the local chapter of the Model T Ford Club of America and started hanging around and learning what I could about the T before actually buying one. I bought my 26 roadster from one of the local members of the club and started to work fixing things on it.
Our local Kern County Model T Ford Club has some of the greatest people in it. We get together at Dr. Rimmer's garage every Thursday night to work on something, be it a member's engine rebuild or a rear axle being taken apart we have a fun time.
My 26 roadster is a pretty original car. I'm running 6 volt, 4 individual coils and still running the original cast iorn pistons like when the car was new. I've resisted putting on alot of optional things to make the car go faster like alot of our local club members have done to their Ts. But I do have a 2 speed Ruxtell rear axle that we rebuilt and installed at Dr. Rimmer's garage and I got tired of messing with the old generators and opted for an alternator with a 6 volt kickdown that bolted right up just like the original generator.
 I found the 36 Ford here in Bakersfield too. It was also a nice original car with the flathead V8 engine, although it was very tired. This is the first old hobby car that I've ever had the engine rebuilt. It will actually do 60 mph but at very high rpms. But it beats the Model Ts top speed of 40 mph.
I'm not into total restoration, trophy winning cars. I just enjoy tinkering with them and keeping them functional. I like to tell people "I want to keep that 30's depression era look."
I have really enjoyed the cultural exchange here on your forum. A good majority of you people are blue collar working folk like myself that are car enthusiasts and want to share that enthusiasm with other people too.
Dave (dwp on the AACI discussion forum)
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