Will your A Start today

Jemelton#

Jemelton#

Senior Member
It is -18 degrees F here on the homestead. Thinking of going out to the storage barn and seeing if I could get the old girl fired up. what do you think of my chances?:)
 
My Dad always told the story about starting his Model A at -40º. He and his brother were working in a logging camp at the time in northern Wisconsin. They would get every other weekend off so the car sat for two weeks outside at a lot in the closest town. They were given a ride in and out on there weekend off. He said one on the crank and one on the starter and the car was running. Long cold ride home though.
 
I wouldn't do it without a very good reason to. I've started mine at +20 degrees with 10W-30 synthetic and didn't have any trouble, started right up. But I run 5W-20 synthetic in my snow blower and it's very stiff to pull over. Can imagine the A would be much harder. But do let us know if you try.
 
One thing that used to help Model T owners start their balky Tin Lizzies in cold weather (besides jacking up the right rear wheel!) was to fully choke the carb and hand crank the engine for a couple revolutions with the ignition switch off. Then get into the car, turn on the ignition and press the starter rod while choking again. (Be sure to enrichen the fuel mixture maybe 1/2 turn via the GAV!) By pre-fueling the cylinders, you get a head start on providing combustible material right away instead of trusting fuel to reach the cylinders in cold weather by starting the engine the usual way. Cold engines turn over slower than in warm weather, affecting the sucking power through the intake manifold for the fuel to reach the cylinders. Of course, to hand crank and choke the carb at the same time, you either need an extra set of hands or a wire running from the carb's choke lever to the front of the car, which was standard in Model T's. Many Model A carbs have a hole in the bottom of the choke arm for that purpose. If not, simply tie a length of safety wire to bottom of the arm and pull on that.
Marshall
 
Ditto Mr. Daut's comments. I can't speak for jet engines, but every piston engine aircraft I am familiar with uses a priming technique before cranking the engine. Cold weather or not, but a much heavier in cold weather.
 
Jemelton# said:
It is -18 degrees F here on the homestead. Thinking of going out to the storage barn and seeing if I could get the old girl fired up. what do you think of my chances?:)
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I stuck my head outside and quickly decided to forget it! The 29 Tudor can continue it's winter nap. By the way, it is stored inside an insulated 12X20' shed which has a ceiling mounted heater. I only run the heater when messing around inside the shed. When running the heater, it will heat the interior quite nicely to 70F or so, at the expense of many KWH of electricity.
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
One thing that used to help Model T owners start their balky Tin Lizzies in cold weather (besides jacking up the right rear wheel!) was to fully choke the carb and hand crank the engine for a couple revolutions with the ignition switch off. Then get into the car, turn on the ignition and press the starter rod while choking again. (Be sure to enrichen the fuel mixture maybe 1/2 turn via the GAV!) By pre-fueling the cylinders, you get a head start on providing combustible material right away instead of trusting fuel to reach the cylinders in cold weather by starting the engine the usual way. Cold engines turn over slower than in warm weather, affecting the sucking power through the intake manifold for the fuel to reach the cylinders. Of course, to hand crank and choke the carb at the same time, you either need an extra set of hands or a wire running from the carb's choke lever to the front of the car, which was standard in Model T's. Many Model A carbs have a hole in the bottom of the choke arm for that purpose. If not, simply tie a length of safety wire to bottom of the arm and pull on that.
Marshall
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I remember my dad having this choke rod setup on his daily driver. He would always use the crank to start it up in the winter as he did not trust his battery!
 
Jemelton# said:
I remember my dad having this choke rod setup on his daily driver. He would always use the crank to start it up in the winter as he did not trust his battery!
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I've just assumed the little round hole on the choke valve was for running a string/wire out the front of the hood. Just in case...
 
Geesh Marshall you could have saved the lecture and just suggested they read their Owner's Manual, it's in there......but 'real men' don't need no sticking manual !
 
:) :) :) Who says we can read????
An old-time Ford mechanic friend once chided me after I had made some stupid repair mistake: "I give you books so you can read how to make repairs and all you do is chew off the covers!"
M.
 
"I stuck my head outside and quickly decided to forget it! The 29 Tudor can continue it's winter nap."

But aren't you just the least bit curious if you can get 'er started in such weather? If you can get the engine started in this especially cold snap in our fair state, then you'll be sure you can start the engine when the temperature skyrockets up to 10 above! :)
Marshall
 
I've started mine here in SoCal when we're in a bone chilling cold snap of the +40s. It cranks slower and needs some more choke but after a few minutes of running lousy and a couple blocks of driving the engine and drive train are warmed up enough to act normal.

PS I must agree with Synchro909........
 
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"Why do you guys live in a place that gets that cold?"

'Cuz we was borned h'yar! SOMEBODY has to live in this middle part of the country!!! :)
M.
 
I once started my old '31 tudor on a rare -13 degree day here in MA, just to see if it would fire up. It did with no problem at all.
 
If you are big on hand cranking, and not using the starter motor....you can cut a piece of 1/2 copper water line. Take an angle grinder and cut a grove down it lengthwise. Then trim it to the final length you want the position to be (like almost closed ~3/4) Once it's done as you like, pull the rod back, and slip the copper tube over the rod in the cab, and go out and crank it.

You can store it in your door pocket, or your workbench.
 
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