no advice needed, but I am curious

H

HenryCarl

Member
After 51 years when I turned my Grandfather's '35 off, my wife's cousin examined it, did some repairs (new spark plugs wires, etc.) distributor cleaning and, of course, a new gas tank, and restarted it. And it had been 25 years before that when it was first turned off.

When we had a celebration of the puff of accumulated exhaust dust and mouse living quarters detritus...before it ran and purred...we decided two or three days later to take turns starting it up with the hand crank.

And three of us did.

I wonder how many can claim that.
 
I had a '48 Seagrave open cab pumper with the Pierce-Arrow 468 cubic inch flathead V12. I won a lot of beers betting guys I could start it with the crank. It was kind of unfair, because the engine had dual ignitions, and the more cylinders they have (up to a point) the easier they are to crank start. The easiest starting snowmobile I ever had was a 4 cylinder 2 stroke Yamaha. Twice as many firing impulses per revolution than the standard twin cylinder model.
 
A couple years ago, while stopped at a small market in hardscrabble Eastern Oregon, I watched as a guy walked out with a sixer of beer, opened the door of a 1940's Chevrolet pickup, pulled out a hand crank, and proceeded to crank it started with only one jerk on the handle. He did this with such nonchalance that I assumed this to be normal for a guy that didn't need no stinkin' starter.
 
Fun stuff everyone. I remember my Uncle John crank starting his Case tractor when the battery was too weak to roll it. Fired on the 3rd pull.
 
Not quite the same, but my 24 Model T had been sitting for 56 years and it started (with the starter). We spent 15 min on it one day, decided to replace the carb and with the replacement carb and about 15 min of trying, it started. I had cleaned and re-gapped the old plugs and cleaned the connections on the old wiring, and replaced the battery cables,but that was about it. And changed the oil. :-)
 
After some effort to finally get my 59A style V-8 running, which had not run in about 25 years, my friend and I wanted to see if it would start by cranking. We were surprised to see how easily it started. To our amazement it took only about 1/4 of a turn and fired right up!
 
slowforty said:
When cranking there is no starter taking juice from the ignition. Ignition gets full voltage from the battery
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When my father taught me how to crank his car, it was not for the fun of it but because the battery was dead. Was more likely to get full voltage from the generator.
 
I made two cranks out of electrical ground rods. Two 90 degree bends and a drilled hole in the end for a cross pin and you are done. They are just long enough to clear the bumper.
 
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I'm late to the party, but...

My Dad and I restored a Model A, our first old car and our first restoration. When we tried to start the newly rebuilt engine, the first crank pull did nothing - a little fiddling with the carb and ignition, another pull and she started right up. Course we both had huge grins on our faces.

One winter, it got cold enough overnight that my parents' modern rides wouldn't start. We got the Model A (a different one than mentioned above) started with the crank, so we at least had transportation that day.

Yeah, I've cranked a few.
 
I had a 36 dodge pickup it wouldn't start below 10 degrees. I would pour a milk jug of hot water over the intake and hand crank it. One maybe two at the most turns at the most.That was the fun part the not so fun part was the truck didn't com with a heater.
 
ursus said:
A couple years ago, while stopped at a small market in hardscrabble Eastern Oregon, I watched as a guy walked out with a sixer of beer, opened the door of a 1940's Chevrolet pickup, pulled out a hand crank, and proceeded to crank it started with only one jerk on the handle. He did this with such nonchalance that I assumed this to be normal for a guy that didn't need no stinkin' starter.
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URSUS.............where exactly is hardscrabble Eastern Oregon? Chances are I have been there?
 
I've hand started a Case tractor on a few occasions before. I've also used a crank on my fathers Model A. I've never actually started a V8 flathead with a crank though.

Red
 
Better yet . we has a 350ft long driveway with a decent slope. You could give the car a slight push, jump in, pop the clutch and away you go.

My uncle had a bulldozer with a 100ft winch. Hook up the winch start the Dozer and run to the car and pop the clutch. One day he fell running back to the Dozer . It was not a pretty sight
 
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