Preheating of the engine

Kerosene lamps and charcoal fires placed under the old Model A's.
Ån electric trouble light under a blanket too.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster considering many A's drip gas and oil.
 
My dad would put a corn cob on the end of a #9 wire, soak it in kerosene, light it, and hold it under the pan to warm the oil. He would then let my 9 year old brother drive the A two miles to the country school.

The car never caught fire, but my brother did run into another car putting an end to his early driving career and costing my dad a $100 fine.

Practices frowned upon now were common place and not out of the ordinary back then.
 
Getting clearances right to prevent wear can be a big deal for racers. One of Grumpy Jenkins books on building racing engines mentions having the race engine equipped with dry-break disconnects so that the engine could be easily spliced into the cooling system of its tow truck. Before a run they just hooked it up and let the truck bring both engines up to running temperature. I believe they also used an electric heater for the oil pan, and had a way to heat the rear end to eliminate losses to cold gear oil!
Jenkins was a mad genius who would do anything that might produce another tenth of a horsepower or keep his engines at peak function for a few more runs.
I'd bet NASCAR teams have some interesting rituals along this line...main issue likely eliminating warmup wear to keep engine ring and valve sealing at peak for a few extra miles.
If I had about 50 servants, maybe I'd put one to work preheating my rides...
 
Overheard an interesting conversation at the Ford dealer service dept the other day. Guy with a new Lincoln hybred said that using an Autostart to warm up his vehicle was not effective since when there is no demand for power, the engine isn't running. One of the gals there said there was a way to force the engine to run, (and warm up) but he wasn't interested in listening. He would rather complain.
 
I really love this forum , seriously !

So for we've learned ;
The true meaning of a "trouble light "
How to detect if your A or Maytag is dripping oil by waking the fire dept & not the Maytag repair man
Why so many corn cobs were stolen from out houses & blankets mysteriously disappeared in cold weather
Colorado's unique registration qualifications to become a barber

Keep em coming :D
 
Once, Chief put a pan of coals under the pan & got it started, then it wouldn't MOVE. He had to pour BOILING water on the brake drums/tires, as they were FROZEN tight. LOVED them damn MUDDY ROADS.
Bill W.
 
Like to welcome all the Siberian Russians to the forum. (drain everything preheat... I'm still laughing) I drive in winter, "A"s hate the cold and will run like crap for 5 minutes, after 5 minutes start driving, enjoy calculating the viscosity of 600 weight gear oil at minus 20 degrees. Expect ****** to start behaving like a transmission after 15 minutes. I will state that if you are ever in Antarctica in the winter with your Model A, draining the radiator and preheating oil would be necessary. After it warms it she will run fine any temperature.
 
I do remember on a camping trip crossing the Arizona desert in December of 1963, every night I had to drain out the radiator's water, put it in water-tight bags and put the bags in the Army Down-filled sleeping bag with me! Every morning I poured the water back into to my '28 Phaeton's radiator. Damn cold nights ! In fact even the day time temperatures were so cold we drove with our sleeping bags wrapped around us.

Those were the early days, before I had gotten side-curtains. And in fact, were a major reason to drive me to get side-curtains !

Never went back to anyplace outside warm sunny California.

My Model A winter driving in California is much like Hale1776 mentions: runs like crap for the first five minutes, transmission shifts real smooth and quiet (I can shift without double-clutching) until the trans.lubricant warms up, then back to normal.
 
I remember that my Dad's '55 stick shift Pontiac had to be started with the clutch in when it was near zero and would die if you didn't ease the clutch out to carve a furrow through the gear oil.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
You're RIGHT, Ian,
I made a DUMB statement!----Here, I'm just sleeping under a sheet & my flowers are BLOOMING!
Bill W.
Click to expand...

Hi Bill, I envy you your weather. We had two inches of snow yesterday with a high temperature of 0C (32F). More snow is forecast for tomorrow. At least we do not have to cut the grass yet.

That being said, I do not use the block heaters on our modern vehicles and they start quite easily at temps down to -40C. Although the new ones moan and groan at -30, they are here for a short time, not a good time.

The MGB and Model A are parked in a heated garage and both started easily today.
 
hale1776 said:
Like to welcome all the Siberian Russians to the forum. (drain everything preheat... I'm still laughing) I drive in winter, "A"s hate the cold and will run like crap for 5 minutes, after 5 minutes start driving, enjoy calculating the viscosity of 600 weight gear oil at minus 20 degrees. Expect ****** to start behaving like a transmission after 15 minutes. I will state that if you are ever in Antarctica in the winter with your Model A, draining the radiator and preheating oil would be necessary. After it warms it she will run fine any temperature.
Click to expand...

The transaxle of my Lotus used 90 W oil. On cold mornings the motor would stall if I took my foot off the clutch too soon even in neutral. Solved the problem by bolting a pan heater to the transmission.
 
The magnetic Block heater is a simple part solution. Not perfect but a good easy start! A step up from the blanket and light bulb that worked well for decades ! Wayne
 
The charcoal and kerosene fires under the oil pan are a hassle. Getting up early to start the fires and wait for the oil to warm is a pain.

In the mountains west of Denver 55 years ago I just placed an empty gallon anti freeze can with light bulb socket mounted inside under the oil pan. Set the can on top of a brick up tight against the oil pan.

Put an other under the ******. Cut the can in a shape so that less of the heat could escape.

I used a 150 watt bulb unless it was really cold, then a 200 Watt bulb usually did the trick.

I know that does not work if there is no electricity! In that case I had a Primus gasoline one burner, back pack stove that I put inside the antifreeze can.

In Michigan we walked a mile to K thru 5th grade school and a mile back home ... it was really hard because it was uphill BOTH ways. :D
 
Benson said:
The charcoal and kerosene fires under the oil pan are a hassle. Getting up early to start the fires and wait for the oil to warm is a pain.

In the mountains west of Denver 55 years ago I just placed an empty gallon anti freeze can with light bulb socket mounted inside under the oil pan. Set the can on top of a brick up tight against the oil pan.

Put an other under the ******. Cut the can in a shape so that less of the heat could escape.

I used a 150 watt bulb unless it was really cold, then a 200 Watt bulb usually did the trick.

I know that does not work if there is no electricity! In that case I had a Primus gasoline one burner, back pack stove that I put inside the antifreeze can.

In Michigan we walked a mile to K thru 5th grade school and a mile back home ... it was really hard because it was uphill BOTH ways. :D
Click to expand...

Yes me too and every other old jokester! Must have all lived in the same house and went to the same school! Wayne
 
Benson said:
The charcoal and kerosene fires under the oil pan are a hassle. Getting up early to start the fires and wait for the oil to warm is a pain.

In the mountains west of Denver 55 years ago I just placed an empty gallon anti freeze can with light bulb socket mounted inside under the oil pan. Set the can on top of a brick up tight against the oil pan.

Put an other under the ******. Cut the can in a shape so that less of the heat could escape.

I used a 150 watt bulb unless it was really cold, then a 200 Watt bulb usually did the trick.

I know that does not work if there is no electricity! In that case I had a Primus gasoline one burner, back pack stove that I put inside the antifreeze can.

In Michigan we walked a mile to K thru 5th grade school and a mile back home ... it was really hard because it was uphill BOTH ways. :D
Click to expand...
"BOTH" ways--Now that's funny! When the roads were MUDDY, we rode an OLD Horse, named SHORTY, he was trained to kneel down, so little Kids could get on him. Rode bareback, until Uncle Mutt loaned us an OLD saddle & Grannie sewed up a set of saddle bags for BOOKS, & CORN for Shortys' LUNCH.
Bill W.
 
ian Simpson said:
This is one time I disagree with the Guru of Stuff. If you are starting in very cold weather, it is helpful to have some sort of pre-heat. Back in the day, I used to have a Davey Lamp (safety kerosene lamp) under my vehicles in cold weather. Now I use block heaters. If you are planning in starting the Model A in temperatures colder than freezing you might consider some external heat source. My father-in-law used to throw an old blanket over the motor and tuck a 100 watt trouble light under it.
Click to expand...

My dad did the same for our family car a 1951 Hudson. Unfortunately it started a
Fire under the hood and caused considerable damage.this was back in the day 1959.

Fredski
 
Geez, I'm sure glad I live in Southern California. The temperature rarely gets below 50 degrees in the winter time.
 
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