Just a report for anyone interested in cold starting or free starts. The rusty coupe would not start yesterday at -6. Couldn't crank it over fast enough and it had sat out for several days. Temp got down to -13. It started later in the day ay 10 degrees above and sat in an unheated garage overnight. It started OK at -5 this mourning and then I got a free start at the gas station. This is an old engine with cast iron pistons, new rings 500 miles ago.
Rich
Also lots of interesting looks and comments from people, going to, from and at breakfast. Two nice young fellows wanted to know where they could get one.
Good to hear. I have only driven mine once in the very cold and slightly snow roads. It was a bear to start. I do not recall the temp but it was about 15 degrees out (+/- 3 deg). I think it took about an hour to start. I had a lot of looks as I drove it about 20 miles to its winter home that year. When I got there is was leaking oil, I should say it was pouring oil out from every seal. In the summer it leaks about a couple teaspoons full all summer. I would love to drive mine more in the winter, but we love road salt here and just do not want to deal with the after effects in 10 years.
No free starts today, but no problem for me starting at near zero temperature this morning. Not too much wind, so the drive to work was pleasant enough in my roadster-pickup. High today expected in the low teens, so when it warms up a bit (maybe when it gets to double digits) I need to fix my LH headlight bulb.
Tom - When driving your Roadster Pickup in this weather, do you have side curtains on it? I sure hope so...
Keith
I have a top, but no side curtains. It is fine as long as the wind isn't blowing too hard.
Look ya'll - why in the world ANYONE would choose to live in a place where a below zero temperature is even possible is beyond me. I got goosebumps just trying to imagine it being that cold. LOL
82 degrees (F) here in Bartow, Florida. Thinking about going to Daytona Beach this weekend... Jim Patrick
Seth, My brothers and I grew up in Northern NY where -20 from late Dec to the end of Feb was normal. My brother moved to Fayetteville NC and I haven seen him since! Oh, He still complains about the cold, Its just when it hits 35 down there.
Jason,Leave the lever forward untill starting,richen the mixture,and use 5 w 30 oil.I stand in front to start my T.Bud.
Seth, have you ever tried to skate on a lake that wasn't frozen? Have you tried to ski on grass and weeds? It is hard to make an igloo with the kids without snow.
I love cold weather. I love doing chores outside and then coming into a warm house. If I'm cold, I can bundle up.
Hey Richard in IF,
I am just glad it is difficult to start my T in this weather, so I am not tempted to drive it to town.
Tom: I agree with you!!
I have lived in Northern New York all my life and don't mind the cold weather. I live in St. Lawrence County, I wonder where in Northern New York Will Copeland lived.
Seth, I guess we like variety. While living in this area I've experienced lows of -40F and highs of 106F.
If you think you get interesting looks from people when you are driving your T try it in -20 degree weather. Especially from folks with their hoods up on their modern cars.
Tom, do you leave the key in your trunk lock? I got some ice in mine and can't get the key back in to put the jack back in.
With a manifold heater in a coupe it isn't that bad after a couple of miles. Very festive this time of year.
If some of us couldn't stand the cold weather it would be much more crowded where it is nice weather all the time.
Rich
Richard, roadster-pickup - no trunk.
If I'm driving one of my roadsters or a coupe, I never leave the key in the trunk.
Tom Carnegie, have you ever had a nice swim in that frozen lake? Actually I have skied on grass and have made a tree house and then climbed the climbed the tree with my bare feet! I have run around our yard in bare feet on Christmas Day! The fact of the matter is, I am such a die-hard southern boy that I don't go to the north side of my yard in the winter time!!! I have been in your beloved frozen tundras and you all can keep the icicles with my blessings! I drove my '22 touring from Selmer to Memphis (230 miles round trip) one day with the top down. It was +19* that was cool enough. I would drive my T if it ever gets sub zero cold here but thank the Good Lord it is rare!!!
Memo to Jason Given: Do you know or have you ever heard of a T owner in St Paul by the name of Jim Levine? I met Jim on the Natchez Trace in north Mississippi one day many years ago. He was on his way from St Paul via New York City to California and back to St Paul. He is one of those folks who had driven his T through all 48 states. Last time I had communication with him was about 7-8 years ago. He was recovering from an accident where someone had rear ended him on an endlessly straight road in Arizona. It crippled him up pretty badly according to his daughter. I have not been unable to reach him since. If anyone reading the post has knowledge of him, please respond to me, Thanks and God bless all you Model T boys & girls... HOT or COLD!!!
It's going down to -12 tonight and I left the coupe out. We will see what morning brings? I reported it started at -14 two years ago. I couldn't crank it but it did fire off with the starter.
I was worried that mine wouldn't start after work as the temperature had been dropping all day from a high of about 14F. Plus the wind started to blow. But, she fired right up. With the thermostat she was up to operating temp by the time I got home. I felt of the radiator when I parked her and it was stone cold.
Ken, I swim in the lake in the summer and ice skate in the winter. I like both and can do both. I've made snow angels on Christmas in my bare feet. I've also been to Tennessee in my T when it was 100 degrees with the relative humidity pretty close to that number - I'd rather make snow angels naked.
William, Sent you a PM
Tom Carnegie, the hot weather with the 100* temp and 100% humidity is nature's body purifying sauna, and in Tennessee it's free!!! I have to admit your clever AC cooling system was a stoke of an ingenuous response to the heat/humidity the day you came through this area. For the other Forum reader's benefit, your idea of wetting a towel, placing the towel across an opening in the windshield a few inches you made, and closing the windows on your coupe was a brilliant idea to combat the heat/humidity.
Just for clarification...would you be naked in the snow or are you making naked snow angles...??? Good luck on the cold starts after that!
I came in from the shop about an our ago. It is -15F this morning. Inside the shop it was a balmy -12. I have to clean up some valves and valve springs this morning. On the bright side the solvent is still liquid. I turned on the heat and hopefully will be above freezing in an hour.
Remember you can't ice fish if you don't have cold weather!!
It was still -12 when I tried to start the coupe this morning. I have a Stromberg Carburetor on it this year with manual choke and I wasn't sure how much choke to give it. Anyway, it wouldn't start cranking it. I tried the starter and it fired a few times but the battery failed. I could smell gas, so I might have flooded it? Boy is it hard to crank! I jacked up the back wheel and it would barely turn. I should have left it in the garage.
Lance, good try. When it warms up this afternoon I'm sure you will get it back in the garage.
Rich
It's 9 degrees here this morning. We're having some of that Montana/Minnesota weather, I guess. This is the first time in many years it's been this cold here, and we're just not used to it. We got a thin sheet of ice two days ago, then 8" of snow over that yesterday. Fifty miles south of us they got 1/2" - 1" of ice, and thousands of folks are without electricity, so we got lucky in that sense. At least it's sunny today, so maybe some of it will go away.
Ice skating, skiing, snow igloos? Y'all can keep those; I can do without them. I'd rather have the heat, along with the ticks and chiggers. My family lived in Michigan for a few years when I was a kid, and I hated it. Too cold!
9 degrees is a heat wave, and 8" is a dusting!! ;<)
Colder today, below zero, but my T started right up.
Mike, you don't like ice skating, skiing or igloos? It just proves that there is no accounting for taste.
It seems that a lot of folks just want to go from their climate controlled houses to their climate controlled cars to a climate controlled store etc. To me it is like living on a diet of chicken McNuggets. At some point it seems that it would get boring.