MTFCA Forum

Yesterday the oldest grandson got the Model A out and today he coaxed the 14 back to life!! I kind of blurebled and weezed but when he pulled the spark all the way down she sounded sweet!!! Happy Bud.

Great day Bud!! How far did you go?

Sounds like it was a good day Bud!

I got the '21 out a few days ago. Had to swap the lawn mower for the snow thrower and the T had to move to get it done. While it was out we went for a drive. It never likes to start the first time of the year. I had no starter fluid, so I held an unlit propane torch at the carb intake and let her run on propane for about minute. Pulled to torch away when she started using gasoline. (Got the lawn mower started the same way.)

My dad was an extreme personality. A brilliant engineer in both power electrical (including lightning strike forensics) and sub-component level electronics. (Two extremes that very few people actually understand both!) In so many other ways, he was as dumb (me being polite here) as the proverbial stump!
A game he liked to play through most of his adulthood. He liked to run the cars and trucks down to as close to the last gasp empty as he could before getting gasoline (drove me NUTS!). Oh, there were a lot of times, some little thing, made stories to tell.
For work, we often needed a small torch, for a variety of tasks in the systems contracting we did. To that end, we always carried a propane torch. So, one day, he is driving down the freeway, planning to get gasoline when he pulls off near his destination (a station he went to often). About a mile short of his exit, the station wagon coughs and spits, and quits in a horrible place with one tiny car size edge of the shoulder that he can barely coast into! Not even completely out of the traffic lane, he is figuring what to do next. Grabs the propane torch, disassembles the burner tip, and tapes the canister and torch neck to some hoses, and turns on the gas. Jumps back into the drivers seat and starts the engine! Only limited throttle control, and top speed was almost 20mph. But it got him off the freeway.

He was frustrating to grow up with, and later to work with. But I still miss him.

Wayne,I thought this story would end with you on the fender running the torch. I was about 3rd grade and my dad couldnt the engine he just installed in his junkyard 53 chevy to start. He decided to have my uncle tow him down the county road but the fuel line and tank were not installed. He had me sit on the driver side fender with my feet in the engine compartment and pour gas in the carb with an old coke bottle while my uncle drug him up and down the road. It was only right that I was involved as I had sat on my knees the week before and steered the 53 home from the junkyard. Yup, right down state road 131. It had no brake but that was not a problem as I couldnt reach the peddle anyway. Oh the fun we had when we were young.

Bud, That engine was done a long time ago, the first of many getting dynamic balanced glad you asked me about it and i am sure many have liked it since!! Thanks

Thanks for your comments guys and Dallas i did not go along. Joe, It has been a good smooth engine. Bud.