Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

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Been Here Before
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Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Been Here Before » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:26 am

Let's be truthful here. Full disclosure. Transparency at its best.

Temperature below freezing. The car is parked out side for a few days. Not inside in a warm garage. The battery is brought inside at night to keep it warm.

Next day need to drive. Heat boiling water to pour into the radiator. Small fire or heat lamp under crank case. In the mean time jack up the rear wheels. Brake set.

Prime engine. Pour a bit of gasoline into cylinders.

Place battery in car.

Set ignition.

If you have a starter. Give it a go.

If you have no starter...good luck with the crank.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Art M » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:33 am

George,
That is good advice. I would not have thought about jacking up the rear wheels and then setting the brake.
Art Mirtes


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by MichaelPawelek » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:39 am

Does not setting the brake defeat the purpose of jacking up a rear wheel?


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by MadMax » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:42 am

I did 40 in a ‘15 Touring with the top down and decided I wouldn’t do it again. Hahaha.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Been Here Before » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:43 am

The brake was set when the car was parked. Therefore it may already be frozen tight.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:51 am

Been Here Before wrote:
Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:43 am
The brake was set when the car was parked. Therefore it may already be frozen tight.
?????


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Rich Bingham » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:52 am

The lore I grew up with: you jack up one rear wheel, with high gear engaged. This bypasses heavy molasses-like oil in the clutch plates making it easier to crank, and the rear wheel is like an additional flywheel to keep things turning when she coughs and tries. Block the other wheels and make sure your jack is very stable. Michael is right. Jacking up both rear wheels (?) serves no purpose, much less with the brake (such as it is) set.
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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:01 am

Be careful with heat lamps and extension cords. A good number of fires have been started from heat lamps and other temporary heat sources used to warm engines, plants, pets, pumps, etc. If you have to leave a car out or in a cold garage, a good quality block heater is a good thing to have if you have electricity. The type that is placed in the lower radiator hose would be excellent for a Model T. Use anti-freeze in case of power failure. If no heat is available, clean, 10W20 synthetic oil and a top quality battery are your friends, along with fresh, quality gasoline, a good tune up, and proper adjustment of bands, clutch, and related linkage. Marvel Mystery Oil added to the crankcase oil is an excellent and inexpensive aid to cold weather starting. Driving in very cold weather is severe service, even where road salt is not slathered everywhere. I'd avoid it.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:07 am

Jacking up one rear wheel may help, but you are still dealing with cold engine oil and the molasses in the rear axle. Jacking up both rear wheels will allow both wheels to turn together, avoiding adding the extra drag of thick oil in the differential gears, which will have to turn if only one wheel is raised. Clean engine oil of an appropriate grade for cold weather will avoid most clutch drag problems. A Model T in good condition can be run hard for many miles in summer weather using 0W synthetic oil. I wouldnt hesitate to use it in cold weather


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:15 am

Draining a Model T cooling system in winter will prevent freezing, but if you put water back in the system and drive in sub-freezing weather, you can expect the radiator to freeze very quickly. Adding hot water to the system in very cold weather will do little to warm the engine oil or the oil back in the transmission. If it's VERY cold, there is some risk of cracking the block and a significant risk that the water will freeze in the block or radiator or both before you can get the engine started. Petcocks could very well freeze in a very short time, leaving you with an ice cold system full of water and no way to get the water out before it freezes, if it hasn't already frozen.
Last edited by TXGOAT2 on Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by John kuehn » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:16 am

If you think about it the folks in the Model T era drove their cars for necessity. These days we do it for fun and the adventure of it. The trick of jacking up one wheel has been around forever. It’s nothing new. If you try it BE SURE you chock the front wheels. And you don’t put the hand brake all the forward. You put it in the neutral position! The one wheel up causes less drag on the transmission so it will start easier. Maybe. To each his own in this department. You can jack up both wheels if you want but it better be chocked good. If it gets that cold so you can have your adventure drive your pickup instead.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Norman Kling » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:25 am

A few things are backwards in the above story! The car should be parked with the brake off and in high gear. If on a slope, chock blocks should be used. If the coolant in the block has been drained, do not use boiling water or you could crack the block. Warm water OK but not boiling. Jack up both wheels with the brake off to let the rear wheels and transmission turn in direct drive from the engine.
Norm


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:29 am

I belive that use of modern lubricants suited to cold weather operation eliminate any need to jack up the rear wheels. Modern lube and proper adjustment of all linkages. Today's gasoline, with all its needless nonsense, is still better than most available gasoline in the T era. "Oily", low volatility gasoline was a real problem back in the T era. Among its many disadvantages was difficult cold weather starting.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:33 am

If you splash boiling water on your britches, you will regret it. Warm water, no problem, if you can get out of the cold quickly. Use anti-freeze.


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by John kuehn » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:36 am

Don’t think it’s backwards! You need to read it closer.

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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Steve Jelf » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:38 am

The one wheel up causes less drag on the transmission so it will start easier. Maybe.

No maybe about it. VOE. I agree with brake handle straight up. Having the parking brake off to let the wheel spin can make the difference between starting and not. That's the whole point of jacking up a wheel.
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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Norman Kling » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:46 am

I agree, the parking lever in neutral would be better than high. That way you have movement in both the clutch disks and in the rear end, however I still think both wheels up would be less friction than only one. But who am I to tell those of you who live in below freezing areas! We only get freezing here maybe one or two days a year and then not every year. And when it does, it thaw soon after the sun comes up.
Norm

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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Rich Eagle » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:51 am

The one wheel jacked up acts as a flywheel and that momentum helps a lot.
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When did I do that?


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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Virtus » Sat Nov 27, 2021 3:15 pm

Good advice on cold starting, however, would it not be prudent to start the engine before adding the coolant? Less chance of a cracked block using hot water and, should starting be unsuccessful, the radiator won't be frozen solid causing more problems! Just my " 3 penn'orth"!

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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Angmar » Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:08 pm

If it starts and I can get out......sometimes have to put chains on.
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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by vech » Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:51 pm

I confess up front, I can’t stand be cold…. That’s what is good about Mississippi. However, last winter we had three ice/snow storms that lasted for a week and shut everything down. On the first day, I did take the coupe out to put tracks in the snow. It was in the teens temp wise when the photo was made. The coupe has a sheet metal heater shroud on the exh manifold and it was comfortable! I know, all you poor guys way up North are not impressed!
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Re: Really - Re: How cold do you drive?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sat Nov 27, 2021 8:11 pm

For cold driving, remove the top floor board. Lets in a surprising amount of heat. I drove my Touring car in 20's temps and stayed fairly warm. It was an old trick of my Dad's, who drove T's year round in his early days.

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