So long as we're on the subject of cold weather starting:
It's -1 F with a windchill of -8 F in Southwest Iowa at this time (0800).
I just went out and started Maggie the way I always start a vehicle in
cold weather (anything below 32 F):
Five seconds of cranking.
Stopped.
Five seconds more.
Stopped.
Pulled the choke on and tapped the pedal twice.
Cranked again and she fired immediately.
This is on an engine that hasn't seen maintenance in who knows how long
before I scraped the corrosion of the points, cleaned and gapped the
plugs, and cleaned the distributor terminals. It is decidedly *not* in
the best of tune.
If the car starts anywhere during these steps, so much the better. Some
times it takes a few more periods of cranking. I limit the time to five
seconds to preserve the battery. I also think it helps put some oil
through the system.
Molly (who has a single ZS as opposed to the twin SUs of Maggie) has
flooded when being started, or at least given a reasonable imitation of
it. I always thought it was because the vacuum generated by the cranking
engine pulled in too much fuel, or the engine (having begun to start --
you know, the hesitation when it's just teasing you...) did the same
(particularly when the pedal was being pumped). I will defer to the
wisdom of the list as the necessity of pumping the pedal (cheerfully
ignoring it and continuing on my merry way because I view my two taps of
the pedal as a good luck ritual).
My remedy for cold weather starting is to keep the car tuned up (as you
should anyway), and start it regularly (short drives help both the car
and driver immensely). Seems to help keep everything lubricated and
moving, the carbs full of fuel (I know, the electric fuel pump does
that....), as well as keeping the battery topped off.
Rich
Council Bluffs, Iowa
'74.5 RB MGB "Miss Maggie"
'78 Chevy Half-Ton "Waltzin' Matilda" (LBC Support Vehicle)
'79 Midget "Miss Molly"
richard.arnold@juno.com or rdarnold@neonramp.com
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