Quote:
Originally Posted by BCA
For 15 years I have been using a very tired M38 CDN as a snow plow. Ugly body, messy engine compartment, low compression...... This jeep has no reason to keep running but I can start it up and plow to my hearts content at the lowest temperature. It sits in the farm field all summer, then starts right up when winter comes again. ..... A thing of legends.
Yet, so many of us have fully restored hobby vehicles that have trouble starting after a few days of sitting. How come? Brian
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Hi Brian
I think some of the reasons that some older engines (won't call the clunkers out of respect) will start fine and run in cold weather is there very age and the wear. All of the tolerances all through out the engine are large on the older "fully run in engines". As you point out they start and run may not put out quite as much power as a fresh engine, but they get the job done.
I would not want to try and start a freshly rebuilt engine that has been sitting in sub zero conditions. It would be an interesting test to do on a freshly rebuilt 216 vs one 216 with 20,000 on the odometer let them both sit in the cold and use a torque wrench instead of the crank to see just how many pound feet of torque it takes to just turn the crank the first bit.
My HUP and C60L are parked bumper to bumper in an unheated garage the HUP has probably 1500 miles on a fresh rebuild and the C60L has who knows how many miles. If I can get them far enough apart to get between them I might try this little experiment.
When I rebuild an engine I generally put them on the test stand for the initial run. One of the bits of my test stand is a really good coolant heater which is mounted very low so it gets a really good thermosyphon going which if I leave it plugged in over night will get a 216 Chevy up to about 120F. Engines seem to like this treatment and generally seem to start easier initially than engines that were just room temperature. Of course with a 216 priming the oil pump and system with a drill is also part of the game.
I think the other reason those old trucks who sit out in the weather will start in the dead of winter is self preservation they know that if they don't one of the reasons we keep them will be gone. Besides maybe they just like thumbing their noses at the trucks kept indoors.
Cheers Phil