Originally Posted by
LarrBeard
Today was as good a day as we are going to get for the next week, so I went out and coaxed the Old Beast to life. As you can see from the picture, it was deep in hibernation, but you gotta' do what you've gotta' do. Go ahead, poke the bear.
It's easier to pull off several smaller covers than one big cover - that's why all the cloths on things.
I used the standard cold-weather start protocol; a slug of starting fluid down the carb throat, with ignition off - crank it through 8-cylinders full choked (two full engine turn-overs) then hit the ignition.
RUMP - RUMP-Rump...RUMP, about a dozen cylinders and then a splutter. Back to Rump, rump, rump - a bit faster - then another splutter that keeps up for a couple of revolutions. Finally -rump, rump, splutter chug, chug, chug.. jockey the choke to keep it going.
YAY!!! Success. It Lives! The ammeter immediately goes to full charge - I drew a slug of energy out of the 6-volt battery to get things going. After about a minute, I ease the choke back in to let it run at a fast idle. I sit for a bit, look around the engine compartment - nothing leaking or sounding funny. That one lifter does clatter when it's cold, but it does that for about 30-minutes even in summer time.
I set the oven timer to run for 20 minutes and then go check on things. She's just running along nicely. The exhaust has cleaned up - no condensation, so the muffler and pipes have warmed up. I check the top of the radiator tank - warm, so the thermostat has opened. I crawl back in and look at the gauges. Oil is where it should be (45 PSI, but actually 30), Temp is exactly on 160 and the ammeter has centered at about a half-needle above center 0, so the battery is topped off. I flick the headlights on and off and note that the ammeter swings back and forth as the regulator corrects for the added load. Finally, I turn on the heater, lots of warm air. Even on a day like today I would have to crack open the driver's window to regulate the heat. That's the up side to having a truck.
So, everything is OK and it's time to shut down, put the covers back on and wait for the March thaw.
Goodnight Gracie ...