A winter's morning tale.

[bthompson]

Nigel <span style="font-style: italic">doesn't </span>like winter. Odd for a car built <span style="font-style: italic">for </span>a land with miserably cold winters. Just does not like to start in the morning. (We have that in common, he and I.) In the bitter cold AM...choke out, stomp the accel about 20 times (Weber, remember!) and try...

<span style="font-style: italic">grrrrrrump....grrrump......grrrrump</span>, as the starter tries to suck enough amps out of an ice-cold battery, to kick over an engine that's soaked through in oil like molasses.

Sometimes, it'll catch, stumble <span style="font-style: italic">just </span>enough to get my hopes up, and die. Then it's the agonized <span style="font-style: italic">grrrrump....grrrrump</span> again.

This morning I had a revelation. Boil some water on the stove in my kettle, soak some washcloths, and lay 'em on my intake manifold. Lay another one over top of the air cleaner, and put the teakettle on top. Let it warm the gas for a few minutes, and try again. Maybe sucking in warm moist air through a warm manifold will give me enough vapor to spark a cylinder before my starter melts down. Kinda like the old Model T trick of using a blowtorch on the intake manifold, but without the possibility of large explosions.

When I tried it, I had forgotten that I had <span style="font-style: italic">tea</span> in my kettle from the night before, and not just water, so I was rather surprised when I poured <span style="font-style: italic">tea</span> on my manifold. But hey, liquid is liquid, so I proceeded as planned. Worked like a charm!

Just goes to show that Midgets are truly British after all...all they need to get going on a cold morning is a hot cuppa tea. :laugh:

 

[PAUL161]

It was the tea that did it! And it probably smelled nice too!

 

[JPSmit]

Hard to know how to respond to this post.

1. Belmont, NC - winter, harumph, come to Canada and we'll explain about winter.

2. Bringing you car tea in the morning?! I think you just might have crossed the line between hobby and mental illness.

3. The fact that you are sharing this indicates that you are either completely unaware of the social implications of admitting your behaviour, or,

4. You think that others in this locale will either understand or even appreciate your actions.

which brings me to

5. I do understand, think it an excellent solution and am slightly envious.
:banana:

 

[RickB]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]

Tea
Dried leaves, boiled.

Tea is considered a delicacy in many parts of the Galaxy. However, the proliferation of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Nutrimatic Machines has made it very hard to get a good cup of tea.

It is also a strong Brownian Motion producer. When a Brambleweeny57 sub-meson brain is linked to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a nice hot cup of tea, finite amounts of improbability are produced.

This scientific effect was used to manufacture the Infinite Improbability Drive that powers the Starship Heart of Gold.

A favourite drink of Arthur Dent. [/QUOTE]

If it can start up a star ship then I guess it can be used to get a LBC running too!

 

[aeronca65t]

Great story...but pity to waste good tea. Use coffee.....it's a dreadful concoction anyway!

One Winter when a TR3 was my only transportation, an electric dip-stick kept me running!

These days, for Winter use, my MGB runs 5W-30 with no ill effects (plus starter fluid in a pinch). I switch back to 10W-30 or 15W-40 in the Summer.

 

[RickB]

When I lived in a cold place (Anchorage) and drove an MGB and an MGC throughout the year I had this clever device that magnetically attached to the side of the block and then plugged into an extension cord.
I think the intention of the thing was to keep the oil from freezing into a solid block.
It worked marvelously!!
I've been known to use a heating pad over the valve cover on really cold nights.
For some reason my LBC's have never rated being indoors in a nice comfy garage.

 

[bigjones]

On a slightly different aspect, a girl friend, back in England, if she noticed that her BMC Mini had a frozen windscreen, she would go out with a kettle of boiling water and pour it over the windscreen.

I grimaced everytime she done this but it never cracked and it got rid of the ice pretty nicely.

Cheers!

 

[AngliaGT]

I agree - a block/oil heater is thr way to go.
I saw them used in Montana/Canada when it got cold.

- Doug

 

[14dna]

I used to work for a Propane company (no, my name is "not" Hill).
Our trucks ran on propane, which is notoriously hard to start below freezing.
We had heaters that went in a heater hose. As the water was warmed, it circulated through the system. The trucks started very well with this idea. Bonus, the heater was also warm.
Google circulating block heaters for descriptions and pics.
They are a must in Northern Canada.

Dave

 

[RickB]

Anchorage is a fairly moderate area (for Alaska) but sometimes it actually could get very cold.

The heaviest ice fog I've ever seen was there.
The thickest heaviest freezing rain, again there.
It could snow several feet over night, but usually there was only a couple inches of frost covering everything.

One day I awoke to a thick layer of ice covering everything. It looked really pretty, but made everything come to a complete stop in the city.
Think of everything encased in ice, totally surrounded by half a foot or more thick ice. Including the doorway to your house.
You either go out through a window (if you can) or wait for it to melt.

 

[JPSmit]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]

Tea
Dried leaves, boiled.

Tea is considered a delicacy in many parts of the Galaxy. However, the proliferation of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Nutrimatic Machines has made it very hard to get a good cup of tea.

It is also a strong Brownian Motion producer. When a Brambleweeny57 sub-meson brain is linked to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a nice hot cup of tea, finite amounts of improbability are produced.

This scientific effect was used to manufacture the Infinite Improbability Drive that powers the Starship Heart of Gold.

A favourite drink of Arthur Dent.

If it can start up a star ship then I guess it can be used to get a LBC running too! [/QUOTE]

The Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser is a product of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. The Guide has this to say on the Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser:
When the 'Drink' button is pressed it makes an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism, and then sends tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the subject's brain to see what is likely to be well received. However, no-one knows quite why it does this because it then invariably delivers a cupful of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

 

[Greg_C]

The mention of dipstick heaters caught my attention.
I used one many years ago, and thought for some reason that
they were no longer made, due to some liability thing.
I googled them, and there available all over the place.
I think a block mount heater is the best way to go, I use one
on my plow truck.
Still, the old beast is sometimes stubborn to start.
Maybe I'll try serving tea?

 

[JPSmit]

honestly haven't used one in years - batteries are much better now also. However, back in the day, in Saskatchewan, in Bertha my 1962 Meteor, (was actually 1981 I think) I had a block heater and an electric battery blanket. In January, the temp did not go above -40 for 21 days straight. I needed it! Oh, and -40 C = -40 F.

 

[bthompson]

Sure, JP, -1C may not be cold to <span style="font-style: italic">you,</span> up there in the Great White North, but down here, this is the coldest its been for this time of year in a looong time. There's been a couple mornings that started out -26C! I'm usually running with the top down 'til almost Christmas!

All these quotes from Hitchhiker...I'm gonna go crack open my Douglas Adams now.

 

[Silverghost]

Do they serve tea here??

 

[nomad]

Being in the midst of a good old midwestern blizzzarrd at this time I can't get into you folks levity. Bah, humbug!!!
Need that winning loto ticket so I can spend 6 months in North America and 6 in New Zealand.
My mum hails from there.

Kurt.

 

[DrEntropy]

North or South island, Kurt?

 

[DrEntropy]

Sure, JP, -1C may not be cold to <span style="font-style: italic">you,</span> up there in the Great White North, but down here, this is the coldest its been for this time of year in a looong time. There's been a couple mornings that started out -26C! I'm usually running with the top down 'til almost Christmas!

All these quotes from Hitchhiker...I'm gonna go crack open my Douglas Adams now.

Just remember to keep your towel aboard, it can easily be used as a 'muffler' in a top-down LBC. :wink:

 

[nomad]

Both island's doc. Mainly on the south. Had an uncle who owned Lake Ohau Station if you're familiar. Now a Sothebey's resort and ski area.

Kurt.

 

[JPSmit]

Do they serve tea here??

good place to meet the meat