• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)

Case of the Thawed Engine

Share this page

Shoot... I drove my V'dub bus in -4 degrees a few times.
Now that was cold
 
angelfj said:
Here's an interesting story. I can't imagine driving a LBC in -4 F weather!

https://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1368&doc_id=237227&cid=NL_UBM+Electronics
Click to expand...

Head up north then, that's nothing... Back in the day, people drove their LBC's year round (including winter) in temperatures like that, or colder... There was one Albertan who used to (maybe still does) take an annual winter trip with his Triumph roadster, Edmonton into Jasper Nat'l Park, some years that has been a very cold trip... Brrr...
 
I drove my 73 mgb from the body shop to it's winter storage spot 15 miles away when it about -5f. Car had no top no interior at all other than a beach towel on the floor with a piece of foam for a back rest and no working heater not that it would of mattered. Wasn't to bad untill the snow on the road started shooting out of the hole for the shifter directly into my face.

Latter on I drove it down to -15f and other than having to carry a bottle of lock deicer to keep the door handle working the car was quite comfortable with just long pants and short sleeve shirt.

Cars make great power when it's that cold.
 
Coldest I ever felt was Christmas day 1980 at -29 below in Connecticut of all places. Had a 77 Toyots Corolla SR5. The car started and the oil pressure slowly came up as I held the idle at about 1500rpm for 5 minutes. I had the clutch pedal pushed in and the car was in nuetral. When I let the clutch out,the trans lube stalled the engine. Had to restart it and feather in the clutch ta break up the gear lube.Doing that once is enough.
 
I spent the night in

Dawson Creek, up in Canada.

In the morning, I walked across the parking
lot to Wal Mart, I swore, if I were to smile,
my big bushy mustache would have broke clean off!

When I got into the store to use the facilities, I asked
the worker how cold it was outside, she told me in celcius,

So I asked her for Farenheight, she said about 44 below.
That was cold at 6 in the morning.
 
angelfj said:
... I can't imagine driving a LBC in -4 F weather! ...
Click to expand...

Today, I can't either. But I probably did many times back when. I used an XK-140 as a daily driver for 2 years, and then a 150 for 2 more. They were about 4 years old when I had them which made them just "old cars" then. I bought a Spitfire new in 1971 and drove that as a DD until '75. I had a job that required visiting customers so the Spit got a lot of winter use.

The Jag heaters were hopeless - a vague electrical smell was the only clue the fan was running. The Spit heater was fine. I had snow tires on the Spit and it wasn't bad in the snow.

Starting was a problem with the Jags when temps were close to zero and I had a portable battery in a case with a small charger that I lugged around.
 
Spent a year in Saskatchewan back in the day and in January for 21 days, never got above -40. (-40 C & -40 F are the same)

More to the point of the post, my father had a '58 DKW as a DD in the mid '70's. Back then where we lived, front wheel drive was really rare. On icy morning he drives to work and because of the icyness of the roads doesn't realize one rear wheel is frozen. Had a guy follow him into the parking lot to learn how someone could drive a car with a rear wheel that didn't turn.
 
Speaking of North Dakota. Two years ago, I drove the Midget 30 miles to a midwinter show and the temp was -25F with 35 mph winds. "Windchill" was somewhat lower. The car handled it well. It wasn't too bad for me other than having very cold hands when I got there. Side curtains don't seal that well. :nonod: A friend offered to trailer the car for me, but "Miss Chuff" has spent too much time laughing at trailer queens in the past. If she can't get there on her own, she don't go. Weather was just as cold, but with blowing snow, when we came home two days later.
 
I had a 1947 Plymouth up in Johns Town New York, I think it was in 1956/57. It went to 40 degrees below over night. The engine was so cold it wouldn't budge, like the crank was welded to the block! I had to be towed to a garage to heat the car up. The mechanic heated the oil pan with a torch. It took two hours to get it running. Once running, I got on Rt. 1 south and never shut it off until I got to Virginia! Went through that just to visit a girl! Never saw her again. :jester:
 
PAUL161 said:
It went to 40 degrees below over night. The engine was so cold it wouldn't budge, like the crank was welded to the block!
The mechanic heated the oil pan with a torch. It took two hours to get it running.
Click to expand...

From stories I have heard on the Russian front in WW11 they needed to dump the coolant out of the big Studebaker trucks at night to prevent damage to the block and light a bonfire under the engine to warm it up enough to start in the morning!
 
Back
Top