What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:26 am
What is the best way to start a T?
MTFCA Forum
Model T Ford Club of America
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What is the best way to start a T?
Page 1 of 1
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:28 am
How about these?
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:48 am
One of the neat things about T's is that they're so "horse-like" and have distinct personalities and preferences.
My 24 Touring likes two or three revolutions of the engine with the ignition off and the choke pulled out. Then when I turn the ignition on and move the spark lever to a place where it catches a coil, it'll self-start about half the time. The other half, all that's required is for me to barely hit the starter button and she leaps to life.
I attribute this to a few things: 1) coils and timer in excellent, maintained, working order 2) Ross Lilliker doing the final assembly and some other work on my engine. (He caught some of my errors). 3) good compression (a subset of #2)
What's neat, going back to the "horse-like" thing, is that I've discovered, from this forum and from being around other T owners, that other T's have different preferences on how they like to be started. I find this to be endlessly entertaining and charming.
My 24 Touring likes two or three revolutions of the engine with the ignition off and the choke pulled out. Then when I turn the ignition on and move the spark lever to a place where it catches a coil, it'll self-start about half the time. The other half, all that's required is for me to barely hit the starter button and she leaps to life.
I attribute this to a few things: 1) coils and timer in excellent, maintained, working order 2) Ross Lilliker doing the final assembly and some other work on my engine. (He caught some of my errors). 3) good compression (a subset of #2)
What's neat, going back to the "horse-like" thing, is that I've discovered, from this forum and from being around other T owners, that other T's have different preferences on how they like to be started. I find this to be endlessly entertaining and charming.
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:33 am
Using electric start, set the spark lever all the way up and the throttle lever down a little. Turn the key to BAT. Pull out the choke knob, step on the starter button, and let go of the choke when the car starts, and pull the spark lever down to where the engine runs smoothest. When starting a warm engine, skip the choke.
Using armstrong start, fully retard the spark (lever up); with the ignition off pull out the choke wire with your left hand and pull up the crank with your right once, twice, or more (depends on the car). Turn the ignition switch to BAT. Pull the crank up with your left hand. When the car starts adjust the spark down to where the engine runs smoothest. When starting a warm engine, skip the choke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbp6B4u6kPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ycpdfIjDo
Using armstrong start, fully retard the spark (lever up); with the ignition off pull out the choke wire with your left hand and pull up the crank with your right once, twice, or more (depends on the car). Turn the ignition switch to BAT. Pull the crank up with your left hand. When the car starts adjust the spark down to where the engine runs smoothest. When starting a warm engine, skip the choke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbp6B4u6kPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ycpdfIjDo
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 6:51 pm
I remember an "anti-theft" device I saw, in the form of a padlock to hold the gas and spark levers all the way down... Brilliant deterrant to someone who thought they could take home a "cut-rate" Ford...
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 9:40 pm
Very good Jonah! You will get much farther with a model T with a little patience and a good sense of humor.
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:43 am
Here's one of my favorites
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:33 am
Are you the kid I saw walking around Luray looking for 1926 parts?
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:42 am
David D.,
That's one of my favorites too!!
That's one of my favorites too!!
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:59 am
Jonah,
Based on some of your previous posts it seems like your car is hard to start- am I correct? If this is true you need to do some trouble shooting because Model Ts are not hard to start. Below are some things that will cause hard starting issues:
* low compression
* poor fuel delivery
* faulty ignition
* bad wiring
* bad ignition switch
* incorrect carb adjustment
If your car is new to you the condition of the items above is completely unknow to you.
Based on some of your previous posts it seems like your car is hard to start- am I correct? If this is true you need to do some trouble shooting because Model Ts are not hard to start. Below are some things that will cause hard starting issues:
* low compression
* poor fuel delivery
* faulty ignition
* bad wiring
* bad ignition switch
* incorrect carb adjustment
If your car is new to you the condition of the items above is completely unknow to you.
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:17 pm
As a relative noobie to the T scene, I struggled at multiple points
to make my T run. At first, it was a lack of "feel" for the "sweet spots"
that my truck likes, in order to be cooperative. Each engine is different,
as I learned when I did a little swapping around during a rebuild. Some
like more throttle. Some like less. Some want a little more spark advance ...
you get the idea. You will come to know your car after wearing your arm
out cranking it eleventy-billion-skillion times. And don't overlook the power
of frustration in guiding you to find those sweet spots. If you do, you will
enjoy an even longer learning curve !
And then there is the new, and tightly rebuilt engine joy ! Just about the
time I THOUGHT that I was getting it figured out, the freshly rebuilt engine
moved all the sweet spots around, AND the tightness of the rebuild made
cranking 100x harder. I got my ass whooped ! But in the end, things smoothed
out and now it starts and runs with little fuss. It likes being warmed up. Cold
oil is thick oil, and if one imagines swimming in water or molasses, it is easy to
understand why cranking a cold engine is a lot more work. Still not getting free
starts, but that will come with breaking the engine in.
to make my T run. At first, it was a lack of "feel" for the "sweet spots"
that my truck likes, in order to be cooperative. Each engine is different,
as I learned when I did a little swapping around during a rebuild. Some
like more throttle. Some like less. Some want a little more spark advance ...
you get the idea. You will come to know your car after wearing your arm
out cranking it eleventy-billion-skillion times. And don't overlook the power
of frustration in guiding you to find those sweet spots. If you do, you will
enjoy an even longer learning curve !
And then there is the new, and tightly rebuilt engine joy ! Just about the
time I THOUGHT that I was getting it figured out, the freshly rebuilt engine
moved all the sweet spots around, AND the tightness of the rebuild made
cranking 100x harder. I got my ass whooped ! But in the end, things smoothed
out and now it starts and runs with little fuss. It likes being warmed up. Cold
oil is thick oil, and if one imagines swimming in water or molasses, it is easy to
understand why cranking a cold engine is a lot more work. Still not getting free
starts, but that will come with breaking the engine in.
Re: What is the best way to start a T?
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:23 pm
More ....
Pick off the various components of the operating systems to ensure each
is correct and reliable:
> Rebuild your coils.
> CK or install a new timer
> CK or reset your timer linkage
> Blow out the fuel system
> Rebuild the carb. Possibly replace with better performer if your present
one is a known "dud".
> Drive it and fine tune each of the above points until it is easy and reliable
to operate. This will be a neverending process, and should be considered
part of the fun of owning/driving a T.
> Share you experiences, so others learn from your frustrations and successes.
Pick off the various components of the operating systems to ensure each
is correct and reliable:
> Rebuild your coils.
> CK or install a new timer
> CK or reset your timer linkage
> Blow out the fuel system
> Rebuild the carb. Possibly replace with better performer if your present
one is a known "dud".
> Drive it and fine tune each of the above points until it is easy and reliable
to operate. This will be a neverending process, and should be considered
part of the fun of owning/driving a T.
> Share you experiences, so others learn from your frustrations and successes.