How Many are Hand Cranking at This Age

[Veemoney]

Reviewed the article today and thought that's pretty cool but the stance looked wrong. I made a cranking rod for my 47 WC but have not given it a shot yet.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/classic-cars/87-year-old-still-hand-cranks-the-1927-ford-model-t-hes-owned-for-70-years/ar-AAFbB7P?ocid=spartanntp

[Frank Elder]

I hand cranked this last week......lol, I wish it was electric start.

Just kidding........I would have to jab a hole in the Rad to hand crank my D-24.

[Matt Wilson]

Great stuff!  I hope I'll still be stepping on the starter rod of my '49 Power Wagon when I'm that age (and then the engine coming to life and me driving off in it).

[Andydodge]

I had to hand crank my 1940 Dodge a few times when I first got it, admittedly this was a few years ago........like 1971/72........lol...........once I decided to hotrod the car then that put the kabosh on the crank handle, I think I sold it at a swap meet years later.........always remember what my father told me about cranking a car and the correct way to hold the handle ensuring that your thumb was behind the handle rather than over it in case the car kicked back and you ran the risk of breaking your thumb..............lol...........thanks Dad............and after owning the car since 1971 I was finally able to find a 1940 Dodge Crank Hole Cover on US ebay early this year and bought it.......installed it with a made up bracket to ensure it doesn't fall out as its the only one I've ever seen ...........andyd 

[westaus29]

I had to hand crank my 29 Plymouth a couple of weeeks ago ........... pushed it out onto the lawn so I could do some serious welding and grinding on the 38 Plymouth, then couldnt get it back up the hump into the shed. Luckily it started after a bit of grunting. The battery collapsed after letting it go flat ....... wasted no time replacing it! I love electric start.

 

One feature the older cars had is an advance / retard lever or knob. You retard before trying to start and that prevents kick back. My first car as a student was a Renault 750 that I was always having to hand crank, and it didn't have that feature. Luckily my girlfriend's dad taught me how to hold the handle, 'cause one day it backfired and tore the lugs off the starter handle but didn't hurt me.

 

I wouldn't want to hand crank the 38. The crank is about three feet long and comes in two pieces, and doubles up as a wheel brace.  Jim

[Worden18]

Wow that's a great little story.  I have a crank for my 48 B1D.  I'm anxious to try it once it's tuned up....and I actually learn to do it without getting hurt! ?

[keithb7]

Cool story. Those Maritime folks are diehards. Not much stops them. There is something really cool about owning a car for such a long time. What a treasure. 

 

Think about it for a sec. The owner is 87.  Born in 1932. Add 16 years to assume his age when he purchased it. 1948. So assume he’s driving to high school in 1949.  If he stayed in school. Many eastern Canadians dropped out of school to go and work by the age of 16-17. Many saw little value in going past grade 10. It was not needed to land a half decent job back then. Maybe he drove it at his own wedding in the early 50’s? 

 

Great stuff. 

[sp15cspecial]

every time i pull the 23 Dodge out of the garage to work on the others two pulls and away she goes ?

[Andydodge]

So three of the replys are from Oz.....we must be wankers...oops...crankers..............lol..............well......lol....I'll admit to  it.....lol...............andyd

[maok]

6 minutes ago, Andydodge said:

So three of the replys are from Oz.....we must be wankers...oops...crankers..............lol..............well......lol....I'll admit to  it.....lol...............andyd

I do alot of cranking Andy..?

[Dan Hiebert]

Our '37 Terraplane came with an auxiliary hand crank, although there's no mention of it in the owner's manual.  From the lack of wear, I don't think it was used much, if at all.  Two piece, handle doubles as the lug wrench.  The nut on the crankshaft pulley is chamfered so it only grabs when cranking the engine, if it fires, it's supposed to spit the crank out without tossing the operator across the driveway.  I've tried to start it with the hand crank a few times when the battery was mostly dead, with no success.  I assume there has to be at least some charge, I don't see how hand cranking can generate enough current through the generator to charge the ignition if the battery is completely dead, I could be wrong, though.  My technique is probably not right, either.  Comes in handy, though.  I'd been using the hand crank to turn the engine once in a while when it was idle, and it's super-handy for turning the engine for tune ups, clutch service, etc.

[Andydodge]

Hand cranking does basically the same job that push or tow starting does..........gets the engine turning over sufficiently to start, assuming that there is even a small charge left in the battery.........andyd  

[Greg51T&CWagon]

My uncle drove a Model T truck from 1926 till 1964. Hand crank. My Dad describes him jacking it up by the back wheel and hitting the magneto or something? We still have it btw.

[Veemoney]

Looks like the OZ team has a lot of hands on time on the crank so I have to agree Andy.?

On 8/2/2019 at 1:05 AM, maok said:

On 8/2/2019 at 12:57 AM, Andydodge said:

So three of the replys are from Oz.....we must be wankers...oops...crankers..............lol..............well......lol....I'll admit to  it.....lol...............andyd

I do alot of cranking Andy..?

 

Many of the older motorcycles had the same feature controlled by a wire to the handgrip. My WC has a fast idle knob pull on the dash. Is this to help with the starting?

On 8/1/2019 at 6:52 PM, westaus29 said:

One feature the older cars had is an advance / retard lever or knob. You retard before trying to start and that prevents kick back.

 

My WC has a fast idle knob pull on the dash. Is this to help with the starting?

[Andydodge]

Vee........lol..........yep, thats us...........hand crankers till the end..............lol..............oops...methinks I maybe on the wrong forum.........lol.............andyd

[Veemoney]

I guess I will give it a try. You no the saying "use it or loose it"

[DJ194950]

6 hours ago, Veemoney said:

I guess I will give it a try. You no the saying "use it or loose it"

Are you replying to this forum or meant for the "other" one??

 

DJ