Model A and the weather
 

Iam sure many here are not using their car as much, due to the cold weather. How often should the car be taken out for a run? I was told just taking it out of the garage for an idle warm up is not recommended.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Great question.....

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I would say, whenever you get a chance, drive it! Our cars don't go away until we get a threat of snow and come back out after the first heavy rain.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Derive it whenever you can. No need to baby it. They are tough little cars.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Sitting over the winter really isn't too hard on an A. You may get some temporary flat spots on the tires from sitting.
The hardest thing on them is to start them up and not allow the engine to get good and hot in order to evaporate the moisture/condensation inside the engine. If you are just pulling it out to start it up put some cardboard over the radiator to help it get up to operating temperature.
Stay with the car so you don't overheat it with the cardboard covering the radiator.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I drive them when the weather is dry, and when the snow starts and they salt the roads they do not hit the road until a good heavy rain washes the salt away. They do not have heaters but dressed warm and wearing gloves even temps in the teens isn't too bad, and the feeling of taking one of them to the local store for breakfast seems to get a cold winter day off to a great start. I always drive them far enough to get all the mechanical parts (Engine, trans and rear) well heated, most often in the 20-30 mile range. need to keep them in good shape for the Grand-kids!

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Holdover
Excellent advice

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Do you really need to drive it 20-30 miles to get it up to tempurarure?

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I drive mine any chance I get.
But all year round, I keep a dehumidifier in the garage with a window down. In the south the humidity is bad.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

In the wintertime, I would say yes.
That's why I park mine and don't touch it for about 6 months ever winter.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Thanks Tom so better to leave it alone completely, that's good advice.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

"Originally Posted by Nabco http://fordbarn.com/forum/hamb/buttons/viewpost.gif
Do you really need to drive it 20-30 miles to get it up to temperature?"

Like what has been said it is not the destination it is the trip. Summer or winter I get a kick driving one of my Model A. maybe you don't have to go 20-30 miles, it is the trip, and I enjoy every minute, especially with a grand-kid with me. And besides it is tough to see the three restored ones sitting there all winter not being used.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Yes, the condensation inside the engine is a major concern to me.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

If you are going to leave your car for a long while put it away when it is at working temperature. Make sure that the battery is disconnected and the fuel shut off. Chock the wheels and leave the parking brake off. While the car is not being used keep the battery charged and, if possible move it backwards and forwards a bit regularly so the tyres don't deform. If you have a starting handle it's worth turning the engine over every now and then. Many people would drain the fuel but I don't as I have never experienced problems starting an engine that has been standing for several months with the 'old' fuel left in the tank. A cool dry environment is much better than a warm damp one for the bodywork.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I drive all year round, fortunately, we don't have salt. This is this morning in auburn getting breakfast, and a strawberry rubarb pie.i didn't run a thermostat for a year or so, and my oil filler tube was caked with white guck from moisture. The oil was fine. Went back to a stat.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

So if you have moisture /condensation inside the engine how is it any worse to have a short run time than letting it sit for the winter ?
At least a short run time will keep the oil splashed all around the inside to keep things well lubricated ( transmission also ).

Re: Model A and the weather
 

That's why short term running should be met with short term oil changes, because of the contaminates not burned off.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Merry Christmas everyone.

I used to drive my car all the time in the winter but coming home on a rollback all the time got too expensive. :mad:


Bill K

Re: Model A and the weather
 

In 1977 I ran my 1963 Studebaker and my 1929 Chevrolet for about 10 minutes each, then went to start them 6 months later. They were both locked up tight. That's a hard lesson to learn, but you should never start and engine unless it's going to get the oil hot enough to burn off all the byproducts the combustion has created, mainly water in the oil, exhaust, and cylinders. :mad:

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I drive mine in the winter. 36 miles to the coffee shop with 3 miles dirt road. Works best when the road is frozen. I dress for winter which makes the coupe feel even smaller.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

All this talk of not driving your car during winter amuses me. I know this will sound like I am bragging - coz I am. :D We drive year round only it tends to be a bit too hot in the summer. The poor design of the Model A with the engine pipe coming down between the pedals makes it impossible to keep the heat from blowing straight up your leg. Most uncomfortable.:eek:
Here it is Christmas Day so I won't be driving an A today but if I were, it would already be up to about 100F before I get in.
We would be delighted if you send some of your cool in exchange for some of our warm.:cool:

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Dang! Wish I would have known you needed some cool last weekend. Could have sent you some -12 temps.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Remember back during the big snowfall years of the late 1960s on the Massachusetts seacoast. As usual for that area, allocated funds for proper municipal snowplowing would always somehow disappear.

About the only cars able to negotiate the local un-plowed snow packed streets were our trusty Model A Ford cars. Everybody I knew in those days were old car people and had a least one clunker Model A Ford tucked away and at the ready. Some of the vintage Fords had manifold heaters that worked good too. Recall some having this air duct type flexible hose running from the heat entrance up on the inside firewall down along the passenger seat to the rear floor. The warm air would flow up from behind the driver's seat and keep a person good and warm. Was thinking perhaps about installing a heater in the 31' Tudor sedan. Then again, when would the thing ever get much use in cold weather . . .

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Unless the temperature is in the 30's, I take our roadster out every two weeks or so in the winter, without the side curtains on. A warm jacket, my insulated jeans, some gloves and a good hat keep you warm enough and the wind wings do a great job of keeping the cold wind out of your face. Did owners in the 1930's put their cars away for the winter? I don't think so because mostly they were daily drivers. I drove my '30 coupe to high school every day in northern New Jersey, even on the really freezing days.

Glen

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I don't think that its the weather that keeps most A's put away for the winter, it all of the salt and other stuff that they put on the roads now. And I really can't say as I blame anybody for that
One plus for So.Calif, we get to drive them every day of the year. :p
Hell that stuff that they spread on the roads is probably illegal here anyway, might hurt some shrimpferry fish or something if it gets in the water runoff :confused:

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Perhaps I am a little OCD, but If I let my engine sit all winter, I like to remove the spark plugs before start up and pour about an ounce or so of oil into each cylinder. I then crank the engine over several revolutions, reinstall the plugs and fire it up. I don"t like to think of the cylinders getting dry of oil because of the long period of inactivity. I always crank first with the plugs out to preclude any possibility of an hydraulic lock.

Also It's fun to see all the smoke upon start up! :rolleyes:

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Nothing wrong with fogging the motor that way. I feel it depends alot on the conditions the car is stored in.. if its in an outside shed or such probably not a bad idea. Mine are in a climate contolled enviroment so i think its not as necessary.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I have been storing cars for over forty years. All that time every winter in Upstate NY I drive the car into the barn and turned the key off, after checking things like antifreeze and maybe changing the oil and putting a brillo pad in the tailpipe, just waited the six or more months and started them up.

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I guess I am Obsessive compulsive disordered . Seems to me that over a period of 3 - 6 months of no running that the cylinders, rings and pistons would become dry of oil.

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That would be true IF you gunned the engine right before turning the key off as that extra gas forced into the cylinders washes away whatever lubricant that was in there.

I see and hear way too many folk doing that on all sorts of cars.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

I turn the fuel off and let the engine run until it quits. That precludes a host of problems.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

The salt and liquid stuff that they pour on in anticipation of snow is horrible. It doesn't quit leaching out of the cracks in the roads until July here in IA. I see vehicles with rusted out wheel wells that are not even 10yrs old all the time. I drive my work beaters until you cant jack them up anymore and have to repair brake and fuel lines long before that happens. Everyone is in such a hurry anymore. Have to clear the roads so they can drive 65 to the mall.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

You sure got that right, and if the feds say you could drive 110 MPH the fools would be driving 120 MPH.

No one cares about fuel economy and safety anymore, if they ever did.:mad:
Hard on the gas, hard on the brakes, and if you are the first car in line at the red light you sit there texting when the light turns green, so only two cars can get through. This is the new norm for most drivers.:mad:

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Took my 31' for a drive today... She ran well.. I start mine at least weekly for at least 30mins in the winter... True, not getting the drive train moving but I figure keep her loose... My garage is attached and typically stays just above freezing unless it get like 10F outside.

Re: Model A and the weather
 

Take it out and play with it every chance you get