I hate when I do that...

[GLJ]

I had a 1960 Chevy stepside pickup, that was a retired forest service truck when I bought it. It had a granny low 4-speed, drum brakes all around, no air conditioner, rubber floor mat, oil bath air cleaner, and it also had the headlight dimmer on the floor, that had a nasty habit of shorting out the headlights when you stomped on it. You’d be on some dark and lonely road at night and go to put the brights on and instead you wind up killing your lights all together!
View attachment 135838 View attachment 135839

If you had a female type person with you the dark wasn't all bad.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

On our ol' Cadillac, the procedure was to fully stomp on the gas pedal and starter, while simultaneously throwing yer head back.

Since we're reminiscing...

 

[Mailman]

Hahaha! Gawd we’re all a bunch of old farts!

 

[GLJ]

My dad told me once that if you didn't know how to crank a Model T it could break your arm. He was a big old farm boy born from the 20s. Never doubted his word.

 

[Downeaster]

That guy starting that car is just BEGGING for a broken arm.

I learned how to use a crank on a IH power unit on the farm. One hand, cup your fingers around the handle, pull UP only. If it decided to backfire it would spin the crank away from your hand and you had at least a chance of getting your arm out of the way before it came around and did it's best to tear your arm off. I also had a '38 Farmall F14 that was crank start for a few years.

The way the pins on the crank handle engage on the socket, it SHOULD disengage and not spin with the crank. Doesn't always work tho and I'm not willing to bet an arm on it.

I cringe every time I see somebody cranking an engine like they're winding a winch.

 

[kshansen]

Well if we are trying for old fart honors here, I'm posting a picture of a restoration project I worked on at the quarry. My part of the job was working with Norm the other mechanic who worked on engines with me, our job was to get it to run again. One major regret is never getting a before picture or and shots of the engine. Think this was some time in the late `80's to `90's Picture was taken in 2000 at another quarry the company owned during an open-house.

 

[kshansen]

Just remembered something I heard someplace. It was about the best anti-theft device one could have on a car. It would be having a column shift manual transmission. Just think how few people these days would have any idea how to work one of those! The good old three on the tree!

 

[kshansen]

That guy starting that car is just BEGGING for a broken arm.

I learned how to use a crank on a IH power unit on the farm. One hand, cup your fingers around the handle, pull UP only. If it decided to backfire it would spin the crank away from your hand and you had at least a chance of getting your arm out of the way before it came around and did it's best to tear your arm off. I also had a '38 Farmall F14 that was crank start for a few years.

The way the pins on the crank handle engage on the socket, it SHOULD disengage and not spin with the crank. Doesn't always work tho and I'm not willing to bet an arm on it.

I have made that mistake starting an old Wisconsin VG4D engine on a water pump at the quarry. Actually kid of funny as both myself and my dad both got smacked in the face from the crank flying off that same engine, on different days! Never had that problem on my 1947 Farmall BN, but then 99% of the time I cheat and use the electric crank! Probably the same engine as you power unit that would be a U-2.

 

[Downeaster]

Just remembered something I heard someplace. It was about the best anti-theft device one could have on a car. It would be having a column shift manual transmission. Just think how few people these days would have any idea how to work one of those! The good old three on the tree!

When I was stationed in Japan in '76, I had a Nissan Cedric that had FOUR on the tree! Right-hand drive and IRRC, shifter on the left side of the column. That took a little getting used to!

The engine was a Japanese copy of a Chevy stovebolt 6, I felt right at home when I popped the hood.

 

[fredintoon]

When I was stationed in Japan in '76, I had a Nissan Cedric that had FOUR on the tree! Right-hand drive and IRRC, shifter on the left side of the column. That took a little getting used to!
The engine was a Japanese copy of a Chevy stovebolt 6, I felt right at home when I popped the hood.

Hi Downeaster,
back 'ome in the 1960s I had a 3speed column shift Bedford van AND a 4speed column shift Austin A55.
The shift pattern on one was inverted to the shift pattern on t'other so forgetting which vehicle I was driving was a bad thing.
In Canada a decade or so later a young fellow came to my house driving an A55 so I told him I had one back in the UK and asked him how he liked it.
"I got it as a gift but it's a piece of shit! Won't go over 50 mph, drinks fuel like bastard, stalls out when I try reverse and it ain't got a spare!"
"Can I take it for a drive, for old times sake?"
Kid gets in the passenger seat, sez:- "Good that your drive is sloped enough we can roll back out or we'd have to push"
So I backed the car out and back along the street a car-length or so, drove it out onto the highway and took it up to 75mph.
Back at my house I told him,
"This is a 4-speed. What you thought was reverse was high gear which is why it stalled.
Reverse is by pulling the shifter knob out which lets you move the shifter below 1st."
Then I showed him how to wind down the tray under the trunk to access the never used Dunlop spare.

 

[Downeaster]

@fredintoon

 

[Jim]

England back in the 70's. I believe it was my Morris Minor that was 4 on the tree. Right hand drive. Like DE said.... took some getting used to.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

The time before synchromesh.

I still have vivid memories of riding with mother, a prim and proper lady of the 50s, watching her expertly double-clutch our 1941 Cadillac...

 

[MaxPete]

When I was stationed in Japan in '76, I had a Nissan Cedric that had FOUR on the tree! Right-hand drive and IRRC, shifter on the left side of the column. That took a little getting used to!

The engine was a Japanese copy of a Chevy stovebolt 6, I felt right at home when I popped the hood.

When I worked Nigeria, nearly EVERY car was a white Peugeot station wagon (estate car), with four-on-the-tree manual. It was weird, but it worked pretty well.

Pete

 

[kshansen]

This talk about "strange" shifters reminded of the time dad borrowed my first wife's 1966 VW.

Now keep in mind this guy grew up starting driving old model T's, had a Henderson motorcycle as a kid, rode Harley 45's doing escort duty in US before being shipped over to Europe for WWII, drove half-tracks and Ducks over there, came home and drove long haul trucks in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and probably a few more things like off-road dump trucks.

Well, asked him what he thought of the VW he said not bad but had to push it out of a parking space because he could never find reverse! Showed him how you had to push down on the stick to get to reverse and he just shook his head!

 

[fredintoon]

This talk about "strange" shifters reminded of the time dad borrowed my first wife's 1966 VW.
- - - , asked him what he thought of the VW he said not bad but had to push it out of a parking space because he could never find reverse! Showed him how you had to push down on the stick to get to reverse and he just shook his head!

Hi ken,
bacm in the 1960s my cousin-in-law had a Lanchester (the poshest if the badge-engineered Austins).
It had a pre-selector transmission. Kinda manual automatic.
Put it in first and nothin happened until you stomped the clutch (which wasn't one) then it pulled away like an automatic.
Shift (pre-select) to second and it stayed in first until you stomped again, then it shifted like it was an automatic. And so on until you were in fourth.
Usually you shifted back to third but didn't stomp until you needed to downshift.
Kinda weird until you got used to it. The hard part was transitioning back to a standard transmission.