The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot North Eastern 'Bolters Old Engine Starting in Northern Winters

I am moving to northeastern Maine this summer from Brooklyn, New York. I am wondering how my '66 Chevy C10 is going to do in the Maine winters. I will be beefing up the CCA's when I replace my battery, and I intend on swapping out the alternator for a bigger one. But being off-grid has me wondering how to keep the engine warm overnight. What, if anything, do you guys do to get a better start in the mornings during the northern winters? Any ideas for an off-gridder? -Alden

in the NorthWest, I just drive it every day

Bill

Bill, yes, I will certainly do that. I am also considering a small heated garage for the truck. My idea is that I would get a small stove fired up a couple hours before starting her up. -Alden

I just have a 'boat shelter' so I don't have to scrape the windshield, a garage would be a good thing, you might find putting it away hot is all that's needed for it to fire right up, which it will do at pretty low temps - I do have a block heater that I've used in the past on a timer when I knew I had to head out really early because I like the heater working right away, but I haven't had to use that in years, climate change has some good aspects

Bill

Red58, she starts right up for you? Wow. Nice. Carburetor and distributor? I am wondering whether my move to the north means that I have to cross over to the dark side, i.e., fuel injection, electronic ignition, etc. But I would prefer just swapping out the old carburetor that came to me with the truck. Nothing fancy, but I figure a new one, properly chosen for my 250 I6, along with a new distributor, should be of benefit in the long, cold Maine winters. Welder's cable for the starter, too. What do you think? -Alden

currently the 58 has a 283 w/ 2 barrel and points, never had any problems with the 57 pickup w/ 235 all stock or the panel that the 235 came out of, or any of the 60's trucks I've had w/ 235's and 283's, the only 250 I've had needed the preheat shroud from the manifold to air cleaner to prevent carb icing at times, never did like that truck .... if the battery and cables are good [1 gauge or 0 gauge is fine with 12V], connections all 100%, and the engine kept tuned, you shouldn't have any problems except traction in the snow and ice, keep some bags of sand on hand or shovel it full of snow

Bill

Red58, well, you have made me feel better. This is my first vintage truck and with me coming from new, leased, cars, I was getting concerned about the cold starting. But I wonder why your 250 acted so differently from the 235 and 283. Can you direct me to more information on a preheat shroud? -Alden

the 250's problem is the intake manifold too far out to the side, at least with my 67 ... I scrounged up a shroud piece that was a sheet metal plate that cupped the exhaust with a tube out let on one end that fed up into an inlet on the underside of the air cleaner snout, which had a thermostatic flapper so that when cold it draws air from the warmer manifold feed, then when it heats up enough that opens to allow air intake in the usual way .... if that's clear - I forget what year the setup came from but I think some later truck .... I swapped a 327 in finally because I didn't find the 250 strong enough for what I did with a 3/4T [heavy loads uphill], even then I didn't like the truck just make sure it's well warmed up before you head out, don't expect to just fire it up and drive like with modern computer controlled vehicles

Bill

Bill, thank you. I had not heard of such a shroud for the air intake. I always thought an engine wants cold air and that was the reason for the snout. -Alden

no, the engine wants warm [not hot] air, especially when it's humid, the air velocity thru the carb causes the cold humidity to form ice - if you have any wreckers around with older iron, check them for any air cleaners with that thermostatic inlet under the snout, the rest can be fabricated easily .... but you may even find you're OK without

Bill

Red58, thank you. I have made a note of what you say. I will keep an eye out for a thermostatic inlet and put it on my list of projects. -Alden

FYI: The snout on the air cleaner is a silencer. Those long skinny snouts also put a little kick in the torque curve, as can be seen on dyno tests. As mentioned, the engine wants warm air for cold ambient operation, but then wants colder air for performance. Preheating the air allows for a leaner mixture for emissions too.

Woodswarrior, Wow. Thanks. I learned something here today. -Alden

Your welcome.

Red58, I forgot about those days of icing the throttle blade shut. Also, I've done the bed full of snow. If you've ever driven a dually in deep snow, you know it is virtually useless. I got so frustrated one day that I shoveled my driveway into the bed. It was like a tank after that. I also used to have two semi inner tubes full of sand. As I remember they weighed about 300 pounds each. I had a friend who put his overweight wife in the back one time....it got us out of a snow drift.

yes Woods, I used the 46 dumper to carry loads out in the snow a couple times, not bad with a thousand pounds of apple pulp on, but a little squirrely coming home problem with duals is snow packing between

Bill

My 69 Nova (Calif. car) w/ 250 has the thermostatic air cleaner you mentioned. Maybe that will help widen your search......

I have a super well insulated small building and it never gets below freezing. The outdoor temps can be in the 10 to 20 below zero during Jan/Feb Seems to work well for me. I live in New Brunswick Canada about 2 hrs from the Maine border. I start the truck and let the engine warm up several times through the winter. so far so good after 3 years.

Vickraft, Yep, I sure need that 'super well insulated' garage. But it is going to take me a year or so before I will have that up. I have changed my priorities a bit with the property such that a garage is going to get faster attention, but without a doubt that truck will have to start for me in pretty cold temps for a while. I will keep her tuned and as happy as I can and hope for the best. She has a new battery now with about 900cca, new Magnecor wires, new plugs, new pcv on its own line, and heavy starter wire. I have to check her timing, which I put off for last because I am a complete novice with timing. I just got a light and now I have to sit with the manual and see how this is done. I really just need this truck to start for me, my needs do not entail working her really hard. You know, just something to get into town with and back.

Before we built the garage, back a few years ago we use to use a battery blanket. The way it worked was to plug it in over night, the blanket was a warmer that kept the battery just like a summer day. Also we would use a block heater which kept the oil warm. Never failed to start even the coldest part of our Canadian winters.

Vickraft, I really like the electric heat items, but since I am off-the-grid, I would be spending a lot of money for their battery power. Probably less money would build an insulated enclosure for the truck. I will also look into some propane heaters that are out there. It is a challenge.

If you are building a garage for it, insulate the floor and put pex tubing in the cement and use a hot water solar panel. Use a multigrade oil.

Off the grid is awesome. Would be interesting for you to let us know from time to time how things are going. Here is something I'm considering for my woodworking shop. This could perhaps be of some help and its not expensive to build. I have seen one of these working and you would be surprised how good they work. Simple and very cheap to build.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZvAAqzXIw

Vickraft, yep, there are numerous ways to be comfortable off-the-grid. I am pretty familiar with most all of them. Indeed, when I am not involved with my truck, my time is spent on off-grid projects. The overnight warmth for the truck seems to be my only remaining challenge. Hopefully, I will have up an insulated enclosure for her in time for her first northern winter if I start in April. For this coming winter, I have decided to let the truck remain in Brooklyn. I also have to resolve some regular starting issues with her, which I believe are hiding in the timing, since I have ruled out all other suspects.

Good luck

Yesterday morning, 24 degrees, I figured it'd be a good time to try cold weather starting. Pumped the pedal a couple of times, pulled out the choke, stomped on the starter button, and it fired but died. Didn't get the choke set quite right quick enough. Tried again, and viola! Fired up and kept running!

I let her sit for a few minutes to warm up, and then put about 30 miles on her that day. I had her up to 45 mph at times, and noticed the temp would creep down quite a bit on long stretches at that speed. But at lower speeds around town in stop and go, the temp stayed at about 160 to 180. Even ran the heater a bit. Unfortunatley, when first starting out and not having a defroster, I had to open the windshield a bit to keep it from fogging up. That was a bit chilly!

It warmed up to about 40 by mid-day, and it was a great ride. Rolling down the window to use hand signals for turning definitely makes you think long and hard about installing turn signals!

Hoff, I am always happy to read a post by someone who gets these ol' babes fired up so easily on such cold mornings. I have resolved my timing issue which was apparently the cause of my starting problems. I have concluded, after ruling out everything else, and based on various indications, that I have bad timing gear(s) and we will be swapping them out this week. Can't wait. Up until a couple months ago, my babe would start up if I just put my finger on the starter button. I am assuming you don't have any heaters on your truck overnight? I am a real fan of a battery warmer, oil pan warmer, block heater, etc. Here, in Brooklyn, I used these items on my vehicles back in the day before the computerized cars. I would use them from fall to spring and I was always happy with the benefits. The car warms up fast and you are good to go in a moment. But it is good to hear that these trucks will start up in 24 deg. cold even without the heater stuff. Obviously, you have to keep the truck properly tuned and cared for. {PS: Do you think anyone really knows what you are doing when you use hand signals? They might think you are nuts, lol.}