Seems winter is the season for me to have electrical problems with the truck. (1950 F1) And anyone who has followed my frustrations with this is probably on to the next thread after reading the first sentence. So this morning as I was setting at the gas station – plotting my path and timing the light at the intersection up the street for a smooth bump-start exit – I started wondering about cranking over the V8 by hand. Really more of a novelty than a practical fix but then it couldn't hurt to have it as another bailout option. Seems most of the components are already in place. Hole in the bottom grille bar, notch in the lower radiator tank, straight shot to the nose of the crank... all I'm really missing is the specialized crank bolt and the crank itself. I have a few of those bolts in a drawer and the crank could be fashioned from a piece of large bar stock and a short chunk of drill rod. So how about it? Anyone here ever done this? Any vicious horror stories about broken arms or being ragdolled across the street? FWIW my engine is just a warmed stocker – no high compression or anything and it will bump start from a near standstill.
I don't think you can hurt yourself if you have one of the old crank bolts. The T fingers engage in one direction so that when it starts the curved areas will force the crank out. I'm sure that someone else can explain this better.
Start the cranking motion from the bottom ( 6 o'clock ) and pull up 1/2 a turn DONT grip your thumb around the crank handle - that is the recipe for a broken thumb. Hold it along side your index finger As taught to me by my Father cranking my Model A in 1965
Use to start a poppin Johnny by pulling the flywheel. First try I didn't let go of the flywheel and it made a fence post out of me. My Uncle Wells thought that was pretty funny and I still wonder why I have back problems. I don't know that it can't be done, if it is tuned pretty close to perfect all you should have to do is roll it past compression and bang.
Cranking them is ok till it kicks back and about breaks your wrist. Also remember to put it in neutral....... Seriously, why not just fix the electrical problems? My truck is still 6V and starts so easy....can't even imagine cranking on something every time to start it....
Dad used to crank start the Johm Deere "a" he farmed with. He rigged up an old steering wheel rather than a right angle or "t" handle. He felt it was safer and less likely to whack him.
Kevin, I just finished up the wiring on my Willys, I'd help you rewire it if you would help me finish mine up. You can't beat a Bean simplified harness.
Learned to hand crank my Model A when I was akid never had a problem I also hand cranked a 39 Chev in front of J C Penny's in Stockton my senior yr of High School during X mas, had a cast on my rt leg and the dudeleft his lites on, started rite up, just crank with open palm, cranked a Ford tractor alot, small I H tractors etc.
I have a 468 CI Pierce-Arrow V12 in my Seagrave firetruck. Once in a while, just for the hell of it, I start it with the crank. Always started the first or second pull (the dual ignition may be a help in that). I don't think I'd like to try it in the middle of the winter, though.
It shows how to start a 2 cylinder JD in the factory manual, by removing the steering wheel and using a special spud that came with the tractor made to fit into the steering wheel & flywheel. My dad used to tell about starting a model A in the winter by jacking up a rear wheel and spinning a tire with the car in 3rd gear.
My friend Jim had a 36 Fordor (this was back in 64/65) with a warmed-up Merc flatty. Once in awhile when we were sitting at the drive-in restaurant with a pretty good audience, one of us would get out and handcrank that sweet little motor to life. Sometimes to applause, sometimes not. Have to be careful with the hot-rodded engines, as the bit of extra compression can give you a pretty good bite if it kicks back. Just like hand-propping a plane...stay out of the way of rotating parts. dj
I can't imagine it being that hard to do, unless you've got a really cantankerous starting motor, which it doesn't sound like you have. I used to hand crank my grandfathers Farmall Super M all the time, never had a problem. Probably harder to do than a Ford Flathead V8, as they were only four cylinders instead of eight. Pull it through a couple of turns with the choke pulled and the ignition off, then push the choke partway in, switch on, give it a bit of throttle, and have at it. Pull, don't push, on the crank handle starting at 6:00 and pulling towards 9:00, with your fingers just cupped around the crank handle. That way if it backfires on you it will just pull the crank out of your fingers. I was doing this way back when I was a 140 lb 16 year old kid.
I've gotten in the habit of cranking my "A" quite a bit, just cause it's a novelty. I was surprised how easy it will fire once its lined up on for compression stroke, it fires about a quarter turn. I keep my thumb back but also my body at an angle so I wont get ran over if I make a shifter mistake. I would imagine your V-8 to be a little harder but not much.
It's only hard on engines with bad valves and lots of compression leakage...you gotta turn those faster than the air leaks out! You want the ratchet bolt used on all long-crank early flatheads, meaning anything from 1939 through 1948. Look for 1 1/8" hex...1 3/8" is for short crank 1932 (actually 1928) through 1938 and probably wouldn't retain pulley properly on a late model. I never looked up the provisions for hand cranking F-1's in the parts book, but I'd ***ume they just put in a '48 bolt. If it just starts on one or two cylinders and is chugging feebly, you have to be prepared to leap over the top and yank throttle open while keeping your necktie out of the fan...if that gets caught, engine is likely to stall from the effort of stuffing your fragments between pulley and crossmember. Crank extensions came in lots of different lengths.
The whole thumb thing is a myth. If the engine backfires, the crank will be yanked out of your hand, regardless of where your thumb is. If the thumb is wrapped around the handle, no harm will come to the digit, the crank will just pull itself free from your grip. The damge happens when the crank continues around, counterclockwise. and shatters your wrist or forearm. Oh yeah, and don't push down on the crank. My dad started his 40 Ford once with the crank, just to see if he could.
Kevin, I usta do it with my Model A when I was a kid. Also had it kick back and wrench my wrist a few times. Never tried it with the Alexander overhead though after I installed it.--TV
I have a 29 Model A tudor and the 30 Model A in my Avitar. I enjoy starting both of them at shows. My friends have often asked me to try to start their Model A with a crank. Most of them won't try it themselves. Anyway a Model A has a spark retard lever. I always make sure that the timing on the car has the retard lever adjusted to where the spark is in fact retarded when the lever is set. I do not try to hand crank any Model A's that have modified distributors because I am not sure that they have the spark set to after top dead center. I know that early ford V8's had provision for hand cranking so I would ***ume that the distributor is at retard when the engine is not running, but you know what they say about ***uming. My model A's start so easy and quietly that at shows I lift the hood so that others can see that it is actually running. **** If I see someone watching at a gas station I sometimes hand crank it just for the fun of seeing the expression on their faces.
Hey it easy as, but as the others say, rember to push with the palm of ur hand and keep the thumb out of the way, i have even taught my wife how to do it on our jailbar, she even had to pus start it too a couple of time, that takes a bit more doin lol
If it'll "bump-start" from a near stand still, why bother with hand cranking it? Do you live way out in the boonies with no other people around to help give ya a quick push???? They did it back in the day because they HAD too......
sorry i can't say i've tried it, but it's pretty cool that it appears your f-1 is set up to try. clarence doesn't have any provision in the radiator tank for a crank. maybe it's not the original radiator, though, but i've always ***umed that it is. i always wished that the radiator had a place for the crank to go through so i could have tried it. the 1947 minneapolis-moline that i used in the early 60's was a hand crank only deal. we couldn't afford to buy a new battery so i don't know if the starter even worked.
My Pa in law had one of those funky 70's Renaults. Rear engine like an old VW, but it was an inline 4 cylinder that was water cooled. I think they were made in France. It was his work car, got about 40 mpg. The starter went bad, so He tried to start it with the crank. 1/4 turn, and it was running. I cranked it myself that way a few times when I borrowed it to run to the store. He finally got a starter for it, but he would still hand crank it every once in a while at a gas station just to freak folks out. Seen a few times I wish that I had of had the option to crank one that way when a starter went out in the middle of nowhere........
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