Pluggers by Rick McKee for January 21, 2014

Hehe— brings back memories!

Given how pink that truck is now, just think how gloriously red it must have been 60 years ago. My Mom believed that pickups should always be Fords, and Red.

My father used to have a blue Austin pick-up (or Ute as we called it in OZ) when I was a kid and I loved riding in the back.

Or the fast idle knob on a diesel.

This is my girl, “Lulu”. You pry the door open, pull the choke out, hit the key, and va-room! 345 cubic inches of Cornbinder power roars to life – even if it’s 15 below.

I imagine there are a lot of ‘non-Pluggers’ who are asking what is a ‘choke knob’. It was something that was ‘delight’ to ‘play’ with in order to get a vehicle to operate—just a small amount of movement would provide wonders or you ended up ‘flooding’ the engine.

It wasn’t just trucks. I had a Tempest four banger ( I think that was a Dodge) and four banger means four cylinders; the choke was very tempermental.

Thank you, IndyMan! I had no idea what that meant.

…not to mention stomping on the metal button on the floorboard to the left of the clutch pedal to activiate high beams…

When my grandfather got a 52 Plymouth, he got some wire and a knob and installed a manual choke. This was back in 59 or 60.

The fast idle knob increased the engine speed so it would smoke less and not break the engine mounts while cold idling.

My first VW had a choke. I still miss not being able to use one. I also miss shifting gears.

The choke on an SU lowers the main jet to enrichen the mixture, and also sets the fast idle cam.

….and you even know what a choke is to begin with.

(Chorus from “Rusty Chevrolet”, sung to the tune of Jingle Bells, in honor of our mechanical friends, past and WAY past):

Oh, rust and smoke, the heater’s broke The door just blew away I light a match to see the dash And then I start to pray, hey! The frame is bent, the muffler went The radio, it’s okay Oh what fun it is to drive This Rusty Chevrolet

Da Yoopers – Rusty Chevrolet Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Last time I used the choke, the horse died…

The old 47 Plymouth coupe with the flat head 6 had a Throttle knob in it….just hit the freeway and pull the throttle knob out and she would cruise at 65 mph just like cruise control. I could stretch out with my legs across the seat and glide down the highway!

Whoo hoo what an awesome ride!!!

IGoPogo4: Other than conformity with Europe (let them change, back then US made more cars than the rest of the world), I never could understand why the change. I had to dim for oncoming traffic far more frequently while turning than while shifting (and with a bit of skill, one could hit the dimmer while the clutch pedal was down). Now the left foot is becoming vestigial.

That looks sorta like my brothers ’52 Ford F-100… I especially liked the starter button.

My hubby drives a Toyota pickup. After years of driving Ford company cars, I bought a Subaru, And, we have a Saturn Sky Redline.But,over the years, we have had a lot of British cars: Sprites, MGBs, a Morris Minor.I still have an MGA coupe (a real luxury model with roll up windows) I bought it cheap with a spare motor in a box. Since I really wanted a convertible and my A wasn’t a drop top, I got a Datsun 2000 convertible..(600.00 – the guy had been told by some repair shop that it needed a clutch and transmission, turned out it just needed a master cylinder rebuild.)Now there is a strange car. It dates from the time when Japanese cars were sort of copies of British cars. Hondas were styled like Minis. The Datsun 2000 was styled after an MGB, except it came with a 5speed. Mine has a deep sump and two Solex carbs and a radical cam. It was almost impossible to start up from a stop in first gear without smoking the tires, so I learned to start off in second. Hubby pulled the smog protection stuff off of it. If going downhill when the fuel tank was full, gas would splash out of the overflow tube onto the manifold and start a little campfire. I always carried a fire extinguisher and learned never to fill the tank completely.Both cars were retired years ago. Like good pluggers, we rarely ever got rid of our cars. Those two are hidden on a friend’s farm in PA. Last I heard, they were in an old chicken coop.Hubby still has his HP Bugeye race car, and he has a Jag XKE stashed in another friend’s barn.

You’re also a plugger if you remember yanking all that electric choke off your 70’s smogged carburetor and installing a manual choke because it was easier (and better) than trying to get the original one working properly. I did this with several of my first cars (1978 Trans Am, 1980 Formula Firebird and 1985 Ford Thunderbird 3.8). I also remember the floor mounted high beam switch (the ’78 T/A had it, as well as my ’66 Galaxie 500). Also had a 3-on-the-tree tranny in my old ’80 Silverado C10. That was a learning curve…

Brings back memories of my dad.