VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 when hot wont start 50-216

have never had a problem starting my car up until an incident last week, took car for wheel alignment sent a guy out to pull it in with out listerning on how to start car he ground the battery down till it was dead he didnt turn the key to on position so he cranked til dead .picked car up drove 15 miles home turned car off went back out to move into garage car would barely turn over and not fast enough to start could this over over cranking have ruined the starter or something else cold it fires right up
plus now have developed a knock off the old 216 babbitt engine so it might be time for a change to the 235 i have i wanted to wait til winter but i guess now i might have to swap engines before that . and also couldnt align front end said there was some play in the idler arm and pass king pin so i have to redo those also so car probably wont see the road again this summer

Take a deep breathe and march on. You have learned or relearned a lot of valuable lessons.

The first is the issue of trust in 98% of currently practicing mechanics. Never leave the side of your car, and always bring complete instructions on what is the process to repair whatever you are working on. This should include always having your manual with you and having the pages marked that need to be followed.

The second is that a shop that will not allow you to be present, even after offering extra money or to sign a waver, should not be trusted.

Working on a historic vehicle is a privilege that comes with responsibility and a willingness to go the extra mile to read or reread the correct repair sequence necessary to do a repair. I'll try, its been a while, it couldn't be that hard, or an estimate of time it will take and cost is not reliable. Up front you should be willing to pay the hourly rate of the mechanic, and be there in many cases while the work is being done. When I had my front end alignment I stood within 6' of the mechanic and helped him with some of the details. When a mechanic tried to lift my car by using my rear springs as a lifting point I spoke up (he was bending the lead covering of the springs), and he decided he didn't want to do the job (rehang my muffler). I decided to never return to the shop and not to recommend it to others for work on historic vehicles.

Best wishes, Mike

P.S. Check the battery first. It might just need a good recharging. Been there done that!!!

will recharge battery today but still thinking about the 235 full oiler upgrade

It may be best to charge the battery at a slow rate for at least 24 hours. Also if the battery was near the end of it's normal life the drain may have finished it. Lastly continual cranking of the starter can overheat it and cause damage so in addition to the battery I would also check the starter.

I have a humorous anecdote regarding a Goodyear shop,brought the car in for wheel balancing young mechanic comes into the waiting room and asks me to pull car into bay.HE COULD NOT DRIVE STICK!!! LOL.

If it takes more than stick the key in the slot and turn or push the button most modern mechanics are lost. 90% in larger towns and cities can't drive a manual transmission vehicle. Rural people are headed that way but still have too many tractors in service.

Had a similar funny incident...working on a '62 Nova, converting from an auto to 4 speed so had all the new pedals in. Clutch pedal
was just hanging there as I hadn't pulled the trans yet. Same thing, went to the alignment shop and the tech comes back in and tells
the owner he can't pull the car in because the clutch is shot. Made the owner's and mine day!

bottom line is car not going back to this shop thanks to our club member HAWKEYE i think i have found another garage 'when they killed the battery the other wrench twister asked if it was 6-12 volt i said cant you tell by the battery and a couple other statements followed one was dont touch my car again and it gets better but no time at moment to tell about it more later

Evey old car has it's own personality.Some like a choke and some don't. Some like a little pump on the gas pedal, some don't. So to start an old car you need to know it's personality.