Common sense bathtub, well said. Also on really cold mornings the roads and driving conditions are not really conducive to 'thrashing' a vehicle of any description. Also agree about the relative temperature differences being negligable. If the head and gasket are sound they will do their job and accommodate the expansion/contraction.

Remember years ago being prepared for a frosty start? Old technology, no garage! I used to run the engine on full choke for a minute or two before switching off, after arriving home from work. This filled the carburettor with fuel ready for the morning start. Then leave the wipers up across the windscreen to hold sheets of newspaper to stop frost from forming on the windscreen. Worked every time. Oh happy days!!! Actually much prefer now with heated screens, automatic choke etc etc.

Cheers Concrete

One of the many reasons for not thrashing a cold engine is the theoretical chance of microscopic movement at the interface of a too rapidly warmed cylinder head and a cold block.

I would've the main reason for not thrashing a cold engine is the oil hasn't had a chance to warm up to provide its best lubricating qualities.

I dont remember anyone taking any notice of that, and not so sure it would have made any difference on some of the 70s engines especially Fords they were terrible cold starting, well most of the time.

>I always understood the manual choke often doubled up as a useful hook around which things could be hang<

Just after I started my apprenticeship with Vauxhalls 1970, we had an old lady in with an Austin 1100. car would not run properly, as soon as I got in drivers seat I could see she had used the choke knob fully extended to hang her handbag on

She did not understand what it did, and said she only drove the car in the cold weather

In the 50s Fords were hopeless at cold starting, especially the side-valve ones, but sometime in the 60s they responded to a technique which I don't think was in the handbook, so many owners never knew it.

One pump of the accelerator

Pull the choke out

Fire up without touching the accelerator again.

The only time I drove a Ford with an automatic choke was when I borrowed a Transit, and was advised to start from cold without touching the accelerator. It worked, first time.

Didn't anyone ever use the method I outlined in an earlier reply? I thought it was quite common to do what I used to do. Anyway, it always worked a treat.

Cheers Concrete

Judging by what I saw yesterday morning, drivers need to clear windows so they can see, frost was heavy but hardly anyone cleared much of a view through the windscreen

I hate to think what it would be like in snow

As a teenager, I remember a neighbour who started his car from cold, and kept it at 4,000+ revs or so until it was hot. Often 5-10 mins in the winter.

He sold the cars on after a couple of years. I'd hate to be the unsuspecting punter who bought them next!

I had to do that in the 80s with any Fords I had, Anglia, and Cortina as they were difficult to keep going in the cold and glad to get shot of them.

Never had any problems with BL starting

As a teenager, I remember a neighbour who started his car from cold, and kept it at 4,000+ revs or so until it was hot. Often 5-10 mins in the winter.

He sold the cars on after a couple of years. I'd hate to be the unsuspecting punter who bought them next!

Reminds me of my mother who had a Nova with a Pierburg carb with automatic choke. It worked by pressing the throttle and a bi metallic spring would rotate a stepped quadrant which would hold the throttle open wider for starting as well as operating another flap to restrict the airflow. Opening the throttle allowed the quadrant to be rotated by the bimetallic spring as it warmed but, half way through cleaning off the windows she would get chatting to someone and would be totally oblivious to the engine revs increasing rapidly as the engine was warming.

I eventually changed the carb for a Weber direct replacement.

"...the rich mixture washes the oil off the cylinder walls and accelerates wear."

Concrete, I seem to remember, many years ago, asking about the method you describe upthread, and being told something on the lines of the above. I had BL cars with legendary SU carburettors which were never a problem starting, hot or cold, so I never had to resort to that method.

When I first passed my driving test in 1967 I used to take a company van home, then pick people up the following morning for work. The method I used worked on all the vans I drove. A BL J4, Bedford CF, Commer etc. Seemed a universal method to fill the carb with fuel to facilitate an easy start. The newspaper made defrosting easier too. Couldn't afford it not to start and leave colleagues stranded. By the time vans got more sophistocated I had my first company car, an Escort which was great, even in winter. Cheers Concrete

"...the rich mixture washes the oil off the cylinder walls and accelerates wear."

Concrete, I seem to remember, many years ago, asking about the method you describe upthread, and being told something on the lines of the above. I had BL cars with legendary SU carburettors which were never a problem starting, hot or cold, so I never had to resort to that method

Concrete's method of full choke before switching off the previous night surely just fills the cylinders and manifold with rich mixture; the carburettor float chamber will be full of petrol anyway, won't it?