Need help asap

[joe_db]

There are two dangers to hand cranking:
1. The engine fires/backfires the wrong way. IIRC, the Model T and A have hand adjustable spark advance and starting in advanced mode could cause this.

2. The hand crank you are using is not designed to be pushed free when the engine starts. This is the reason for the angled slots cut in the starting handle and the drawing of a socket.

[marthur]

The hand crank you are using is not designed to be pushed free when the engine starts

This is really worth doing right. I will post pictures of my Universal hand crank in my next post. It looks a little different than the Moyer crank because the Moyer crank is better made. Yes, I have two--got one in an engine parts deal so I keep one on the boat and one at home for the spare motor. The angled part allows the pin on the crankshaft to kick the crank handle out. The straight part grips the pin to turn the motor.

[marthur]

Here are the picts:

The first shows the crank and the grip I use (as taught by the old timers). Except I am gripping the crank to turn it backwards LOL. The second is close up of the slot in the crank.

[hanleyclifford]

I really advise against the hand crank thing unless you know exactly what you are doing, have the right instrument, and have good clean access including a straight escape path form your thumb and arm. The cost of carrying a ready spare starter pales in comparison to the deductible/copay on a broken arm or worse.

[sastanley]

So...Jason, a few posts back, you asked how to kill the engine if you hand cranked it...remember, it won't run if the key is not in the "run" position..(unless you have a separate switch as some do).

The point is, if you really want to hand crank it...set the key to "on", and spin the flywheel...to turn off the engine, you turn the key to off/disable the ignition as normal...this is not a diesel..no fuel starvation needed. The hand crank simulates the "start" position on a key, or a momentary button to engage the starter.

[Sony2000]

The blue crank in the picture is for cranking the other direction.
My diagram was incorrect, and should be reversed for the atomic 4 that has a right hand rotation. The notch should be to the left of the vertical cut.
The Atomic rotates right if standing behind it.

An electric disk grinder can make it in a few minutes. If the socket fits onto the crankshaft nut loosely, all the better.

Open the throttle a little more than usual.
Rotate the crankshaft pulley three revolutions and stop when you to get the beginning of a compression stroke.
Turn on the key.
Quickly rotate the crankshaft a half turn to go past the top of the compression stroke.
If that piston fires, the engine should start, and the socket will fall off.

I've started a few airplanes that way, but he propeller would give me a greater leverage pulling it.

[romantic comedy]

Picture the PTO on the front of the engine. Now picture a pulley there. There is also some extra "shaft" sticking out beyond the pulley.

here is what I did. I ground a notch for a knot of a starting rope to fit in the pulley edge. (just like any rope start) To give the rope a place to coil, I made a disc of Al. I put the disc on the end of the PTO. Now there was a space for the rope to wind around the PTO.

Just wind the rope around, turn on the key, squirt some ether in the carb, and pull.

I did this 17 years ago. Dont have a picture or the pulley.

[lat 64]

So, RC,
Can you remember the diameter of the pulley?
Hanley was alluding to maybe the rope-style starter would not have the leverage that a crank handle would. But you say it worked, so I am considering forwarding the experiment this spring.

A bit safer I think:
Backfire would not be as dangerous with a rope or recoil starter. I have had a rubber handle snapped out of my finger though on an outboard when it backfired. It still stings.

[romantic comedy]

Russ, I would say it was 6 inches. Of course the bigger the better. I had a pull cord snap out of my hands a million times, fooling with out boards. I think it was better then being in the front of the boat, getting hit with the cord.

[lat 64]

Six inches divided by two gives a 3-inch lever. Not much compared to the crank handles shown. Still, you say it started, so that's good.

I'm sure the first time Mrs. Evinrude came back from the lake with a black eye, old Ole got to work and invented the automatic rope rewinder. He saw the way the wife recoiled from him when he went to pull on the thing so he named it ….


The "Recoil".

[sailingchance]

An amazing world

So who woulda thunk it. The very same day I give my mechanic the go ahead to order the armiture and coils a guy walks up and says, "hey, heard you have an old A4 in your boat. I salvaged one about 2 years ago. It's sitting under a tarp over there if you want to take anything off of it..."

Now the parts were already order and shipped. And the starter is for the late model and not an early model, but I am taking the flywheel off and canibalizing the rest, lol. I dont know if any of these things will work (it;'s been sitting outside under a tarp for over a year, but who knows. I might get lucky.

In Spanish Wells of all places.

[Sony2000]

Did you check on the custom duties? They could be 100%!
If you get lucky, it may be wise to ship the starter back to the U.S.

[marthur]

Score one for the good guys!

[edwardc]

I've been following Jason & Kelley's blog (http://www.sailingchance.com/), and it looks like his starter parts have finally arrived.