Amazon: cold weather operation

[gjr0]

'67 wagon, bored to 2L, dual SU carbs

It is starting to cool off here. First snow this morning. 26°F / -3°C. Usually warms up to 45°F / 9°C during the day.

How much do you typically lower the jet from summer settings ?
How do you keep snow/rain from getting into the heater air inlet when the car sits overnight ?
Anything else you usually do ?
Thanks
Greg

[Ron Kwas]

Greg;

I'd check Chokes, and that Cables and linkages are adjusted to provide about 1/4" of Jet lowering when Control is fully pulled (checked at the carbs to assure there is no lost motion due to Sheath slipping at clamps. See also: https://www.sw-em.com/Heat_from_Heat...et_to_COLD.htm ...written for Heater Control Valve, but no less applicable to Choke Cables).

...and checking HCV cable action and having good control of the HCV for the winter is not such a bad thing either...

There are provisions for rainwater getting into cowlvent to simply drain away...snow or ice which covers and blocks the vent should be cleaned away when cleaning windshield, so that fresh air is available for defrost/heat...check with a light for biomass which has made it through screen, which can block drains or if excessive, freshair to Heatercore ...to remove, carefully pop off cowlvent screen at clips (use a flat tool like a puttyknife, taped to protect bodywork from scratches, snuck between screen and body, to press and help release clips), vacuum out debris.

Fall-heading-to-winter-greetings from Connecticut!

Edit: Tip: If there are no backseat passengers whose toes need thawing, simply block rear floorvents with pieces of foam, and instantly have more defrost air available up front! See: https://www.sw-em.com/Cooling_System...re_defrost_air ...Minnesota even gets honorable mention!

[Derek UK]

As Ron says, having the choke cable set up just right helps a lot for the first few miles of motoring. Choke knob has to be about 1/8" out before the cable starts to pull the jets down. That first 1/8" opens the butterflies enough to increase the revs to about 1000-1100 rpm to stop the stalling without the chugging you often get with lots of choke. Seperate screws set the revs increase and lots of carbs aren't properly adjusted to do this. When very cold and the car has been sat for a while it often needs a lot of cranking and full choke to start but the choke can be quickly be pushed back to about half way. 20 second cranking not unusual the fuel tank is a long way from the pump. Many drop the jets down 1 flat for the winter months to make it run richer but if yours doesn't need it, your mpg won't be reduced. Stay warm!

[gjr0]

On chilly mornings I have noticed a little bit of variation in the engine RPM when cruising at light throttle. If I have forgotten to push the choke all the way back in, it doesn't do it. That suggests that it is a touch lean when the air is cold.

As far as the carbs being set up right, that is an on going issue. One seems to affect the other and then the front one is off... Getting the fast idle set is another try, try and try again process. At full choke the jets are down about 5/16" and the little cable clips on the ears of the carbs try to hold the choke cables but are ineffective.

I looked under the dash to see what was happening and found that the sheathing on the heater valve control cable had been pulled down 1/2" on the bottom and the top 1 1/2" had crumbled away. I fabricated a replacement out of a piece of snowblower throttle cable. Now I get full open and fully closed. The heater should be much more effective. There aren't any backseat passengers so I'll block up the floor vent too.

The issue with the air inlet is that there is enough leftover moisture that gets blown up on the cold windshield and causes it to fog up. The other morning it frosted on the inside of the glass.

It looks like Connecticut is getting a touch of what we have had.

[Derek UK]

Good luck with the choke cable adjustment. There should be a pair of cables. They are not to expensive new. You do see cars with only one cable, usually to the front carb but this isn't a good idea. The instructions in the manual seem complex but as you get to understand how to sort out the screw to cam adjustment you get to know what it does. The air box has a drain tube down the bulkhead under the hood. Quite a big tube but can easily get blocked if you are in a leafy or pine needle area. The heater box itself has a drain hole in the bottom, inside the cabin. It should have a pukka rubber drain tube on it which routes the water out through the tunnel. No tube means water in the car. Again this can get blocked up. The retained water then rusts out the bottom of the box.

[142 Guy]

For the 2 series (and 7 series?) Volvo you can get cowl covers / snow caps / snow covers. They look like mini hood scoops, the intent being to prevent snow / rain / debris from dropping vertically down into the air inlet. The Amazon does not appear to have the equivalent; but, you might be able to adapt the 240 covers.

The cowl air inlet covers do not eliminate the problem. They just reduce the amount of moisture that enters into the plenum. Make sure that the heater box drains and the cowl drains are clean and allowing moisture to drain out.

If you are parking outside overnight where snow and other stuff can accumulate over the cowl air inlet, the common bodge around here for older cars with exposed inlets was to throw an old towel over the air inlet to prevent snow from dropping down into the air inlet. This is a slightly more up-scale version of an old towel
https://coverking.com/products/1986-...n=mainMaterial