IML: Life in Winterpeg, Manitscolda

[Brad Hogg <roadhogg@xxxxxxx>]

I've lived through nearly 40 Manitoba winters and over half of those I've
been a motorist.  With temperatures going down to -40F (-40C) in the winter
(and I'm not talking wind chill!), Winnipeg is a good place to learn how to
survive in the cold.  I've learned a few things.

What you say is so true.  It is said that the Eskimos have about a dozen or
more words for snow.  There are so many different kinds of snow.  There is
wet, dry, packed, fluffy, etc etc.  In the winter here, things get really
nasty when the temperature is within 5 deg of freezing either way.  When its
cold, all you have to deal with is the cold, and sometimes the wind.

As for the vehicle, there are a few items that are important for trouble
free winter motoring.
1. Keep engine in good tune.
2. Use light weight or synthetic oil.  5W30 multigrade or 10W30 100%
synthetic.
3. Have a good block heater.  In a 440, its best to have two, one on each
side.
4. Have a good battery.  In cold temps, a battery looses half of its
cranking power.  I never buy anything less than a 1000 CCA battery. (Cold
Cranking Amps)

There are many more things that will help make winter a non-event but these
are the basics for keeping your car mobile in the cold.  There are tire
considerations, schemes to avoid frozen fuel lines, cold weather survival
kits, booster cables, ice scrapers, winter wipers, battery blankets,
interior heaters, and much more.

My big blocks are excellent winter engines.  I drove my 1978 Newport (400
cid) for two winters and it doesn't have any block heaters, having come from
the west coast.  I just put in 100% synthetic oil and a good battery and it
started perfectly every time.  I drove my 77 NYB (440 cid) all last winter
and it performed perfectly.  That car has two nice big block heaters.

I think the key is to not expect things to be as they are in the warm
weather.  Everything will be a little different, some things won't work as
well and some things won't work at all...live with it.  The weather has
warmed up every spring for the last 40 years so I expect it will again next
spring too.

-19F (-28C) here now with -40 wind chill and going colder tonight.

Please quote this message in your reply.  Otherwise I will be unable to
reply to your message.  Thanks.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "triggermortis" <alan__harper@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 12:43 AM
Subject: IML: Canuckistan and Scarberia


Yesterday, still technically Spring, in Kingston, Ontario, the temperature
was -27 C.  I think that is -17 F.

The snow, in that temperature, is not wet.  It is dry and you can brush it
off the windows pretty easy.  It doesn't stick, like when it is near
freezing.  It is pretty mushy then (just below the freezing point) and
sticks together.  Starting the car is another story.  I guess the oil is
like mud.  I don't know how much expansion, or rather contraction, of the
motor parts, causes them to bind.  The battery doesn't produce as much
energy, and of course, you need plenty of energy to turn over that 440
engine, at low temperature and thick oil.  I didn't even try to start either
of my NYBs.  One has a cover on it now.

I did drive the 76 NYB, last weekend for several hours.  It was cold then,
too, but not -27.  I think it was about -15 C.  It started up pretty easy,
though.  I don't have a block heater.

My CD player didn't want to play.  I got an error message on the face plate,
so I tried to use the radio.  The radio turned on, but the aerial wouldn't
budge.  I could hear the motor clicking, but no movement.  I did pay
attention to a couple of posters recently about lubricating it.  Sounds like
I should use a dry lube, silicon or teflon, maybe graphite.  After the car
warmed up a bit, the CD player started working, though.  I hate driving
around with no music or radio.

My girlfriend calls the NYB my Yakuza car.  In Japan, big, luxury American
cars are not popular with most people.  They are very popular with the
Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, so they have a stigma of being associated with
crime figures.  But she is pretty comfortable in it.  I like all the room I
can get, being a big guy.  She doesn't need all that room, so if we are
sharing the cost of gas for a long trip, she would much rather take my
T-Bird, which uses about 45% of the gas that the big 440 uses.  There is a
considerable difference in gas expense for a trip.

The temperature today shot up to -3 C.  Wow, I am going to put on my shorts.

Canuckistan???  Well, I used to live in Scarboro (part of Toronto) and we
called it Scarberia.

Alan Harper
1964 Mercury 3/4 ton flatbed
1969 Dodge D100 pickup
1976 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham
1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham St. Regis
1992 Ford T-Bird
2001 Harley Davidson FXDX Dyna Super Glide Convertible
alan__harper@xxxxxxxxx
preservationist of our chrome heritage
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM

=============



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