Your Habits for Starting Her up?

[Scott Mc.]

Originally posted by Ron61


850 Holly double pumper with no choke. Turn fuel pump on and wait for a second or so. Floor gas pedal once or twice depending on how cold it is and how long car has been setting between starts. Play with throttle until it idles by itself. Drive first few blocks at around 2,000 RPM to make sure I set every car alarm in hearing distance off.

Ron

This one I LIKE!!!! Try idling at 2000RPM in your office parking garage...NOW THAT IS FUN!!!!

[Mr.Fixit]

If it's early morning or late night, I treat every fire up like the very first time the engine ran. Immedialtely bring motor up to 2500 RPM and keep it there for 20 minutes, with open headers. Sure, the neighbors complain, but I can't hear them.

[agro1]

Neighbors, what neighbors ??

[Hal Copple]

walk out into the garage, reach over, slip the Tremec into neutral, grab the rollbar, give a shove and roll it out onto the driveway, so the exhaust fumes don't asphyxiate my Trusty Weimerainer Abby, who sleeps by my SPF, guarding it.

put my cell phone on the tranny tunnel,

Then take the key out of my pocket, slip it into the ignitioin, then hop in, and take my time to put on all five points, which i always do, no matter what, then snug them down just right. Then get back out and turn on the battery switch i forgot to do, then hop back in and put the Simpson five point back on again.

Flick on the Accusump, and while it pressurizes the oil system, put on my gloves and sunglasses, re-arrange my phone and reading glasses, then lift up the aircraft safety switch cover, and flip up the starter toggle, and if it does not fire immediatly (i have a CSI Platinum grade starter, so it cranks really really fast), tickle the Pro Holley HP, and it will catch, so then i ease into the throttle to bring the revs up to about 1500 rpm or so, and hold it there for about 30 seconds, which warms the intake enough that i can back a little and then swing around and head on down the driveway, with minimal clutch slip. Hit the button to bring down the garage door, and yell at Abby that she can come back from the woods now, where she runs in panic when i crank the Great Stroker, "i am leaving, watch the house, be back later"

I am watching my oil pressure all the time, and when it stabilizes at a cold pressue, flick off the lighted Accusump switch i have mounted low on the dash, to maintain a reserve of oil pressure for the next start-up.

I also watch my fuel pressure quickly come up and also stabilize at 7.4 psi on the Ex NASCAR VDO gage.

At the corner stop sign, it won't run well enough (because it has no choke) to let me gently motor away from the stop, so i rev it just a bit, and pop the clutch, and chirp the reaar 275's, and spin it to the left, and drove on out of our development.

This latter action is considered an act of war by the dog that lives in the house at the corner, who just goes nuts when i do this.

By the next stop light, in a few hundred yards, it has enough heat in the intake that i can pretty well drive it without any clutchslip, as it further warms up on the several miles of back road to the first stop light.

I never ever give it much throttle, and i keep the rpm under about 2000 until i have the engine warm, which doesn't take long.

Driving away in my car is like an aircraft check list. I like it, especially when i am parked in front of a crowd of people outside a trendy restaurant. I never hurry then, ever.

If my wife and i are leaving in two cars she has a three mile headstart on me before i am aggivating the dog at the corner stop sign.

[Clois Harlan]

Hal
Our routine is similar except I have to sit in mine once it starts with my foot on the throtle holding the RPM's at about 1200 until my temp comes up to about 160. It will not idle by itself until then.

By the way nice playscript explaination....are you a programmer?

Clois

[DAVID GAGNARD]

351-W, approx. 350 hp,Holley 600 vac. sec.,no choke, put gas pedal to the floor twice,hit the starter and she fires instantly,after oil pressure comes up to about 55/60 lbs. at 1000rpm idle I let out the clutch in reverse for about the length of the car,causing it to pull some vacum,after that she will idle just fine,usually let her warm up to at least 160 degrees before heading out.....

David

[ronzara]

I usually perform this routine:

Throw on either my "Real Men Drive Ford's" OR "Carrol Shelby For President" t-shirt and My Cobra Cap, .....then I tip toe to the garage to avoid the wife who has asked me to do a number a odd jobs due to the nice weather. (I live in Myrtle Beach, SC).

I slip into the garage and grab my keys from the rack... sheepishly grinning with my eye balls cutting left to right surveying my chances for a clean get away. I quietly lift the garage door..... All the while awaiting that Cobra-Interuptus Scream, "where do you think you're going".

I scurry over to the Cobra and slide in, burying the key in the ignition while simultaneously bumping the throttle connected to my Road Demon Carb. I flip the key ON and the dash lights up. Now I am ready for my escape.......

I pull the car into NEUTRAL and step back out. With one hand pulling the Rollbar, and the other on the Steering Wheel, I guide the car quietly out of the garage. Luckily my drive slopes downward,... So I hop in and pull the door shut as it begins to pick up speed.

I reach the mailbox just as I click my 4 point harness together. I bump the ignition and my 351W cracks to life. I stop and the end of the drive and look for on-coming.... CLEAR as the Blues Sky above.... I Turn left and Try to resist the urge to leave 2 black paths of evidence pointing the direction of my escape.... But the urge is overwelming and My tires erupting in a ploom of white smoke as I skate across the center line.

The pipes are roaring, tires are squeeling, Smoke is rolling,.. I shift in to 2nd and glance in the mirror to examine the carnage I have created with my Asphalt-Kicking serpent..... through the fog, I see the wife running down the drive , shaking her fist and saying......... something.........but....... " I CAN'T HEAR YOU, HONEY" .......... I'll Be Back SSSSSSsssssssoon

[M & M]

Scott,

I have holley with choke.... same with all cars (non-efi) that have choke. Push pedal down to set choke and prime. Release pedal COMPLETELY. Turn key and fire up..... let choke do the job. Depending on choke idle speed (if it is too high, tap throtle once) do not touch pedal..... let choke do the job. Warm as you want, I usually wait until I see movement on the temp gauge before departing and keep the foot out of it until I hit normal operating temp.

Regards,
Mike

[agro1]

My water temp gets up there pretty quick, but my oil temp takes a long time. If I DON'T put my foot in it a bit the oil temp stays very low. I have to actually drive it hard to get some temp in it...At first I thought my guage was broken...

[bwana50]

ronzara - that was hilarious!

[Dan Stryffeler]

A little off topic, but when I was in my 'build' stage, I had the car up on jack stands. The neighbor wanted to show his buddy the car, so I fired it up with a remote starter button (wiring harness was not in yet)... all three of us were grinning from ear to ear.

They started pointing and yelling... me, being the idiot, just kept revving it up. Finally figured out that they were pointing at the tires spinning at about 40mph. Got lucky that day, she didn't fall off the stands. I can't remember if the car was in a forward gear or reverse - but either the garage/house would have bit it - or - major traffic pileup.

Winter startups are easy now, the car has been at the performance shop each winter for the last two years fixing all my mistakes (I'm contributing big-time to the economy - just doing my responsibilty as a U.S. citizen!).

The car is in garage heaven, clean floors, warm, surrounded by some pretty cool car 'buddies'.

- Dan

[DonC]

Since the weather here has gone to hell in a hand basket and it’s
going to take Peter and his ERA elves another 8 or 9 months to finish
my turnkey, I was getting bored (been 4 months since the order was placed)
and was reading some of the old threads and came across this one.
While I don’t have a Cobra now I used to have one and dug out some old manuals
and ran off the starting procedure for it. Sometimes I wonder how we ever got anything done after going through all of this.

BEFORE START
*1. Canopy hatch - as desired.

*2. Knife and loose equipment - stowed and
secure.

3. Seat and pedals - adjust.

*4. Safety belt and shoulder harness fastened.

5. Shoulder harness lock - operation of inertia reel.

6. Door jettison handle - secure and safetied.

*7. Cyclic - position and trigger guard down.

*8. Collective - position, friction - OFF, downlock removed.

*9. Throttle friction - OFF.

10. SL, searchlight, switch - STOW

*11. AC circuit breakers - In WEAPON SIGHT).

12. BAT switch - OFF.

13. GEN switch - OFF.

14. INVTR switch - OFF.

15. NON-ESS BUS - MANUAL

*16. ENG DE-ICE switch - OFF.

17. FORCE TRIM switch - FORCE TRIM

18. FUEL switch - OFF.

19. ENG OIL BYP switch - as desired.

20. GOV switch - AUTO.

21. Free air temperature - check.

22. SCAS power - OFF.

23. Canopy removal arm/fire unit safety pin - remove and stow.

24. Signal distribution panel - as desired.

25. Instruments - check static indications, condition, and markings.

*26. Altimeter - set.

27. VIS/IVSI - note indication.

28. RMI - set to ADF position. *29. EMER COL HYD switch - OFF.

30. WING STORES JETTISON switch Cover closed and safetied.

31. Compass slaving switch - as desired.

32. Clock - wound, running. and set.

33. Weapons select switch - as desired.

*34. MASTER ARM switches - OFF.

35. GUNNER/PILOT CONTROL switch as desired.

*36. POINT / AREA FIRE switch - as desired.

37. WG ST JETTISON SELECT - BOTH.

38. RKT PR SEL - set to 1. 39. WG ST ARM switch - OFF.

40. SMOKE grenade switches - OFF.

41. FM radio - OFF and set..

42. PROXIMITY WARNING - OFF.

43. PITOT HEAT switch - OFF.

44. RAIN REMOVAL - ENVR CONT switch - OFF.

45. HEAT OR VENT control- PULL.

46. Vents - as desired.

47. Avionics - OFF, SN on desired frequencies.

48.
Deleted.
49.
Deleted.
50.
Deleted.

51. INSTR and CONSOLE LTS - as desired.

*52. ANTI-COLL LT - ON.

53. POSITION LTS switch - as required. Steady for night; OFF for day.

54. DC circuit breakers - IN.

55. Cockpit lights - OFF, Check condition and security. Set as required.

3-17. Starting Engine.

*1. Helmets and gloves - on.

*2. Helmet Visors - down.

*3. BA T switch - ON, OFF for GPU start.

WARNING
When helicopter is armed with rockets, make start with battery only, because it is hazardous to place an APU (or any electrical generating equipment) in same revetment or parking area due to danger of accidental firing of rockets.
*4. APU - Give signal for APU connection. *5. Intercom - as desired.

5. RPM WARNING - OFF.

7. CHIP DET - Test.

*8. GOV RPM INCR/DECR switch decrease 10 seconds.

*9. Throttle - Check full travel and operation of engine idle stop, and idle release switch.

*10. Throttle -Set - rotate to engine idle and position just to the abort side of the stop.

*11.FUEL switch - FUEL.

*12. MASTER CAUTION WARNING lights and RPM - ON.

*13. CAUTION panel and MASTER CAUTION lights - TEST and RESET.

*14. Fireguard - posted.

15. Main rotor - clear and displaced.

*16. Voltmeter - minimum 22 vdc.

17. Deleted.

*18. Starter trigger - energize, start clock.

19. Deleted.

*20. Collective - full down during start.

21. Cyclic - centered.

*22. EGT and gas producer gage - monitor.

*23. Starter trigger - release at 40 percent N1.

*24. GEN switch - ON.

*24. INVTR switch - MAIN.

*25. Engine and transmission oil pressure proper indication.

*26. Throttle - slowly advance past the flight idle stop to engine idle position. Manually check stop by attemptirlg to roll throttle off.

*27. APU start - APU disconnected. battery ON.

28. Wing stores ground safety pins removed.


29. Instruments and console lights - as desired.

3-18. Engine Runup.

*1. Gas producer (Nl) - 68 to 72 percent.

2. Throttle friction - as desired.

*3. Engine oil pressure - 25 psi minimum at flight idle.

*4. Transmission oil pressure - check.

*5. Fuel pressure - check.

*6. MASTER CAUTION light - OFF.

*7. SCAS POWER switch - POWER (check No-Go lights illuminated).

8. Force Trim switch - FORCE TRIM. Check force gradients operational. Press cyclic momentary interrupt switch (pilot then gunner) ensuring magnetic brakes release.

9. Force trim switch - OFF; check pedals and cyclic for freedom of movement and tip-path plane correlation.

10. Hydraulic system number 1 -. Hold switch to hydraulic system 1 (system 2 out). Check master caution and HYD PRESS #2 caution lights ON. All controls free.

11. Hydraulic system number 2 - Hold switch to system 2 (system 1 out). Check master caution and HYD PRESS # 1 caution lights ON. Pedals stiff, cyclic and collective free.

12. Hydraulic test switch - release, lights out.

13. Force trim switch - FORCE TRIM.

*14. Throttle - slowly advance until rpm is 6000 :t50. Check throttle full open. Do not exceed engine limitations.

*16. Radios and navigation aids - ON.

17. XPDR, Transponder - STBY.

*18. GOV INCR-DECR switch - actuate through full range slowly to 6700 rpm. Set rpm at 6600. During increase-decrease check observe low rpm audio and rpm warning light out at 300 rotor rpm

*19. Instruments - normal.

*20. Check for voltage indication as follows: 27.0 Volts 80°F (27°C) and above
28.0 Volts 32°F to 80°F (O°C to 27°C) 28.5 volts 32°F (O°C) and below.

21. Pitot heat switch - ON, note ammeter increase, then OFF.

22. GEN switch - OFF. Master CAUTION light and DC GENERATOR CAUTION lights ON.
23. NON-ESS BUS switch - NORMAL. Check for illumination of the AFT FUEL BOOST caution light.

24. GEN switch - ON, caution lights out.

*25. NON-ESS BUS switch - As required. NORMAL for day; MANUAL for night or weather operation. The MANUAL position should be used at any time it would not be desirable to lose cockpit lights and weapon firing capability in the event of generator failure.

26. INVTR switch - Move to OFF, check pressures and caution light, then standby position; note normal operation of standby inverter, return switch to MAIN position.

27. Engine De-ice switch - Switch to de-ice position. Check EGT rise.

28. Engine De-ice switch - OFF check EGT decrease.
*29. SCAS - Check NO-GO lights out. Engage PITCH, ROLL and YAW channels one at a time.

30. SCAS - Gunner press SCAS cyclic disengage button (Pilot notes channels off).

31. SCAS - Pilot re-engage SCAS channels press SCAS cyclic disengage button (note channels off).

32. SCAS - Pilot check NO-GO lights out re-rengage channels.

33. AFT FUEL BOOST pump - FWD FUEL BOOST pump dc circuit breaker - out, fuel pressure normal; minimum 5 psi. Caution and warning lights on.

34. Engine fuel pump - AFT FUEL BOOST pump DC circuit breaker - out, check fuel pressure zero; AFT FUEL BOOST pump caution light - ON; reset master caution, allow engine to operate without boost pumps for one minute.

*35. Magnetic compass - check with known heading.

*36. Radio magnetic indicator - check heading w.th magnetic compass.

*37. Altimeter - set.

*38. Attitude indicator - set.

*39. Canopy hatches - secured for flight.

40. Forward fuel boost pump - Check FWD FUEL BOOST circuit breaker - in; check light out; pressure normal (minimum five psi).

41. AFT FUEL BOOST pump circuit breaker - in; check all lights out; pressure normal.

42. Signal distribution panel - as desired.

43. Avionics - check as required.

*44.Force trim - as desired.

Boredom can result in my coming up with some really weird stuff.
Oh yeah, here’s a picture of me with my “other” Cobra.
DonC

[jwheel55]

What a lot of palaver. Switch on the ignition, press starter button and the engine starts. Seems very straight forward to me. Jonny.

[CowtownCobra]

Love that cobra helicopter, used to work on them at Bell.

Starting a 4 wheel cobra; have a 670 holley street avenger with choke. Pump throttle one time. Then take my foot off. Starts first time every time. And I always let it idle for several minutes to warm up before driving off.

[madgrinder]

I am new here, but I'll post anyway.

I don't have a Cobra...yet.

I DO have a Sunbeam Alpine with a 289, tremec-5, and 4 (count 'em) Weber IDA's on a Shelby manifold.

Starting procedure:

1) lower top so I can get in (I'm 6'5")

2) flip av-style switch for fuel pump and listen for pressure

3) pull choke lever 1/2

4) depress start button with left hand

5) while engine is spinning, turn on ignition

6) allow engine proper warm-up and push choke back in

7) go scare the begeezus out of yuppies in SUV's