furrycritter Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I know the 1934-1960 Buicks started by pressing the accelerator pedal. Did the other GM makes and the other American makers use the system as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K8096 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I know some 1940's Packards used that system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy Berger Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Packard was using that system up through 1952 - we had it on our Mayfair hardtop.YFAM, Randy Berger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Guy across the street when I was in high school had one of those Raymond Loewy Studebaker coupes, maybe a '54. It had it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy Berger Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 BillP, I knew Stude had a starter button under the clutch pedal, didn't know they used the accelerator linkage also.YFAM, Randy Berger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Yup, you're right! Under the clutch. Another case of tehchnical modification via bird-brainededness. No wrenches required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Chevrolet had a similar rig around '36 - '37; they called it the "Starter-ator"... the accelerator push rod had a sharp "kink" in it that actuated a linkage which depressed the starter switch on top of the starter motor whenthe accelerator pedal was depressed. When the engine started, a vacuum diaphragm and linkage disengaged the starter link from the accelerator pedal, thus preventing the starter from operating while the engine was running.I think there must have been a tendency for cars with this system to flood easily...most non-restored or semi-restored Buicks, Chevys, Packards with the gas-pedal starter have been adapted to a dash button...I think Nash also had a clutch-pedal starter control...Olds and Pontiac had some sort of funky starter control around '35-'37...I like my '41 De Soto's foot-starter...the pedal pushes against a lever that first engages the pinion with the flywheel, then as it bottoms-out, closes the starter switch... very reliable.It's also fun to start the car when bystanders are watching, keeping both hands on the steering wheel at 12 o'clock...they wonder how you did it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 My Packard has a Startix unit on it. It is a box about the size of a pack of cigarettes mounted on the firewall. It switches full battery amps to the starter when you turn the key switch to 'on', and removes them when it senses current flow from the generator. Thus, you simply turn on the key (gear ought to be in neutral or clutch in) the engine magically rolls over and starts. If it stalls, a brief time delay ensues and it starts again, automatically. Made by Eclipse Machine, Elmira, New York, a future subsidiary of Bendix Corp. Factory option on some cars in the thirties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Bill,I've read about the Startix; is it troublesome or do they really work?I noticed they were only used for a few years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 I had never heard of them b4 I got my car. The car is a 65,000 mile unrestored and the unit came on the car from new ('34). It appears to have not been apart or tinkered with (the case is rivetted). It worked when I got the car 5 years ago & still does. I suspected it being at fault for a starting problem but it was 2 bad batteries that faked me out. There is a rebuilding procedure published some years ago that Stude8 was kind enough to fax me. It explained the device, it is quite clever. Coincidentally, my mother worked for Eclipse as a young woman out of high school making bomb fuses and, by her description, "B-29 engine parts" during WWII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay and Pat Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 Bill P: A small world!! My Dad, Babe Hennigan worked at Eclipse Machine in '32-33 it would be real easy for me to think he had a hand in the manufacture of your starter control. But,alas, he seemed very proud of the fact when he told me years later, that he was on the screw-machine line. Oh!Well LeRaysville Dude, Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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