I live in NY. temps get into the teens in the winter. never used any heater on any of my vehicles that stayed outside. they all had over 250k when I got rid of them and never had a problem with the engines. batteries yes.
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Honestly, with today’s gearing that easily keeps you below 3000 rpm until you’re doing really illegal speeds, I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m on the interstate about 2 minutes after leaving my office. I just accelerate gently and it’s fine. The only time I pre-warm the car is when it’s significantly below freezing, and then the pre- warm is for me, not the engine. 
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Both will come up to temp quickly with the aerodynamic load of highway speeds. The trans matters little as the fluid is very thin to begin (about 5w oil) and is likely heated a bit by the radiator mounted cooler. There is some fuel to be saved keeping the engine warm but that is offset by the energy used for the heater so… net zero most likely.
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My first car was a '73 Maverick. It got me through blizzards. It was an ugly tan vehicle with one quarter panel a different color. I once parked at a supermarket, and next to me was the identical car of a different color, but having one tan panel that would have been a match for my missing colored panel. They looked like two cows. Years later, I became friends with the owner, and we had a nice laugh over them. A great car!
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Yes, but would rather attain operating temperature before imposing the loads.
Wish that Whelen made their [Liberty II] aerodynamic.
Years ago I would remove the Federal Signalight bar after delivering to a distance hospital.
Just a thumb screw on each of four 1/4-inch bolts. Shouldo that with this one.
Why? For your comfort? Or for the car’s reliability?
For thengine. My comfort is unimportant.
Then don’t worry about it. I already told you there is virtually no wear due to the quality of the oils you use. Just because the heater isn’t warm, doesn’t mean the car isn’t properly lubricated. You are using the right stuff, maintaining the car, and driving it gently, it will run for a half million miles or more with that treatment.
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I would read the old Popular Mechanix and Popular Science magazines. One of the contributors, possible Tom McCahill, recommendations for extreme cold weather: rocking your car in gear to get the engine to rotate over before attempting to start it then to drive very slowly to allow the suspension to gently flex. Of course this dealt with pre-WWII cars.
My experience was the same as yours, Flathead sixes with six volt systems, Wisconsin winter, outside, no problem. Various V8s, same.
Never required a jump start.
My brother had an early 70s K5 Blazer, installed a coolant heater, tank type. He faithfully plugged it in. He told me it still took a long time to warm up in cold weather. I notice the plug he used was same circuit as the garage lights, so he would plug in the heater then turn off the electric power to the heater!
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Ha! Hope you told him abouthat.
As Mustangman said, don’t worry about it, by the time you get your seatbelt buckled the oil pressure is up and circulating to all engine parts.
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Yes I did, solved the problem.
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Transmission will crap out before the motor anyway, most likely.
Back in the 70’s I had a cousin who lived in Messena NY which is East of Watertown NY and right on the Canadian border. It’s not unheard of to reach -40 on some winter nights there. He lived in an apartment so didn’t have the luxury of being able to use a block heater. So on the real cold nights he’d drain the oil and bring it in the house. Then put the warm oil back in the next morning. What a royal pain.
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I had a split assignment as a professor of mathematics and computer science and a research design consultant. One of my clients as a research design consultant was a school superintendent. In one of our meetings during cold weather, he mentioned the problem of getting the diesel engines on the school buses started in the morning. That made me think about my elementary and junior high school days. The school bus I rode was on a 1946 Chevrolet chassis. That bus always started no matter how cold the weather. While my classmates on other routes were often late because the bus on their route wouldn’t start, they got to miss the dreaded arithmetic class which was always taught in the morning. This was the days of owner/operators of the school buses, so maybe our driver did better maintenance on his bus.
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The logic is that northern vehicles do not last as long as southern vehicles, all else being equal. When I lived in Cleveland Ohio it was pretty common to see imported southern vehicles in the used car lots.
yes, because cars and garages never catch on fire…
I wouldn’t do this. But then, I live in southern AZ, just so I won’t ever have to. 
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This is a closed garage? What temperature does it get in there?
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I’m talking about wearing out. Rusting out is completely different and never should have had anything to do with wearing out. Someone said that northern vehicles rust out to try to show that northern vehicles wear out sooner due to cold starts.
You can’t tell about the engine because the car is scrapped from rust and corrosion before the engine is worn out, on the average. When I had the facility to do so, I used to hose off the underside of my cars every night after exposure to road salt. The only car I had that seemed to resist rust was a 1959 Fiat 1200 sedan. Where the undercoat was chipped away, the exposed metal turned yellow but did not rust.
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