I know what you mean I have driven 50s60s 70s all the way to present cars. All the old ones always have such a soul to them but we’re also lots of headaches as well but there wasn’t vary much that you couldn’t fix with a simple tool kit. Don’t get me wrong the handeling and the ability to stop are way better now so is all around safety. I have always loved manual transmission. The connection you have with the car is imortant. Traction control, abs, stability control the reason so many people have accidents is either they are pre occupied and or don’t know how to control the vehicle there in and relie to much on some computer to do it for them till it doesn’t work any more or it breaks. Yea my wife’s Prius gets 50+mpg but it’s got so many beeps chimes sensors auto park assist ect I can’t stand to even ride in it. Yes it’s safe relieable and I only have to fill up the tank once every 2-3 weeks but it’s just not for me. Power windows eh never had any problems flappy paddle grear box useless unless you have a super/hyper car or Indy car. Air bags awesome rather a little red face than an imprint of a steering wheel on/in my chest. So yes a little tech in the car good but it should never overwhelm the car it should have a balence. Never again will I have a flappy paddle gear box or automatic transmission. I know that limits me but I will only have a manual transmission. That’s what I love ever since I was a small kid it’s just part of who I am.
I could do without Electronic Air Temperature Control; or at least Ford’s version of it.
The units have a number of vacuum solenoids with delicate springs, a pile of O-rings, and some soft foam rubber as seals.
This thing works like a pipe organ in use and of course with age the leaks begin and any function or temp needed is a roll of the dice.
I want manually operated heater / defroster controls. I could always find a setting for the temperature and the combination defroster and floor heat. I don’t want the cheap plastic where the cable retainer breaks off. If I can’t have that; bring back the temperature wheel like a 72 Cadillac had. It would turn the fan speed up or down as needed. Nobody ever had to change a blend door. Air bags with the hand pump like the Ford Falcon had.
My friend who had one didn’t complain and claimed that it had a valve that stopped when the tire’s pressure reached the minimum allowable.
[quote=“common_sense_answer, post:8, topic:102592”]
Add that to the NO heat and defrost [/quote]
I didn’t say everything about it was elegant.
Those were notorious for hitting you in the chin. And they were for cars with 5HP engines. I don’t know how well hand-cranking would work on a modern car. I’ve thought of a hand-cranked generator to charge the battery.
I have a battery booster that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I’ve never needed it to start when I’ve been driving around, but when I use it I keep it onboard and plugged in in case I do.
I’m reassured about how much you-all like your automated stuff. Maybe it won’t be so bad if my pickup fails before I do.
A modern 1.5 liter four should be easily hand crankable, after all, the Ford Model T had a three liter engine. The 2.8 liter fours used in Piper Cubs were easily hand propped, the only way to start those early planes.
The biggest problem is where would you put the crank on a modern cross mounted front wheel drive engine so you wouldn’t have to remove the left front tire in order to insert the crank? Also, considering the reliability of a modern car, it would add cost for a feature most people would never use.
I do remember a hand crank kit for the old VW Beetle. It was a special generator pulley that was designed so you could wrap a rope around it and start the engine lawn mower style.
The starter takes about 100 amps at 12 volts for about 2-5 seconds. that is 1200 watts or 6000 joules at 5 seconds. Allowing for 50% efficiency for generator and battery, you would need to provide 12000 joules.
If you are in good shape, vigorous exercise produces about 100 watts of power, eg biking. But using only one arm for cranking limits that, say to about 25 watts. 12000 J / 25W = 480 sec or 8 minutes.
10 minutes of vigorous cranking to charge the battery to start your car? no one is going to do that.
You’s never use it, George. It might make you feel better - like a hand crank knob on hidden headlamp doors - but you wouldn’t use it.
Hand crank a modern high compression engine? With fuel injection? If your battery didn’t put out at least 9 volts at about a 10 amp current draw, the fuel pump wouldn’t run and the injectors wouldn’t fire. Even Harley Davidson did away with the kick start! 
Either my brother’s '64 Bug didn’t have the claimed “valve”, or it functioned as well as the heater did–in other words…not at all. But, as I stated–and as CSA confirmed–this setup worked for only a very short period of time before the tanks failed to hold pressure, due to bursting seams.
I can think of a lot of adjectives for the VWs of that era, but “elegant” is not one of them.
Recently, at a mall, I saw very innovative cellphone charging stations. There were several pedal-operated mechanisms to generate one’s own electricity for charging a phone. It seems that they were attractive to teenagers, although most of them were pedaling so slowly that it would probably take a few hours to recharge their phones.
The power steering pump belt snapped a month ago. The steering felt very numb because of all the seals that I had to worked against. I would rather have manual steering at that point. It would be heavy, but it would return to center naturally.
Way back in pre Beatle (John, Paul, George & Ringo) days I often hand cranked a 4 cylinder Case tractor and I weighed less than 150 pounds. Hand starting required using the choke and throttle to get fuel into the cylinders while rotating the crank with the ignition off. Once the cylinders were primed the crank was moved until compression was felt, then the ignition was turned on and the crank was quickly pulled the 1/4 turn past TDC and the engine would fire up and run. It was a medium sized tractor, probably 20+/- horsepower(draw-bar). I wouldn’t want to do that these days and I am nearly 100 pounds heavier. But if necessary I could.
And starting a 2 liter 4 cylinder isn’t much more difficult than starting a .5 liter single cylinder.
Hahahahaha - April Fools, right? No way. You now have 4 cylinders, one of which will always be on compression. Much harder.
But only one cylinder at a time will be on compression.
Here’s how easy it was
and this man makes it look TOO easy
Somebody used to hand cranking a particular engine will be able to start it, sure. Has nothing to do with how much harder a 4 would be than a 1 cylinder engine. One uses the 3 non-compression strokes on a single to get the crank rotating rapidly to help get through the compression stroke. Those 3 strokes are now all compression strokes of one of the cylinders in a 4.
My family has 2 1920s John Deere tractors. They don’t have a front crank but they do a fly wheel is a lot easier to start than the crank. Defnatly don’t miss starting those in the winter. Even when you start them on gas it’s still some work espically when the wheel weighs over 100+lbs your turning those pistons through the cycles. I will say it’s a really neat thing once you get to the compression cycle and it kicks over. But when it doesn’t it’s like ugh and you keep going lol. Not something I want on my car though.
I had to chuckle when you wrote about only having to fill up the tank in your wife’s Prius every 2-3 weeks. If I announced I was going somewhere and my Wife said “why don’t you take my car” I could count on the low fuel light being illuminated for who knows how long.
Both my MGAs had a hand crank. I never used them but my Father wanted to give it a try. He had no problems starting on the first try. His first car was a new 1926 Model T roadster so he knew what he was doing.
In searching for the last automobile sold with a hand crank I found this factory owners manual for the 2CV.
http://www.2cvclub.pl/dokumentacja/nowe2014/2CV%20handbook.pdf
Who could ask for anything more?
Anyone besides me remember a starter kit for VWs that allowed person to start the engine with a rope? I remember seeing these kits in the J. C. Whitney catalog.
For a truly manual car, there was the King Midget. Electric start was an option. The stripped model had a recoil starter. There was no problem with either power windows or manual windows as the King Midget had extremely reliable side curtains. I
My 4 cyl. Allis Chalmers tractor has both battery and removable hand crank.
I have propped Piper Cherokees with a 150hp. 4cyl Lycoming. It wasn’t difficult.
There is another way. I was the go-to-guy for the owner of a Stearman biplane with a radial engine.
I would stand on the lower wing and insert a crank handle. I would get a hand-cranked flywheel spinning and then pull a clutch handle to engage the engine to start it, worked great.
CSA