Morris Minor Owners Club

This may sound like a stupid question but here goes...

Emily's (my 1275) battery went flat this morning so she won't start, now I've never used a starting handle before so what do you do? I've heard stories of injuries caused by them. Any special techniques?

Thanks

ive neve started my car with the starting handle but ive got close up this the braket thing on my 69 minor. Dont take my word for it though. That thing the starter handle pushes again looks like it will slip off if it is turned anti clockwise, and ther should be a movable part on the handle so in theory you should be safe. But as mentiond before, dont take my word for it!. Id wait until some one whos done it before has posted.

Nearly broke my wrist once trying to use the starting handle! I personally would never try to handle start a 1275 due to the higher compression, especially Emily!

Easy.
Make sure you DON'T hook your thumb over the handle as if it kicks back then it can be painful
I feed handle in and gently wing engine over until I can start to feel resistance / compression and the handle is in approx 2.00 o'clock position.
With ignition on, choke pulled out (if cold) then it's a quick turn to start.
99% of the time, with my cars at least, it starts up straight away.

In France I had my voltage regulator fail. I fully charged the battery and also bought a new one. Using the handle I managed to drive the 800 miles home using just battery power (on one battery). In fact I kept on driving on just battery power for a further 3 weeks with starting every time on the handle without problems.

Paul Humphries.

It is important to watch for that 'kick-back' - especially if the ignition is set quite advanced. You may need to retard it to make sure it doesn't fire before Top Dead Centre. As above wrap your right hand round the handle but DO NOT wrap your thumb over the handle - keep it sticking up - as if thumbing a lift. Good idea to switch on ignition - listen for fuel pump ticking (if too flat to run the pump then you have little chance) - pull choke out - check in neutral and handbrake ON. Then switch OFF ignition - stick handle in and crank the engine over a few turns (5 or 6) to drag fuel into the bores - then ignition ON - and turn the handle slowly until you get it at about 5 o'clock - then snatch it upwards in clockwise direction and hope it fires! If not - repeat until exhausted. It really IS better to have jump leads and another car handy! As I said already - if you feel it firing against you as you turn and kicking the handle back - you may need to retard the ignition timing slightly to get it started - this is why much older cars had an ignition retard lever on the steering wheel!

I just want to add that the 1275 is a bit tough to crank start. The handle was made for the smaller engines and should have a longer offset to get more leverage for the 1275. A cold engine will be tough to start.

Once started a 32KVA generator on the handle but at least that had a decompression lever.
The 1275 has got quite a kick to it but you should be OK.

Very usefull the old handle, I have used it for 'winding' the car up ramps in first gear or reverse!

The old Land Rovers were a bit of a struggle to turn over on the handle

A minor is possibly the easiest car to start on the handle - BMC's method is the one I use. I've started loads of cars - and Fire Engines using the handle, and the only one to bite back was an austin westminster which resulted in the handle being bent at almost 45 degrees when it kicked back.
When I got Bessie, my mates wanted a starting demo with the handle, so I duly obliged - fired instantly - they were impressed.
One further tip to add, I would advise opening the bonnet to make sure you locate the handle properly on the crank - saves damaging the radiator.

Pete