Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: 65cuda
Actually I've had a few that started better than my fuel injected cars have. The 69 cutlass and 78 Chevy van 4 barrel quad were two of the best. Start right up in the coldest of weather and be good to go. Of course on the other hand the 65 barracuda with the commando v8 was every bit the exact opposite. I tried and the mechanics tried but it NEVER started worth a darn in cold weather.
Is the Commando V8 the one with the cross-ram manifold, 2 carbs, and very long runners?
Those were trouble because gasoline had more time to condense inside the manifold.
Youre' thinking big-block- the one you're remembering was made in 383, 413, and 426 CID displacements. The ones made for street use actually were not too bad in the cold because they had special exhaust manifolds that bolted up to the bottom of the intake right underneath the carb to heat the floor of the intake very quickly and help fuel vaporization. Kinda detracted from ultimate performance, but sheesh- those things had power in reserve and didn't need every gnat's wing of advantage.
The Commando that a 65 Barracuda would have had is the smallblock 273 Commando- single 4-barrel on a conventional manifold, and one STOUT little motor. The Mopar smallblocks always were especially ill-tempered in the cold for some reason. They threw enhanced manifold heat (exhaust crossover), electric-assist well chokes, and all sorts of stuff at them, but never really made them where they'd light right up and run like the big-blocks did. I've owned and love both, but the only way to get a smallblock Mopar to run right in the cold is to go with an electric choke on something like an aftermarket Edelbrock (Carter clone) or Holley carb. When I was driving my smallblock, I discovered that you could bolt a modern Edelbrock electric choke kit right on a stock Carter AVS or AFB carb and it changed the whole personality of the engine.