The Ford Truck Starter

Greetings,

Another weird thing about Eddies truck was the starter pedal (yes, pedal). It was a little above and to the right of the gas pedal. How it worked was that you would turn on the ignition (I think it required a key), and press your right foot (the end where the toes are) hard against the round, metal head of the starter pedal as you would perhaps pump the gas pedal with your right heel. Hopefully, the engine would then start and you would be double-clutching your way to wherever.

The reason for this strange engine-starting behavior is that starter motors with solenoids were just beginning to be implemented. The starter solenoid is a large coil that, most often, sits on top of the starter and engages the Bendix drive with the flywheel and sends power to the starter. Without the solenoid, your right foot (the toe end) would provide the action that the solenoid currently provides in your modern car, truck, suv, etc.

I don't think that the cars in our basement had starter pedals. Instead, after turning on the ignition, you would press a round metal button on the dashboard to activate the starter. I am not even positive that Eddies old truck had a starter pedal, but I know that I have seen and used one.

Yes, we had two cars in our basement.

Take care,
dadoo