I am told that oil pumps in modern engines raise the pressure almost instantaneously, but they took a little while in old cars. Compared with the past, modern engine oils are very thin so they will circulate more readily too.

Occasionally in winter, I have to wait for the screen to demist too. Quite why Ford has kept heated front screens to itself is a mystery, but they are superb.

This is what the instruction book for my 1931 R-R says.

The engine should be allowed to run for a few minutes before taking the car on the road, during which it should be noticed that the oil pressure is registering between 20 to 30 lbs. The car should not be driven hard, however, until the water temperature has reached 60° C.

In fact the oil which I use (10 - 60W) takes only about 20 sec to reach full pressure. In practice, by the time that I have got the car out of the garage, closed the garage doors, driven into the road, and closed the gates, enough time has elapsed to be able to set off straightaway.

I am told that oil pumps in modern engines raise the pressure almost instantaneously, but they took a little while in old cars. Compared with the past, modern engine oils are very thin so they will circulate more readily too.

Occasionally in winter, I have to wait for the screen to demist too. Quite why Ford has kept heated front screens to itself is a mystery, but they are superb.

This is what the instruction book for my 1931 R-R says.

The engine should be allowed to run for a few minutes before taking the car on the road, during which it should be noticed that the oil pressure is registering between 20 to 30 lbs. The car should not be driven hard, however, until the water temperature has reached 60° C.

In fact the oil which I use (10 - 60W) takes only about 20 sec to reach full pressure. In practice, by the time that I have got the car out of the garage, closed the garage doors, driven into the road, and closed the gates, enough time has elapsed to be able to set off straightaway.

Chris Pearson said:

Quite why Ford has kept heated front screens to itself is a mystery, but they are superb.

Agree Chris. My wife was gutted to learn she couldn't have heated front screens, having had them for years on various Fiestas.

Imagine the future though, you see the weather outside, click on your phone, the car heats up while you sip your morning coffee and then you climb into a lovely warm, defrosted car ready to go. Oh sorry, no that's today for some ;-)

Chris Pearson said:

Quite why Ford has kept heated front screens to itself is a mystery, but they are superb.

My other half has a Ford van with a heated front windscreen and as you say Chris, it is superb. I do find it a bit weird as from time to time my eyes will focus on the thin wires sandwiched between the glass, especially in the summer if the light is in the right direction. Not while I'm driving though I hasten to add! 

The guy who was my Best Man when I married my wife was a tool maker at Triplex in Kings Norton and was involved in making the very early heated windscreens around forty years ago, the heated back windows were and still are simple to make because people will accept thick lines in them, thick lines in front  screens are a different matter, people will not accept thick lines in them hence thin crinkled elements closer together are required.

He managed to arrange for a factory tour for us, his dad being a senior manager helped, they were making the Triplex 10-20 glass for the Austin Princess cars, a special safety glass that could not be moved in the manufacturing process until it cooled, so rather than moving the glass through a furnace they moved the furnace over the glass.

The development of the glass led to the development of cars to showpiece it.

www.aronline.co.uk/.../

Sparkingchip Wow that's really interesting sparkingchip and thank you for sharing.

Also thank you for the trip down memory lane with the old Princess cars  I remember my younger brother being absolutely OBSESSED with the Austin Princess and would always squeal with delight every time he saw one on the road.

Now nothing less than a Porsche will make him do that...