I want to be able to somehow use home electrical service to start my
vehicle.  I know that a car battery supplies about 700 "Cold cranking"
amps at 12volts DC in order to start the vehicle.  Somehow, I have to
change the 120 volts, 15 amp, AC current at home to that.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 01 Feb 2006 14:53 PST

Do you mean you want to use house current to give a boost to a car
that has its own battery?

Or do you want a hookup so that the car will start on house current
alone, without its own battery?

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Clarification of Question by calvisio-ga on 01 Feb 2006 17:12 PST

Preferably the latter, although even the former would be useful. 
Although there are a lot of chargers on the market that you plug in
and connect to the battery, these work on a "trickle" basis.  I
haven't been able to find anything that would allow you to connect the
battery cables directly to a house power source, wither as a "boost"
to the battery or, if the battery is totally dead, to get the car
started without it (I believe that, once running, the car generates
its own electricity).

You should not even think about connecting

 "car battery cables directly to a house power source" 
 
  If you  would try and are lucky, the circuit breaker would trip. In
more likely case the battery would blow up, spraying everything with
acid.
 
   While there may be 'methods of conversion' to be set-up in the laboratory
 by qualified personnel, but there is no safe and practical
'do-it-yourself' method.
 
 Closest 'conversion method' you may consider 
  would be to use a second battery and keep it charged using one of those
  "chargers on the market that you plug in
and connect to the battery, these work on a "trickle" basis". 

   With a second, charged, battery, you may 'jump-start' 
 the vehicle using the jumper cables
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/howto/articles/43793/article.html

 observing the precautions described.
http://www.preventblindness.org/safety/battery.html


 Hedgie

With perfect conversion, you could get 150 amps at 12 V from a 15 amp
120 V circuit. Your average home is not likely to have a circuit of
more than 70 amps, as you would need. To get the large cranking
currents, it helps to have a way to store energy over a longer time
and release it over a short time. The normal solution is a charger and
a battery. Another option would be a motor-generator set with a large
and heavy flywheel, but that is probably outside your price range.

Auto parts stores have these-- they're called portable starters.
They're pretty much a heavy duty battery (or several in parallel) on a
set of wheels. When not in use, it plugs in and trickle-charges.

Simple. Install an air starter in your car. Buy a cheap compressor to
provide the air and use your battery charger to provide ignition
power. Once the engine starts remove the charger (as you said the
engine will run with alternator only) and drive away.

With a 10:1 transformer, that would get you the 12V necessary...  But
you would ony have 150 Amps.  So you'd need a properly sized inductor
to store the extra current.  In theory, you could build such a device
if you knew the proper sizing requirements.  Once you built the
circuit, you should be able to flip your light switch and have your
car start.  (Just don't forget to 'turn off the light' once the car
starts - otherwise, it would be like holding the key too long when
your car is starting normally...)