A little closer to finished... flathead cooling questions?

Grim,
Unless I have a guaranteed clean water p***ages in a flathead and radiator. I will never again run thermostats in a flatty. Reason being I about cooked one side within a few minutes two years ago when dirt came out of the p***ages and caused my new left hand thermostat to stick closed, It became so hot so quick that It actually peeled the paint off it and turn the head black. I installed two washers approximately 5/8 diamenter hole in its place. The flathead stayed cooler than ever. I realize this will probably start differed opinions but it worked for me. You can't plug up a 5/8 hole with dirt. Just tack weld it onto your head or find one that fits snug into the hose ID.
Water actually does remove heat quicker than any additive coolant. If you live in cooler climes its obvious to use antifreeze. But guys use straight water with a water soluble oil for the pumps. Regular cutting oil used on saws and lathes works well. (The white milky stuff) Also I have found good results from a water wetter called Purple Ice. It actually decreases the surface tension in water and will help in conducting the heat into the water. Alot of guys like this stuff too. We used to use an additive called wet on the fire dept that was added to water for this purpose when fighting fires that needed to soak into dense areas such as barns. Most guys use a radiator cap that doesnt provide any pressure. Some guys with a good radiator will increase the cap to about 2-4 lbs to increase the boiling temperature.

 

I would recommend always starting with just water. Then if there is a leak you'll have a much easier time with clean-up. I've heard of people using water wetter and other products "garrenteed"(sp) to reduce temperature but the experience I had with those products didn't make a bit of difference in temperature. I'd do what was done when those motors were new. Just water in the summer, then when winter comes drain some out and add some antifreeze. Let us know how it works out. dug

 

Ya, I was reading this. Water is best, but You need a-little antifreeze for lubrication and scale prevention and in your neck of the woods to keep it from freezing.Be sure and drain the oil out of the engine before you put water in. Just so you don't mess up your oil if you have a leak. That said, I don't do thermostats on flatheads but I have alot of friends that do. So you make that call. And lets get her going.--TV

 

Grim,
Just light it without stats and keep an eye on it. I've run 'em with, without and with restricters made from washers and had good luck all ways.
The panyhose trick is a good idea, but after you run it long enough to get it up to temp and cool off a couple of times you really need to remove them.
Is your garage heated? If you can keep it above freezing than I would start out with water and make sure it is cleaned out than go to a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze. I like the old green stuff myself. I haven't heard much good about the environmentaly friendly stuff they put in the new cars. but I'm old and old habits die hard.
Just my .02

 

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It is an old motor and I think the p***ages are pretty clean...or atleast they seemed to be when I ran the hose through them before but I know there is some crud hiding in there. Casting sand, etc.

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With Two unboiled,unmol***ised (if thats a word)engines now, that I have run a hose through and stuck every instrument knowm to man inside to clean the p***ages.
I have found long (approx 3-4") pieces of metal the size of mig welding wire. I have also heard of other people finding stuck rags and pieces of metal in the p***ages.
For me, I'm sure there are alot of areas inside these engines that I can't reach. Heating up that last flathead scared the **** of me. It was so fast I couldn't believe it.
One of the problems with some of the flattys is the temp gauge is only inserted into one head. The other can toast in hell and you wouldn't know it until the whole engine is effected. Good luck in lighting it up. I wish I was there to watch. Love to see em come alive!

 

I say, for startup and shakedown only, plain water and no stats. Coolant and put back the old stats, tested on the stove, once engine is running happily and heads have been retorqued several times.
Antifreeze can be pretty harmful if it gets to the wrong places, so you want some shakedown time before using it.
On the p***ages, if you see signs of rampant crud or cooling problems there's some derusting stuff that will cleanout the p***ages pretty well as engine is run, according to some pretty convincing pics from Ahooga.com. The wire someone found is actually core wire, employed to keep the cores-within-cores in place during the block pour!
Pressure cap is important (though not needed for startup) not for the raised boiling temp (that only means you can go another 200 feet before you're sitting by the road watching a geyser) but because it allows system pressure to help suppress local hotspots.
Timing, enough advance, is important. Improved model distrib ready to ship.
On you car, i would leave hood completely off until you know engine is happy, because airflow may be a probklem with track nose. Keep idle speed too high for more water and airflow during shakedown. Start normalizing stuff after engine is known to be running happily.

 

Grim , if this thing has been sitting around for a while I would remove the spark plugs and put a few s**** fulls of Marvall Mistry {sp} oil in each cylinder. With the plugs out roll it over with the starter, put in a fresh set of plugs. That will keep it from scuffen the rings and walls and lube upper end for start up.--TV

 

Hey Grim,I work at a radiator shop and just did up a complete cooling system and heater for a 51 ford dump truck with a 8RT motor.I flushed the system and used 50/50 antifreeze(I'm from the cold climate)and ran 180* t-stats.After running an hour in the shop the coolant stayed at 182*....PERFECT!!!

Dan

 

I pulled the thermostats out of a stock 39 engine and it seemed to take forever to reach 170-180 and would even drop all the way dowm in the 150 range on cooler days. I would at the least run washers to maybe help stabilize the temps. Timing made the biggest change to my car as far as cooling goes, but I am a flathead rookie and learned most of what I know from guys here.