Even better. Do his stuff first so you don't throw good money after bad. What do I know, I'm a transmission man, not an engine man!
The chances that it was caused by not having thermostats is way down on the list. Its more likely the radiator is bad/partially plugged with rust and crap from the engine. Sometimes after they have been sitting or not been driven on the highway they will stir up a bunch of rust flakes and pass them from the engine to the radiator plugging it up. Take the radiator out turn it upside down and flush water through it . I bet a handfull of rust flakes come out of it.
I would still suspect ignition timing also. If the diaphragm in the old distributor is shot(very likely on an old unit), you won't get any advance. The faster you run, the more advance you need. retarded spark will cause an engine to overheat quickly. At idle or around town it won't be as noticeable.
I had this issue and would check this as well. I also had the timing advanced too much and Flatheads don't seem too like that. I can cruise 65-70mph and extended cruising, stop an go in 90 degree temps with no issue. Mildly hopped up flatty with dual carbs, 39 toploader, banjo rear w/3.54's, stock water pumps, thermostats and stock 32 radiator with electric puller fan that runs 100% of the time. Won't go over 195 degrees and I tend to drive it hard.
Are your fan belts tight? Are the belts compatible with the gooves in the pulleys" Are the pulleys worn? Easy check: Use a magic marker to coat the sides and bottom of the "Vs" all pulleys. Reinstall belts and run the motor. The belts should wear the sides of the "V" on the gooves on the pulleys. If the belts removed the magic marker ink from bottom of the groove , the pulleys are worn or you are using the wrong belts. Perform this check on the crank pulley as well. Is the belt layout stock or close to stock? If non stock, make sure you are getting sufficient "belt wrap". Good luck
you must run a puke tank and purge the air out also run 160 thermastats 50/50 antifreeze and 1 bottle of water wetter ive run mine at 220 for hours with no problem also buy the thermastats with the hole or drill an 1/8 inch hole in it to bleed the air i run a 7 pound cap with modern filler neck on the radiator
The Flathead is pretty forgiving,one time mine got so hot and made so much steam, you couldn't see the car, added cool water, drove home. Next day re torqued the heads, fine ever since. Yours is probably OK. We make an aluminum radiator kit that I use/ kills overheating!! Best Wishes, Flathead26( youtube)
Original non-pressurized Deuce radiator, 180* thermostats and stock 49 Ford pumps and belts. It would idle all day long at 180* When the gauge started to go above that, it was time to check the level. Fill it back up and let it seek it's own level and all was back to normal. Amazing but it ran just like a flathead is supposed to. If a flathead could not idle without over heating, do you really think that the flathead would be as popular as it was in the 30s if it overheated all the time.? No electric fans in 1939. Did something happen since then that I'm not aware of? I was scared after reading all the horror stories. It was on the trailer bringing it home when I got the first story of a flathead being a tea kettle and how he yanked it out for a Chevy. I never had any troubles. No special additives, no washers or holes drilled in thermostats. Just normal common sense practices. No special flathead tricks. Just my personal experience.
Im with Tommy. I have two flatheads in my rides; one is a blown 8BA, the second is a 37 21 stud with a PM7 and dual 97s/headers. Neither run an engine fan, both run 180 deg stats, one runs a hood full time and both don't get over that temp regardless of the ambient temp. The water jackets on both are spotless. Clean water jackets, the right timing and good pumps/rad and Ive never had any temp issues. Weird. Rat
The only way to inspect for a cracked block would be to remove the heads; Not a major task with a flatmotor,...but if the o'heat stays under control....leave the sleeping dog lie. I didn't see mention of what pressure your radiator cap is,...but each lb. will raise a 50/50 water/coolant mix 3 degrees. For instance, a 15 lb cap, raises the boiling point 45 degrees,...so adding 45, to 212 , gives a boil point of 257 degrees. Happy Flatmotoring !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4TTRUK
Not a flat head expert by any means but I run 160 stats, electric fan, mallory dist. with mech. advance dialed in on a machine with 22-24 deg. max advance and 50/50 coolant with no problems. The fellow who rebuilt my 8BA claims that Ford never really got all of the casting sand out of these old flathead's and that was part of the reason (among other's) they tended to run hot, he uses a special wand he made to blow it out as best possible. I'm assuming he knows a little something as my motor runs fantastic.
I ran my clapped out '49 Shoe BoxTudor for years winter and summer. It had over 100 K on the clock and trust me there was nothing new on the motor, not even a new radiator hose. Bottom line is Flatties were designed to run without over heating. They don't need pressurized systems, electric fans, super water pumps, aluminum radiators, of welded washers to keep them from boiling over. If they do then do what you would on any other engine. Before you run out and spend a ton on special hybrid stuff, do the basics. Check the things that cool the engine like the radiator, belts, pumps, cap etc. Then check things that could heat up the motor like timing, thin fuel mixture, restricted air flow and even things like brake drag, or low trans gear lube. Flatties can and should run cool all day long just like any other engine
Around 1940, possibly before, Ford began using pressurized cooling systems,....I believe the early ones were 7 llbs. That would raise boiling point to 233 degrees,...Well enough above the "sea level" 212 degrees..... Jimbousman is right, "gimmicks" and "gadgets" are just that...good, basic upkeep works best. Either Ford left casting sand in, or people got water from any handy source,... including ponds, creeks,...etc. None of which are good things. 4TTRUK
I learned to drive in Ford 2-ton grain trucks running flatheads and unsynchronized 4-speeds and nowhere near enough brakes. Dad kept those flatheads running into the '60's without problems because he kept the radiators clean. They also were extra thick so there was more cooling area. Those trucks would drive into the field, drive alongside the combines at 4-5 mph while we dumped the grain into the truck, then drive several miles to the elevator to dump (from 10 to 30 mph, depending on the wind) before driving back at top speed. They'd do this for 16 hours a day for two weeks twice a year for about 15 years before a pair of Chevy C-60s replaced them. The myths about flatheads heating are caused by there being two sources of the problem -- too much heat due to the exhaust travel through the block and the cooling systems ability to "reject" heat. If the engine is making too much exhaust heat due to timing, etc the cure is different than the radiator not being able to handle the load. Keep that in mind and you may keep your flatty cackling long and well
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