Technical A Kid's First Project: 1957 Fairlane 500 Town Victoria.

i need a lot more flush, think itll hurt it to leave it be for another week or two while i get exhaust put on it and the tires (finally) balanced?

 

speaking of, look what arrived!

 

Drain the cooling system, add a bottle of rad flush, fill with water, drive car until warm, drive car some more, drain cooling system, start engine, put garden i hose No rad and keep water running through with drain open until water runs out clear, refill with coolant, enjoy car.

 

Oh and don’t leave the rad flush I. There for an extended time frame, it’s acidic.

 

i flushed it earlier and it seemed to just make more dirt show up...

 

i have an idea, i just so happen to have extra heater hose, what if i add some kind of filter inline? that should catch all the crud right?

 

Not necessarily. If the crud is as fine as I think it is then most will just go through it unless it is a super fine micron filter. Even then, most may get past it. Just do what Fargo says, then shove a hose into the engine, turn on the water and wait till it runs clear.

 

My great grandfather bought a new 57 ford with a y motor. From day one it overheated in a few miles of driving. After ford put in 7 or so new water pumps, radiators, thermostats and many flushes he gave up driving it. My dads Hudson had a hydromatic that just shit the bed so my grandfather bought it for him. Reason being he knew my dad could not get far from home (still in high school). Dad traded it in on a new 59 Edsel when he got a good job. By then ford had figured out there was a casting sand problem. Some of those blocks retained casting sand that would not come out at the foundry. After he traded it in the ford dealer finally replaced the short block. The car never overheated, ate a water pump or anything again. (A guy he worked with had bought it).
The moral of the story is you might be seeing that 60 year old casting sand finally breaking loose, hence all the crud. Use a good radiator flush and pull all the block drain plugs when flushing. And just when you think you got it all, flush it some more! Good luck!

 

luckily this one struggles to get up to temp, with the old stuck thermostat it wouldn't even hit 140.

 

That’s twice now I have offered thoughts based on experience and twice now you have dismissed them instantly, good luck with your car. I mean that.

The whole point of flushing something is to break free all the crud and dirt to get rid of it, but whatever you feel is best.

 

im sorry, i didnt mean that to come off like that, im just confused on how it seems flushing it makes more crud appear, maybe i'll try flushing it with distilled instead of tap water?

 

Take a varnished piece of something, put it in a can, shake it up and pour it out. Look at the piece, still has varnish. So you repeat the process.
Unfortunately you can’t se inside a block, so it will only be cleaned once the flush comes out clear.

 

Try some Cascade powered dishwashing detergent. Dump a bunch in and run it a day or so, then drain and flush. It’s gentle enough it won’t harm the aluminum radiator, but strong enough to get a lot of the crud to turn loose. I had to do the same thing to mine, my motor sat for 10 years with antifreeze in it, had a lot of scaly rust. I used the Cascade twice to get most of it out.

 

I’ve heard cascade works great also.

 

I used one of those Prestone flush kits years ago... washed out a good water pump and I thought I was hot poop...

I have heard of vinegar (nasty ass stuff...) to clean crud out of engine blocks, it may be worth a go and inexpensive. Possible CLR may work, but do some research first.

I do like the Cascade idea. Mine comes in pods, so you may just drop a couple in the radiator and let 'er rip. They will dissolve when the water gets hot enough.

 

I have to agree with Fargo. You may not realize it, but there is a lot of surface area inside that small engine where coolant passages contact water, and it's been sitting for a long time. It will take a lot of flushing to get all of those layers of corrosion off. That said, there is a finite amount of corrosion in there. You just need to keep flushing until it all comes out, and the fact that the water keeps turning is just telling you that there is still junk in there.

 

today i took it in to get the tires balanced, and its wearing the inside bad. i think after i get the exhaust on i'll knock out control arm bushings and tie rods. luckily the idler and pitman arm are still solid, so i'll just do bushings on those.

are the tie rods rebuildable? or do i need to just buy new.

might flush the rad, and do bushings all at once. can you install grease zircs on the control arms? i noticed that one of the few things missing a zirc and wondered if i can drill a hole and add one.

 

Tie rods are not rebuildable, but you may be able to drill a hole and tap it. But it will be easier to buy new ones.

 

alright, luckily tie rods arent as expensive as i anticipated. once i have it apart i'll drill a hole in either a arm and tap it for (i believe) 5/16 18

 

my clocks minute hand was very slightly bent and would sometimes touch the minute hand, so i had to fix that before it drove me insane. i also added a cigarette lighter and cigarette lighter plug under the dash for my phone charger. its the little things.
i also found out my favorite pair of plyers is from a model T!

 

Just run them as you get them. Replace them again in 30 years.

 

^^^^ I should explain, sealed items are not intended to be modified. Kinda a “service life” thing. Look at things like u-joints etc, think of what’s involved with taking them apart, drilling and tapping them, cleaning the debris/shavings out, putting them back together.
If the concern is they may not be available in the future, pick up an extra set and keep track of them.

 

Flushing seems to take lots of repeats to work. If it were mine, I'd use a detergent of some kind, like the dishwasher stuff that was mentioned. That gets the oily stuff. Then drain everything, get all the block as dry inside as possible. Now, unhook the radiator hoses and block the bottom one so that everything poured in the top one stays in the block. Pour as much white vinegar as it will hold into the top one. Come back tomorrow and drain that junk out. Reinstall the hoses and flush, again!

The vinegar will attack the corrosion. But, DO NOT get it in your aluminum radiator. As a matter of fact I wouldn't flush through the radiator with an flushing media. It's new and clean. Keep it that way.

 

Rockauto has several for your particular application. Delphi TA2202 has the grease zerks in them for $17.33 each. So does Dorman T146LPR at $22.99 each. Way cheaper, faster and easier than drilling and tapping and leaving those little metal chips inside the ball joint.

 

Usually grease zerks are 1/4”. I have drilled and tapped many ford ball joints and tie rod ends.

 

not on the tie rod ends, all the new tie rods have zircs already, im referring to the bushings on the upper and lower control arms. sorry for the confusing wording, i forgot to specify control arm bushings

 

No, you don’t grease the control arm bushings unless they are urethane or something. Even then only silicone grease. Rubber bushings get nothing.