Hot Rods Roadster overheated then ran bad. Good news.

Got home from 4th of July Parade in my roadster and the radiator boiled over, although the gauge never showed more than 170. I left it in the driveway for the afternoon. When I started it to put it in the garage it was running shitty. Nothing I felt like fixing at 9pm. Yeah I am that old and lazy so I slept on it. After the F1 Race this morning (did you see the end?) I went out to check it. Took the top hose off at the engine and filled it with water. Started it up and it still ran shitty. Turned it off, got out and to my pleasant surprise the left rear 97 was flooding. First time it happened since I put it all together a few years ago. For that I carry a quick cure (see below). Banged on the float chamber a couple of times with the Nylon side, wiped up the gas, started it up again and it ran great as before.

Now I have to figure out how to keep it kooler. Guess I'll buy my auto supply out of "Water Wetter" and see if that helps.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. No, raising the radiator is out of the question.

Gary

 

no answers, but I love that car

 

Try adding a real oil cooler with it's own fan (hidden somewhere under the car so's not to spoil the vintage look). It worked very well on my buddy's blown 409 powered Anglia (tall skinny radiator). It pulled the temp down just enough to make him feel better driving it in traffic.
It's great that the short radiator does that well cooling the Cad. I've heard that early Cad and Olds motors tend to run cool, is that so?
Great car Rebel, I saw it at Pomona a couple years back. It's one of my all time favorite T Buckets.

 

Don't drive in parades.

 

btt

 

Maybe the one flooding carb caused the overheating?

 

Gary, it blows my mind how you drive and drive that bucket, no nagging overheating problems...LOW positioned radiator, (has to sit there!) and limited amount of coolant...this is the first I've heard about overheating, (my channeled 'A' with mild flattie used to hate parades...no fan...I mean, I was a fan, I LOVE a parade! There's a song...)
Glad it was a 'firepot gurgle', nothing serious...(Check microns spec on fuel filter!)

I love this little 'T' also...Since receiving the Caddie, it's taken on 'new life'!

 

Sounds like it had air in the system (or the gauge was reading off). Maybe putting a cap or fill in the peak of the upper hose, putting a higher pound cap on the radiator then the hose fill so it won't open first.

 

Thanks Mike, Guys

The radiator although a cut down 32 V8 was built with a 5 staggered row core.

It just spits out a little coolant overtime I stop until it's low. I thought the overflow tank that I put on (that I don't hate as much as I thought I would) would solve the problem but it still spits out some when I stop. The top seal on the cap is kind of soft and that is where it was boiling out this time. Think my next move will be to replace the cap and add some "Water Wetter" as I said.

I do fill the cooling system by taking off the top hose at the engine. It gets full. I actually had one of those inline fillers on it but it just sticks up so ugly. But thanks old-timer. I'm always fighting ugly on the roadster.

Gary

 

Parades are hard on older cars. People in my club wonder why I don't drive mine. Simple it's just hard on the cooling system.

 

I know, I was looking through pictures of them and thinking these look like ass...... there's got to be a better way.

Maybe a tube with a screw on so you can use a Model A cap or a lower port without the overflow pipe and use a zero pound cap (old ford). Both with just enough room for caps without the spring pressure deal, so you'll just see the cap and some old clamps. Then just use it as a fill and air bleed, your regular cap still functions as normal.

 

Face it, you have air trapped in that system. Fluid will not go where air is present.

 

Go back and look at the upper hose in relation to the top of the radiator, there is probably an air lock going on. I would look at fitting it with a surge tank.

 

Okay guys thanks but like I said before I take off the top hose to fill everything. You know think what I'll do this time is fill it that way and run it for a while then take it off again and refill it maybe two or three times until all the air is out.

 

Run a couple heater cores under the bed for extra coolant reserve and cooling. Usually when they over heat and the gauge doesn't move, it means the sender is out of the water. Without water contact, the sender will not read.

 

OK, each pound increase, of radiator cap,
lowers boiling point 3 degrees.

Somebody helped me. ... barely made it thru school,

..

 

Okay guys I got a good 17 lb. cap from my dismantled truck and put it on the roadster. That should be plenty heavy. I filled the radiator and engine with water as described above. I'll take it for a good ride tomorrow and see if it helped.

I'll keep you posted.
Thanks Gary
Oh anymore suggestions keep them coming.

 

Make sure you have a small air bleed hole in your thermostat. Sure sounds like air trapped in your system if it pukes a bit.

 

Good Idea rusty I'll check that.

 

From my experience, "Water Wetter" ain't worth a damn. Snake oil at it's finest. Gary, to be blunt, Hot Rods and slow moving parades shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. Once you modify an OEM setting, it's a struggle to get the same OEM performance. Just a thought.

 

Thanks Fred

Convinced that's my last parade unless your avatar asks me for a ride in it.

Gary

 

water boils at 212 F, add a 17 lb cap with 3 degrees for every lb of pressure. 3 x 17 +212 =263 degrees F. But like tfever says, hot rods and parades don't usually mix well.

 

his avatar is just a pic.

 

Gary, it not just parades, it's heavy traffic situations period. Seriously, think about the conditions when your tank over flowed. I'll bet it was in heavy traffic situations.

 

Retest in heavy traffic and t-stat with a small (1/8") bleed hole. What about a stainless bent pipe with rubber ends for the upper hose and a small twist on cap to bleed and fill (like the size of a canteen cap). It can really just be a pipe plug, but that would be hard to pour fluid into.

If you really don't want some neck there, then just a bleeder screw.

-Drill a hole in the hose bigger then the bleeder, slice the hose around, add tube with bleeder screw inside and butt the hose back together. So all you see is a bleeder and 2 clamps
OR
-The stainless pipe with a bleeder screw and rubber ends.

Then use this funnel kit. Extend the funnel so it's the highest point on the cooling system, open the bleeder screw on the upper hose, fill funnel to a level above the upper hose and keep filling until coolant comes out of the bleeder. Then drive and repeat.



These are just ideas......you still would need to make it look good.

 

No engine driven fan. That's far too often the 'common denominator' when it comes to a cooling problem in a hot rod. Folks use puller electric fans and often get away with it. Surprisingly often. Folks that have engine driven fans seldom run into problems.

 

I also am not a fan of electric fans, many of the aftermarket ones are very poor performers compared to the better OEM, one of the best OEM is the ,93-'98 Lincoln MKviii.

 

I'm in the "repipe the upper house" camp. Water seeks its own level and even though you fill it by removing the upper hose, there's no way it will ever have a solid column of water there. You're just making an expansion tank out of the hose. I would suggest making up a solid pipe with short hoses at the ends. Put an air vent of some kind (think petcock) in the line. Wouldn't need to be sticking up on the very top (although that would be the most efficient spot). You could fill through that vent, close it and run the motor until the t'stat opens. Then just crack the vent until it stops sputtering out air. Done deal. Made correctly, you could eliminate the existing hose that sticks up and make a nice clean, level line with a quick trip through the chrome tank.

 

What Joe H said..... Those heater cores do take away heat from the engine.

Also "PARADES ARE ENGINE KILLERS". Especially when the parade directors put the cars behind the slow walking people. If you want to have a car problem,
drive it in a parade.

 

A little trick that I learned many years ago,was to park your vehicle with a slight nose up attitude.Air will go to the highest point.Fill cooling system and run.Air should work it`s way to the highest point.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo