WTF flathead acting weird or is it me?

I am a bit confused on my flathead issue,8BA,1950,offy heads,dual offy reg manifold, dual holley 94s,7,000 miles on a rebuild,copper head gaskets.Thats the back ground here is the problem,loosing water from the radiator,i dont use coolant just distilled water and water wetter,seems to dissappear when the car is parked for a while,changed the rad cap still does it,i dont have an overflow tank but i am getting one,i dont have any white smoke from the engine,and the oil looks fine,i use brad penn so its a green grey color,no milkshake appearance.I was thinking head gasket,so i ran the car with the rad cap off and got it up to temp and no bubbles in the rad,bought a block tester and no color change of the fluid,that was several weeks ago,today i decided to do a block test again and the fluid went from blue to green,not yellow but green.I did this 3 times to make sure and it turned green on 3 occasions.What does the green mean,that there is a small leak?.BTW i am not overheating at all the temps are perfect even on a hot day.What would you guys do? should i retorque the heads ,drain the rad and test again?..any advice would be great

 

anyone?

 

Coolant disappears from my flatty too. Mines all stock but has high miles. Stock radiator, 4lb cap. I lose about two inches or so from the tank if I park it for a while. Same predicament: no leaks, no white smoke, temp fine etc. So I just add some water or coolant once in a while and don't worry about it too much.

 

Copper gaskets with aluminum heads I thought was a NO NO Gary

 

Roadster,.....the reason for that is because you have 3 different metals in contact with each other, and electrolysis can set in, giving you leaks which are extremely small....but still result in coolant loss. Another place can be coolant seeping out along the headbolts,,,Again, small enough to not be readily seen, but same result. I always use the tried and proven Permatex "hardening" type sealant. The bolts are still easliy removable.
4TTRUK

 

My flathead wont keep a full rad... If I fill it up she pushes fluid out the first time she warms up... Never gets hot so i just let it go where it wants the fluid... If its not leaking it, burning it, or in the oil and it runs fine drive it! Its hard to kill a flathead!!!

 

The copper head gaskets were recommended to me by the guys at H& H flatheads.i may have a small leak form a loose head bolt. There is no water from the bolts that I can see. Although on the drivers side head closest to the rad the head seems to have a small leak, not from the bolt but from where the head meets the gasket.sometimes I can see a white dry trail but other times it's not there.

 

I had a real problem with the copper head gaskets. I had a engine where I did the valves and put on new Elderbrock heads and copper gaskets. I took the heads off after about a year to redo the valves. The holes exposed to coolant were extreamly eroded. I was shocked with the loss. The engine water jacket was etched clean by the electrolisis. I put graphite back and am hoping for the best. The heads were close to unusable due to the material loss where there is little margin from the coolent to the cylinders. I believe that is what happened to you.

 

The block test fluid went green which I am hoping means a small leak. I will retorque and drain the coolant and re test with the block tester if it fails again I will pull the head and swap out the gaskets

 

I don't have a problem using copper head gaskets. I have used them in the last (4) flatheads that I have built. I use a 50-50 mixture of anti-freeze and water. The anti-freeze has built in rust inhibitors and I also use a leak sealer additive. This is with aluminum heads both Offenhauser and Edlebrock. I have not experienced any corrosion when removing these heads. You said that overheating was not a problem. You should be able to use a 7 lb. cap if you have a stock 50 radiator. Remember that Ford did not pressurize radiators until 1941. Some of the older cars can pressurize them and get away with a 4 lb. cap. One of my engines uses a Walker radiator with a 13 lb. cap.

 

They (Flatheads) will set their own water level. If you keep filling it up it will keep pushing it out until it gets it where it wants. Mine is in a 32 with stock radiator no pressure cap. It runs cool with the level down to where it wants. Drove me nuts for awhile. Just accept it.

 

i have an after market aluminum radiator,the water level situation i can slove,its the leak test that came back positive that worries me.What i need to know is should i retorque and drain the rad? will this cause problems with the bolts if this is done?

 

Mine used to do this until I added a puke tank, the level goes up and down with the temp., as it should, that's why they are called "expansion tanks". I ***ume you are using the stock size rad., which holds alot of water. By volume, the large tanks will have enough expansion to spit water at hi temps. Let the system find it's "happy level" between the rad and expansion tank and be happy.

 

should i retorque the heads or will this damage something and cause leaks???

 

The heads should be torqued as many times as required for them to maintain the torque usually 2-3 times, and as has been said before the flatty will seek its own level due to expansion so don't worry if you can't see water all the way to the top of tank, they usually settle down about 2" or so .................
You didn't say if you used any sealer on the head bolts but I like to use the chevy headbolt sealer available at chevy dealers for about 8 bucks its the best I have found, and if you have one that is still leaking after torquing you can always remove it and reseal it......

 

thanks carl,i will retorque the heads and see if that seals the problem and drain the rad and leak test again.

 

just added to my orig post ....on sealer... part# 12346004 pipe sealant with PTFE

 

carl i used sealer on the bolts when installing the heads.So why is this leak test coming up green but i have no bubbles in the rad,why i am i stuck between the blue and the yellow? it must be such a small leak

 

Can't ans the test results you got, but did you ground your radiator? I bought a radiator leak down strap for mine and it made a world of difference on the electrolisys in my system, 1936 ford 8BA aluminum radiator.......

 

hey carl i havent heard of this strap,what is it and what does it do for electrolyisis?

 

I got a couple of old school flatty books at home and they all say add some machinist oil to the radiator to eliminate electrolyisis. I have a stock flatty with stock radiator and it always stays just above the fins after I've parked it for a while.

 

This is something I've been dealing with too. Coolant is disappearing from my flathead and there are no signs of a leak or "burning" it... Mine does run hot if I don't keep it topped off. I do have an overflow tank but where this coolan is going is a mystery that's got me baffled. I'm glad to hear that this is somewhat "normal"???

As to the copper gaskets with aluminum heads, I ran a set of stock Corvette aluminum heads on a '64 vette 327 and used the factory recommended copper gaskets and head bolt/washer combination and had no problems.

 

Are you seeing any water coming out of the tail pipes?

 

i dont have water coming out the tail pipes,nor do i have billowing white smoke...but i do have a question..when checking for coolant/water in the oil do you pull the dip stick when the motor is cold or after its run and warm?