[VWJoe]

Originally Posted by Pilotdave

Pastor Bill, welcome to the Model A hobby! I'd add my support to acquiring Les Andrews' books, especially Vol I - it deals with a lot of the mechanical issues that you have already encountered or will along with routine maintenance and troubleshooting. Club members are a great source of expertise and friendship, especially if you are interested in taking part in organized local tours or other such events. I'm glad to see that you are joining the Tulsa (OK?) club - I'm sure that local members would be happy to help you - all you need to do is ask.

Some thoughts on your questions.....

Cooling system - you have already done several of the things I did with my car which had similar but much less severe issues. I THINK you're at the point where I'd put everything back together and add a mixture of Simple Green and water. Maybe a quart or two of Simple Green. This will cut grease that may be lurking in your radiator or block. Run it for a while - I ran mine near my shop, just letting it come up to temp and idle. Or you could take it for a local spin. Drain this stuff and refill - might want to use water for now in case you have to R&R (rinse and repeat) the process. You may find that the engine still overheats - it could be that the engine may have to be torn down to clean all the junk out of it. But I suggest trying this first and seeing what happens.

One thought about filling the cooling system. Don't overfill the radiator - just cover the tubes at the top of the radiator. If you do, the cooling system will just spit the excess out, and you'll be tempted to worry about that! These engines all seem to have a desired "fill level" that's unique to each, so you may need to play with this a bit.

As to a cut-off switch - there are indeed several (many?) posts on here about them. You can insert the switch on either the starter or ground sides. The most important thing to do is to use really heavy battery cables which I found difficult to locate at the local NAPA shop. I went to a local truck parts supply house where they made up a cable for me. I'm not sure of the correct terminology, but the fellow at the counter referred to it as a "double 00" cable. 6 volt systems need heavy cables - the worst thing you can do is substitute a 12 volt system cable because they are readily available at the local parts store. Try to keep the cables as short as possible, make sure the clamps and terminals are all shiny - especially the grounding spot.

One thing you want to investigate is your reference to the battery continuing to discharge while the engine is not running. The shut-off switch will certainly deal with that, but it'd be wise to find the cause and fix THAT. Could be a lot of things such as a defective brake light switch, a problem with the ignition switch, a cut-out switch on the starter that is sticking closed when the car is turned off.

Hope some of this helps!

Always, cut the power cable (negative in this case) & not the ground