Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Steinkamp
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I've owned several 50's and 60's cars with T-stats and without bypass tubes. The only ones that would come close to having a bypass tube would be those with cabin heaters and then only when the heater was on. All worked fine.
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Actually, I would bet that some form of bypass was there, if there was a thermostat in the water outlet; you might not have been aware of it, but it was there. Yes, the heater core counts as bypass if there is no valve on the hot water line. My 1980 F-150 was like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Steinkamp
I'm thinking that if blocking the rad and not having a T-stat was a preferred method, we'd be using the same method today. I also can't think of a newish car that has a bypass tube (unless you count those with heaters with the heater always on).
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Having a thermostat is preferred, for faster warm up (less air pollution). The modern style thermostat with the wax pellets in it was not invented until 1934, so did not show up in cars until then and after. My '41 Chrysler had one of these thermostats, and it had a very short bypass hose between the top of the water pump and the thermostat housing.
My '50 Buick had something similar (hose was about 1 inch long).
By the time GM got to my '63 Buick, they had a cast piece of metal and an o-ring on the thermostat housing that pressed down into the water pump housing to bypass coolant when the thermostat is closed. There is no hose. That is common today on all modern engines -- bypass is built in, no hose. But the bypass is still there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Steinkamp
Again, this is only my experience. But based on it, I would not over think or over engineer this issue. If there is any data other than just our anecdotal evidence or opinions, I could easily change my mind.
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Before the thermostat was available that went in the coolant outlet, high-end cars (not Ford) had movable louver shutters that mounted in front of the radiator. A bi-metallic element on the radiator upper tank pulled the louvers open when the engine warmed and then closed them again when it cooled. So it was automatic (and looked cool).
On my S/W Town Sedan, with a 160* thermostat and the valve in my bypass line closed (so no bypass) I can watch the coolant outlet temperature swing fairly wildly between hot and cold from cold start up and initial drive, until it settles down. That's real data in my book.
The thermostat in this car is not close to the water pump, it's up closer to the radiator neck. I suppose moving the thermostat closer to the water pump would lessen the swings. For other reasons, that would not be easy for me to do on this car.
I would not over think it either. Just block the bottom 1/3rd of the radiator and go drive your car! Have fun!