running with no thermostats

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by Kube

Well, I'm not 100% convinced....
I had one car, a '34 coupe in which I'd rebuilt the engine, re-cored the radiator and rebuilt the pumps. Guys that know me, know I don't skimp / cut corners. That car would always push a little fluid out of the radiator after a decent drive. Removed the thermostats and no more issues.
No, I can't explain the "why", but it worked. If I didn't know who built this car, I'd suspect underlying issues.

Coolant expands when hot (meaning at operating temperature of say, 180 deg.). Without thermostats your engine never got up to operating temperature so the coolant didn't expand as much. After your car pushed out that coolant, did the level then stay the same?
How long did that engine last before showing blow-by and using oil? Cold running engines don't fully vaporize the fuel so oil is washed off the cylinders by raw gasoline, which wears the rings and cylinder walls faster.

[SoCalCoupe]

Just to prove how ignorant I really am, I'll ask, how do you install thermostats in a 1941 Ford?


Pull off the upper radiator hoses, set the thermostats in the heads with the 'umbrella' right side up and reinstall the hoses? Are there any other parts involved?


My car doesn't have them but I want see what happens if I install them like Henry did.

[JayChicago]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoupe

Just to prove how ignorant I really am, I'll ask, how do you install thermostats in a 1941 Ford?

Pull off the upper radiator hoses, set the thermostats in the heads with the 'umbrella' right side up and reinstall the hoses? Are there any other parts involved?

Yes. That's all there is to it. No other parts involved.

Have heard that some cheap hoses will allow the stat to be pushed up the hose. In that happens you could add another hose clamp just above the stat to squeeze the hose slightly.

[ford38v8]

In re-reading this old thread, the same old wives tales are here, so in an effort to clear up some alternative facts...

Water too fast: Simply stated, if X gallons per minute flow through the radiator, that same speed is how fast they flowed through the block. It's heat transfer will EQUAL that of water flowing XX gallons per minute. ½ the heat per gallon, but twice as many gallons = equal heat transfer, fast or slow.

Will a thermostat maintain the temperature rating of the stat? Not gonna happen. A stat will simply open at it's temp rating, it has no control over temps beyond that rating. What it will do, is to close while coasting downhill on a cool day, in an effort to preserve engine operating temps. I can't picture a scenario where 160 stats would be better than 180 stats, except perhaps the parts department selling fake news.

[drolston]

I had no end of problems getting the big inch flathead in my '41 coupe to run cool, both at idle in traffic and at 60+ on the highway. Tried everything, including removing thermostats, which as an engineer, I knew would be no help. Final solution was fixing the leaks, cleaning, and straightening the fins on the truck radiator that came with the car. Then I put the 170 thermostats back in to keep the engine running from running too cool, which is bad from both efficiency and longevity.



Took it out for a hard run two weeks ago when it was 95 degrees. Never got over 180 stuck in traffic or at 65 on the interstate. In summary, test your thermostats by putting them in a pan of warm water with a candy thermometer and heat the water up until you see them start to open at the rated temperature. If they check good, install them and forget about them, regardless of any overheat issues you are fighting.

[big job]

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I come from the day when permanent anti freeze was not common. My father bought Zerone alcohol by the barrel. 160 stats where used. In hot weather I remember mainly Chryser product 30-40s ran hot with no stats could be their honey comb radiators. So we found themostats cured the problem as well as Ford products. The radiator NEEDS time to cool, simple as that. No stats in cold weather dripping tail pipe water, cold and warm causes sludge. I have yet to see model Ts with sludge cause they run at scary temperatures just about boiling...

[38 coupe]

The idea that water moving too fast through the radiator causes overheating is just plain wrong.
Heat transfer increases with mass flow rate. Said in plain English, the more coolant you can flow the more heat you can get out of the motor.
The origin of water moving too fast is from 1950s racers who were using stock used radiators with no pressure caps. A good flathead water pump at high rpm can pump more water than a marginal radiator can gravity flow. The pumps will force water out the overflow. If you are driving your car at 4000+ rpm with a marginal radiator then you may have too much flow. Everyone else should maximize flow.

[Planojc]

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