1940 Ford Deluxe

[tjb]

I have the radiator out of the '40... the engine runs cool enough as long as the car is moving, but tends to begin heating up when idling... I'm trying to improve that.

I constructed a couple of contraptions out of pvc to replace the radiator... just for the purpose of being able to pump water through the system without having the radiator in.

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I filled the system with water and a mild detergent and ran the engine just until the temperature gauge rose a little. I left the thermostats out while I'm tinkering with it.

At idle, there is almost no coolant flow on either side... I would say that the volume is maybe half what a drinking straw would flow. Throttle it up some and it quickly starts flowing well. I think this may be why it wants to heat up at idle.

I'll get the water pumps off later this week, hopefully, and see what they look like. I have a replacement set of pumps to install.

-Bear

Now that's creative!

 

[682bear]

I have the new water pumps installed on the engine... they flow more coolant at idle, but still not a lot. I hooked up my timing light just to see what the idle rpm is set at... it was idling at 490 rpm.

I bumped that up to 600... at 600 rpm, the pumps are moving a fair amount of coolant. I'll leave it there and see how it works out.

While I have the radiator out, I decided to replace a couple of pieces of trim around the grill. These are the vertical beads that cover the joint between the chrome grill center and the painted side panels. They are basically aluminum channels that are crimped over the edge of a piece of fabric... the fabric is pinched between the grill sections. Over the years, the fabric has deteriorated until the lower end of the trim seperated... someone had 're-attached' the trim by wrapping pieces of wire around it...



Here are the old and new pieces...



They were not easy to install... They were not shaped correctly. I had to reshape both pieces, especially at the bottom. There is no way to hold them in place while the grille is reinstalled. After trying for over an hour, I finally put a spot of glue on the fabric on the lower end and clamped them overnight...



That held both ends long enough to install the grille and hardware.



It's not perfect, but it is much better than it was...

I'm trying to figure out how to install a couple of coolant temperature guages... one for each side of the engine. I had ordered two mechanical guages, but discovered there is no way to get the senders and tubes through the firewall without cutting holes in the metal... I'm not willing to do that. So... I started looking for a source for 6 volt electric guages... and discovered there are almost none available.

I found one company that makes 6v guages, but they are expensive and have a 6 week lead time. I finally found two NOS Stewart Warner 6v guages with the matching senders on ebay... they were originally marketed by Allis-Chalmers for their tractors...



When they arrived, I discovered that the sending units were WAY too big to fit the bungs in my engine...

So now, I'm not sure what to do about this... I may have to try and determine what the resistance range of these sensors are and see if I can source a workable set in a smaller size... IDK, I'm a little fluster-ated with it right now.

I'm on the verge of understanding why so many people convert these cars to 12 volt systems...

-Bear

 

[mattthemuppet2]

old cars are a whole 'nuther world! Is there enough meat on those sending units to turn them down and thread them to fit your engine? Or enough length on the probes that you could make a short adapter and still get them into the coolant flow?

 

[682bear]

old cars are a whole 'nuther world! Is there enough meat on those sending units to turn them down and thread them to fit your engine? Or enough length on the probes that you could make a short adapter and still get them into the coolant flow?

An adapter isn't going to work... the probe is too short. I have considered attempting to turn and thread them to fit... there is enough diameter to do that I think...

IDK... I'll figure something out.

-Bear

 

[682bear]

I have the radiator, fan, and lower radiator hoses installed, and I think I've figured out how to run the sensor tubes on the mechanical guages through the firewall. If it works out, I'll post details later.

I've ordered a mounting bracket for both of the mechanical guages... I'm waiting for it to arrive to finish up with the cooling system. It should be here early next week.

Meanwhile, I've mounted a couple of the new wheels and tires...



The original wheels had another trim ring between the outer beauty ring and the center cap...



I opted to leave it off these wheels, as it tended to be loose. I like the way it looks without that ring, anyway.

-Bear

 

[OTmachine]

Nice looking ‘40! I have a ‘39 Convertible, with ‘67 Mustang running gear in it, that I need to work on.

 

[682bear]

My wife found this in an antique store today...



Does anyone see anything obviously incorrect with it?

-Bear

 

[mattthemuppet2]

alloy wheels? Excessive pinstriping?

 

[Bone Head]

That's a sedan, not a coupe.

 

[tjb]

Nothing if you recognize it as a street rod. But for purists, color/wheels/tires/stripes/bumper/no sideview mirror. Seats maybe. Hard to tell from photo. I like yours better.

Regards