Click on image for the lowdown. 
====
| | | Forums66 Topics128,154 Posts1,056,855 Members48,456 | | Most Online14,466
Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!
| | THANKS!
For helping keep this great
old truck web site
on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down
with Ads!  Again, thanks!
| | | | Joined: Jan 2014 Posts: 3,690 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jan 2014 Posts: 3,690 | I need to do a coolant flush. I’ve always run the traditional “green” stuff because I had it in my head that was the best thing for an old engine. Better lube for the water pump or some such thing.
It’s not impossible, or even difficult, to find the green stuff…but it’s getting more scarce and more expensive. And the advertised life of it is shorter than some more modern formulations.
I see no reason per the labels that I couldn’t run the more common “universal” coolant. (Typically yellow, but pick your favorite color). Anyone here doing so and if so, any results to report?
One thing I like about the green stuff is that it’s easy for me to see when it’s getting rusty looking. Even with a really aggressive flush, I suspect that corrosion in the block will never go away. I’ve wondered if it’s harder to tell with the yellow when that’s starting to happen.
1951 3100
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,922 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,922 | Can't help on the qyestion, but when filling remember that the pre-mix 50/50 protects down to -34F.
If your local temp doesn't reach zero, add more water for better cooling. | | | | | Joined: May 2015 Posts: 11,134 Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums | | Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums Joined: May 2015 Posts: 11,134 | There have been reports of the GM stuff (OAT - Organic Acid Technology) turning to sludge in some vehicles. Has to do with the metallic components in the cooling system. Don't know what those might be. It's supposed to be good for 5 yrs/50,000 miles. The Ford/Chrysler stuff (HOAT - Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) is supposed to last for 10 years/150k miles. But those have some metal incompatibilities as well.
I have not used anything but the old green stuff (IAT - Inorganic Additive Technology) in my diesel, but it takes some supplemental anti-cavitation additive and occasional testing of that additive level. Newer diesels can use the HOAT coolant, with the longer life.
I suspect that in a stovebolt, that there aren't any whiz-bang materials that would prevent you from using the long life coolants.
[on edit] I'm wondering if there isn't a "Bob is the oil guy" style forum for coolants. That might shed some light on any potential incompatibilities of the various long-life coolants.
Last edited by klhansen; 07/04/2023 6:23 PM.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truckFollow this saga in Project JournalPhotos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,927 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,927 | Stick with what works.
You can run straight water in the summer without any problems.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,927 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,927 | You can order ethylene glycol (green) in bulk from Rock Auto
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
| | | | | Joined: May 2015 Posts: 11,134 Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums | | Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums Joined: May 2015 Posts: 11,134 | Stick with what works.
You can run straight water in the summer without any problems. Running straight water will make more corrosion. Every antifreeze type has corrosion inhibitors in it. I'd just run the mix of antifreeze/water appropriate for your coldest temperatures year round so you have some corrosion protection. If you have issues with overheating in summer temps with that mix, there's something wrong with your cooling system.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truckFollow this saga in Project JournalPhotos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,927 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,927 | Use distilled water only.
The brass era - WWII car community often runs water in summer and water/alcohol in winter. Flush it out in spring and fall. No problems with corrosion.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2023 Posts: 190 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Feb 2023 Posts: 190 | Green was in mine when I got it back in January. It survived single digit temps in Dec. . So green it is ðŸ‘🇺🇸👠| | | | | Joined: Jun 2021 Posts: 157 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jun 2021 Posts: 157 | Use distilled water only. Distilled water alone is even worse than plain tap water. It's supper aggressive to pretty much anything. During the distillation process, water is vaporized into its gaseous phase, so all its impurities are left behind. These impurities include a number of minerals, including “calcium” and “magnesium,” the two components of water “hardness.” The water is then condensed back into its liquid phase, so the resulting liquid is pure water — in fact, some of the purest water on earth. But the problem is that when water is distilled, or “stripped,” of its minerals and impurities, the resulting solution is composed of chemically imbalanced “ions.” This leaves distilled water “ionically hungry,” so it will actually strip electrons from the metals in a cooling system as it attempts to chemically re-balance itself. As it chemically removes electrons from the metals of cooling system components, distilled water eventually does extreme damage that could lead to cooling system failure.
So what’s the answer? Softened water. During the water softening process, the same impurities and minerals are removed from water as during the distillation process — but with one very important distinction. Rather than STRIPPING the impurities from water, softening EXCHANGES the impurities with a sodium ion. The resulting solution is chemically and ionically balanced, making softened water very stable, very pure, and non-threatening to cooling system metals.
There seems to be a perceptual issue with regard to the usage of softened water in cooling systems by auto enthusiasts. Many mistakenly believe that because salt is added to water softeners, then softened water must contain salt, a substance of course known to be very corrosive. Nothing could be further from the truth. The salt you add to a water softener is NaCl, or sodium chloride.
During the softening process, only the sodium ion is exchanged into the water. Therefore, softened water does NOT contain corrosive salt. If you want to run water without antifreeze for some reason, at least use softened water - you can use distilled water but you absolutely need something like No-Rosion for anti corrosion and water pump lube. https://www.no-rosion.com/norosioncoolant.htm
Last edited by Stovebold6; 07/05/2023 7:40 AM.
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,450 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,450 | JW51 I just buy simple green along with 1 gallon distilled water ,get an empty jug ,mix up 2 gallons of 50 % solution. The winch truck seeps ( thru a mild crack rear drivers side)so I top it off regularly that radiator is known 50 years old,still OK. An uncle of an old employer always told us to use prestone and he would show you how clean the radiator was in his old 59 chevy car. He was a winch truck builder oil field,built tail rollers using big truck spindles,they were free to roll !! OH I think it's important to run anti-freeze for water pump lube,that water pump was 50 yrs. old too.
Last edited by fixite7; 07/05/2023 1:04 PM.
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2011 Posts: 1,363 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Feb 2011 Posts: 1,363 | Never get pre mix, unless in an emergency, you end up paying too much for water.
Have always used just prestone in the yellow container. In the old days they offered a water soluble oil for water pump lube that helped with rust prevention as well.
Antifreeze helps raise the boiling point of the coolant over what just water would be.
Kicking self for selling off my Taskforce trucks.
Still looking for an LCF or conventional big bolt in decent shape.
As of 10-26-2022, A 55.2 Taskforce long bed now the work begins
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,450 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,450 | Truckrolet That water soluable oil is still available,machine shops call the mix milk,used to whip up a batch of that it has a certain sheen when it's strong enough. | | |
|
|
