The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop general shop talk

Hello every one, I've been a regular reader for some time now and finally decided to enter the room of fellow truck owners. I own a 1951 5 window chevy that i completely tore down and built from the ground up thanks to a loving working wife. Anyway, i've got the ol'girl just about ready. the truck that is . and wanted to meet other stovebolters in the area. I've recently moved to Murrieta,California and there is definately a hot rod/truck scene here.

Oh! on a more technical note, a question on cooling? put a '55 235 in the truck and installed a short shaft water pump/have original fan, blades tweaked in a little to give about 1/2" clearance. new thermo/re-cored rad. still expriencing overheating? i read somewhere about going smaller on the water pump pully, more water movement? what can help.

Enjoy reading the posts and replies. keep it up.

Try a fan shroud first, that should solve it.

Jacob, it might be thermostat trouble. Is it new? I'm not sure, but I think it can be put in upside down. You might try a search on thermostats on this site, seems like there was a topic on this not long ago. There was also talk about drilling a hole in the thermostat to prevent partial filling of the water jacket in the block (?)

Is the motor still new and tight? That could part of the problem. Have you driven the truck on the road? Does it cool down with speed or heat up? If it cools down a shroud will help as it needs more air. If it heats up with speed, the water is not moving fast enough and more pulley rpm is needed. Joe

I haven't taken the truck on the open road as of yet, mostly high rev's in the garage. if a shroud is needed who sell's them or can one be easily made with sheet metal should the shroud encompass the whole edge of the radiator or just the diameter of the fan? i read else where in this site about these type radiators always letting out some fluid if filled to the top as i had done, scaled backabout two inches from the top and viola! no drainage. :confused:

another quick note, gas leakage coming from the throttle rod that holds the small brass plate. gas seams to leak out the side when i apply the throttle? carb is a rochester "B" model, is this a common problem? thank guys always helpful. jake

Another leaky Rochester. Haven't seen one that didn't leak for quite a while. Fix is either to replace it with a different make carb (not much to chose from) or to bush the shaft holes, a relatively easy job.

Are you having overheating problems, or was it just that your radiator was too full and blew coolant out the overflow? :confused:

Did you flush the block when you recored the radiator? The radiator is only half of the cooling system.

yes, the radiator was flushed, I'm leaning toward the "over filling of the radiator " that caused the overflow. kinda weird though. did all radiators leak as a rule and when did overflow tanks become available ?

back to the carb "rochester B model", seams like a very simple model, not much as far as mechanics go. I've picked up three of them and testing them for leakage . seams that a simple end cap would do the trick. capping the brass end that comes out the side of the lower cast iron base.

don't have my owner's manual handy but when initially setting the idle screw the manual say's what? screw idle screw in and back down 1 1/2 turns is this right.

thanks again jake