The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Vent? at top of radiator

My 1941 Chevy 1 1/2 Ton (4408) has a round dimple at the very top of the radiator with an hose fitting (Hose is routed down to the bottom of the radiator on the driver side. Last time I drove it started pouring wawa at about a quart a minute when it reached 180 degrees. No over flow on the filler cap neck.

While I'm at it. what temp is the thermostat supposed to open at and what is the proper pressure cap for the radiator?

-=JD=-

zero pressure cap back then, and yes, the hose is an overflow which won't overflow at normal operating temps if you don't overfill the rad - should be down a couple inches when warm, nearly down to the top of the fins when cold .... a 160 thermostat should work fine, a 180 if you use it regular in winter and have a heater - stats should be fully open at about the temp rating, you can check it in a pan of water on the stove with a kitchen thermometer

Bill

Uh Oh! BarsLeak "fixed" the problem. I'm going to pull the hose off and see if I can unfix it. Thank for your help Sir.

You can also close up the tube or solder the top closed or some variation of the above, solder on a new neck and cap(5 PSI max)w/ proper overflow res. to take advantage of a few more degrees of heat capability.

As it is now, as stated above, it will overflow every time 'til the water level gets static from expansion only.

It is good to use a 185 or 195 Tstat to get the engine warm to burn off water from the combustion process and the engine is more efficient there, especially for short trip use.

Bars Leak, etc., tend to mask other problems(sticking heater valves, if present, other gasket problems) that should really be fixed properly, especially if going on trips away from home.