well i do have to say i gave that a thought. but no stat's is not a good way to cool for the flow is so fast it really don't cool.. but saying that i keep the old stat's and can pull the guts out and put them in as a restriction... the prev owner called last nite and i questioned him on the issues i've been having.. i think i'll need to retract my comment of him knowing before selling.. i don't think he did for he was surprised too..
but getting back to the heat thing.. with new rad, hoses, stat's, and flushing out the engine, it just looks like a blown gasket.. it takes only about 3 miles to get it heated up.. way too fast..

 

If it was blown head gaskets you would have coolant leakage somewhere, either into the oil or exhaust. Do a compression check and it may show up. I would suspect water pumps first.

 

The whole "water goes thru too fast to cool" thing is bogus. Not supported by science. I've pulled a head off with the engine in the truck, twice. It is not fun. Particularly trying to torque the bolts while you're laying across the fenders. I'd try anything else you could first.

 

let me state again that i'm very new to flathead motors... other then looking into the rad, is there something else to look at.. no i don't want to pull the heads. one thing keeps comming to my mine.. prev owner mentioned the guy he got it from did some motor work.. well when i pulled the carb to rebuild the gasket between the 2 parts of carb was very old.. pulling the stat's the gaskets looked old too.. both in that brownish color old looking...

 

Do a compression check on all the cylinders, if any are low pull the heads.
You could also pressure your cooling system with a pump that goes on the rad cap, see if you are loosing pressure, your local garage will be able to do this. The pulling of heads should be the last resort.

 

It doesnt sound like a head gasket. dumping that much water in 40 miles the oil would show or you'ld have a cloud of smoke/steam following you.

You got to find out why its running hot or blowing the antifreeze out the overflow. Do you know if the motor has been bored oversize? If its bored out a lot then you may have to put a better cooling system under the hood. Especially if you driving stop and go in town. Maybe a hotter thermostat?

Pull the thermostats, fill the radiator so you can just see the antifreeze. Run the motor with the radiator cap off looking into the radiator for bubble (big bubble like your compression is entering the coolant) or if the anti freeze is rising up to the filler neck and overflowing faster than it can filter through the radiator.

Also, since you had fuel problems, make sure your not running lean or your ignition timing is off.

 

sounds like a better plan then the one i had.. tks again.

 

How fast are you driving? 3 miles isn't very far. At that distance my 180 degree thermostats haven't even opened yet. I would suggest maybe your timing is off? Without antifreeze in the oil I'm not sure about head gaskets.

Sorry about this but make sure that your thermostats have the coils pointed down toward the hot engine. Sorry for such a simple thing but that mistake has been made before.

 

i'm sure everyone has done something dumb at one time.. but the stat's are pointing down.. but talking to my brother a few minutes ago he mentioned since i had fur ***** in ea stat and the rad might have been plugged he mentioned the water passages just might be plugged too.. hadn't given that a thought. so i'm just going to order the parts and pull the heads.. better safe then sorry.. it looks like a piece of cake.... ya right.. i'll just make it down to a learning experience. my distance the second half was around 5 miles, i put a gallon of water in to fill it up saturday and I ck'd it a while ago and can't see any water in rad.. i'm gonna call a friend and see if i can get the cooling sys pressure tester..

 

Your timing will certainly cause it to run hot as well.

 

i gotta read the book to see how that is done.. i've done points loads of times but not this kinda motor..

 

Well it is not only the initial timing but total advance. Before taking all those bolts off the heads I would do those simple checks first. Here are a few old articles that might help you.

 

I have similar problem with flathead 226, does not run hot 160-180 losing water through exhaust,did dye test in radiator combustion in radiator, installed new copper head gasket,magnafluxed head ok ,milled surface ,still losing water not antifreeze through tailpipe,no antifreeze in oil ,signs of water hot or cold,4th gear no power,detonating sound,dont know what else to do

 

1. What are your compression values?
2. Are any of your plugs unusually clean? A cylinder pumping water will be scoured clean.
3. Does it do this if you leave the radiator cap off?

 

Cracked block would seem most likely. Probably near the top of the deck. With the dye in the antifreeze you should be able to see it (them) with the head removed with a black light.