This may be a silly question but, can my 1957 engine radiator be filled with anti-freeze or should I just use water? The radiator has been cleaned and flushed but before filling it up I want to make sure that I don't wreck all the hard work I have put into the engine. Thanks, I am edging up on trying to start the beast after working on it for the past 18 mos. I put seatbelts in to make it legal but I'm kind of nervous that it won't work when I finally work up the nerve to crank her over.

 

Yes, you can put anti-freeze in it. I belive it should be a 50-50 mix with water, or you can buy it pre mixed.

 

Since antifreeze is so messy when you get it on anything under the hood, I filled mine with distilled water only to get it running. After I was satisfied that the engine was okay I drained the water and then refilled it with a distilled water and antifreeze mix. Here in the frozen north I'm using about 80% antifreeze to protect it down to -35 but 50% is the usual.

 

I live in Northern CA and won't be taking my truck out if it is below 50 degrees, is there any reason to put anti-freeze in the radiator or is just plain water adequate?

 

The anti-freeze has rust inhibitors in it so it should help to keep the inards of your cooling system a bit cleaner. Anti-freeze also raises the boiling point of the water. So to answer your question yes it is a good idea to have anit-freeze in your engine cooling system.
Don

 

Thats a great idea. I've filled and drained my system twice in the last three months. I have to do it again and I'm dreading it. I thought about filling it with water at the beginning but I had some kind of lapse of reason and forgot about it until it was too late....twice! Get your engine running with no leaks then drain and refill with the proper mix. You may not need it but better safe than sorry you know. John

 

You can also run water with a small amount of machinist oil to keep the system from rusting. Lots of flathead guys in norcal do that to help their flatheads run cooler.

 

I would definatley use a distilled water/antifreeze mix. Why chance it. It will keep things from rusting up and protect against the cold. I was taught that the ideal mix was 60/40, anything more than that actually decreased your protection (raised the freezing point) There is typically a chart on the back of the container though. Most of the time I run a 50/50 mix just because its easy to figure out.

When I was a teen I had a 68 F-100, I was too broke to buy antifreeze (what was it back then...maybe $1.50 a gallon) I drained my truck every night and refilled it every morning. What a pain! The only benefit was that I could fill it up from the hot water tap in the house and have a warm truck right away.

Don't gamble, use the mix
Bobby

 

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of a trial run with just water and then refilling with the proper mixture. I'm holding off putting brake fluid in for the same reason. I want to make sure everything else is ok before bleeding the brakes in case I find more work to do which keeps me garaged for so long the brakes need to be flushed.

 

Vern, That is way to strong of a mixture. The most reconmended mixture is 70/30 and that is good to -50'C. We only use 50/50 up here and never had a problem on vehicles freezing at -40'C. Add a windchill to that and then you only leave the house if you have to.

 

Aww you cold climate guys are so cute with your "windchill" and your "70/30" Also, just a funny question, do you notice a performance edge in the winter with the dryer, denser cold air? I was always curious.

 

Sovereign, I know your poking fun but when it's -50'C with a windchill, any exposed skin can freeze in like seconds which hurts like hell. Performance increase? LOL. We're happy if the vehicle starts and moves. Some 5spds won't go into gear unless you left in in neutral for awhile. But I won't trade Saskatchewan. Can see the stars at night, clean air, wide flat landscape, low population, no emmission checks, no HOAs....

 

Nathan,

The 80% was just a guess. Come to think of it, it might be closer to 65-70%. I put in a gallon of water and then added the antifreeze a little at a time and checked it with a gauge until it read safe to -35, then completed the fill with 1/2 water and 1/2 antifreeze. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Once you experience a cracked engine block you tend to err on the side of caution. The truck sits all winter in an unheated garage...

 

All my dad's 7 vehicles sit out side during the winter. One has since '65. The only cracked blocks I've seen are some old flathead v-8s and the 305 that was in our '90 chevy van. That one cracked between the middle cylinders, took us forever to figure why it was eating antifreeze. Chevy and there grouped exhaust valves...

 

Unless you live in freezing weather and drive your car in that weather, you need a mixture more than 50/50. I get my antifreeze from Wal-Mart and pre mixed. It comes in the 5 quart jugs. I found out its made by Prestone for Wal Mart. Great price too. Saves me time of trying to mix it 50/50 and go to the store to buy distilled water.