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Well, I got her all back together tonight. Couple of things to note:
The new, lower radiator hose I bought didn't have a spring in it. Fortunately, the spring in the old hose pulled right out and I was able to push it into the new hose and reach through the other end with some long needle-nose pliers and pull it through. The new flex line I bought for the upper came with a spring.
This was a very messy job and I hope I don't have to do it again for a long time. I inadvertantly shifted off of the towel I was laying on while reconnecting the lower hose and transmission lines and laid my head right in some transmission fluid. Take it from me, find a safe way to plug the transmission lines when you disconnect them. I just wrapped each one with a shop towel and taped it up with electrical tape. It seeped right through it, so there was probably 4 ounces or more that had slowly leaked out. And of course, no matter how careful you are, radiator fluid is going everywhere. Luckily I had picked up a new bag of quick-dry a couple of weeks ago, so I have quite a bit of that spread all over my garage floor tonight. But, with all of that being said, when I started it up, I had no leaks from the hoses or transmission lines, so I'm thankful for that.
I had bought a 195 degree thermostat, just based on other posts I had read. When I pulled the old one out, it was a 180. Don't know that this will make much difference, but I let it warm up for about 5 minutes and then took her for a spin. The temperature gauge got to square in the middle of the NORMAL once it warmed up and pretty much stayed there, just barely going back towards the C as I was driving. The heat blew nice and hot and it was nice to take the truck for a spin for the first time in a week. Now I can get back to tinkering with this new Holley I just installed a couple of weeks ago.
Also, as far as filling up the radiator, this is what I did. I took the gallon of concentrate that I bought and poured half of it into an empty coolant jug. Then, I filled them both up with water. I poured each one of them into the radiator and with those 2 gallons in, it was close to the top. I filled one of them back up with just water and it took about another half a gallon to fill it all the way up. I also had to top off the transmission fluid from where I had some leak out of the lines, so keep that in mind if your transmission lines run through your radiator.
A good mechanic is supposed to be "one with the machine", the antifreeze too, sounds like ha ha
Well, I'm a computer nerd posing as an auto mechanic! But I have loved old Ford trucks since I rode home in the back of my dad's 73 F250 back in 1977. There's nothing within reason I won't try to fix short of building an engine and it's not that I wouldn't want to try that, I just wouldn't attempt it and risk ruining it and my wallet in the process.
I've read the newer hoses don't need the internal spring, therefore it is not included. But I've also read folks with overheating problems on the highway that installing a lower hose spring remedied. If the hose is collapsing under certain conditions like that, it will interfere with coolant return circulation and I bet it would be tough to find. So needed or not, I use one.
Spoke too soon about no leaks. But this is probably normal. I had a very small leak at the thermostat hose connection and the same on the one on the bottom of the block. My assumption is, the rubber is pretty stiff when these hoses are new. Once the hot coolant starts flowing through them, they soften up. I was able to get about another full turn out of screws on each clamp. I was also able to get about 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon of water in the radiator after checking the levels following my long test drive. So that was about 3 gallons I've added once everything was put back together. It'll be nice to finally not have a mess under the truck.
Flexible hoses are kind of hard on radiators, transmit a lot of vibration to the neck and tank of the radiator and can lead to cracking of the tank. JMO
I recently installed a new Radiator and Thermostat about 2 weeks ago.
Put a 180 degree thermostat in it and I must say I wish I had done a 190! It's been really cold here and the heater doesn't get as warm as I would like.
Will probably replace the thermostat this summer. You will probably be happy you went with the 190.
I recently installed a new Radiator and Thermostat about 2 weeks ago.
Put a 180 degree thermostat in it and I must say I wish I had done a 190! It's been really cold here and the heater doesn't get as warm as I would like.
Will probably replace the thermostat this summer. You will probably be happy you went with the 190.
Yes sir, the older I get, the colder I get! When I took it for a nice, long ride last week it was nice and toasty, so I'm definitely glad I went with the higher thermostat.
02-07-2019, 09:15 PM
Take it from me, find a safe way to plug the transmission lines when you disconnect them. I just wrapped each one with a shop towel and taped it up with electrical tape. It seeped right through it, so there was probably 4 ounces or more that had slowly leaked out. And of course, no matter how careful you are, radiator fluid is going everywhere. Luckily I had picked up a new bag of quick-dry a couple of weeks ago, so I have quite a bit of that spread all over my garage floor tonight. But, with all of that being said, when I started it up, I had no leaks from the hoses or transmission lines, so I'm thankful for that.
Well, I'm a computer nerd posing as an auto mechanic! 
But I have loved old Ford trucks since I rode home in the back of my dad's 73 F250 back in 1977. There's nothing within reason I won't try to fix short of building an engine and it's not that I wouldn't want to try that, I just wouldn't attempt it and risk ruining it and my wallet in the process. 
