Installing a thermostat in upper radiator hose

I would guess that folks choose to place holes (I did 3 of them) by the fact that the model a did not have a thermostat and wish to have some flow of water no matter what. My car I think ran too cool and with the stat has never overheated --yet...
 
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BILL WILLIAMSON said:
With a cold engine & a thermostat. Rev the engine & peer into the radiator, you'll be SURPRISED at the amount of water going into the radiator. It flows from the factory provided vent & "possibly" through the valve being pushed open slightly by the water pressure. DRILLING HOLES IS NOT NECESSARY! On modern cars, does the thermostat maker recommend HOLES???---Use your head!
Bill Cool
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Yes most have a hole..have seen 2 on certain modern applications
 
In my case the thermostat sits at the top of the radiator hose, the thermostat has the 1 hole and begins flowing warm water to the top tank in less than a minute or so, there is no problem losing water after the thermostat opens, I have a 4 row 10 fin radiator from Berts, the truck as been driven on long grades on hot days without a problem.
 
Mitch//pa said:
Yes most have a hole..have seen 2 on certain modern applications
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On some, the dingle valve vent suffices. Once in awhile it may come with a hole, but EXTRA holes are not needed. They just lower the opening & running temperatures.
The thermostat company knows what they're doing
SA KDad
 
I like the idea described above about taking hot water from the T'stat housing, through a heater in the cab and return it at the water inlet on the side of the block only I NEVER need a heater, only more cooling. I'd run the hot water I take off at the T'stat through a hidden auxiliary radiator.
 
I don't think you need the additional core of a heater; just run a small diameter (1/2" ID) bypass hose from the t-stat outlet on the head to the tapping on the water inlet.

Same hook-ups as if you were running a hot-water heater, just no heater.
 
Special Coupe Frank said:
Now, if you wanted to be really slick, you could use this t-stat outlet, plus an inlet casting that is drilled & tapped for a heater connection, then run a small bypass-hose (1/2" or so) between the two.

Then you will have pump-forced circulation within the block when the stat is closed. :D

When the stat is open, the majority of the coolant will circulate through the big pipes, and the bypass circuit will be irrelevant. ;)
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A bypass hose is a good thing for even heating of the engine. Here's a link to what I did last year.

Two to four small holes in the thermostat will help the hot water circulate past the wax pellet quicker for proper thermostat operation.

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201385&highlight=bypass+hose+wesenberg
 
You read my book Bill, so you know how seldom I do use my head. LOL
Thanks for all the tips. I'll find my own "sweet spot" with this. There appear to be several theories at work. I just don't like the idea of it running most of the time with the coolant so cool I can hold the bottom hose.
 
I bought a thermostat from Bratton's 3 months ago and it has 2 holes in it. I decided to put it in tonight and monitor how it works. At 158 degrees it was wide open I assume as I was reading the temperature at several locations with my infrared temp gun plus the water temp gauge I installed in the past. Water level with cap off never seemed to change much even at a high idle. I'm planning on going to a parade on Saturday, so I'll get a better idea how it performs.
 
Took my thermo out until I can check oil sump temp. Need to keep the oil under 230F... not sure if the thermo effects that.
 
daveymc29 said:
You read my book Bill, so you know how seldom I do use my head. LOL
Thanks for all the tips. I'll find my own "sweet spot" with this. There appear to be several theories at work. I just don't like the idea of it running most of the time with the coolant so cool I can hold the bottom hose.
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When I first got my A, I was running it to work every day, 25 miles each way, about 45 minutes on the milk routes.


I did replace the water outlet neck with one tapped for a heat / gauge outlet, and installed a mechanical temp gauge.

After that 25 mile / 45 minute drive, the engine would only get to about 130-140 degrees.

Too cold for healthy running.

I installed an upper-hose stat from Brattons, with a hole or two in the flange, and the engine would warm-up to 160* in about 5-10 minutes of driving, and stay around 160 during cold weather, to 180 in the summer.

Never overheated.
 
Special Coupe Frank said:
When I first got my A, I was running it to work every day, 25 miles each way, about 45 minutes on the milk routes.


I did replace the water outlet neck with one tapped for a heat / gauge outlet, and installed a mechanical temp gauge.

After that 25 mile / 45 minute drive, the engine would only get to about 130-140 degrees.

Too cold for healthy running.

I installed an upper-hose stat from Brattons, with a hole or two in the flange, and the engine would warm-up to 160* in about 5-10 minutes of driving, and stay around 160 during cold weather, to 180 in the summer.

Never overheated.
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Well documented,,, and i agree to cold ....
 
Although the Model A was not designed to run with a thermostat, most everything I have read indicates that the optimal temperature for cars to operate for efficiency and to get the oil warm enough to get rid of water and other volatile compounds is 160 degrees. They didn't know everything back then, so it seems that a thermostat could be an improvement that many owners could easily adopt.
 
Reliable (wax pellet based) thermostats were not developed until the early '30s. There are good reasons that all car manufacturers adopted them as soon as they could.

Many thermostats come with a tiny hole in the flange. This is sufficient to allow a bubble of air pass, should one get in there somehow. But, I don't think it's sufficient to allow enough coolant flow to prevent localized overheating during warm up. Cars designed for thermostat use have some flow bypass provision built in, so they don't need extra holes drilled in the flange.

I usually drill two 1/8" holes to allow some circulation, but I never had a problem when I used just one such hole. Of course, the holes slow down engine warm up by letting some water circulate through the radiator from the get go, but it works well enough. I've also got a hot water heater, but an inline valve keeps flow to it shut off during summer. I never bothered hooking up an inside flow control cable. However, I did put the fan switch on the kick panel on my wife's side, giving her total control--highly recommended!

To the question, you might be surprised how determined an unanchored thermostat is to get up to the top of the radiator hose. But, in my experience, it still seemed to work ok. I now use the pricey Vintage product John pictured in post #12. It has a couple of thin bypass slits machined into the housing.
 
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New Berg rad with anti-freeze + new leakless waterpump=162 degrees at anytime while engine running for hours up hills and down hills taken with a thermal gauge = what Tom Endy said. ;)

(181 degrees after engine shut off ten minutes).

I did buy a new thermostat drilled two extra holes, added it to my water hose and (correctly)......it's now in my spare parts bag where it will stay until someone wants one for free.;)
 
Henry probably DIDN'T use a thermostat, as the ones that were available used a BRASS, air filled bellows & failed OFTEN.
Bill W.
 
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