Draining Coolant on '39-40 Fords

T

tumblindice

Junior Member
I'm learning my way around the fat fender stuff (coming from the bare-bones Model A), and am wondering about the proper way to drain the coolant out of a 1940 Deluxe with a Walker radiator without making too much of a mess. Do I really just crack the petcock at the bottom of the radiator open and have it drain out of the hole at the bottom of the radiator pan? It seems like that can't possibly be right...
 
That's the way it's been done on almost every car ever built. But If it really nasty dirty like most old Fords are I'd remove the radiator and reverse flush it from the bottom out the top to get any chunks stuck in the top of the tubes. Then while I have the radiator out, I'd also stick the hose in the upper hoses and flush the block until it runs clean out the lower hoses. That's a little more work to pull the radiator but it's worth t, it helps to unplugs anything in the tops of the tubes. Just let the water gravity feed through it, you do not want to split any of the solder joints with excessive pressure. If you want, you can use some radiator and engine flush chemicals before you drain it all out. The rust might stain your driveway so try not to do it there.
 
Flathead Fever said:
That's the way it's been done on almost every car ever built. But If it really nasty dirty like most old Fords are I'd remove the radiator and reverse flush it from the bottom out the top to get any chunks stuck in the top of the tubes. Then while I have the radiator out, I'd also stick the hose in the upper hoses and flush the block until it runs clean out the lower hoses. That's a little more work to pull the radiator but it's worth t, it helps to unplugs anything in the tops of the tubes. Just let the water gravity feed through it, you do not want to split any of the solder joints with excessive pressure. If you want, you can use some radiator and engine flush chemicals before you drain it all out. The rust might stain your driveway so try not to do it there.
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Thanks, the car has been pretty well-kept, just not driven a bunch, so I'm just changing coolant so I have a baseline.

It's just one of those cases that I'm wondering if I'm missing an easier "old-timer" trick to doing this, but I guess not!

It sure is nice with the A's being able to just put a jug under the drain and crack the petcock open. Gotta pay the cost to be the boss, though, right?
 
Simply draining the radiator and refilling it doesn't qualify as a good day's work with results to match. Mo' betta:... change out both front soft/squishy motor mounts and bottom radiator hoses. Top hoses may be ok, but a good flush can be done from the top.
 
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