37 radiator with an 8ba engine.

[jhljr44@yahoo.com]

I'm having a problem with my radiator over flowing when it gets going down the road at 45+mph. If full it blows out 2 quarts to a gallon of water and nothing more. The engine runs fine and stays between 170 and 190 degrees. The water or antifreeze here in Bangor, Maine area, comes out around the cap and makes a mess on the hood and windshield. Is it okay just to run it 2 quarts low? And why doesn't the Rad have an over flow tube? Should I be using a pressurized cap and if so how many lbs.? Thank you all for the help. Jim.

 

[petehoovie]

An original '37 radiator does have a overflow tube....

 

[jhljr44@yahoo.com]

mine is a pickup.

 

[FlatheadTed]

Iike Pete said it should still have a tube

 

[40cpe]

I have a '38 with an 8BA. The radiator was cleaned and tested when I built the engine. The radiator has an overflow tube with a recovery bottle attached, no pressure cap. The radiator never overflows enough to fill the small bottle here in the south with 95 degree days. I was running a 4# cap and could hear the radiator tank pop when it pressurized and then again when it cooled down. The constant flexing will crack the tank or seams.

 

[Juergen]

I had the same problem of throwing out water, but the low water would eventually cause overheating. The problem I had was the pumps were pushing out the water faster than the water could flow through the radiator. I flushed the radiator to clean it out and installed thermostats to slow the flow and my problem went away.