Cooling system capacity?

Here is some interesting but useless information. A 55 gallon barrel can be used instead of a radiator. The heat dissipation from the barrel is enough to keep the engine at the correct operating temperature. Probably best for a stationary application.
 
nkaminar said:
Here is some interesting but useless information. A 55 gallon barrel can be used instead of a radiator. The heat dissipation from the barrel is enough to keep the engine at the correct operating temperature. Probably best for a stationary application.
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isn't that what the luggage rack was made for? :D:D:D:D
 
nkaminar said:
Here is some interesting but useless information. A 55 gallon barrel can be used instead of a radiator. The heat dissipation from the barrel is enough to keep the engine at the correct operating temperature. Probably best for a stationary application.
Click to expand...

May be why Land Speed guys use a water tank instead of a radiator?
 
If I recall correctly, the '28-29 factory radiators held about 2 1/2 gallons of coolant. Because of customer complaints about overheating, the '30-31 radiators were increased in height and capacity, giving the quoted three gallons. Of course, hardly anyone has an original functioning factory radiator almost 100 years later. Due to variances in re-cored radiators in the past century, these numbers may not be valid anymore. Some cores have more tubes than others, which would alter the capacity. But Gary's estimate of three gallons is a good place to start. Just don't be surprised if your re-cored radiator takes a little more or less coolant than the books say it should.
Marshall
 
And has been posted here many times, do not fill the upper tank to the bottom of the neck! The heated coolant expands and forces its way out of the overflow tube and/or from beneath the radiator cap. This is often confused with the engine overheating. It's not. It's just puking out excess coolant. Just put in enough coolant to cover the top of the core if your radiator has no baffle to hide this area. If your radiator does still have a baffle, only fill until you see water rising above the baffle - then drain some coolant out.
Marshall
 
nkaminar said:
Here is some interesting but useless information. A 55 gallon barrel can be used instead of a radiator. The heat dissipation from the barrel is enough to keep the engine at the correct operating temperature. Probably best for a stationary application.
Click to expand...

My father would use a 44 gallon drum on a stationary engine.
Common on farms here, and the outback.
When I was very young, that was a 1937 Chev engine.
I still have the gauges stashed away somewhere, I knocked off from it as a kid.
That is 44 imperial gallons, about 53 US gallons.
 
The top and bottom tanks, as well as the side straps, have probably been re-used when radiators were re-cored over the years. So, those parts may be original on many Model A's. Because of the hot and cold extremes that radiators have been exposed to since 1928 and the corrosive effects of straight water used as a coolant, I imagine there are not a lot of original factory radiators still in use these days. Perhaps as curios sitting in the corner of garages, but old solder doesn't hold up well over the long haul.
I wrote an article for "The Restorer" in 2000 that discussed a local 1928 Business Coupe with 16,000+ actual miles. It had been purchased new by a schoolteacher, who only drove it in nice weather. A small number of consumable parts had been replaced since the second owner took possession in 1961. The radiator was original and cooled well. I wish I had paid attention and studied its features, but I was busy adjusting the rod bearings and fixing the snapped speedometer cable. Duh on me! A missed opportunity to study an original factory-installed radiator. :(
I can't really answer what features identify a factory radiator other than the baffle in the upper tank should still be present. For some reason, radiator shops that re-cored Model A radiators usually didn't reinstall this important water-deflecting part inside the top tank. I should think that if this baffle is missing, that's one sure sign that the radiator is not original, at least not the core. Of course, if the core is the honeycomb design, it's not original. Model A's did not come from the factory with inefficient honeycomb cores, nice-looking though they may be.
Maybe Steve Becker from Bert's Model A Center can chime in with pointers about what constitutes an original radiator. I'm sure he has seen and worked on more such radiators than most of us have ever even seen!
Marshall
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
I can't really answer what features identify a factory radiator other than the baffle in the upper tank should still be present. For some reason, radiator shops that re-cored Model A radiators usually didn't reinstall this important water-deflecting part inside the top tank. I should think that if this baffle is missing, that's one sure sign that the radiator is not original, at least not the core. Of course, if the core is the honeycomb design, it's not original. Model A's did not come from the factory with inefficient honeycomb cores, nice-looking though they may be.
Maybe Steve Becker from Bert's Model A Center can chime in with pointers about what constitutes an original radiator. I'm sure he has seen and worked on more such radiators than most of us have ever even seen!
Marshall
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Thanks Marshall. I thought there may be a way to tell if original by the shape of the fins or some other item.

The radiator on my '30 Town Sedan has rather unique fins (I think) compared to any modern radiator I have seen, so I was wondering.

55339485634_3b4264f51b.jpg
 
About 50% of the heat produced by the engine goes into the coolant, 16% goes into the exhaust gases and only 34% drives our Model A's.
 
I have been told that an original Model A radiator core is quite unique but it’s a design that went out of use decades ago and few are known to still exist.
 
Y-Blockhead said:
Thanks Marshall. I thought there may be a way to tell if original by the shape of the fins or some other item.

The radiator on my '30 Town Sedan has rather unique fins (I think) compared to any modern radiator I have seen, so I was wondering.

55339485634_3b4264f51b.jpg
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ANSWER HERE Posted 2 weeks ago

Common in 30 - 31

"Oblong tubes with a dip on the front cooling fins between each tube - used 1930 and 1931".

Judging Standards Rev 2011 page 3-2
 
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Y-Blockhead said:
Thanks Marshall. I thought there may be a way to tell if original by the shape of the fins or some other item.

The radiator on my '30 Town Sedan has rather unique fins (I think) compared to any modern radiator I have seen, so I was wondering.

55339485634_3b4264f51b.jpg
Click to expand...

I saw this picture in the Judging Standards so I assume your radiator is original?

587508
 

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Round tube cores were used the first two production years. With aftermarket radiators available for many years, the originals are likely somewhat rare in the modern era.
 
About post 17 ... the same answer was posted 2 weeks ago in post 15.


I do not know why anyone posts here when the posts are not being read!
 
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