running with no thermostats

47topless

47topless

Well-known member
Doing some work on my recently purchased 1947 Ford V8 and discovered that there are no thermostats installed in the engine. Other than effecting the temperature in the heater, is there a reason that the PO was running without thermostats?
Thank you, Phil
 
If Henry Ford was here today, I bet he would say,
Don't you dare run your flathead without any thermostats :eek::eek:





.
 
The reason is that back in the day, a rumor got started that removing the thermostats from an engine that runs hot will solve the problem. A lot of people that should know better, don't. Old wives tales die hard.

This, and the fact that it is very easy to do contributed to the myth. In addition, the fact that it is more difficult to install the thermostats and keep them in place on pre-'49 flathead fords than most other cars doesn't help either.
 
tubman said:
The reason is that back in the day, a rumor got started that removing the thermostats from an engine that runs hot will solve the problem. A lot of people that should know better, don't. Old wives tales die hard.

This, and the fact that it is very easy to do contributed to the myth. In addition, the fact that it is more difficult to install the thermostats and keep them in place on pre-'49 flathead fords than most other cars doesn't help either.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not 100% convinced....
I had one car, a '34 coupe in which I'd rebuilt the engine, re-cored the radiator and rebuilt the pumps. Guys that know me, know I don't skimp / cut corners. That car would always push a little fluid out of the radiator after a decent drive. Removed the thermostats and no more issues.
No, I can't explain the "why", but it worked. If I didn't know who built this car, I'd suspect underlying issues.
 
When I bought my '46 Super Deluxe, I went over a lot of items on the engine, to determine what work I needed to do on it. When I pulled the upper rad hoses, I found one stat in place, and the other cocked sideways in the hose. They were 160 deg., but two different types. I replaced them with 160's from Carpenter, and to hold them in place I got a short piece of rad hose (NAPA NBH 609), cut two pieces about an inch long, and inserted one in the engine end of each upper hose (they fit snug), pushing them in until the depth matched the height of the spigot on the cylinder head. By doing this, the stats are held in place by the lip formed with the inserted pieces. I found the engine (stock) ran too cold, so I switched the 160's to 180's. It runs at +/- 180, and no overheating issues. I keep the coolant level in the rad just above the tops of the tubes, and have yet to lose any coolant, with a 4psi cap.
Didn't someone say that Henry never put more on a car than was needed?
 
I tried the whole no thermostat thing when I was new to flatheads. The only thing I got was a car that wouldn't get over 120* when it was cold and ran 190* when it was hot out. I put 170*'s in it and it stays at 170* in all temperatures.
 
Been a while since I had Skip rebuild a set of 8ba pumps but IIRC the paperwork he sent back with the pumps said to not run thermostats. But as i said its bee a while.
 
Bottom line? If your car runs better all around without thermostats, there's something else wrong (dirty block or radiator, eroded impellors, cracked head or block, etc.).
 
When I built my '40 engine 25 years ago, I took extra time to make sure all the old core sand had been dug out from the water jackets, especially at the rear of the block. After that, I had the block baked at high temperature in a commercial oven at a machine shop that builds racing engines. The baking process turned all the scale and mineral deposits remaining in the water jackets into fine dust and was easily blown out with compressed air. After that, the machine shop then shot-blasted the block in a shot-blast cabinet and I can tell you that block was clean. I run Speedway water pumps and NO thermostats and have had no overheating problems - I live in Texas, so I know about hot! I check the temperature occasionally with a thermometer just for peace of mind, and have never seen it go over 180. I don't advocate running a flathead without thermostats, I just think it should be considered case-by-case based on the engines' condition. If your engine can handle them, by all means use them.
 
I tried no stats in the first 59AB I had built/ The motor tended to run hot which I attributed to the water moving to fast thru the radiator. I installed stats and the motor ran cooler at a more manageable temp.
 
Millions of people drive billions of miles every year, and every one of those miles is done in a car with thermostats fitted. Every car that rolls off a production line has thermostats.

What is so special about a flathead Ford that would make it an exception to the norm?

Run stats. It helps the motor in many ways.

Mart.
 
ronn said:
Ive run many cars wo thermostats.......

theyve always run cooler, so there you go.....
Click to expand...

Running cooler is NOT better. You may be proud of your engine that runs at 140 all of the time, but the engine isn't.
 
This we’ll be another myth but I was told that the thermostats not only got the engine up to proper operating temperature quickly but even open they restricted the flow so that the coolant spent enough time in the radiator to transfer the heat it had absorbed. But we weren’t talking about flatheads.
 
As far as what Henry would think, what about the millions of engines Ford produced before adding thermostats in 1934? He must have changed his mind.
 
DavidG said:
As far as what Henry would think, what about the millions of engines Ford produced before adding thermostats in 1934? He must have changed his mind.
Click to expand...

I believe this proves the point. If everything had been fine, he never would have added them. He did not waste money on frivolous things.
 
tubman said:
Bottom line? If your car runs better all around without thermostats, there's something else wrong (dirty block or radiator, eroded impellors, cracked head or block, etc.).
Click to expand...

Tubman, I think you at the very least, know my reputation. I don't do things half as---. The '34 was done to perfection. No stats cured the overflow issue.
That car is still going strong w/o stats.
 
Kube said:
Tubman, I think you at the very least, know my reputation. I don't do things half as---. The '34 was done to perfection. No stats cured the overflow issue.
That car is still going strong w/o stats.
Click to expand...

Being an "8BA" guy, I have little knowledge of the early cars that came from the factory without thermostats (per "David G"'s post). There may well be something in the design of those earlier engines that was different enough to cause the overflow problem when thermostats were used. Therefore I will defer to you on this.

However, the O/P was asking about his '47 Ford (which did come from the factory with thermostats). Since the great majority of the members here have later model engines, I stand by my opinion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top