Thermostats for a 1948 ford engine??

J

joedaless

Member
Hi Guy's,

I need some expert advise. I have a 41 Ford Coupe with a 48 Engine. I have been running the engine without Thermostats. I was told to do it that way. Today I was running the car about 20 miles each way. The temp gauge started going up. I'm not a mechanic so any and all help will be very much appreciated.
Should I be running the car without thermostats. The heater is not hooked up.
Are there certain thermostats that work better and what is the best way to keep the car cool.
Thanks,
Joe
 
Here are the recent threads all about it:

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112889

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113366

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113979

Bottom line: Yes, you should be using thermostats. When the engine is not kept at operating temperature contaminants in the crank case condense and contaminate the oil. There is no reason not to use thermostats unless you have some real serious problem with your cooling system, then removing the thermostats might help but it would be better to fix the other problems than run without thermostats.

As far as which thermostats to use, the original Ford thermostats (which you'll see pictures of and discussion about in the above threads) had 34% more flow than the ones currently being sold for the 48 by most suppliers. Unless you're very lucky to find those NOS you won't get them. But, what you can get very easily and cheaply is the Stant 14157, aka NAPA THM 111, aka Murray 4157, aka O'Reilly 2962 that has 25% more flow than the usual replacements. It's actually a modern thermostat for a 1990 Subaru Justy but fits perfectly and works better on the 59A engine than any others presently available. Read the above threads to learn the rest of the why's.
 
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Joe to answer your question. Thermostats don't have anything to do with cooling your engine they only make it run at higher temperatures depending on the opening temp of the stats. Without stats your engine will run as cool as it ever will. I believe your radiator is set up for a pressure cap. If it is make sure you have a good 4 lb cap and the bottom of the cap seats on the brass seat about an inch down in the neck. If it don't have a pressure cap get a 3 lb pressure valve from Skip that go's on the bottom of the radiator hose. Fill the radiator up to the filler neck. With the water flowing freely out the over flow tube you have a lose of water and the engine runs hotter. These engines don't like long idling or slow traffic in hot weather due to the air movement from the poor fans and fan locations on some. G.M.
 
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