Well here she is, some of you may have answered some of my questions about the overheating issues. I picked it up about 3 weeks ago from a guy in Austin Texas. Matching Numbers '61 Buick Lesabre 4door Sedan. 364 Nailhead, Original interior, PS,AC, AM radio still works, No real Plans for her except to lay her on the terra firma.
I like it ! the possibilities are endless,first thing for me would probably be a good sounding set of dual exhaust.
Did you get the overheating issue resolved?.......................Im surprized more people havent chimed in with more comments???
I recored the radiator, she is running about 185-190 at highway speeds....gets up to about 200 stop and go and above 200 when driving slow.....I am not sure what else to do....
Does it have a fan shroud? Helps pull more air through the core. Also, especially if not, make sure the fan is within 1" of the core, again it promotes airflow. What temp thermostat do you have installed? What is the condition of the upper and lower hoses?
I have a 185 Thermostat, no fan shroud and the fan is about 3 inches from the core. I dont see a way to mount a shroud...like it never had one....I guess I could "RIG" one.
Nice ride. If you want a shroud (sonds like a good idea if the fan is 3" away from the core) you could mount it off the core support. Don't know if it would help, but the latter 70s Chevy pickups and vans I have had did that (tabs / clips at the botom, screws into the core support brackets at the top).
Are you sure timing isn't retarded? A little advance there might help. Kind of a cheat, but a little water wetter might bring you down 5-10 degrees if all else fails.
Are you calling my car Retarded? lol Just kidding...I never thought about that. My have to give that a try....Brought the Drums to be be turned just a few ago....hope that helps the font end wobble when braking..
Still having trouble with heat issues....Texas summers dont help.....I think the block may be clogged ......everytime I put fresh water in the radiator, start it up...idle up to temp and shut it down.....water turns reddish brown.....??????Help?
Nice Buick Red/brown is not good. Have you flushed the power flushed the system ? I'd start with that..
A lot of older cars were run with straight water or way old coolant mix instead of being changed regularly. That lets the block rust inside hence the reddish water. Because the car runs normally down the freeway and only overheats when you are going slow you need more airflow through the radiator. '70's caddys had a nice big flex fan you could use to pull more air, especially if stock it has one of those 4 bladed stiff fans, those just don't move much air. Also flush out as much rust as you can out of the block, even if you just pull the thermostat and use a garden hose.
If you want to flush the block yourself, you can do like gtostu said and use a garden hose. I flush it in the regular direction until the water comes out clean, and then flush it in reverse. You would be amazed at what will come out of there, especially if the PO used stop leak or something like that. Flushing it in reverse can help to peel some of that off of the sides of the water passages. Just take the hose and use a hose clamp to the radiator hose and flush away. As mentioned above, though airflow seems to be your first issue. You could try a fan spacer off of the water pump snout to get that fan to within 1 inch of the core. Otherwise, if you do a search for fan shroud, there are a few tech posts on here from some guys wo have made some nice stuff. Good luck! BTW I love the lines on that car...wacky!
drain a gallon of coolant out of the radiator,then pour in a gallon of vinegar,then drive it around for a couple of days. then drain everything out and fill it back up with fresh coolant/water.
If I was going to use vinegar in a radiator I'd be sure and not use any more than Yorgy says. It is a rust remover, but more importantly it's a mild acid. At full strength it attacks some metals differently than it does others. Which is to say, I used it full strength to get some rust off a pair of Lufkin outside calipers. The caliper legs came out nice and white like they were originally were, but the leaf spring blew apart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Far as the overheating goes: Got a vacuum advance distributor? Does it work? Is the vacuum source selected to manifold vacuum? You don't want it selected to ported vacuum. They'll usually overheat when on ported vacuum. Reason being, the idle air/fuel mixture is lean and it takes time to burn a lean mix.
yeah its a Reddish brown (rust) not Tranny fluid...I have flushed using a garden hose through the thermostat housing.....what is a "POWER" flush? and what is reverse Flushing? Thanks for all of the Help guys .....you guys here are great.
Reverse flushing is when you pump (flow, flush, whatever) the water back through the system opposite the direction of normal flow. Power flush (any time I have ever heard of this term) is the use of a caustic solution during the flush process, IIRC Prestone used to sell a product by that name (came in a kit with the nasty stuff and a T fitting to hook a garden hose into a heater line).
No room for a pusher fan...its an A/C car and the condensor is in the way.... I think I will reverse flush it and see where it goes. Thanks Brandon
I think it may have something to do with my timing as someone said Previously, because its "Dieseling" pretty bad and overheating...I dont think thats a coincedence
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