FINALLY Pops has his flatty shortblock back from the shop. Its a 46-48 vintage mildly hopped up. Its got a lumpy Schnieder cam, Edelbrock heads and intake. He is set on using an MSD dizzy and Powermaster starter. (I have these on my SBC, maybe I'm rubbing off on him) The question I've got today is... cooling. What is the best waterpump setup to go with? Its in a 35 Ford Pickup that will be driven a lot in the coming years (God willin') I'm looking at the ones Speedway has for $89 a pop. I don't want to say money is no object... but we want this thing to be bullet proof. My old man isn't going to get stranded... We've got a brand new stock radiator too... should we pitch it and opt for something better? He's converting it to 12v and will be using an alternator (Hell, its his truck... his choice) Thanks in advance, guys!!!!! ...coming soon... will aforementioned flathead and stock tranny keep up with his leadfooted friends and their damn AOD transmissions???
As for the radiator, I know 2 guys with hopped up 35 pickups and cammed dual carb 59AB's with Merc cranks. Both cool just fine with stock radiators. Both use the pickup water pumps I think. I don't know if they use restrictors or thermostats. If they got all the sand and shit out of the block when they cleaned it, you should be fine.
I'm using a stock '35 radiator & truck waterpumps w/ my 59A. I ran all last summer w/o thermostats (50/50 antifreeze) and never overheated, but she did get warm in heavy traffic when the temp was over 80. I'm going to install restrictors this winter (5/8") and I've been told that they will greatly improve the cooling efficiency of my system. The fan location in a '35 pickup is a bitch. You can not run a stock crank driven 59A fan due to space constraints (it would also be very low on the radiator). I'm running a generator driven four bladed fan. It's not the best location, but I didn't want to run an electric fan. I changed my 4:11 ring & pinion out to a 3:78 last summer. I can cruise at 60 - 65 now fairly comfortably and still get out of my own way at a stoplight. I'm currently running tall rear tires (700-16) which also help out with cruising. I know several guys that went with 3:54s and they love the freeway cruising ability that they now have. If you plan on doing a lot of high speed driving I would go with the higher gearing. A Columbia two-speed rear end would give you the best of both worlds. Of course they are spendy and fairly hard to get. Good luck!
If he's running a full hood, why not an electric fan? I know they look wrong as can be with a Flttie but man do they do the job right. Sound like a good combo. Maybe I'll jab a big ol stick in my Flattie next year.
Thanks guys! Yep, he's running a full hood on it...for now. Since he's strayed more into the (gulp) streetrod genre with it, an electric fan is not out of the question. I do have a guy who does custom streetrod aluminum radiators, maybe I'll look into that, too. I'm talking overkill! Iceberg, you were the first one I thought of when we started looking for waterpumps. Thanks. I'm sure I'll be bugging you for more. Here is a shot of when he pulled it home last year. I'll get some pics soon, of it how it sits currently.
If you really want to cruise with the AOD street rod crowd, why not drop a T5 in it & convert your old banjo to open drive? Otherwise, it's 3.54 gears & tall tires. Just another option.... As long as the core of that stock 35 rad is in good shape & clean, it should be fine. Truck pumps will probably be fine. If you want overkill, there's a guy who converts these old pumps to use modern impellers & seals - I think his name is Skip Haney (Bruce and Carl probably know for sure). It ain't cheap and it's probably overkill, but...just another option... Good discussion a couple weeks ago here: Edelbrock Flathead Thermostat Question
Use late style (8RT) truck pumps. They got roller bearings and dont wear out due to lack of lubrication, like the 59A pumps. Just make shure to plug the little bypass hole on top of these pumps and you need to swap pulleys. I have a bunch of brand new army surplus truck pumps here and sell them. But I think shipping from Germany would be a little high.
I run a columbia rear in my 37 p/u and if yu want to cruise at any speed no problem. I found the higher the rpm the more heat build up. No problems with stock radiator and pumps. I just happen to have a extra columbia out of a 40 if anyone wants one.
From what Ive heard Skip does a superb job on pumps but I dont know if he does any later style. Check over on Fordbarn. As far as 8RT pumps, the 48-52 are bearing and the 53 are bushed. Henry was getting cheap for the last year. Over the counter Ford pumps after that date are bushed. Aftermarket or remanufactured from that era can be either style. Ive heard nothing bad about the Speedway pumps, I believe they are Cornhusker or one of the other flatty parts suppliers; dont have the catalogs handy. As far as an electric fan goes, check the junkyards for size compatibility. Mounting a compact pusher with either a manual or thermostatic switch will help the stocker when needed. Just remember they can draw up to 20A or more so size the alternator accordingly. Sounds like your dad will have a nice ride even if it is drifting a bit to the Dark Side.
Ernie, I followed that post closely. It didn't talk about pumps, and that's why I decided to post. I thought that with the Speedway pumps and some Water Wetter (TM) we would be fine... just needed to get the opinions from the experts. ...no T5 and late rear end. He wants to use all stock appearing drivetrain... to keep it looking origional... WHAT ABOUT THE ALTERNATOR, DAD??? (I'm fighting him on this...)
[ QUOTE ] ...no T5 and late rear end. He wants to use all stock appearing drivetrain... to keep it looking origional... [/ QUOTE ] That's why I mentioned just converting your banjo to open drive instead of torque-tube. It still "looks" original and you certainly can't see the T5 unless you crawl under the car. Late truck pumps should be fine in your application!
I say go for the bearing type truck pumps. And i say a clean block with a original radiator and thermostat's will not overheat. If it does check the timing, and then check the timing. If it still get hot check timing again. 9 times out of 10 flathead overheating is from timming problems. Mart has a good TDC "tool" at the tech site Millions of flatheads where running billion of miles without overheating. yes old neglected flathead's did boil, but never fresh ones
I have a 53 flathead in my 36 truck with a stock radiator and have no overheating problems. I also run a 1-wire alt. and an electric fan. The fan came out of a dodge caravan from the local "pick-n-pay.I have the fan hooked up to a thermo-switch in the pass.side head. Fan dos'nt come on until the temp reaches 180. The truck cools just fine going down the road.It runs about 100 degrees above the ambient temp,never gets over 185,even on 95 degree days,fan only comes on in traffic or at stop lights. Chuck Fish
Me says tanks. Pops says thanks! We ae doing the truck pumps and will do the electric fan also. His engine guy says he got the block as clean as possible and assures us there will be no problem with the engine. Thanks again!
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