Because I'm stupid, I neglected to flush or otherwise attempt to clean the block for my 40 Ford while the engine spent many a year on a stand in my garage with a fresh Krylon overhaul. It's a Chevy V6. Of course now, even though the radiator and heater core are new, I have plenty of rusty coolant. When I drained the coolant the other day to flush the system, I noticed that the stuff I drained out settled quite nicely and was good and clear. What do you guys think of adding a coolant filter to the upper radiator hose, so I can just keep collecting the crud until the system stays clean?
I don't think that's a good idea. A filter would be too restrictive IMO. Better off with the routine chemical reverse flush.
Cut up some pantyhose or other nylons and put them in the upper radiator hoses at the radiator. They will catch all the rust and debris before it gets into your radiator. You just have to be sure to check them periodically.
I had the same problem and used this. Trapped a lot and gets less and less every time. Ugly but gets the job done. Will remove it when not needed anymore. I am sure there are less expensive ways to do it.
I like the pantyhose idea. Out of sight and zero dollars. I'm guessing that the stuff floating around in there will diminish over time if I can keep trapping it. I was looking at a coolant filter from Scott Drake. It's a nice unit but but nearly 50 clams and just like Fras, I would probably remove it when it's no longer needed.
I agree about the money. The filters are a lot. I picked this one because you can clean it without removing hose or losing any coolant. I check it a lot. Also has a magnet in bottom. Surprised how much that catches. All will work just check the pantyhose a lot.
Dump the system and back flush it. Strain it before you pour it back in. No worries, no periodic checks.
I cut up a square of flywire, form it into a "pocket", and stick it in the top radiator inlet , then put the hose back on. After rebuilding an engine you can leave this on there for a couple of hundred miles, drain a little from the radiator and remove the top hose, remove andclean out the trapped crud, and stick it back in. After a few times, there will be nothing left to catch, and it can be permenantly removed.
I drove my 51( around town mostly) for a few months and never had a problem but when I started taking it on long trips is when I started getting the debris clogging my new radiator. I flushed the block several times but the debris just kept coming out while driving it. That's when I put the nylon stocking filters in. Over time it will get it all. But it was amazing how much stuff it would collect. Especially at first.
I like this idea.^^^^^ I don't like the panty hose idea. I have seen things in the water jackets that no one would believe somehow they passed through the pump at some point to get there.
A bunch of the Model A guys I know have used the Gano filter. It is cone shaped so it actually has more surface area then the hose itself. It does not cause a restriction until it is clogged. You have to clean it often but isn't that what you are going for anyway?
Yeah, the Scott drake filter is Gano unit. I like the one Fras showed because it's easy to access and clean. I agree that the actual filter has more surface area than a hunk of panty hose so I'm sure that the panty hose will need frequent cleaning. I have a 2 piece upper radiator hose. I used 2 molded hoses to navigate the awkward path between my thermostat and the upper hose nipple on my radiator. I could easily split the hose there to insert a filtering device. I believe that a filter will help a lot because the contamination appears to be in suspension in the coolant as opposed to being in solution in the coolant . This is borne out by the fact that the used coolant settles out nicely in the bucket and turns clear/green again. A little research on the Gano web site shows that in addition to the polycarbonate filters that they sell as the Scott Drake unit on Amazon. They also have the filter available with an aluminum body. Since you can't see the activity in the aluminum bodied filter, they say you can bury it completely in the hose so nothing shows but 2 hose clamps, not unlike what I have now. But pantyhose is free, (at least until my wife figures out what's been happening to her nylons) so I might play along those lines first.
Use the toes or feet section of the pantyhose, you want a "sock" to stick into the radiator not a flat "screen". Doing it this way gives you a lot more surface area so it wont clog up as fast. I have done this a lot and it always works, in fact I think I'm the one that told Russco about it.
That other filter is nice no doubt. But the pantyhose does work. I made mine look like a sock about 3"-4" long so there was plenty of surface area. The first time I cleaned them out I was surprised how much they trapped, and this was after flushing the block out several times with flush out chemicals.
WOW that's a lot of crud! I was a little disappointed to hear you guys were using the toe sections of the nylons, my wife is going to notice that right away. I was hoping to start with just a little 2" patch from the crotch, that way I could ask HER what was going on!
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