hey guys, Whats the best way to do thermostats on a flathead??? I installed a pair in mine, the way the flathead book showed: sitting on top of the outlets of the heads and then just clamping the rubber hose over the top. Well anyways I was running it last night, it got up to temp, so I reved it just a little and the stupid hose blew off on the passenger side!!! I shut it down and scratched my head! The hose clamps were tight! I could'nt figure why the hose would just blow off like that. The thermostats were istalled the correct way so that was'nt the deal, I think? I wounder it the outlets on the new heads have a slight taper on them? Any thoughts? Chris
I have em like that in my 47, I have chrome tubes though, so they can't really move between the head and the tube. I wonder if you have some other problem that it would build up too much pressure in that head if the hose clamp was tight...
This is probably a really dumb question, but having read your thread, I gotta ask.... When you popped the t'stats into place and then tightened the hose, was the clamp actually over the neck on the cylinder head or up around the t'stat"? No matter what the security of the hose is totally dependent on the clamp being over the hose at the lower end...like 3/8 inch or so. Maybe need a second clamp just above the t'stat? Again, PLEASE forgive if this is dumb and I am NOT insulting your intelligence. But, I have seen it done.
Hey no offence taken!! Thats why I was asking, to get some feedback! I'm pretty sure I had the clamp down on the outlet of the head. I'm also running stainless tube from speedway, but the way my set up is the end of the tube won't matt up to the outlet of the head, so I can't sandwitch the t-stat. The only other thing that I just thought of, I just noticed that the rad-cap is a 7lb cap. That could be the issue! What you guys think?
One other thing to check and that is the radiator core! the pump puts pressure on the heat, blocked by therm when cold, so little water circulating, therm opens , rev the engine, and core not accepting the water increase. Try it with no radiator cap and see if it is pumping water out the filler when you rev it! traderjack
i'm running a 0lb cap on my '47 the 4lb cap was making the radiator top tank bulge out. i also have the stock style hoses on mine. just put the t-stat on the head, the hose goes over it and the clamp goes around the neck......the t-stat doesn't move around.
Before I went to metal tubes, I ran two clamps. One down low to clamp the hose firmly to the head and a second right above the T-stat to keep it from moving. With the steel tubes, though, the t-stat can't move...
Hey guys, I was going through my old Tex Smith book on flatheads and found a pic of a thermostat with some small screws holding down to the water neck. I thought that this seemed like a good idea that would'nt damage my new heads. So I went ahead and drilled a tapped 2 holes for each t-stat and used brass screws to hold them to the heads. I also switched the hose for a smaller and softer rubber hose that seemed to be a tighter fit over the neck and t-stat. I'm going to put the anti-freeze back in tonight and fire it up and check it out. I'll post the results!!
Well, I fired it off and ran it until it got nice and warm!! Reved it a few times, I even ran it up at a constant higher RPM (about 2500) no problems!!! It seems that was the trick! at least for now!! I'll drive it around a bit and see if that was the total cure.
Another option is a short piece of steel tubing that will fit inside the hose. It will sit on the surface of the t-stat. One clamp goes on the hose-to-head area and a second hose clamp goes around the steel tubing - holding it in place and consequently, holding the t-stat in place...
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