VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 antifreeze and thermostats!

On a 32 Chevy,I understand they did not come with thermostats and should not use anitfreeze.Anyone have any input on these issues?

Use a 50-50 mix of anti-freeze.

Also use a 160 deg stat.

It would probably run at about 160 even without the thermostat. Too cool/cold. I recommend 180. Best I recall, very best flow and efficiency of oil (10-30) is at 190.

JD is right on. I used to mix my own 50/50 but changed doing that owing to the mess and nuisance and the fact that the manufactures of store-bought ready-mix (50/50) use distilled water.

Remember: Owing to a properly operating thermostat alone, the water temperature will not be raised any higher than its rating.

Charlie

If you install a thermostat make sure that there is a hole for bypass on start up.

you recommend using 10-30 oil?

hole for bypass on start up/ please explain!

10W-30 detergent is the recommendation for the oil, and the small hole in the thermostat helps prevent an air bubble in the system which can splash water out of the filler.

any particular size hole?

All modern thermostats I have seen have a small hole to bleed off air. 1/16" or so seems to be most common.

Thanx,I did get the 160,FS recommended and will drill the hole!

When I ran my 32 without a thermostat it barely moved the needle on the gauge. After installing a 180 deg stat it would sometimes overflow before the stat was completely open. With the 160 stat it works fine and I did add a 1/8" hole. The 180 may be great for a 41 (pressurized?) but NOT a 32.

160 is the stock version

For 1932 the stock thermostat was 145 degrees.

OK

Did the different based antifreeze (alcohol way back) have anything to do with the lower opening thermostat, e.g., 145 degrees?

I don't know but, if so, couldn't a higher opening be used with 50/50?

Just wondering.

Charlie

Charlie,
Yes
Yes
A 160 deg. F to 180 deg. F should work well with 50-50 antifreeze/coolant.

Chipper, are you referring to unpressurized systems? As I posted previously I had a coolant overflow problem with a 180 degree stat in my 32.

yeah, i just changed mine from 180 to 160 and hope it cures the burping problem after i shut her off.

If you don't suck air into the coolant then 180 deg. thermostat will work just fine. If your water pump sucks air then you will foam the coolant and lose water/coolant when the warm engine drops RPMs. It will be more than with cooler coolant. The thermostat may or may not increase the coolant temperature in the engine being fed to the radiator. That depends on several factors.

Perhaps I had a defective 180 deg stat as the only change I made to cure the overflow problem was installing the 160 deg stat. I'm familiar with the air past the water pump situation as even with the 160 deg stat that problem arose. I will be ordering the new sealed water pump from the Filling Station so hopefully sucking in air will be a thing of the past.

I got the new pump from FS and removed my 145 thermostat altogether.Water temp runs cool and goes to midrange normal when shut off.I also use Peak antifreeze with anti foaming additive.It seems to work fine.

I run my all original '32 on plain old water and no thermostat. The temp. gets up to just below "Alcohol Boils" on the gauge and the water pump is the original pump from the factory.

:Plain Water ? Dont you worry about rusting issues?

Maybe your 32 would be a good candidate for a multimeter test.!! Could be very interesting.