VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1927 Chev - Over Heating Problem

Hi Guys,

My Son and I took the car out for it's maiden run today, which was a real treat after all the work we have done it over the winter. The car ran and drove well, but overheated after driving for about 2 miles. The radiator is the old original honeycomb, but we had it worked on at a rad shop over the winter as it had been leaking. The guy specializes in old rads and old cars, so I am pretty sure the radiator isn't the problem. We have had the car run idling for relatively long periods of time in the driveway, and not had an overheating problem, but when driving the car, it overheats, as mentioned, after about 2 miles or so. Wondering where we should start to try troubleshoot the problem...

I was wondering if the problem could perhaps be timing as that might explain why it's not overheating when idling but is, when driving at speed...? We drove the car with the spark fully advanced (as I believe is normal), and experimented with retarding the spark via the steering wheel adjustment somewhat but that didn't seem to make a difference...

When running, all of the hoses are hot, so I am taking that to mean the water is flowing through the system properly, but wondering if the problem might be the water pump? Any thoughts on where we should start ?

Here are a couple of photos of our 6 mile adventure.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103109131679997921712/albums/5859866519312938849

Greatly appreciate the advice.

Charles and Brad

Hello, your thermostat could possibly be stuck. Remove it and try your car without thermostat. Replace thermostat if overheating is corrected. I am running my 28 without a thermostat because previous owner was able to use car in parades more confidently. Gary Wallace sells a 4 blade cooling fan for your car, good luck. L.F.

I don't have much luck with the old radiators even if worked on by a real professional. Move your hand down the front of the radiator and see if it starts out at the top as hot and gets cooler as you go down. Should be almost cold at the bottom. How about obstructions in one of the hoses. Insure that you are running in the full advanced mode. The 4 bladed fan is a help for cooling, but a drag for taking power from the engine. Check the air in all tires and insure that none of the brake shoes are dragging. Has the engine been worked on recently? Possible you have a cracked head or blown head gasket.

Make sure the baffle plate behind the waterpump rotor not are rusten away. This plates are orginal made of tin steel plate.It's very important to get a good waterflow

LF, Ray and BlueZone,

Thanks very much for the excellent advice. We'll start working on the car over the next few days and see what we can find and keep you posted as to progress.

Greatly appreciate the responses.

CW

I had a similar problem with a car, it could idle all day long and even be okay at 30 miles an hour, but the faster I went it would super heat. I think its still in the radiator.I would pull the thermostat, and also check the upper and lower hoses for soft spots. Oh I did this once so I can call my self a dunce, I put the fan blade on backward and it pushed the engine heat to the radiator. Put some writing paper in front of the radiator and see if it stay on when you increase the RPM.

1927's don't have a thermostat(unless the '28 thermostat housing & thermostat were retro-fitted as per the '28 service bulletin),and unless the engine is fitted with a '28 head.

I had the same experience with my 1928. After changing the water pump, baffle and even the radiator, only to discover that it was my timing. I exchanged out the distributor and it solved all of my over heating problems.

Hope this helps

Hi,

Well, we finally got our overheating problem solved. We jacked up the rear wheels so we could spin the wheels and double check that we didn't have the band brakes too tight, and while doing that we noticed that one of the rear wheels was exceptionally wobbly.

We took the wheel off and found the main washer that goes in first against the hub was not seated correctly. Once we reinstalled the wheel, our overheating problem was solved. With the wheel wobbly, i am guessing it would bind on the band brake as it wobbled, creating undue drag.

Thanks very much to everyone that helped us out !!

Chuck and Brad

Now that is a cause and solution for the "books". Hope we all keep drag as a cause for overheating in mind.