VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 windscreen washers for an old crock like mine?

Hi there,
With the radiator cap not sealing very well, the water wants to escape my vessel...the radiator... and on most runs spews its contents over the front of the car and the windscreen. I have to use the wipers to clear the view and have come to the conclusion that windscreen washes would make a fine addition to my old jeloppie .
I have done searches for manual wind screen wiper kits , ( kits beware) and found nothing. A kit with a push hand pump to squirt the water....as on early Morris Minors of the 50's .
So what have you other old warriors out there , done to solve this problem?
I regret that I am now to old to hang out of the window with a squeegee bottle and spray the wind screen at 30 MPH....

Peter

I think the best solution would be to fix the cap seal problem. If I remember correctly you previously had overheating problems which would cause radiator overflow. If you have installed an overflow tank then that is where the coolant should collect and not on your windscreen. Hopefully you are not having a recurrence of your overheating problem.

STEVE D is 100% correct, fix the rad cap and you don't have to worry about cleaning windows.

Find a new old stock one or have it blocked off by rad shop and a filler neck put inside to attach to the top tank , that a pressure cap can be attached to. Make sure it has an overflow outlet tube.

mike

Hi there,
Thank you both for your interesting reply s.

Mike: Could you please explain in more detail what you exactly mean, I cannot quite grasp what your said?
I have an overflow tank installed but it has never worked, it has a screw on regular cap, but without the spring and washer...so it continues the none pressurized system to the overflow tank.

Also I have made new rubber washer for the radiator cap, and it still spews out. I have tried to find a new cap on ebay , but with no success.
I noticed that one of the tangs that locate in the grove of the neck is broken and because it is riveted, cannot repair it. So I guess the cap is a bit loose on one side.

Peter

You might want to have a radiator shop repair the filler neck. They should be able to repair the filler neck or replace it if necessary even if with a non correct one as long as the cap fits tight. With the cap sealed and the coolant is expanding it will flow into the overflow tank and when cooled be drawn back into the radiator.

peter you have to have the stock radiator cap repaired or replaced so that your chevy is not getting soaked with overflow.

If your stock radiator has an overflow line coming out of the filler neck , that is what is supposed to allow the coolant to spill into a receptacle and when it cools down its supposed to be drawn back into the radiator

From what your saying , you need to start there at the filler neck and solve that problem first.

mike..........

Also make sure your overflow tube is open. If it is plugged, your overflow system will not have a chance to help you.

Mike

I have had both the cap problem and the plugged over flow tube. First I replaced the cap. Mine had one of the bent over tabs rusted out. Also the rubber was not in the best of shape. You can buy reproduction ones presently. I ran a stiff wire up the over flow tube. I found a glob of mud in it from an insect. Once removed it started to function properly. Remember that the radiator must have "head space" of air in order to work properly. It needs room for the hot water to expand during operation of the vehicle. Over filling, like a modern vehicle to the top, will cause loss of fluid out the overflow.