VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 56-235 serious overheating after running

have put a low mileage 56-216 in my 50. new head gasket, radiator and hoses short shaft pump etc. engine sat for a long time inside a barn took it down to short block and had it checked out .put a lot of engine block cleaner in motor power washed all could get to. head looked okay as rest of engine did never went any further with it . health problems put all on hold. now the problem started engine at idle engine temp gauge never went past half way to it for ride 5 miles or so came home engine overheating. took new radiator back to shop everything good there checked all hose all good checked thermostat opened even drilled 2 holes to relieve possible air lock temp at idle great took for ride same problem no water coming from exhaust no water in oil no smoke of coming out tail pipe two race car mechanics said same thing possible loose water pump impeller at high rpm or possible crack in head some where .took all apart water pump seems tight . short of pulling head off to send it out what can i be missing oh am using stock 216 exhaust manifold because had new exhaust engine back before 216 died on me but was told by our forum that would be fine just a little loss of power not looking for power just a nice driver. also used a water hose filter to trap loose stuff it worked fine but could initial start up clogged head got me puzzled big time any thoughts thanks

Is the gauge going to hot or is it just overflowing the radiator? If the engine is actually getting hot, the coolant isn't getting circulated correctly. That could be a number of things. What is raising my suspicion is the fact that the engine sat in a barn for a long time. Who know what critter may have crawled deep into a coolant passage and created some kind of blockage. If the gauge isn't getting hot but it's overflowing the radiator, is the radiator too full so there's no place for hot coolant to go?

I think you meant 56 235. So your water pump and fan are located in the wrong place for that car. Some folks don’t like this solution but a water pump relocation kit with the old style waterpump will put it back where it belongs. Many owners have done that and solved the overheating problems. Have a look on the Stovebolt.com for discussions about it.

Based on your other post I think you mean you installed a '56 235 in your 1950.

I agree that you need to get a fan in the correct location to move air through the radiator. You can either use a pump relocation kit or put an electric fan in front of the radiator to push air through it/ If you do that I would consider removing the fan on the water pump shaft. That would give you a little more power.

both the gauge pegs out at hot and the water is coming out the over flow tube the radiator has not been over filled it is about an inch below filler neck

i have put an 17 inch fan on the pump the old fan was 15 1/2 so i have actually gained in cooling area am only about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 below the the core start

if there was anything there its gone now as said put a strainer that goes in water hose to catch any debris that was in engine it started out with a bit of crap in the screen then after removing and replacing 4 times there is no more debris in the screen and back flushing 3-4 times water comes out clear

What lower radiator hose did you use? Does it have an internal spring to prevent it from collapsing due to suction?

yes has spring am now leaning towards a cracked head or blown head gasket and will get head off take it to shop and see what up will go from there

If the head gasket is blown you should see other an external leak or a compression test will show bad cylinders.

Do you have any history on the condition of the cooling passages in the engine? Did the block and head get hot tanked and the cooling jacket mechanically scraped before the engine was assembled?

no history of condition of passages other then they were pretty cruddy did the best i could to manually clean the block but never did anything with the head will be taking it off this week end to see what up and go from there i want to thank all with their thoughts on what can be wrong will get back to forum when find out what needs repaired

My "best guess" is that the cooling jacket and the passages in the head are packed with crud. With the head off you should be able to reach down into the block and knock a lot of that loose. Then pull it out with a shop vac.