VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 50 with a 56-235

well tried the retard the timing a bit but still back fires once and awhile might have to tweak it a little with out thermostat never overheats put a 165 stat at an idle starts to throw water out overflow hose would drilling some holes in the thermostat maybe help some of the back pressure or just go back to stat at all

Not trying to be a smart aleck but I'm having trouble trying to figure out what you're saying/asking. Punctuation would help.

well i had another post on our site and gene told me to retard the timing a bit using the octane selector starts better but every once and awhile backfires but not as bad as before . have had trouble with engine overheating so took advice and reset timing finding out that alot of the problem with heating up had to with timing . took an old timers advice and left thermostat out completely no overheating at all after driving 50 to 100 miles very happy with way things are going decided to put stat back in now overheats again so i guess back to drawing board, am using stock 50 radiator with the 56-235 but did not relocate the 235 fan position so its sits a little lower which i think is my problem so i guess will go back to no stat till i get ideas thru our club i know my typing is terrible but thats the way it goes too old to go back to school so it what it is thanks for your reply

When it "overheats" does the temp gauge show hot or is it just overflowing the radiator? A properly functioning 165 deg thermostat shouldn't be the issue. It will be fully open at a bit over 165 allowing full flow of the coolant. 165 to 180ish isn't overheating. If by overheating you mean coolant flowing out of the radiator it's possible you're simply overfilling it. Hot coolant expands and has to go somewhere.

you could be very right am going for a small ride now and see what happens will get back to you later this evening thanks for your reply

Could be the newer style water pump/engine combination has something to do with it.

Nor to be wise but is the thermostat perhaps in backwards? or possibly defective?

i have now come to the firm conclusion that the the upper water outlet is too small to handle the amount of water needed to go from the engine to the radiator and back to the engine . when the thermostat is not in the car it cools fine with no water coming out of overflow. with thermostat in water is restricted which causes water to boil over or back just enough to overflow. when reading PATRICK,S engine swap booklet it says the upper neck from a 216 will work on the 235 and an adapter for the bottom neck must be used to make up the difference in the size of stock radiator to 235 water pump. you ask now about the stock 50 radiator that is being used it is new. i figure the only thing that can be done to solve the problem is get a bigger radiator with correct size in and out water necks and change the neck from the 216 to the neck that belongs on a 235. in short will remove the stat and enjoy the car and take care of the problem over the winter. GENE has stated the the newer combination could be the problem and once again he is right .
thanks to all for their input on this post in greatly appreciate it and i hope my typing got a little better at 74 yrs old am not going back to school to take up typing

I did that when I was in junior high school in the early 60s. Time well spent learning a useful skill AND I got to spend time with a LOT of girls......

I took typing in high school in the late 50's. Sure glad I did. I have used it a lot when I was a partsman for 38 years. And of course now on internet forums.

Mine is a ‘51 / 3 speed, with a ‘55 235”.

No problem with hoses or overheat, and I’m
using the short shaft water pump.

The neck housing the thermostat on a 216 has an inside diameter of 1 inch. If it is not smooth inside a 1 inch holesaw will clean it out to improve flow