West Yellowstone Rod Run

[1941Rick]

Just made the 1000 mile trip to West Yellowstone from Campbell River BC....Car ran great, although was a little low on power coming over some of the passes. Overheating was an issue that I will address when I get home. Has anyone built a larger capacity radiator? If so what did you do?

[old-idaho-iron]

hey 41rick,

i'll be there tommaro,unfortunately won't have any of the plymouths or the dodge in it, but it's only 100 miles from where i'm at, so i guess i'' just have to enjoy the scenery on the way there!. which is your car and i'll look for ya.

alan

[old-idaho-iron]

duh, i just checked your profile there's no way i'd miss your car i have a couple 41's myself

[55 Fargo]

Just made the 1000 mile trip to West Yellowstone from Campbell River BC....Car ran great, although was a little low on power coming over some of the passes. Overheating was an issue that I will address when I get home. Has anyone built a larger capacity radiator? If so what did you do?

Glad to hear the trip was a success, admire your Guts to undertake such a journey.

Can you elaborate on your cooling issues?

I don't see why you could not have your stock rad re-cored to a 3 core modern, or how about an aluminum aftermarket rad.

Are you still running a stock honeycomb rad?

[52b3b Joe]

My dad was having some issues with his 41 desoto overheating, so I bought an aluminum one from American Eagle Radiator Co. off ebay, it was only $170 I think. Its a 2 core, and they do sell a 3 core also. It was for a late 40s plymouth but I was basically a direct fit for the desoto. Very minor modification, just used tin snips to slop the mounting holes and had to cut the inlet and outlet tubes off a little for the fan clearance. So far so good with close to 1000 miles on it. I also looked into the thermostat. I had three of them. I decided to test them so I put them in a pot and set in on the stove in water to see how they opened and if they worked. They were all the same temp rating, but each one started to open at different temps and some opened more than others. The one that seemed to open sooner also seemed to open the most, so I put that one in. The thermostat that I took out was working, but it was one that opened around 5 degrees later and didn't seem to open as wide. It may be something to look at, but maybe its no issue at all to have that kind of variance in them. Just my experience.

[1941Rick]

Old Idaho Iron.....look me up at the show....

Rockwood....heating came about climbing thru the passes....had to kick it out of overdrive going up. Also the guys I am travelling with all have "hot rods" and cruise 60-70 mph....The faster I went the hotter she got. I can do 70 but it sits on 212'. I just slow down to 60 and it runs 180 - 200. And it is in the high 80s to low 90s which does not help.

[bamfordsgarage]

Just looked at your profile pic — that is one very sharp looking car. What is the engine, any suspension etc mods, what are you getting for gas mieage?

[55 Fargo]

Old Idaho Iron.....look me up at the show....

Rockwood....heating came about climbing thru the passes....had to kick it out of overdrive going up. Also the guys I am travelling with all have "hot rods" and cruise 60-70 mph....The faster I went the hotter she got. I can do 70 but it sits on 212'. I just slow down to 60 and it runs 180 - 200. And it is in the high 80s to low 90s which does not help.

180-190 at 60 mph is acceptable, 212 at 70 mph, is not far from blowing out that antifreeze mixture.

Is the bottom rad hose collapsing at the higher RPMs?

Temps, in mountains 80s 90s, pedal to the metal=higher engine load=higher RPM= higher engine temps= normal situation.

i wonder if a new modern rad, or having yours beefed up would help you out. even ifit brought the engine temps down 10 degrees in the same conditions.

How about higher water to antifreeze mixture, with some Water Wetter, I have read on here, that some have done that, andit made a difference in high heat situations. Water can dissipate heat, more efficiently than glycol, but you have a lower boil temp too.

[old-idaho-iron]

Rick,

I looked for ya at the show, your friend with the yellow Chevy told me you had went in search of a garbage can, so I hung around and took several pics of your car and the yellow Plymouth next to it. I decided to go and get something to eat and came back to see if you were hanging around ,and your car and a few of the others were gone. So sorry we weren't able to meet and talk old Plymouths, but your Plymouth is definitely inspiration for mine. You have a beautiful car. Hope you have fun in west and a safe trip back up north.

Alan

[steveplym]

180-190 at 60 mph is acceptable, 212 at 70 mph, is not far from blowing out that antifreeze mixture.

Is the bottom rad hose collapsing at the higher RPMs?

Temps, in mountains 80s 90s, pedal to the metal=higher engine load=higher RPM= higher engine temps= normal situation.

i wonder if a new modern rad, or having yours beefed up would help you out. even ifit brought the engine temps down 10 degrees in the same conditions.

How about higher water to antifreeze mixture, with some Water Wetter, I have read on here, that some have done that, andit made a difference in high heat situations. Water can dissipate heat, more efficiently than glycol, but you have a lower boil temp too.

Fred, definitely an advocate for water wetter. That stuff works pretty good. Can drop the temp down almost 20 degrees.

[1941Rick]

Old Idaho....sorry I missed you....I came back just after you left so I hung around to see if you would come back....bummer......would be nice to meet some faces on this forum.....On a high note I was a trophy winner today.....Sponors Choice. Our group of 14 cars took 4 trophy's....there was around 400 cars, it was quite a show..

[1941Rick]

bamsfordsgarage... I have a 218, twin carb, headers, .040 overbore and .040 shaved off the head. Suspension is stock. Overdrive R10 into 3:91 rear end. Milage cruising 60mph is around 21/22mpg. Imperial. Pretty good considering the age....

[old-idaho-iron]

here's a few pics of Ricks sweet 41 plymouth at the show in West Yellowstone Montana. Congrats on the win!! It's well deserved.

[steveplym]

Awesome Rick. Congrats on the trophy.

[1941Rick]

2200 miles round trip...home safe and sound...Car ran great...

[BobT-47P15]

Isn't it amazing how difficult it proves to be sometimes.....for two people

to get together at a show or swap meet?? It seems timing is everything.

I have enjoyed meeting some other forum members at various events.....

always nice to visit in person.

[steveplym]

That's true Bob. My tardiness at NSRA Springfield, MO made it a bit harder to meet up. Glad I didn't miss you though.

[blucarsdn]

My brother was at the West Yellowstone meet last weekend... He had his pink/white Metropoliton there. Brother told me about the large group of cars that came from the eastern states and how some of them won awards.

On the over heating issue.. I have an aluminum 2 row Davis Racing radiator from Summit, with a full shroud and electric fan on my '39 Plym conv. cpe. My car has AC, with a 190 thermostat the temp sits at 190/200 regardless of what the exterior heat and/or terrain is.

The radiator is actually intended to be a cross flow, however, we stood it up. It is 19" x 22" and fit within the core support perfectly..