blueskies Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 My radiator has the overflow tube in the cap neck, which I believe works with the pressure caps. My car is a late production '50, with the narrow fan belt. I'm not sure when they started using pressure caps, but maybe I already have the radiator for the pressure cap... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd52cranbrook Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 That looks the same as mine. When I change to 3 row, I kept the top and bottom saddles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 give a three pound cap a try she is it runs any cooler. Might help at your altitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Soto Frank Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 My '48 New Yorker has the overflow tube piped to the filler neck, and the cap appears to be a pressure cap of some sort (factory equipment), but the filler is taller than on my '50 Chrysler ( and most later vehicles ). I wanted to replace the 50 year-old radiator cap with a modern Stant unit, but the sealing disc was about a 1/2 inch shy of the bottom of the filler neck, where these things normally seal. The OEM cap has a 1" diameter tube affixed to its underside, and at the bottom end of that is a cone-shaped orifice with a spring-loaded ball behind it. I believe the bottom end of the tube seats against the bottom of the filler neck, and when coolant pressure is sufficient, it forces past that spring-loaded ball, and on through a hold in the side of the tube, up near the cap. All that said, the radiator in the '46-'48 Chrysler eight is HUGE: 26 qt cooling system capacity ( 4-1/2 gallons!). Also, it is a fin & tube core, not the cell-type used with the sixes. Since the front clips on the Chrysler six & eight are very similar, the eight cylinder radiator is the same height & thickness as the six cylinder version, but it is wider, kind of looking like it has "love handles". I ran the '48 on four-hour trips up & down I-81, in the summer, and also sit in hot August PennDOT back-ups, and the water temp never went above 160 F. I think the answer may be found in a radiator with larger capacity. Jon Robinson, one of the gurus on the De Sotoland website, has noted increases in avergage operating temperature with each rebuild/re-bore of the 251 Chrysler six that's in his '50 De Soto... I believe he's on his 3rd re-build. I think his present "normal" is about 180 - 190 F. My '41 S-8 has run on the hot side (180- 185 F) as long as I've had it, and in warm weather, the faster I drive it, the hotter it gets (190 F+) I'm sure the water jackets are full of crud. I 've done the t-stat thing and had the cellular radiator boiled and pronounced "clean"... Might be worthwhile to try the old "burlap-bag soaked in water in front of the radiator trick", and see if that makes it run cooler for a bit, if so, that would suggest that the stock radiator just may be maxxed-out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jjmorrse Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 If Johnny Cash was able to tour the country in one of these, it should be designed to run pretty cool I have run approx. 300 miles 100+ weather and did not overheat. The only time I get close is when I am stuck idling in the drive thru for a long time. I have not added more induction or compression/ single1bbl. carb. Additionally I have a split exhaust to get the hot out fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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