Installing the Cooling System

I started with a 185 degree thermostat then...

Modified it by drilling two  3/8" holes as shown.  This will allow some water to pass the thermostat should it ever fail closed.

A water temperature gauge was installed...

Then the oil gage was reinstalled. (I know, it's not part of the cooling system)

The fan shroud was sandblasted then later painted with Por 15

A new aluminum radiator was installed.  The original would have been copper.

 It looks good.

The lower radiator hose is worth talking about.  It took me 30 minutes to install this thing.  Can't imagine what it would be like with the body on.  Look how it snakes around everything.

When it was all done we ended up with a motor that was ready to be run.  And that's just what we did. We ran it for about 10 to 15 minutes and found a few issues including:

• A couple of the head bolts leaked because sealant wasn't properly used on the threads.  Each bolt will be removed, cleaned, sealant will be applied, then re-torqued before moving to the next bolt.
• The paint on the exhaust manifolds cooked off within 30 seconds.  These will be repainted with high temperature aluminum exhaust manifold paint.
• The timing and fuel mixture needs to be adjusted.  We will start that work after we redo the head bolts.
• We found a threaded hole behind the idler pulley that leaked like a sieve.  It was lacking a plug.   A quick trip to Ace Hardware made this a quick fix.

The engine ran nice, sounded nice, and it's throaty.  My neighbor even came over and jokingly mentioned the noise.  I am not sure we'll ever be able to drive this thing without getting a ticket.  If we do get tickets we will frame each one.

More body work should be next.