cold garage
 

How cold does it get in your unheated garage? Is there an alternative to antifreez?

Re: cold garage
 

Re: cold garage
 

Yes there is, NOTHING!! Just drain it all out.......

Re: cold garage
 

Antifreeze is your best bet! My garage gets -6 or so at some points through the winter

Re: cold garage
 

I generally just run a 50/50 mix with green coolant. I change it out every few years, no issues with rust or freezing that way. If you really don't want to use it, draining it should be ok.

Re: cold garage
 

Dont overthink it. Put in 50-50 antifreeze like every other car on the planet and life will be good.

Re: cold garage
 

In almost 60 years of driving A,s,Ive never used AF.I use water with a cup of soluble oil & have never had a problem.If its going to be below 0 * in my garage,I just drain the rad.

Re: cold garage
 

For your first question, in an unheated garage, with no insulation, in some areas, it can get as cold inside as it is outside.

If the wind is blowing, & outside temperatures vary from day to night, because of the wind chill factor & air infiltration, the inside of a garage can get colder faster than that experienced on a still night.

More often than not, most engine blocks crack in cold weather because owners either "thought" it could never get that cold; or they just simply forgot to drain the coolant.

Antifreeze definitely provides engine block & radiator protection.

Re: cold garage
 

I have see in the years that I have been driving Model A's several guys that have broke their heads and cracked the blocks by using water and then forgetting to drain it when the cold snap hit. This explains why lots of Model A's have different heads on them now.....

Also I know another guy that started his car in the Spring and cooked his engine because he forgot that he drained the water in the Fall. He forgot to check the radiator before he started it up. Expensive boo boo..

I always used AF year around and I am not worried about possible babbit damage as long as my cooling system is clean. Most damage that occurs that would allow coolant to get to the babbit is from overheating....:D

Re: cold garage
 

H. L. Chauvin ....................
I don't believe that the "wind chill factor" will have any effect on a sitting radiator. That is something our weather men have come up with for dramitization.
It does have an effect on the human body, as the wind will dissapate the heat that we generate.
A sitting car generates no heat. It will be the same tempurature, wind or no wind. It can't get colder than the outside tempurature.
MIKE :)

Re: cold garage
 

I think i will just drain my radiator tank and put a note on the front seat that i did so. that way nothing can get to the babbit . Just wondering....Did Henry have anti- freeze in the 30's??

Re: cold garage
 

Jeff,
Over the years, I've experienced several "modern" engines, even with Tri-Metal bearings, seize up from antifreeze in the oil. I think that after a looong storage of a Model A with antifreeze, BEFORE STARTING IT, loosen oil pan plug a turn or so, put a clean pan under it, give it an hour or so & see if antifreeze shows in the pan. Any antifreeze will be in the bottom of the oil pan, UNDER the oil. Bill W.

Re: cold garage
 

Denatured alcohol is a good alternative, and is what is recommended in the Ford Service Bulletins.

Re: cold garage
 

Ethylene glycol was first prepared in 1859 by the French chemist Charles Wurtz. It was produced on a small scale during World War I as a coolant and as an ingredient in explosives. Widespread industrial production began in 1937, when its precursor ethylene oxide became cheaply available.

Being from a not to prosperous farming community in central Michigan. I remember those farmers coming to the service station to purchase a purpleish colored liquid from a barrel we had in the corner of the service area it was some sort of alcohol not good for human consumption. Seems we may have sold it for a dollar a gallon for use as an alternative to ethylene glycol. Worked well as long as you did not over heat the engine. If you did it would boil away. I also recall that a simular product was canned by the quart for like 26 cents.

Re: cold garage
 

Re: cold garage
 

Mike,

My above statement is mentioning garage "buildings" materials exposed to "varying" temperatures with "warm" days & cold nights, whereby insides of garages can get quite warmer during the day; & also garage brick walls can hold their gained daytime radiant heat & be warmer than cooler night air temperatures.

Because inside garage heat gained constantly travels to the cooler outside, a strong blowing wind can cool warmer interiors of garages with warmer concrete slabs & warmer exterior brick walls faster than that of a still night.

Fans blowing strong "cooler" air can lkewise cool "warm" radiators faster; however, agree that if the radiator & the air are both 34 degrees, one should never try holding one's breath until you make ice.