46 Ford Fan Shroud ?

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by donald1950

i have had he best results keeping my flatmotors at proper operating temps by having the radiators rodded out it insure there are no blockages in any of the tubes.

In my experience a dirty radiator is the number one reason for overheating and cleaning the radiator is the number one way to cool the engine better. I think it makes more real difference than anything else.

I have also had success with Prestone Radiator Cleaner (not their Super Flush) to dissolve and flush out calcium deposits in the radiator tubes without having to remove the radiator and have it "rodded out."

[Aeroman99]

I have the fan assembly off the car and the radiator out. Now in this neck of the woods there isnt a radiator shop around. Where would be a good place to send this radiator to get serviced. And what is Rodded ? Iv read this in a couple different post and not sure what it is.
Thanks.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Aeroman99

I have the fan assembly off the car and the radiator out. Now in this neck of the woods there isnt a radiator shop around. Where would be a good place to send this radiator to get serviced. And what is Rodded ? Iv read this in a couple different post and not sure what it is.
Thanks.

Call Tim right there in Oscoda 989-739-1463. He's got a tank and can rod it out for you. Rodding out means unsoldering and removing the top from the radiator then running rods through the tubes to clean them out then resoldering the top back on the radiator.

You might want to compare the cost of rodding with the cost of recoring where they remove the top and bottom from the radiator and install a new core using the old top and bottom so that you have the authentic look but the effect of a new radiator. That's what I did. They will tell you when you go in there that rodding out radiators that old has some risks of thinning the metal and weakening the overall reliability and durability of the old core.

[Aeroman99]

I looked on the old net here and found a radiator repair shop that told me they would remove the ends and rod it and they explained to me what rodding was. the only problem is that there an hour and 1/2 south of here so Ill have to make a day of it maybe even take the wife down with me and wine and dine her.
Thanks for everyone's input on this I do appreciate it.

[48Flyer]

Hey, Aeroman, Listen to Old Henry. Go talk to the guys at Darrell's Maxi Muffler in Oscoda.
I used them for a lot of stuff when I was stationed at Wurtsmith.
Good guys and reasonably priced.
I was not sure they were still around. Good to see that they have kept alive.

[Aeroman99]

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48 Flyer. Yeah Darrels is still over on F41. I don't usually deal with them due to there over on the other side of town or that I'm just to lazy to drive over there. I do buy my oxygen and gas from them. I called northern trucking over on river rd which is about a block away from my house and they said they can clean out my radiator by taking it apart and rodding it so I'm just going to have them take care of it. They said they can have it back to me with in a few days so its a done deal.
So you lived over on the base ? They have tore down quite a bit of the old housing over there and remodeled the rest of them. Most of the old buildings have been rented out to different business's its a pretty busy place over there. Kalletta air pretty much owns the runway. All in all it still kicking.

[Aeroman99]

Old Henry. I didnt see your response until after I wrote to 48Flyer. I talked to the guys over at Northern Trucking and have it set up with them to do it.
But thanks anyway. Maybe Ill compare prices between the two of them rodding or recorring.

[Old Henry]

Glad you found someone local. I just hated to see you "send it out" when you had local people right there that could do it.

[Aeroman99]

I took my radiator over to Darrel Maxi muffler and Tim there looked at my radiator and said it looked like it had been recorred not so long ago. He got out the rod that he uses and dropped it down the tubes directly under the fill hole and it dropped freely down to the bottom. Now I realize he only rodded three of the tubes but he tells me that radiator doesn't need to be rodded. He also said that he would just put the car back together and fill it with water and dump in a can of cleaner in it and then flush it out good. Tim told me it would be $80.00 bucks to rod and around $300.00 to re core. Heck for that price I could by a new radiator and be done with it.

[19Fordy]

Walker Radiator makes good polyetylene shrouds. I've had one on my 40 Ford (with a Walker radiator) since 1999. It works fine and is easy to install. I modified it to make it even easier to install and remove. The fan has 6 blades and is not noisey or loud.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Aeroman99

I took my radiator over to Darrel Maxi muffler and Tim there looked at my radiator and said it looked like it had been recorred not so long ago. He got out the rod that he uses and dropped it down the tubes directly under the fill hole and it dropped freely down to the bottom. Now I realize he only rodded three of the tubes but he tells me that radiator doesn't need to be rodded. He also said that he would just put the car back together and fill it with water and dump in a can of cleaner in it and then flush it out good. Tim told me it would be $80.00 bucks to rod and around $300.00 to re core. Heck for that price I could by a new radiator and be done with it.

Well, now ya know. Ya ain't got nuttin' ta worry about.
If yer radiator's clean, yer car's gonna be cool. There just ain't much else to it.

[41 Fords ohio]

Originally Posted by flatjack9

I agree with Old Henry 100%. I do have a shroud on my 39 and it does not hamper cooling on the highway. I run 180* stats, stock radiator, no pressure cap.

Same here. I've always run thermostats and a shroud on my old Fords. Keep the radiator clean and don't forget the heater core.The junk in your heater core can move, in time to your engine and radiator. Ed

[TomO]

You found a good radiator man. He not only checked out your radiator, but saved you some money.

Now you should look for other causes of over heating. As long as you have the radiator drained and the hoses off, connect your lower hoses and fill the radiator until the water is visible in the outlet ports of the heads. Disconnect the belt from the water pumps and start the engine. Look at the water in the heads, you should not see any bubbles as you increase the rpms. If you do, you have a head gasket leak.

If everything checks out, next I would look at the water pumps for eroded impellers. Look in the block to see if there appears to be buildup of rust and calcium. My next step would be to back flush the engine, use a good coolant system cleaner and then back flush again.