Thanks Guys!  I ordered a new hose (and new waterpump gasket) today.  And found some new parts suppliers Steve, I was thinking the same thing that I might as well pull off the waterpump and check it out I'm really curious now.  The lower radiator hose had quite a bit of scum lining the walls of the hose, so I can imagine a iron impellar might be pretty cruddy.

The pump has "reman" stamped on it, but I'm guessing it would have been replaced a long time ago (1970's) as this car hasn't been used since then.

I hope I don't have to get into timing stuff...hearing about the tendency for the harmonic balancers to slip on these engines get me nervous.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Nate and Steve:

I have seen rebuilt Y pumps with PLASTIC impellers.  They could be more likely to slip than iron ones, especially when they get warmed up.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Nate -

Stopping the bypass hose can't make it run hotter - but it could make it run cooler by forcing more water to go through the radiator. It is common for racers to simply block off the tube and allow no bypass flow at all. Holes drilled in the thermostat substitute for the hose passage at start-up.  

The impellor of the water pump is cast iron - and could have a huge amount of rusty gunk attached to the blades - so a gasket is probably a good investment. Simply end the mystery by having a look and clean it up if required.

For future use - you may want to hunt down a six blade fan (18 inch). Shaft hole is 5/8 and the four bolt circle is 1.75 diameter (1.24 inches ctr/ctr between two holes). New ones aren't too bad from Speedway and other mail-order sources if you can't just find a cheap one at the yunk yard.

You are beginning to get down to where the distributor - and some retarded spark - might be becoming a bit more suspicious.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

NAPA part number NBH 7133 17.49 /ea



marv

Thanks for the ideas guys, I'll check them out.

Stever, I pulled the lower hose and filled the radiator while holding my hand over the lower opening.  I filled it up completely then removed my hand and the water came gushing out very quickly, I did this a couple of times and the first two times there was brown sediment that came gushing out with the water.  So the radiator doesn't seem very clogged, but maybe getting some of that sediment out will help.

I haven't yet removed checked the bypass passage to the water pump.  My next test was going to be filling the radiator with the thermostat removed, and the heater passage blocked off, then run the car and see if it pumps water out. But I can't do that without a lower hose.

I also took the opportunity to back flush the engine block and it flowed clean water well.

This is slow progress, but I feel I have pretty much eliminated everything except the water pump impellar slipping or something with the bypass passage.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Big - we often find parts from the '64 F-100 pickups that fit - might try that avenue....

What are you finding out with your radiator? Did you get some gaskets and have a look at the pump impellor too?

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Rock Auto list one.



http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1338230,parttype,2057

Buz Mills

Dallas, TX

Dennis carpenters, Tee bird all have them.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

MACs lists  a moulded lower hose. classicautoparts.com also lists one but doesnt say if its moulded.

Dan      Kingman Az.      86409

I'm struggling to find a pre-formed lower radiator hose to replace the OEM (which I just cut off earlier this weekend).

Does anyone still make one?  Is there an alternate.

I searched the forum and didn't find any posts on this, so either I'm missing something obvious, or everyone still has the original hose in their car

Every parts store only lists the generic bendy stuff, I picked one of those up but it doesnt bend anywhere near well enough to make the connection.  Is my only option something like Cool Flex?

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan