Re: Proud New Owner of a 49 Packard Club Sedan

Posted by Joe D'Agostino On 2018/9/4 20:19:55

These are all great suggestions.

Does it run hot at idle or when the car is moving or both?
Mine ran hot and I did many things to cool it down.

Here is what I learned:

Water distribution tube was clogged. Radiator needed replacing. The car had the wrong muffler on it. The correct one has a straight through baffle to limit the backpressure.
One of our members suggested that I move the vacuum advance to the intake manifold instead of using the ported slot under the carburetor. That gave me vacuum advance even at idle and it helped.

Someone suggested that I use a 140 degree thermostat. But I learned that the 160 degree thermostat had a wider mouth when open than the 140 degree thermostat did.

For good cooling, you are looking for good fluid flow and good air flow.
I improved my fluid flow with the 160 degree thermostat since it had a wider opening.

All of these things helped.

My car is a lot better than it used to be but I still have an electric 6 volt pusher fan mounted on the front of the radiator and I turn it on if I get stuck in traffic on a very hot day. Otherwise, I don't need it.

I would like to add one more suggestion that is not related to cooling but I think it is good for all of us to consider. I added an ignition kill switch so that when I turn over the engine, I can wait for the mechanical oil pump to bring up the pressure a little bit before I allow the engine to start. In this way, I make sure that I minimize engine wear by avoiding a "dry start" as much as possible.