On the fourth test drive of my 56 Deluxe, it started to get too hot. I have an additional temperature probe just above the thermostat. I found a place to pull over as it passed 230. I let it cool and limped back to the garage with another stop. The radiator temperature range was wide, so I was thinking it was a lack of flow.

After cooling I ran it with the radiator cap off until the thermostat opened. I had tested the thermostat before installing it. There was no visible coolant flow.

So it could be the radiator, the water pump, or the coolant passages.

The radiator had been boiled clean and tested. There was no measured test to see how it compared to the 30 gpm min spec. The water pump had been rebuilt by Gould. I think they used the original impeller. The water pump has the plastic impeller. There was no noise from the pump when running. The block and heads had been cleaned in a hot tank as a part of the rebuild. This problem shouldn't be happening.

Since you can only test the pump installed in the water manifold, I needed to remove it find some way to test it.

Attached are pictures of the test stand. The manifold is mounted on the stand with the thermostat removed.

It took only seconds run on the test stand to see that the pump was not pumping. I removed the pump and found that the plastic impeller had separated from the metal core.

Has anyone else had this problem with the plastic impellers? Should I replace it with a NOS plastic impeller or get a metal one?

Thanks.

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I haven't seen a reference as to the production date of the first 1956 model, but my Deluxe, number 1208, was produced on October 15th, 1955. The official introduction of the 1956 models was on November 3rd.

I'm going to recore the radiator in my 56 Clipper and would like to know if anyone knows how the cores differ between the three listed part numbers. There are radiators listed for junior, senior, and air conditioned cars. With only one water pump option, the flow would have to be controlled by the limitation of the radiator. I plan to add air conditioning and would like to have the capacity in the radiator. Thanks.

Jay Leno did a segment on the Los Angeles car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MIlgnvblM8

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Thanks.

There is an alignment dowel pin, which is part of the lower cover, which goes into the hole where you have the post.

The breather road tube mounts with the rear bracket on the front bolt of the bell housing cover.

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The bracket in your picture attaches to the front motor mount.

Here is a picture from my 56 Deluxe.

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I use P-80 Emulsion, a temporary rubber assembly lubricant. It is biodegradable and dries up in about an hour leaving no remaining lubrication. It is made by International Products Corp and is available many places. I purchased a 10ml tube from SpaDepot.com for $4.95.

The end grommets are available from Steele.
I haven't yet found a boot, but I haven't done an extensive search.