Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

My car still like to run at close to 190 degrees, the weather in Los Angeles is not even near maximum heat. Its time to face the fact that the radiator needs to come out, and the water pump likely should be rebuilt. The question I have is can I leave the grill shell attached to the car and remove the radiator. This is when I will also rebuild or replace my thermostat and get the radiator shutters operating again. It has been almost 30 years since I worked on a 30's classic. My limited memory tells me drain radiator, remove hoses, hood off, radiator supports off, then remove all radiator fasteners and......? Thank you awesome forum board for all the help so far. Next up will be valve adjustment.
Andy

I can't help you with the radiator removal as the 35 senior cars are completely different from 1934 and back where you must remove the radiator, shell and shutters as a single assembly. Hopefully you'll get some advice from someone familiar with the 35-36 seniors.

But in addition to the water pump and radiator as possible contributors to your overheating, I very strongly suggest you add the water jacket side plate (water distribution manifold contained therein) to the list. In addition to whatever the needs of the jacket and distribution manifold may have, removing it will allow you nearly complete access to the internal water jacket, especially the narrow passages between cylinders which are essential for the cooled water to reach the exhaust valve seats - an excellent opportunity to do a thorough cleaning. New jacket side plates are available should you need one.

Engine shown is a 34; 35 essentially the same except that the oil cooler does not mount on the water jacket side plate.

The water pump is so simple that there really is no need to have a professional rebuild it as long as the shaft and impeller are OK. The two bearings are everyday common, as are the seals, though you might want to get sealed bearings and not have to worry about the oiler. And the graphited packing is available in original split rings or continuous cord from most any plumbing supply house. The copper ring gasket is also commonly available. The most important thing is to minimize the clearance between the back of the impeller and the block; double the clearance and pump efficiency can drop by as much as 4X.

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On my 38 super 8 I had to take the grille off to take the radiator with shutter assambly off.

Got a 35 in the shop right now so can tell u fursure the Rad-Shutters-Shell r an assy and have to come off as such. Good suggestion from O-D about doing the Water Jack and clean. Thinking this is the lesser of a job than the Rad so u might want to do this first and c if the is the problem. Ive pulled these plates and found engines jammed with shit.

Something i ran into yrs back is a PACKARD having heating problems. Someone rebuilt the Water Pump and just press fit the Impeller to the shaft and it was spinning on the shaft and thus moving the coolant at a low GPM. Just when u think u have seen everything.

Why don't you flush the radiator out while in the car? If it doesn't work you can still take it out.

I agree with BDC, you might not have to take the radiator out. After attending to the water pump and water jacket side plate and cleaning the interior of the water jackets, try a reverse flush of the radiator with a flushing gun, and then perhaps give it the more-or-less standard oxalic acid treatment followed by neutralizer.

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I have much more then cooling problems. I did a compression test yesterday and #4 cylinder has only 60 psi. all of the others range from 94-101 psi. The #4 leaks down fairly fast, all the others hold. I hope I have a valve problem. the engine does not smoke, has a miss and a tick that I thought was a valve. I drove the car for a few hrs Saturday. It seems to be time to address the engine now that I know there is a serious problem, likely time to rebuild the gearbox as I think it needs new bearings. I want the car to be dependable so I can drive the hell out of it. I live in the Los Angeles area and will be looking for a shop I can take the car to. Its been 30 years since I worked in a restoration shop and tore these cars down everyday and put them back together with the end result of the car ending up at Pebble. I don't know if I have it in me anymore to pull the engine by myself, have my wife be involved in removing a hood.....ect. Any recommendations for a shop, or mechanic in my area would be appreciated.I was hoping to get it to the San Marino Motor Classic in June. I still love looking at in the garage.
Thanks,
Andy

One thing that definitely needs to be carefully examined is the water jacket side plate.It is hard to see in the picture that O_D supplied but the side plate has a inner plate that is welded in place that has multiple holes going down it. The coolant goes in the front and then is distributed down the line through the holes. It acts as a early type of water distribution tube per se. Many times this plate rots off and disintegrates leaving only the outer plate and no way for the water flow to be controlled. Here is a photo that I found on the AACA forum that better shows what it looks like.

<a href="http://s671.photobucket.com/user/JamesRFrom/media/Packard%20400/P6130070-vi.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/vv72/JamesRFrom/Packard%20400/P6130070-vi.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo P6130070-vi.jpg"/></a>

Thank you for the photo and the information. The car is going to a shop that has many years of experience with classic cars. I am confident it is going to the best place possible, I look forward to having it sorted out and many years and miles of driving it. I should know next week what the diagnosis is.
Andy

I see your from around LA. I've just moved to Glendale and am sitting on a one week old barn find 1930 Standard Eight Sedan. Is there a Packard club or group close by? Viking