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Fill the cooling system with 15 qts of dry gin, 2 qts of vermouth, put a twist of lemon on the donut pusher and consume any leftover alcoholic spirits. This will give you a real headache and you'll forget about the overheating

Good Morning all...If I am understanding this thread, the 36 is getting warm/hot at idle in the driveway. This is like a long stop light. I would take it around the block a few times and see if the temperature drops as the car is being driven. It should.

Our 49 likes a bit of extra advance with modern fuel that runs a bit hotter than the fuel of 1936. Owen would know better than I do. Also, Speedway has a product that is called '40 Below' and is designed to help keep race car engines cool. It is about $25 a bottle and we use it in our 49. It does help at the long lights.

You might also spray the radiator with water while the car is idling in the driveway and see if the temperature comes down bit. Finally, a modern fan with more CFM might help to draw more air through the radiator at idle. Easy does it, you will find the problem. Ernie

First of all, my thanks to Fred Kanter for the gin and vermouth advice....... great idea !! After all, we are still getting summer weather here in upstate NY.

As for the overheating:

I purchased two 12 ounce containers of wood bleach (oxalic acid) today and started the process. Drained all of the brand new coolant out of the radiator and block. Filled it with the oxalic acid solution (I pre-mixed that according to the directions on the canister) and water. Started up the car and let it get to about 180 degrees to make sure the solution gets into most of the block areas.

My plan is to start the car a couple of times each day and let it get to 180. After 2 or 3 days of that, will drain the system and flush with clean water. I have thought about doing this same process again with the other canister of oxalic acid, flush with water, then fill system with baking soda to counteract the acid process. Then drain that solution, flush again, and finally (after about 6 days); refill with a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. At that point..... I am hopeful that the overheating problem is solved.

If anyone has any other advice or tips on a better way to flush (with details please) other than just filling thru the top of the radiator, I would sure appreciate it. The block drain is so small and of course my drain cock with the downspout broke, so it is a mess draining the block (covering the starter and the opening for the flywheel).

One last note for the moment: using my laser temp device, I noticed that the temperatures on top of the head where each cylinder is located were all over the place. #8 cyl was extremely hot compared to #7 and 6, etc. My sincere thanks to everyone who has offered up solutions..... I am still hopeful that I will drive the car this year!!!

I don't know if they all work the same way but one thing I noticed with my cheap HF laser thermometer is the angle and distance is critical in getting a consistent reading. If I stayed in one place and angled the thing to check various areas I could get a different reading for each -- sometimes considerably different -- but If I moved and kept the distance and angle to the measured surface almost identical the readings were a lot more consistent.

I would not let the oxalic acid sit in the system for an extended period of time. I would drain it, flush with water several times and then use tyhe neutralizer. Re-flush several times and check the system out with water.

On a note of interest, just water in the system will be twice as efficient in removing heat from the engine than would 50% coolant/water. If you don't have a heating problem with just water, but you do with anti-freeze coolant, I would suggest using No-Rosion and going with straigh water.

I disagree strongly with the statement that antifreeze is 50% less efficient than water in transferring heat.

Here are the scientific figures:

Water .582

Ethylene glycol mix .501

Antifreeze is 20% less efficient at transferring heat.