Wrench and Learn: Overheating Problems Fixed Roadside

How-To Fix Engine Overheating Problems on the Roadside

What do you do when your car overheats? With temperatures reaching the 80′s this past week in LA, the 383 small block Chevy in my 1955 Studebaker got hot in protest.

Thursday was my first problem. After 30 minutes of freeway driving and 30 minutes of stoplight-and-street traffic, I lost power and came to a stop. After letting Stude cool down, the only thing I noticed upon inspection was that my fluid was a little low. I filled up the radiator with a coolant/distilled water mix and was back on my way, hoping maybe this was all I needed. I got home fine that evening and through the 25 mile drive to work the next day without a glitch. This made me feel better, but I was very worried… Studebaker had a date as a wedding getaway car for some close friends of mine on Saturday. I didn’t want her to miss out on the excitement!

As I pondered what was going on with my overheating, I knew the most likely candidates were the radiator, water pump, or thermostat. I’ve dealt with my radiator and water pump already, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t either one of those. But the thermostat, I didn’t know anything about. Having recently helped fellow Gasoline Girl car club buddy change the thermostat in her 1965 Falcon – I knew it was an easy job.

So when I hit Friday afternoon traffic and my car lost power again, I knew what I needed to try first. Replace the thermostat. Luckily, there was an auto parts near to where I’d broken down.  After letting Stude cool off, I started her up again and got safely to the parts store. There I purchased a thermostat (about $7) and a thermostat housing gasket ($1). While I let Stude cool down again, I used the time to do a little interior adjustments on my wind-lacing.

Pulling out my trunk kit o’tools (always carry tools with you!) I eventually set off to work to change the thermostat.

Before I began unbolting the housing that the thermostat sits under, I just wanted to be certain the car wasn’t too hot. Carefully un-capping the radiator proved that the temperature was sufficiently cooled down so I proceeded to unbolt the housing. It was a very simple 2-bolt job and the housing was off. What I found at that point was that I didn’t have a thermostat at all! I’d heard of cars running without them – a thermostat really just regulates water through the cooling system based on water temp. (Editor’s note: Run a thermostat! Without one, it takes much longer to warm your engine up (if it ever does in cold weather) and when it does, it might not ever cool down as you see here.)

I knew the tricky thing would be to get the new gasket to create a water tight seal. I have trouble remembering what gasket sealer to use for which gasket (if it’s in contact with water or oil for example) so I decided to try it without using any. What I did do was use a screwdriver to clean off the metal surfaces that come in contact with the gasket – leaving as close to a smooth surface as possible… which is a good idea for any place a gasket is used.

I tightened down the bolts snug, but not too tight (I know that on some parts too much torque on a bolt head can cause damage) and started up the engine. Right away a bunch of water was spraying from my thermostat housing. Turning the car off and inspecting led me to quickly realize I had a crack in the thermostat housing!

That crack wasn’t there before… I would’ve seen fluid sprayed all over the engine compartment. It’s possible that my taking the housing off and tightening it back on again agitated a crack already there. Good thing I was at the parts store still!  (I must interject here, I had very good luck with my parts guy today at O’Reilly – good job for knowing that small block Chevy’s come in a wide range of makes and models!) I just walked inside with the old part and had them find me a new one ($8.)  Situations like this are a good example of why I chose to put a common engine, like my small block Chevy, in my daily driver classic instead of rebuilding the original Studebaker one!

As I waited yet again for my car to cool down before putting the new thermostat housing on, I was glad to have a little entertainment with me in the car. My laptop and a Mad Men DVD to watch made the time fly-by… brake downs don’t have to be miserable experiences!

After replacing the housing and doing a little adjustment to stop water leaking – I was finally back on the road!

Within five minutes my temperature gauge was reading at a possibly dangerous level… but this was only guesswork. My temp gauge is the original one with only “marks” and no actual numbers. I’m used to the gauge being at almost the very bottom. When it hits the middle (as it did when I was in 100+ degree weather this summer in Las Vegas) my car shuts down. So when it was at this mid-level within five minutes I was on the ready for another car breakdown.

There are certain sink-or-swim moments when living with an old car, and this was one of them. I wouldn’t know if my car was overheating still unless I kept going. So I kept going… and going… and going. It seems that my overheating problem is fixed! Stude has been fine, even when sitting in traffic!

On Saturday Studie was cool as a cucumber and looking better then ever for her first wedding appearance. She was a big hit at the wedding!

As for the gauge, I’m guessing that adding a thermostat is making my temperature read at a different level. After all… it seems like the middle is a better place for it to rest at normal operating conditions then all the way at the bottom!?! I should add a more accurate gauge that will show me the actual temperature so I can more accurately assess what’s going on with my engine.

I was very proud to be able to do a roadside fix all by myself and be successful! It made me remember my earliest days of trying to learn about cars… I had a couple of very unsuccessful tire changes. Back then I felt I’d never be able to do car work by myself. This experience reminded me how far I’ve come. I’m confident that with a little courage, guts, and thinking I can fix whatever comes my way!!

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

Eight Myths About Car Batteries – Take the Test

Truth about Batteries: 8 Myths Revealed!

1. Setting your battery on concrete will ruin it.
2. An AGM battery is a “gel” battery.
3. If a battery is dead, all it needs is a jump.
4. Starting your vehicle up periodically while in storage is good for the battery.
5. An OPTIMA is ruined if it is deeply-discharged.
6. Only off-road guys care about vibration-resistance in a battery.
7. A longer warranty is always better.
8. Dropping a battery will help break up sulfation and restore performance.

Do you agree?

These are all FALSE!

Start story:

1. Setting your battery on concrete will ruin it.

FALSE! Back in the olden days, batteries had wooden cases, which could expand if they came in contact with moisture, possibly causing damage to those batteries. Wooden cases were then replaced with hard rubber cases. Electrical current could be conducted through those cases, if moisture on the floor allowed the current to find an electrical ground. Modern batteries of today are constructed with polypropylene cases, which is far more insulated than the hard rubber cases of years past. That means not only can you set a new battery on a concrete floor, you can store it there, if the location is also cool and dry. So ditch the 2×4′s, they’re not needed!

2. An AGM battery is a “gel” battery.

FALSE! Although AGM batteries are commonly referred to as “gel” batteries, they are actually absorbed glass mat (AGM) lead-acid batteries. This means you can treat and charge them just like a regular lead-acid battery in most situations. However, some chargers have “gel” or confusing “gel/AGM” settings. Those settings should be avoided, as they will not fully-charge an AGM battery such as an OPTIMA Battery and could damage it over time.

3. If a battery is dead, all it needs is a jump.

FALSE! Most alternators are designed to maintain car batteries, not recharge deeply-discharged batteries. If your battery has been discharged to the point where it won’t start your vehicle without the assistance of a jump-start from another vehicle, you need to make sure your battery is fully recharged with a battery charger as soon as possible. Relying on your alternator to recharge a deeply-discharged battery can lead to a cycle of dead batteries and jump-starts, until either the battery (expensive) or alternator (really expensive) fails.

4. Starting your vehicle up periodically while in storage is good for the battery.

FALSE! If you are storing your vehicle for an extended period of time, the best thing you can do for your battery is keep it properly-maintained with a quality battery tender or maintainer. If that isn’t possible, fully-charge your battery and disconnect it from your vehicle. If you leave your battery connected and start your car up once a month or so, your battery is probably getting slowly discharged over time from parasitic draws in your car’s electrical system and from the energy it takes to start your car. Unless you drive your car for at least 10-15 minutes and a reasonable speed, your alternator may not have a chance to replace the energy used to start your vehicle in the first place.

5. An OPTIMA is ruined if it is deeply-discharged.

FALSE! Deeply-discharging any battery is not a good idea, but deep-cycle batteries are designed specifically to be more resilient in those applications than an SLI (starting/lighting/ignition) battery, which is designed primarily for starting and operating stock accessories. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below a certain voltage threshold (usually around 10.5 volts). If your battery has been discharged below that level, you may want to try the parallel charging technique described in the video below. The OPTIMA guys have told us that many of the “bad” batteries returned to them are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. Other folks have apparently figured this out, as we’ve heard stories about folks buying “dead” OPTIMAs, recharging them and selling them at swap meets and we’ve even spotted a few folks selling “refurbished” OPTIMA batteries, which were also probably only deeply-discharged by their original owners.

6. Only off-road guys care about vibration-resistance in a battery.

FALSE! Have you ever watched a drag car pull it’s wheels and slam them back down to the asphalt 60 feet later? Boaters are big fans of vibration-resistant batteries too and OPTIMA batteries are up to 15 times more resistant to vibration than flooded lead-acid batteries. Their sealed design also makes them a safer option if something really bad happens (like an accident).

7. A longer warranty is always better.

FALSE! Not all warranties are created equally. Many warranties are pro-rated, which means the customer pays something when they return their battery for a warranty claim. Some pro-rated warranties start the day you buy your battery, so even if it fails a month later, you have to shell out more cash to get a new battery! Other warranties include specific language that will void your warranty if you happen to deeply-discharge it below a certain voltage level, so it’s a good idea to read the warranty closely before making a purchase. It is also important to remember that unless you were one of those lucky folks who bought a battery from JC Penney with a lifetime warranty, the warranty on your battery will not reset every time you return it. The clock on battery warranties generally starts ticking the day you buy your original battery and while you may get lucky and get a 16-year old kid with one week on the job to give you a new battery after the original warranty expired, don’t count on that always being the case. Most battery companies are willing to take the hit for the first couple of years of ownership, but they don’t want to reward battery abusers with a lifetime supply of batteries or they know they’ll end up like JC Penney.

8. Dropping a battery will help break up sulfation and restore performance.

FALSE! We don’t know who came up with this suggestion, but it is a terrible idea. Anyone who has ever lifted a car battery will tell you they are generally pretty heavy. Drop one on a hard surface and there is a good chance you will crack that fancy polypropylene case. Flooded batteries will begin leaking battery acid all over your floor, although some cracks may not be as noticeable and will wait to start leaking until after you’ve installed them in your freshly-painted engine compartment. Some higher-end battery chargers will have a special “desuflation” mode, which is a far safer and more sensible option. The best way to avoid sulfation is to keep your battery fully-charged at all times.

Disclosure: MyRideisMe.com is sponsored by Optima Batteries.

If you’ve got something to add, we’d love to hear it. Leave your comments below.

Classic Car Insurance – Agreed Value Insurance Explained

Agreed Value Car Insurance – Do it Right

No matter what kind of ride drives your passion, a hot rod, classic car or collector car… or those antique cars that spend most of the time in the garage, we all need a special kind of insurance.  That awful day when you need to actually use your classic car insurance, you better be ready!

I’ll try to help here by answering:

• What is Agreed Value Car Insurance?
• How is Agreed Value Established?
• How does MyRideisMe.com make Agreed Value easy?!

What is Agreed Value Car Insurance?

It’s the leading type of classic car insurance so we should know exactly what it is, right?  I got a little confused when my pops was shopping for insurance for his ’64 Ford Fairlane and ’23 Ford T-Bucket. Another insurance company said, “Just watch out… some insurance companies only say that’s the agreed value…” Is there something tricky going on if the worst happened and my cherished ride gets totaled?
To get the real answer, I went to MyRideisMe.com sponsor and my insurance company, Condon Skelly.

Condon Skelly said:
“Our policies are ‘Agreed Value’ meaning whatever value the insured decides to place on their vehicle and we, the underwriter, agree to, then in the event of a total loss the insured will get that insured value with no depreciating value.”  Pretty simple really… the trick is getting the proper amount of insurance.

How is Agreed Value Established?

“We dont like to under or over insure classic cars. We like to advise clients to insure their cars at the fair market values. If a client is looking to insure over what our sources show we suggest they get an appraisal done on the car. We usually give them a list of what a qualified appraisal should consist of because we’ve received appraisals that don’t give any information! The appraisals will state the inspector has looked at the car and states it’s worth an outrageous value with nothing to substantiate the value.”

This means, don’t pay alot and get nothing… a professional appraisal includes specific details.

In many cases, an appraisal is needed if a radical amount of customization’s been done, but don’t worry… Condon Skelly employs car people that know our parts aren’t available at a local parts house. Replacing even simple things like bumpers and tailights can be a real challenge and cost more.

But sometimes you get lucky!

How does MyRideisMe.com make Agreed Value easy?!

You can use your MyRideisMe.com garage! When I needed insurance for my 1927 Roadster, I needed it within a few days (of course) because my other insurance was expiring and I needed to drive my car.  When I called Condon Skelly and began discussing the agreed value, I simply showed them my garage and that was enough info to establish the agreed value insurance amount.  Piece of cake!  (Click for my garage to see what I mean)

Condon Skelly gave this final advice: “Once an agreed value insurance policy is in effect it is up to the insured to decide when to increase the agreed value to stay with the current market. (see, they get it!) We will advise them they can call us and ask what our price guides are showing.”

To summarize, your classic car insurance is an important decision and you should have all the facts before choosing which company to go with.  Condon Skelly’s made it easy and continues to make it easier.  They can also supply more explanation of the different type of policies out there such as “Actual Cash Value” , “Stated Value” and the Agreed Value policy and more guidance on finding the fair market value of a classic car.

As soon as I can, to follow up on this article, I’ll tell you about what happened to a friend’s T-bucket when he totaled it just a week after switching to Condon Skelly. Until then, read these tips about why I switch classic car insurance.

Condon Skelly is the official classic car insurance company of MyRideisMe.com.

Hot Rod Steering Linkage Install How-to

How to: Hot Rod Steering Linkage

This is a quick how-to from my buddy DW over at WelderSeries.com. Welder Series has some great welding tips and suspension info published regularly. DW’s got a great sense of humor and is a talented welder so you’re sure to enjoy and learn something. Check out this Steering Linkage install for his 1932 Ford Coupe project:

I was hoping to use only two u-joints for this car, but after mocking it up and finding that the shaft is too close to the header, it’ll have to be three. I played around (see the next few pictures) with extending the input shaft on the Mullins box, but all that did was increase the angle on the lower u-joint. We’re using all aluminum joints and shafts from Borgeson. These are amazingly light! I forecast a 2hp gain over steel systems. Just joking.

Now I had to decide where I wanted the shaft to sit in relation to the frame. Since it’s going to be an open hood car, I decided to tuck the steering in behind the header a bit. I think it will be less noticeable than bringing it right over to the frame rail from the column. We’ll see… you decide.

Since I’m using three joints, a support bearing (or Rod End) is a necessity. Measure from the rail to the center of the shaft where you want the bearing. I’m going to put it right beside the center u-joint, to hide the splines I was left with on the lower shaft. If you’re forced to use a three joint system, buy the joints you’ll need, then use a broom handle or some 3/4″ dowel to mock up the shaft lengths. Or, you can use a double ‘D’ shaft which you buy in either 18″ or 36″ lengths, and cut it to fit. The splined shafts come in 2″ increments from 4″ to longer than you’ll ever need.

3 Custom Car Photos – Verp or Cool?

Custom Car Photography – HDR

Special Ed’s 1956 Buick Special shot at the Mesa Cruise – 10/24/2010 (click on shot to zoom!)

What’s HDR? In case you forgot, my friend Alan wrote a great story about “High Dynamic Range” or HDR. What it is, how he does it and a few resulting shots.  Alan’s Car Photography HDR. Since Alan introduced me to HDR, I’ve always wanted to try it. I have a Nikon D90 that makes bracketing photographs easy so it was finally time to try it.

How’d I do?

For me, HDR either makes a WOW effect where I can’t imagine seeing something so beautiful, (just so you know, I have a soft-spot for sunsets) or the photo looks too digital, faked and generally induce a three-quarter verp.  There’s certain amount of funky-artsy-cool in the shot in both cases, but obviously, I’m shooting for the WOW.  Right now, I think I’m still over digitized, pretty noisy (in film it was “grainy”) and showing I’ve never done this before.  Gonna work on it…

In my defense, I used the first free HDR software set I could find. It’s called “Luminance HDR” Download it here. I’d say the software was fairly easy to use and I was able to combine it with “The Gimp” (the free photo editing software I use cause I don’t own and haven’t taken the time to learn Photoshop) with the help of a tutorial. Here’s that tutorial. There are several options and selections to try (none with explanations about what they are!) and I was running through those trying to figure it out… then Luminance kept crashing. Crap. If I stick with this, I’ll buy one of the more well know HDR softwares out there.

(I love how you can see the lower control arms sitting on the ground!)

Here are a couple other shots I took. These are both of my buddy Erock’s newly painted 1964 Chevy Pickup. Both of these are made with Luminance, but you can see the effects can vary quite a bit. If you dig it… let me know!

MyRideisMe.com is always looking for photographers! If you’d like to share your work, please get in touch. Send email to Admin@myrideisme.com

I’d love to hear your comments!

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