maxinvan
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Posts posted by maxinvan
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Yes, exactly so! There are a number of hairline cracks, making repairs impossible, the cracks run across the head into the head bolt holes on one side to the pushrod holes on the other and no doubt down the holes also, making any repairs impossible.
Jacobsens milled the head and I replaced it with a very expensive new head gasket, I then used Rislone Head repair and then a couple of other highly recommended additives but although I slowed the leaking it still sucks air. Let's hope I can find a good 29/30 std Head.
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Yes, I have written to Bill, hopefully he will put my search for a good 29-25 STD Cylinder head in the next newsletter.
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Although we have not yet discovered the reason for the gas leak into the coolant, crack testing has shown cracking under the valve spring seats running outwards from the valve guides. These cracks are not repairable according to Jacobsens, and mean the head has most probably been cooked and is pretty much U/S. However they will continue with the pressure test to attempt to find the reason for the coolant bubbles, if they don’t find anything else, I will replace the head with the new gasket so that we can use the car while we search for another cylinder head. The block has been filled with water to check for any leakage through the cylinder walls for the past 2 days, fortunately no leaks (water droplets form around any pinhole) were discovered in the block.
so - any Aussies out there with a usable STD 29 Buick head?
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Yes grimy this is the overflow pipe I mentioned inside the neck. I fail to understand why Buick thought it necessary to give it extra overflow from the cap.
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The 29 Buick radiator is open to atmosphere as all early radiators were, unfortunately Buick fitted the bayonet Type 'toilet seat' cap which is not a sealed cap, it is impossible to fit an alternative sealed cap because the stylised radiator shell is well above the radiator top. Hence when the foaming occurs it goes all over the car and windscreen.😜. There is a recess in the shell around the radiator cap with a small hole each side, it seems the idea is that when there is too much expansion of coolant for the pipe inside the neck to handle it's supposed to vent the extra under the cap. Avery poor arrangement indeed, Oh for a proper screw on cap like my other vintage and veteran cars.
PS. It seems Pencool 2000 is out of stock almost every where.
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Thank you grimy for a very well constructed and informative post, I very much appreciate it. In the event that Jacobsens do not find a leak in the head I will refit it and attempt to find Pencool 2000 here (down under) I do see that Penrite Radiator corrosion inhibitor (available here) states it contains an ant foam agent to help protect against cavitation.
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I have now taken the 29 Buick head to Jacobsen's for crack, pressure testing and milling, Jacobsen's principal Allan Walker commented that the head certainly appears fine, but maybe there is a pin hole or invisible crack, if so he'll find it.
I have also removed the radiator and will take it to the radiator works tomorrow. In the meantime the block is filled with water with 2 and 5 piston down to see if there is any water droplet in the bore which would indicate a pinhole caused by internal water jacket corrosion, I believe this is unlikely because the bore appears like new and water leakage here would cause some trace if water in the oil, and there is not.
The last head gasket was sealed with a heavy coat of copper spray, upon removal there was no obvious leakage of the gasket.
I have a new (old stock) gasket from Olsen's gaskets.
I now must wait for the report on the head from Jacobsens.
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NoG'day dibarlaw, thanks for the reply, yes, the 29-25X is a std Buick. My radiator was recently rubuilt using a modern High flow core and utilising the original upper and lower tanks, the only time the temp gauge registers overheated is when the foaming happens. Yesterday we tried some anti-foam additive in the coolant (water only) and the car ran on or under 160F for the full run, but the bubbling was still present, just never turned to foam. I pulled and dismanted the water pump and it is near perfect. Head back off today, I hope to heaven we find the problem.
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Thank you for the interesting and informative replies, I do not believe the radiator is in any way at fault, but will check it further. The only thing I can think of is cavitation in the water pump. From Penrite: Type B coolants contain only inhibitors for rust, corrosion & cavitation. They DO NOT contain any Anti-Freeze/Anti-Boil emulsions. Type B coolants will keep your cooling system from rusting and deteriorating.
The radiator has quite recently been re-cored with a modern High Flow core it was an excellent job utilising the original upper and lower tanks, the original form of lower hose is used - a length of steel tube joined to the tank and water pump by a short hose. The top hose is a simple length of hose which has the thermostat located inside the radiator housing at the top of the hose.
My friend, mechanic and vintage car restorer Ian visited the Buick today, he went through most everything mentioned in the answers here, We went for a run and although we suppressed the foam with an antifoam and the car did not overheat, the bubbling in the radiator is just too bad. Fortunately there is absolutely no trace of coolant in the oil. So I have stripped her down, removed the overhead gear and head bolts (which were very well sealed with Loctite PTFE high temp thread sealer) All ready for the lift off tomorrow (I am old and it's bloody heavy) Engineering firm will test the head later this week. The leak 'must' surely be somewhere in the head, even though I checked it carefully after I pulled it last time the problem must simply not be visible to the naked eye. I do not see how it could be a problem with the block.
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Thank you edinmass, I have been wondering about the addition of miscible machine oil (cutting oil) in stopping the foaming, I also read somewhere in this forum of a fellow using carpet cleaner defoamer, and another fellow using agricultural spray tank defoamer.
This old post on here from someone nearly twenty years ago somewhat put me off the cutting oil (although my dad used it all the time)
"Quote" I bought my 1922 Paige from a gent who was a soluble oil obsessive, and it took me days of Better Living Through Chemistry (multiple flushes, multiple flushing agents) to remove the mud/sludge it forms with small debris particles (use a stocking toe in top tank, better than Gano--see my other posts on that). Beyond that, soluble oil coats the outside cylinder walls and inhibits heat transfer.
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With regards to the radiator - it was replaced by the previous owner who is a friend, the car has done virtually no miles since it was replaced (at great expense).
In relation to the PTFE packing. I did try the graphite but found it was not as effective as the PTFE at sealing the shaft, as I say a very well respected local engineering shop recommended the PTFE as a better product, I have used it for over 6,000 miles in my 1929 Chevrolet six, and it's the only thing that is half successful in my 1912 Flanders 20.
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I have a 1929 Buick STD (29-25X) I am having no end of problem trying to keep the coolant in. It will run perfectly at low RPM (under 30MPH) but when leaving town and trying to push her up over 40 MPH the radiator will start to foam out under the cap.
Here's what I have done:
- Removed the head, it looked great checked it and block with a straight edge - all good, Pulled the valves cleaned the surface and valve seats and chambers with a wire brush on a drill looking for cracks - none visible, lapped all valve seats and double checked for cracks - none visible. Replaced with copper gasket using copper spray, new head bolts torqued to 60PSI (re-torqued 3 times)
- Fitted a 160F thermostat, (none previously fitted) checked all hoses and lines, flushed the radiator - all good.
- Filled radiator with tank water (no acid rain here) and Type B coolant additive.
- Ran the motor, perfect - until we got on the road, temp goes up to boiling, thermostat opens - cools down immediately - thermostat shuts - goes up to boiling - thermostat opens - continuous cycle.
SO - Recieved advice, pulled the thermostat and drilled a bigger hole in it in place of the little jiggle hole.
- Relaced thermostat and water, this stops the hot and cold cycling but foaming at high speed still occurs.
SO - Even though my new water pump packing (PTFE recommended by local machine shop) was working perfectly and water is visibly circulating I now pull the water pump. I find the 6 impellor fins to be near perfect but do see some pitting on the back plate, one spot quite deep which I chip out with a chipping hammer, treat and paint, I do not attempt to fill it because I did not thing any filler would hold, and I did not think it bad enough to cause a problem (may be wrong). Cleaned any rust lumps out of the water pump piping both sides and on the motor, made new gaskets and refitted.
Still the problem remains and I am at my wits end, any suggestions that are helpful would be greatly appreciated.
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dibarlaw, as a novice member I cannot pm you, I have a 29-25x Holden body Buick, I am having a problem with water foaming out of the radiator when the motor gets hot, I did notice that you also had this issue at one time and would like to know how you solved it.
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I too am in need of a '29 Buick gas cap for my 29-25x. I recently got this reply from Bob's Automobilia :
On order for over a year now . I will e-mail when I have news .
Bob
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I have found it impossible to get AC 86 plugs in Australia.
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Phil Robertson, did you find satisfactory plugs for your 29 Chevy in Au? I also have a 29 and have had to use Champion D16 plugs, probably not the best.
2023 BCA National Meet, Spokane Washington, July 11-15 2023
in Buick - General
Posted
I was wondering about the diesel additive in the petrol, but you answered that question, telling us you added about one gal to 12 gals petrol, I note that although you were uncertain as to it’s effectiveness you kept adding it, therefore the conclusion I draw is that it did not adversely affect the cars performance and you obviously felt it may be helping.