Did a drain and fill on my 1964 Riviera today.

[first64riv]

Hey all,

 

I was going to do a flush but I decided not to.  For those of you who were interested in doing a quick drain and fill of their radiator here are some tips...

 

1.  There is no petcock on the OE radiator.  I drained mine through the lower radiator hose.

2.  If you don't know the age of the hose, or it looks like you need a new one, replace it now.

3.  If the lower radiator hose is "stuck" and won't budge, carefully use a heat gun to make the rubber more pliable.

4.  My radiator drained about 2 gallons (8 quarts) of coolant.  I ran another half gallon of distilled water through it.

5.  I poured in a little over 8 quarts to get the coolant an inch below the neck.

 

Overall, I was pleased that my radiator wasn't that dirty or sediment filled.  A picture is attached.  I hope that helps someone that is looking to do something simpler than a full flush!

 

Thank you

Chris

[Turbinator]

Thank you! Very appreciate the information. Your tip on using a heat gun to make rubber hose easier to remove is a great tip. 
Turbinator

[RivNut]

There is a petcock type drain in the block.  Right hand side of the block at the BOTTOM of the water jacket.  The lower inlet from the water pump is quite a bit higher than the floor of the water jacket. Mine has a plug in it now just to keep the jacket sealed.

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by RivNut (see edit history)

[KongaMan]

7 hours ago, Turbinator said:

Thank you! Very appreciate the information. Your tip on using a heat gun to make rubber hose easier to remove is a great tip. 
Turbinator

If your hose is that stiff, it might be better to just cut it off and replace it.

[Turbinator]

1 minute ago, KongaMan said:

If your hose is that stiff, it might be better to just cut it off and replace it.

Sir, makes good sense to replace an easy inexpensive item like a rubber hose. Sometimes my depression era thinking is not economical at all. Like cotter pins I use them again if I can straighten them out. Hard heads take time to change.

Turbinator

[RivNut]

Getting the bottom hose off still doesn't get that bottom level of water ( the one with all of the sediment in it) out of the block.  🤔

[KongaMan]

4 minutes ago, RivNut said:

Getting the bottom hose off still doesn't get that bottom level of water ( the one with all of the sediment in it) out of the block.  🤔

Nor does just draining it.   You really need a good volume and flow of water to flush out whatever can be loosened up and fit through that hole .  Actually, you really need to pull the water pump, thermostat housing, and freeze plugs, but that might be a bit excessive for routine maintenance.

[60FlatTop]

I like to use a razor knife to cut old hoses longitudinally with the fitting they go over and peel them off. Heater core hose fittings are real sensitive to breaking when twisted.

 

I pressure test the old cars every year, then look and listen for leaks and any other suspicious stuff. On "new to me" cars a nicely exposed Welch plug like Rivnuts would get a nice sounding with a blunt chisel to make sure it was healthy on the inside.

 

Those convoluted universal hose hold their shape well enough so you can match it up with molded hoses at a parts store. They tend to crack.

 

About 4 years ago I went through that whole routine with that '48 Packard I had. You get pretty wet and no one notices. I could have been wearing a dark suit- one of those kind of jobs.

Bernie

[RivNut]

2 hours ago, KongaMan said:

Nor does just draining it.   You really need a good volume and flow of water to flush out whatever can be loosened up and fit through that hole .  Actually, you really need to pull the water pump, thermostat housing, and freeze plugs, but that might be a bit excessive for routine maintenance.

Can't put my hands on it right now but there's a good description out there on the ol' WWW on how to flush a complete system running Oxalic Acid through it.  OA is big hit with restorers for removing rust without hurting the metal.  You can use it to remove surface rust on painted surfaces without harming the paint. It's a process that you repeat a few times till you flush water runs clean.

[KongaMan]

In that vein, I've wondered about filling your block with Evapo-Rust and letting it sit.

 

IMHO, the best way to do this is to set up a recirculating system.  Keep pumping the solution through, dumping it into a bucket.  Put a screen on the pump input to filter everything that was flushed out, and let it rip for a suitable period.  After a while, reverse the flow.  It's no different than flushing a heater core or radiator.

[first64riv]

This thread grew some legs.  I know the right way to flush out a cooling system would have been to recirculate until it turned clear.  But I was hesitant since the previous owner did the water pump about two years ago.  Draining was to give me a baseline and to see what condition the coolant was in.

 

Regarding the hose...it was in great condition.  It was just tough to remove.   Heating the rubber was just a trick I learned through maintaining my pool at my old place.  It definitely made my life easier.

 

Chris 

[EmTee]

On 12/1/2019 at 4:59 PM, RivNut said:

OA is big hit with restorers for removing rust without hurting the meta

AKA "Wood Bleach"

 

[RivNut]

The folks at the hardware stores stick it to you - about $10 for a 12 oz. tub.  

Or you can get a 5 lb. bag on Ebay for around $15 (that's what I paid for it the last time I bought some.) You do the math.