Gained a Pound Over the Holidays

For the brief time my car has been mobile, I've found that it's not uncommon for the coolant to overflow after driving and shutting off the car. I made sure that the coolant level was just covering the cores inside with at least an inch of empty space at the top of the radiator. I figured the radiator cap was in need of replacement, although it was only five years old.

When I replaced it, I found that the current cap was a 13# unit and the replacement was listed as 13# as well. This means as the pressure builds within the cooling system, 13 pounds of pressure will cause the cap's spring to let some coolant past the cap and into the expansion tank (on newer cars) or pee out the overflow tube at the bottom of the car on mine...

The replacement cap showed up and it was 14#, which surprised me, but the car hasn't overflowed again since I've been using it. So that extra pound made a difference. In the photo the 14# cap is marked with the number "14" on it, and the 13# cap is below with the number "13#" on it...

Cool Runnings

I bought an Old Air electric fan kit to replace the Flexlite mechanical fan blades. I hope to pick up some hp, and the Flexlite fan can chop some fingers off (or worse) if you are not paying attention. This particular kit was arranged for the classic Mustang and looks good.





The installation is only 3 wires (for no AC), and the fan itself installs with the 4 existing radiator bolts. AC systems require another inexpensive harness.





There's a temp probe that's inserted into the radiator fins to measure temperature and control an adjustable on/off switch for the fan. (The harness for the AC cars causes the fan to engage whenever the AC is on too.)





I also like that the fan shroud is fully integrated into the unit. You can find this fan for about $250 if you shop around.