Taking Delivery

[isawlogs]

    Really enjoying watching your truck come to life.  Beau travail mon ami!!!!!

[Jeff]

Today's project. Getting the bed more weather resistant so M.R. Truck can be outside and serve as a table for the pigroast.


  

 

[thecfarm]

All is looking good.
Really like that last picture with the 2 tractors and sawmill in the background!!

[Ox]

I think that can says Helmsman.  Is that right?

[Jeff]

Yup, Helsman Spar Urethane.

[Ox]

I was afraid of that.  It brushes on nice, looks nice and feels nice.  Indoors.  Outdoors it will start flaking off in a year or so if I remember right.  The whole idea of this being a "marine varnish" is a farce, unfortunately.  I learned this the hard way and I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but this is certainly not for anything that will get sunlight.  If you keep it parked inside and it hardly ever sees the sun it might last you. 

Maybe find some UV resistant clear coat (automotive?) that is expensive but you only need a coat or two to go over what you have down now?  I don't know what the answer is for a durable, affordable clear coat for outdoors.

I've studied on using paint base for the darker colors.  It looks promising.  Brushes on colored but dries mostly clear and protects like a good exterior paint should.  I'll be doing tests sometime soon.  Somebody already has and got several years out of his tests in some of the worst conditions you could imagine so that's good enough for me.

[Jeff]

Ive used this before and had no problems. It is U.V. rated. This is not something that is going to be outside constantly to begin with. I don't have any qualms about using it. That chunk of redwood has been outside as a table with no protection what so ever for the last 10 years so this has to be better than that.

[Ox]

That's good news that you've had good luck with it - I remember reading all that UV stuff on the can too and my luck with it was very disappointing.  I then looked up online about it and it was probably 75% bad luck and 25% happy with it.  I hope it works as well for you as you want it to. 

Perhaps my problem was my wood item with the stuff painted on it was outside 24/7.  But then again, so are sailboats, which this product is gearing its advertising toward, which is why I was a little peeved with the fact that it doesn't last outside.  Maybe it will with a 6 month recoating schedule?  I'll never know cause I basically just oil everything nowadays and that's good for our stuff.  Quick, easy, messy sometimes but works outside just fine!

[isawlogs]

Thats all I use on my canoe paddles and never had one come back from peeling.

[Jeff]

Peeling usually means poor surface prep or poor surface.

Anyhow, I'm pleased with the look on this old growth redwood.


  

  

 

[paul case]

Nice portable table. ;D

PC

[Jeff]

You've come a long way M.R. Truck!

https://youtu.be/Vno9mZ8R91Y



  

  

 

[chet]

Did I hear ya correctly , dat she's still overheat'n?

[Jeff]

Yes.

[grouch]

Could be the rest of a family of critters clogging part of the water jacket in the engine block.

Any more furballs in the radiator since the latest ride?

[Jeff]

Pulled another out tonight.  Posts on Google talk about a thermostat a must for these trucks or they will run hot. Turns out I had way to much coolant too. It didn't heat as bad as the first run but went to 200.

[Ox]

Thermostat restricts the flow so it has more time in the radiator to get rid of heat.  I remember old timers talking about this and it makes sense.

[Jeff]

I had to order a thermostat. The one I got up town that said it fit, ain't even close.  This is the coolant I flushed back out of the heater hoses to pull the stat. It looks pretty good I'd say. I see some hair drifting in it, so I'm filtering it be for I use it again.

 

[Dave Shepard]

No stat can definitely cause overheating.

[Gary_C]

The notion that more flow thru a radiator (heat exchanger) will cause overheating is pure internet folly. Here is a quote from an internet site that is the most accurate:

As far as flowing too much fluid through the radiator, if you consult any engineering heat transfer textbook, or any industrial heat exchanger catalog's application pages, they will tell you that there is a proportional relationship between coolant flow and heat transfer. More flow = more cooling. It's just that simple.

As far as all the complicated stuff, turbulent flow, Reynolds numbers, all that stuff - cooling usually increases with turbulence. Turbulence increases with flow. So cooling increases with more flow.

Those old radiators were built plenty tough compared to what you find in newer vehicles and they can be fixed much easier if you can find an old fashioned radiator repair shop but good luck with that. If you can't flush it out or chemically clean it, you will probably have to have the top and bottom heads removed and the tubes thru the core "rodded out." They then solder the heads back on, test for leaks and proper flow and they are good to go again.

Putting in or taking out the thermostat is not going to stop overheating.

[Jeff]

Just discovered something else. The the wrong radiator cap is on this truck. It has a pressure cap on it. This is a non pressurized cooling system. The cap should really be just a cover.

Gary you are wrong on a couple things. First of all, these radiators are not that tough. You would destroy it if you did a modern pressure test. They were not built as a pressure vessel. Also, your quote from the internet is from someone that tho is he is an engineer. He is wrong. You are right on circulation but that's not how these were designed. They need the radiator to hold the water so air flow cools the water, then that cooled water is released into the block. I spent some time on the phone today with the Authority on this vintage of truck that runs a parts and restoration company in Zealand for 1939 to 1948 dodge trucks specifically. One additional point on this truck, it has a by-pass thermostat system. It doesn't just restrict flow. It redirects it.

[Hilltop366]

I am of the thinking that not having the thermostat was more that the coolant flows too fast to pick up enough heat from the engine rather than not being able to dissipate the heat with the radiator.

The main reason for this thinking is that the engine can only produce a set amount of heat from the fuel it burns and friction but the cooling system should have a safety factor built in for hard work but an engine over heats with only light to moderate use with no thermostat.

[sandhills]

I'm not going to argue anyone's points here but when we ran our stockcar  we had different sized washers to replace the thermostat, some reduction was needed to keep it cool.  I do know one thing for sure though, when they go bad and won't open things get hot  :D.  Yeah I'm a genius alright  :.

[Jeff]

We shall find out. These are the easy idea fixes. Anything else may mean a lot of work.

[pineywoods]

If somebody put a pressure cap on the rad, likely because gases in the coolant from blown head gasket or warped head. Result is high temps, especially under heavy load..Them old long flat heads were prone to warp. I've hauled a few to the machine shop to be re-surfaced.. :