[Bob Carriere]

Having had the benefit of Phil's experience with the steam tube when I fired up my engine, I decided to install one on my rebuilt 261 WITH the addition of a 1/4 turn valve and a translucent plastic tube from the engine to the rad filler neck.

I ran the engine in various modes of valve open / valve closed and this is what I observed.

After running the engine to full temperature with the valve closed.... when the valve was open a whole bunch of foamy green antifreeze was ejected in the clear tube on the way to the radiator until it was solid flowing green.

When we started the engine with the valve open there was a solid color flow of antifreeze and never any air bubbles. I concluded that the steam vent did serve a purpose and decided to install the permanent steam line with the system left open with out the valve...... on top of the vent fitting on the engine head is the heat gauge sensor which settles in at 160/165 with my 160 thermostat...... never has it over heated.

I see no detrimental effect of having it open and certainly allows the air to bleed out of the head.

My early cab 11 did not have a overflow tank, they were later retrofitted on cab 11, mine never got one. So my side sheet metal panels had no bolt holes ( as found on the cab 12) so I ran my engine with a plastic pop bottle to catch the overflow for quite a while. Satisfied that it was advantageous to have such a tank, I bought and installed an after market Stainless Steel tank for hot rods... it is slim, 12 inches tall and mounted near the radiator horse collar frame under the hood and totally out of view. .... of course it was sandblasted and painted OD green..... and it serves its purpose well.

My permanent steam line and supporting bracket were fabricated from steel brake line covered with the woven canvass/tarred tubing by copying a cab 12 installation.

Cheers