Hot decks ?

[martyn]

question for you as iam still new to running my carrier how hot should the engine deck and covers get ?
as mine are getting very hot after about only a mile ? i drove it 6 miles on a road run and at the end i went in the back and if i had an egg id have cooked it,is that right ? the engine runs fine and has had a new rad i have binned the thermostats she just like to get hot ?

[kevin powles]

Hi Martyn, Best to wire up your temperature gauge, not sure on the normal running temperature of a ford flathead engine, google it and find out. Was it a sunny day?. What you will find that sheet steel will get very hot in the sun regardless if the engine is running or not. I sat my carrier at a show all day in the sun and couldnt bear my hand on the engine cover at going home time.

kevin.

[jeff davis]

My carrier deck gets hot as well.Are you running an Oil Cooler ?this is essential to cool the Carrier.It is also recomended to run a thermostate with the Flathead fords as they allow the coolant to slow down in the Radiator for greater time to cool.
Jeff

[RichardT10829]

Also if i may add. looking at the design of the engine bay, despite the huge duct on the front, the engine bay does not lend itself to good airflow ergo heat soak will be a bitch. what i would possibly consider is putting a spacer between the engine bay doors and the top cover so it can vent heat better. I will probably put a 12v fan in mine on the rear pannel or even the mesh grille to suck cold air in or even draw hot air out..... with a thermostat controlled switch on. if you go to a scrap yard and find a volvo 850 / V70 / S70 / S60 T5 they have excelent fans on with a massive turnover of airflow. i know this is not original but if its retro fitted and helps the carrier i say crack on.......


Richie

[Jordan Baker]

Just remember that these vehs run hot. You have a big steel box with an engine stuck in the middle of it with very little air flow. A lot of pictures show the back two engine covers removed. This helps a lot with letting the heat out. Ive run my carrier without an oil cooler and it didn't overheat.

The rad fan does a really good job of moving the air along and a lot of hot air goes out the grill on the back of the deck. Its also a great place to dry wet socks. It would be a tight fit to get an extra fan under that grill as the air cleaner is right there.

One thing to remember is that these machines ran fine the heat of North Africa without electric fans or other mods so they should run just fine in our climates. plus it wouldn't be a true carrier experience if you had a/c in it.

[shaun]

jordon is spot on. these vehicles coped in hot climates. as i some of you know i do hundereds of miles in my carrier a year and yes it does get hot, but it does not over heat. Remember the engine covers are lined with dare i say it with "asbestos". this shows that they thought about the heat in the crew areas during the desgin process.

[martyn]

Yeh just me worrying the engines plummed to a oil cooler and everything just wanted to check it wasnt me after building it up id forgot to do sumthing also i havnt got the linings on the doors like shaun said they had so that would explaine a lot cheers for the info,
can get on and start to enjoy driving her now done 30 miles so far lol just working out the kinks and bumps and getting use to track slaps hahahah
also sorry the thread was ment to say HOT DECKS not HOW

[Jordan Baker]

Just remember that on the Mk1's at least, the asbestos lining was only on the R.S. engine covers. The ones on the L.S. were simply sheet metal.

When I re-did my covers the asbestos sheeting was badly discoloured by rust. I had to take them off anyways to clean up the metal, so when I put them back on I just switched around the sheets untill I got a nice clean one and made that as the outer one. They then looked NOS.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

Just remember that on the Mk1's at least, the asbestos lining was only on the R.S. engine covers. The ones on the L.S. were simply sheet metal.

When I re-did my covers the asbestos sheeting was badly discoloured by rust. I had to take them off anyways to clean up the metal, so when I put them back on I just switched around the sheets untill I got a nice clean one and made that as the outer one. They then looked NOS.

Of course, due to that restoration procedure, Jordan now has three eyes and the beginnings of a tail.

Yes, mine has always run hot too. The rad, oil cooler, themostats, timing and everything else that contributes to cooling has been re-built and still the heat. I think it's the nature of the beasts.

My 'obsession' when running it is to touch the bottom of the rad and the elbows leading into the oil cooler element (both reachable by the driver) to confirm the 220 degree reading on the temp gauge.

[Jordan Baker]

Of course, due to that restoration procedure, Jordan now has three eyes and the beginnings of a tail.

And here I was thinking it had to do with drinking Hamilton water for the past 27yrs. Silly me.

[Lynn Eades]

I've seen a few carriers rebuilt without all the fan shrouds etc. not fitted.Then, they overheat, and you see them (the owners) wonder why.
The flatty is a hot running engine , because the exhausts run through the block.
I have read, that they should run a mono grade oil because it is a better transferer of heat. (A lot of heat is conducted away through the oil. This is why they have a cooler)
When the covers are on, the fan has to stuff all that air through those two square holes in the rear hull plate. When an engine is rebuilt it will generate heat much faster, and needs to transfer it away. This is achieved by attention to detail, descale the water jacket properly, dont take short cuts with the radiator, dont paint the radiator, and if you have to, us the proper paint (which transfers the heat faster that other paint) I'd definately use thermostats, and a coolant additive. (It increases heat transfer,and the boiling point, but can tend to help leaks happen)
Remember these things work hard shifting 4 ton of carrier.
P.s. Bruce you should also have three eyes, and the beginning of a tail (dont ask me to explain this)

[RichardT10829]

Thats a valid point Lynn...... Martyn do you have the full shroud assembly on the fan ? without this the fan wont generate the suction it needs to draw the cold air through the rad and into the engine bay.

As for the heat, it was baking hot in the rear compartment of yours when we were cruising back home from the Armed Forces day.... it was a welcome breeze when i sat on the ammo tins so i was a bit higher up.... mind i reckon the boys who landed in Italy 1943 welcomed the warmth through the cold november / december ops..... i recall from reading a letter my grandfather had sent home, it was one of the coldest winters on record for Italy that year. swings and roundabouts as they say.

[martyn]

ok nope i have no shrouds she runs fine hasnt over heated just runs hot, i asked the radiator specialists about the shrouds and told him what it was in and everything and hes said the new core is a more efficiant one so it will cool better and how big the fan was etc etc, we made a template of the shrouds and it was only just covering the corners of the rad so it made no diffrance at all ,beside its some what cooler over here. like you say Bruce think it's the nature of the beasts, when i last drove it i had one door off and it ran cooler but with people in the back its hard to have a door off besides the amount of air that fan shifts its not wise to have a door off.but at the end of the day if your in my carrier prepair to cook hahahaha ( richard )

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by martyn

also sorry the thread was ment to say HOT DECKS not HOW

Noted and edited!

[carrierbarry]

Mate
Don't worry they do run hot. The passengers in the back always moan, except in winter.!!

Thats why T16's suffer from fuel vapourisation.

Barry

[Ralph Volkert]

Winter hmmmm? How much ice do you need to move over frozen lakes?

I jokingly tell my friends I own a 4 tonne snowmobile. I wonder if they would sell me a pass to use the extensive winter trail system. Where we have ice roads here they regularly carry 5 tonne trucks. LOL of course the odd one does go through sometimes.

As for oil I thought 30 weight oil was what these Ford Flatheads all used in the summer and 10 weight below -15F

[Jim Parker]

Castrol 20/50 weight oil, cause's no sludge on a cool running engine, for summer oil. any thinner oil for winter. JP