MTFCA Forum

What is the best technique to flush the block while in the car. I want to try to make sure that there is not some junk in the block that can cause over heating before I put a good radiator back on. Dick C.

Dick, I got done yesterday cleaning my bare block as part of prepping for boring. I set it level on my bench, bolted an inverted water inlet and hose then filled block water passages with vinegar and let it set a week. All kinds of "crap" floated to the top. It perforated the center soft plug, all three were removed before pressure washing the block. In the car with the head on I would not let the vinegar set more than a couple days because it really needed the pressure to blast out the "crap". Also with the head on you cannot see if the "steam" holes are open or plugged up by chunks of rust or "crap". George

Dick,

You can follow Steve Jelf's procedure: http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG96.html I believe it would work very well for you. But, I agree, you will not be able to verify if the steam passages are open or not unless you pull the head.

Steve has a whole bunch of great video suggestions here: http://dauntlessgeezer.com/ Go to "vehicles" then "model T" to find the whole list.

Good Luck,
Terry

If your car hasn’t had the head off in many years the best way to clean up your block is to remove the head and clean out the small water passageways with a 1/4” drill. You may can flush it out to an extent but flushing won’t remove the hardened rust from the small passageways well. The holes are just a little over 1/4” and you’ll be surprised how much they have gotten corroded up over the years.

Use a cordless drill and carefully drill out the holes in the block and head, then get an old speedometer cable with your drill in the larger passageways. Then use air to blow out all the loosened scale. Doing it this way you’ll know for sure you cleaned it up well for the new radiator.
Good luck with whichever way you do it!

I agree with John K. In addition to using air to blow it out I used my shop vac and also vacuumed it out. Even when I thought I had it all out, changing direction of the air flow produced even more crud.

1.) If you do pull the head, look over the head bolts carefully. They have been there for about a century under a fair amount of tension. I found two that I wouldn't reinstall in my T. Lang's and Snyder's both have them.
2.) As wacky as it sounds, pickle juice is a very good cleaner. It is highly acidic and it is free (if you happen to have a couple of gallons of pickles). The more that you dilute it, the less effective it becomes.

John Kuehn as well: Take off the head, open up the radiator pipes. Drill the crud out of the holes, chuck a length of cable into your drill, insert the cable inside all the passageways and let it fly. The cable will fray and break away all kinds of scale. You can 'thump' the head on a flat piece of plywood but the cable works better. Use needle nose pliers to take out the big flakes in the block. Carefully chase the threads on the engine block with a tap to clean them, blow out the crud in the bolt hole with compressed air. Get new head bolts. If you do this the head bolts go back on like butter.

The amount of scale and blockage in mine was remarkable with many passages totally blocked with scale. I was surprised the motor had not been burned up. I found a big piece of very old wire inside the block that had been in the block from the start leftover from the casting process. The previous owner had installed a water pump which was now totally unnecessary. Three years later I took off the radiator pipe and flushed it again, nearly nothing came out.

You might also remove the freeze plugs and run the cable through the passages. Replace with brass ones. Be sure to use some sealer around them when you install and use a flat punch in the center to spread them out to fit tight.
Norm

Ignacio,
Very interesting to hear your experience when you pulled the head on your engine and found out how much the engine was stopped up in the water passageways.
Years ago when taking apart the engine on my first T I wondered why the block didn’t have the back 2 small holes (or so I thought!) that matched the ones in the head.
After really close inspection I discovered that were evenly blocked up with years of hardened rust perfectly smooth!
Learned something that day.

John, I just measured the diameter of the small holes in a nos Fitzgerald Headgasket at 15/64th, & that is the size drill I used to clean my block. I would caution against going to 1/4" or larger, this Headgasket has crimped sealing rings at these spots & I would be afraid the gasket could be compromised also the location of the holes is close to the cylinder. Just my thoughts. George

George I have used as well as others a 1/4 drill to clean up T blocks for years with no issue. In fact it’s works fine. Unless the numerous blocks I’ve had were misdrilled from the factory a 1/4” drill works fine for me. To each their own.