MTFCA Forum

No and No! All flat tube.

I have done lots of parades. Using a Brassworks flat tube radiator, without a waterpump, I have not had overheating problems.

: ^ )

Keith

Have one of each. No overheating. Drove in the MT500 this summer with no fan using a 6 year old Bergs.

I drove my 24 touring in late July in not nd 96 degree weather with my bergs .
No can belt no boiling it up eliminates overheating. Philip

I often spend 10 minutes or more idling at a draw bridge down in Florida in 90+ degree temperatures with no overheating. I have both Bergs and Brass Works radiators. The Brass Works radiator is over 15 years old and the Bergs radiator is 5 years old. I run both plain water and water soluble oil (water pump lube).

Bergs, low, flat tube, no water pump. No overheating under any circumstances, including parades.

Same as the others...hot day in parade a few times, with a flat tube Brassworks...the moto-meter made it close to the top once, other times, still had about 1/8th inch to spare. As for driving, never a problem with the Brassworks "flatties" in hot weather, and in my '25 Fordor with the original round tube, drove often in 90 degree days the moto meter stayed right around the bottom half of the "circle". Had the rad boiled out when I took it in to the shop to repair a leak. Really worked much better after that.

Have people experienced heating differences between brass cars vs black era cars?
I find it harder keep a brass car cool in a parade. Yes, I am running an early head.
Harry

My '10 has the Brass Works round tube and no overheating issues. I run a low head and no water pump. Runs just as cool as the Bergs flat tube in my '27 which has a high head and no water pump.

No problem with mine. Two are Bassworks flat tube and the other is flat tube, on the car when I bought it. It is a low radiator. No problem with any of them. On parades, from what I have observed the cars which overheat, either have old radiators or they have missing fan or slipping belts. The fan is very important when driving in a parade. I also use low/Ruckstell and just tap the low pedal or the brake as needed or just set at a fast idle so I won't kiss the engine. Not so necessary when cruising along.
Norm

Round tube Brassworks in my 14 Runabout, no water pump. Runs cool. As long as a round tube isn’t a hundred years old they work just fine.


Andy

Funny you should ask. I drove my '26 Touring just yesterday in the Downey (CA) Christmas Parade.
On the first pass, I had the Mayor and her family in my car.
I say first pass because since there was a no-show on one of the cars and I was the third car out, I got to run it again with a city councilman that always requests to ride in my car.
There was plenty of stopping and starting and waiting. No water pump, flat tube radiator (re-cored Ford), ran like a dream. Motometer never got slightly above the bottom of the circle.
Life is good and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

No Berg's. I don't like the look of their non original top tanks. One Brassworks round tube I bought new. All the rest are round tube original Ford radiators. I run coolant in those cars with aluminium heads, soluble oil in cast iron heads. Never have issues with any of them, think southern California hot summers.

Allan from down under.

I chose the Brassworks Flat Tube Radiators in both the 26 and 1910 T. If anything, both engines run too cool!
I also use Coolant in both vehicles and no water pumps! I recall the advertising promoting the flat tube as being ideally suited
for those “July Parades” which equates to Australian Summer!
Alan in Western Australia

I used to have an original honeycomb radiator in my 1919 T. Drove it for thirty years with a water pump and never had any problems. I sold that car in 2016 to buy the 1923 runabout I currently own and when I rebuilt the mechanicals I installed a new radiator. Have driven this T on a regular basis and aside from the few times when I topped off the radiator or left the winter front on after the engine was up to operating temperature it has never boiled over. I mention topping off the radiator because it’s common that when the level it too high the radiator will purge the excess out the over flow tube after a few miles of driving. In the case of the winter front the entire front of the radiator was covered and I forgot and continued driving. The radiator boiled over and I stopped, opened the winter front and continued on my way. I did have an occasion where the fan pulley seized. I loosened the fan belt and drove 20 miles home with no over heating. There is no problem as long as you keep moving.

I have never used a water pump. Ran many parades in hot central valley California towns. Never had a heating issue with new or old original radiators.

Harry Lillo wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 06, 2021 8:18 pm

Have people experienced heating differences between brass cars vs black era cars?
I find it harder keep a brass car cool in a parade. Yes, I am running an early head.
Harry

First, keep in mind the brass radiators are smaller. Then, is a brass radiator round or flat tube. Can make a difference for sure.
And last but not least in the brass (or any radiator for that matter) is condition...i.e. cleanliness, tightness of the fins, etc.

As for black cars, keep in mind also, that most of them "graduated" to the higher radiator, that Inch-plus of extra cooling area makes a big difference. Going upwind vs. downwind on any radiator makes a big difference too.

And last but not least in the brass (or any radiator for that matter) is condition...i.e. cleanliness, tightness of the fins, etc.

That's why I specified new. I encountered an allegation in one of the FB Model T groups that overheating in parades or hot weather doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the radiator. So I asked the question here and posted a link to this thread so the mistaken gentleman could read the testimony of people who drive in those conditions and have no trouble because their radiators are good.

One difference could be the difference in size of the crankshaft pulley. A larger pulley driving a smaller pulley will spin the fan a bit faster.
Norm

I have the Brassworks radiator on my 1915 Runabout and had no problems ever, including a 40 mile trip on a 105 degree day with lots of stopping. It ended my cooling problems.

I had an overheating issue in the 19 with an original radiator.
I tried almost everything - cleaning, new fan, etc. and even a water pump — without success.
I finally got a Brassworks radiator and now the damn thing runs too cold so I have to use a cardboard box on everything except the hottest days.

BTW. I made a stop block that goes in the hand brake slot to make sure it doesn’t slip into high gear when in a parade.
I hang back a bit and lock up the low band to catch-up. I do not slip the band.

New Berg's (2 years ago) in my 24 Touring.

Driven it many times in the Houston heat, 100 degrees plus, sitting at stoplights, its never overheated.

Brass works round tube radiator.... Not a problem overheating in the last 25 years

I do recall some time ago that one accessory that is allowed on the Montana 500 is a brass plate at the head's water outlet to slow the water flow and let it go through the radiator slower so more heat can be removed.

Water pumps do the opposite!

Is this a true situation or an April 1 Joke?