63 Hawk over heating

[jnormanh]

So re-cored the radiator, new water pump, new thermastat, flushed, knocked out 1 freeze flug and cleaned.....still overheating.............not even a lick better! Suggestions other that knockout more freeze plugs? Maybe I got a bad water pump? Is there one recommended to order better than other. Signed Steamed in San Antonio.

1. Is it really overheating? At those high temps, I'd expect you'd get some preignition.

2. You spent a lot of money at the shop, and no improvement? What do they say?

3. Any chance of a head gasket leak? Does it spit water out the overflow?

[Jerry Forrester]

Carburator running lean or trouble in the distributor, vacuum advance or centrifugal advance problem.

[rkapteyn]

Check the clearance of the water pump impeller to the housing.
Use modeling clay (silly putty?)
The clearance should be .006"
If this clearance is larger , the pump is not pumping at full capacity.
Some of the aftermarket pumps used an incorrect impeller and supplied a water pump gasket that was much thicker than the very thin vellum O.E.M gasket.
The thick gaskets increased the impeller to housing clearance.
My friend had the same overheating problems and I found an original Studebaker branded pump and original thin vellum gasket and installing those the solved his problem.

[studegary]

I believe that your answer lies in posts number 18 and 19 or all the way back to my post number 3.

[doofus]

One freeze plug wont do diddly! they all need to come out. lots of crud collects between cylinders and piles up at rear of block. after flushing a stiff wire can be helpful to poke along inside of block between core plug holes. Yes its a nasty job but the rewards are a cool running Stude! go get 'em, Luck Doofus

[StudeRich]

Yes, you have to wonder if they even pulled the Starter and got the ALL IMPORTANT two Rear Core plugs out.

There are SIX 1 1/2 Inch, Shallow CUP type core plugs!

[Ron Dame]

Yup, a nasty and not fun job, but essential!

One freeze plug wont do diddly! they all need to come out. lots of crud collects between cylinders and piles up at rear of block. after flushing a stiff wire can be helpful to poke along inside of block between core plug holes. Yes its a nasty job but the rewards are a cool running Stude! go get 'em, Luck Doofus

[bensherb]

My car wasn't overheating but I did have a radiator leak. I pulled my engine out, primarily to replace the oil pan gasket, replace core plugs and clean out the block. I dug about three pints of crud out of the water jackets.
After putting the engine back in and replacing the radiator with a $125 aluminum Jeep one from ebay (it's about 1 1/2" shorter than the stock one was) and ditching the massive shroud and stock fan for an electric fan, the car will now run all day long indoors with no airflow, except when the fan comes on for a minute or two of every ten, during 86F degree ambiant temps and the engine water temp stays between 197F and 202F,(digital gauge) with a 180 degree thermostat (did it yesterday). On the road temp runs a bit lower around 185-190F.

Cleaning out the water jackets was well worth the effort. Since I had nobody around and could do it by myself it only took about an hour to pull the engine and another to install it, If I had "help" I know it would have taken at least a day for each. Replacing the oil pan gasket was WAY easier with the engine out and upside down than trying to do it in the car too. I can't imagine replacing that gasket with the engine in the car and not have it leak soon after. The cork ends are a b***h!

[altair]

As mentioned above check your centrifugal advance, I had a broken spring in mine and it caused overheating even with a clean block and radiator.