Overheating Brough/hudson engine

Henk_Brough

A couple of years I have problems with overheating driving my 1937/38 Brough Superior car with higher speeds on the motorway.( 65-70 mph, 100-110 km/h )
The brough has an Hudson rolling chassis with a different radiator ( cooler )than the original Hudson. The radiator is a little shorter than the Hudson one but more wider, so I think the coolingcapacity is the same. In fact I bought a new one.
Every year I ride over the car from the Netherlands - where I live - to England. The last 4 years the car brings me home safely, but I have placed a plastic container under the car to collect the coolingwater ( fluid ) witch is pressed out of the radiator through the copper lead, rubber tube . That can be after a ride of 40 miles, 65 km sometimes up to 3 liter. The temperature gauge never comes in the red arrea. There is always a lot of foam on top of the water.
I discussed the problem with other Brough and Hudson drivers and heard the next possibilities:

The waterpump works not propperly. If the thermostat opens there comes a very good flow of water through the radiator.So that looks o.k.

The modern patrol is different. Take off the cilinder head and grind off 1,5 mm
from the head. The car will run much cooler. Also the ignition must set a little earlier.
The waterjacket on the left side of the engine. The inner plate has the right holes ?? ( the two in the middle 15 mm, the outer ones 25 mm )

The lower hose on the radiator car collaps with higher speeds.
Original the is a hose with a metal wire around the hose.
Mine has not , but the hose is very stiff. This could be a problem ??

There must be a hot spot somewhere in the engine. the water is pressed out very hard.

My engine is so far that it is necesssary in a couple of years to carry out a complete overhaul. Also the gearbox is making a couple of wrong noises.
Can someone help me with a good engine and gearbox from a 6 cil 3500 cc Hudson.
1937-1939.

If someone can help me that should be lovely. I'am not only an owwner of classic cars but also a driver. I hope to keep my car on the road in the coming years.

mikeyb

If the engine is not getting hot (temp gauge - you could verify overheating with one of those cheap laser thermometers to confirm... simply hold them to various places on the block and head and see if the system is getting hotter than normal operating temperature) but pressing water out of the overflow then there is obviously a pressure buildup during driving. Reason could be, for example, a leaking head gasket or a cracked block - which will route combustion pressure into the water system.
A good shop has special manometers that you can put on top of the radiator, instead of the radiator cap. Let the engine run with the manometer in place and it will tell you if the pressure is getting too high. If so, the next step is an indicator fluid that detects exhaust gases in the coolant. Suck a bit of coolant out of the radiator and mix it with the indicator fluid... if it changes color from blue to green there are exhaust gases in the coolant. Then you have your diagnosis.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike