Oh boy, Which water tube to use in my 308?

TwinH

My 49 C8 came to me with a Clifford headed/headered hot rod 308 that gave up last year when it broke the compression rings on #5. The 49 also came with a spare motor that turned out to be a new never run 308 albeit badly stored. I have
redone the spare motor and am trying to finish up when I discover that the two water tubes are drastically different.
The spare is redone as a 7X copy(without the loose clearances and knurled pistons) and with the Clifford head and header.
Which tube would you use?


Seen from the side. rear to the left,front to the right. Original in front and the spare one behind.

GrimGreaser

I believe you want the one with larger/more openings as it will flow and cool better.

Hudson Grandpa

On pic #7 the top one with the long holes on the small end goes into a 308. Thats the one that went into mine, and in another 308 with a sedan down here. Tab on the end after installing stays flush with the block.

Glowplug

Posted a note to you

[Deleted User]

Hi

The attached Pdf is something that I picked up on the Internet some years ago, might be helpful.

/ Andreas

TwinH

My thanks to all who responded. The Pdf file is something I saw many years ago but having
never actually seen these tubes didn't fully grasp the differences until I had these two next to
each other.It is obvious that the later (55-6) tubes bias the flow to the rear of the engine and can
understand that this was probably done to help equalize the flow throughout the engine. I will also drill and tap the holes for the bypass mod shown in the article and think about using them.
Also happy to report that the rebuilt water pump from Dale Cooper meets the specs laid out in the article. My thanks also to Rudy Bennett for creating this file and Steve Kann for contributing and Ken Cates for getting it out on the web. Hudson people rule!