Fort Dodge to Gowrie, Iowa
August 12, 2006
Yesterday our homemade radiator cap gasket solved the slobber problem on the windshield but we started losing water out the overflow. It kind of has me puzzled since we had no water loss or foaming the first 300 miles.
The car has never overheated or got even a little hot. It seems strange that the flow rate of the radiator would change unless dirt from the block is now in the radiator. Not a problem for now, we just give the old girl a drink now and then.
This morning we were on old Iowa state Route 4 that is so untraveled that grass is growing in the cracks in the road!
This is one of those old ribbons of concrete 18 foot wide joining towns that time has forgotten. One of those towns is Gowrie, Iowa.
We stopped in Gowrie at a little storefront NAPA store operated by a very knowledgeable lady. We bought a piece of 5/16 fuel hose to extend the overflow in the radiator neck. I put a large cotter pin in the hose and that slowed our water loss considerably.
Now might be a good time to also mention the cooler mounted on the front bumper arms on Sleeping Beauty.
This thing is the Rainmaker Ron cooler bracket for the front splash area. With a full load of tools and spares, this gets the cooler out of the way and makes it very accessible when needed.
Without the bracket the cooler winds up inside and on the bottom of the load. I built the first of these brackets in 82 when we drove a 29 Roadster to the nationals in Minnesota.
It has been copied many times by others over the years. I made the early ones from old brake rods.
Rainmaker Ron Cloat
August 12, 2006
