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Having trouble with overheating. Starts to boil over in just 2 miles down the road. Installed a used reproduction radiator that seemed to be very clean. My father who has had Model A's all his life said "that's a 29 for you". Claims 29's have that problem. Would a 4 blade fan help? Any other suggestions? Thanks, FRANK J

i had a similar thing. the timing was retarded just a bit too much. i don't mean on the lever, adjust inside the distributor just the smallest bit with lever all the way up on column. hope i don't confuse you. hope it works. kevin

If your cooling system is clean and free flowing your problem lies elsewhere.

Been there! On my '28 I fought this for a long time. Finally found out that what I thought was the proper 'water' level was too high. I cleaned the system several times to get the block clean, ( and the supposed clean radiator). I switched to 50% antifreeze to get the boiling pint higher, and added " water Wetter". to help with heat transfer. I found the working level of the coolant to be just above the tubes in side the radiator.. Let is know how it turns out...

Hmm yes many people overfill the radiator - needs to just cover the upper baffles. Radiator can be clean as whistle but if the fins have too much paint or are so loose they dont contact the tubes well they cant "wick away" heat and cause overheating. Since you say its in 2 minutes i doubt this is it.

The 2 blade pulls the best air so leave it alone.

Let it idle in the driveway, get it hot, then do a compression test on the cyl or better yet a leakdown test (essentially turn each cyl to TDC on the compression stroke and apply shop air - should hold the air or eventually blow out into the crankcase which is normal) If your radiator turns into a geyser your headgasket is leaking, head cracked, or block cracked.

Whats the oil look like?

Im leaning towards cracked head block or leaky headgasket. Does the coolant/water smell like exhaust?

Had engine apart during rustoration process. Head was cracked and replaced with different one that I had magnafluxed. New head gasket of course. I visually inspected block and looked good. Oil is clean. Coolant is clean and does not smell. This truck last ran in 1954 before I got it running in 2017. Looks similar to Dave Alder's truck. Waxed patina rustoration

advance that timing, the easiest thing to try first in my opinion. my truck would boil in 10 minutes sitting at an idle in driveway. advanced or turned maybe 1/8 inch, actually just a few degrees and runs cool all summer. hope this works.

It SEEMS as if advancing the timing has worked. Driven it a few miles and no overheating although it is a little cooler today in the north woods. 70 degrees. Thanks for all the suggestions