Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 261 losing coolant

The '62 261 school bus engine in our '40 Chevy sedan still runs great, but the coolant is disappearing. I can not see where it is going, no visable leaks anywhere. I'm worried that it's a head gasket problem. I see no steam out the tailpipe. I'm going to remove the sparkplugs and see if any of them look different. The head gasket is a blue Felpro and has been on the engine less than 10,000 miles. Wish me divine guidance, please.

Actually I was mistaken. Today was the first cold day that it has been run. There is quite a bit of "steam" out the tailpipe. Guess I'll order the head set tomorrow.

Good luck, I hope a gasket set will will put you on the road. That will be a fun driver.

It has been for a few decades now. I rescued the car from a local scrapyard in 1980. I originally installed a V8 & automatic but soon saw the light and installed a '54 235 & stick shift, then swapped in the 261. The car has a 3.08:1 geared 12 bolt rear and Mustang II ifs with GM brake rotors & calipers adapted. We have driven it thousands of miles, including several tips of 500+ miles. Our son & daughter grew up riding in it, being born in 1984 & 1988, so it will remain in the family, probably going to a grandson.
I plan to, probably tomorrow, remove the head and take it to be checked and resurfaced if needed.

I hope I have a complete one or two to pass down.

Cool story about your car. Keeping it INLINE!

My next plan was to pressure test the system before teardown. I cannot find my pressure checking tool, think I loaned it to someone and didn't get it back. Time for a new one, I guess.

Long story but when I was in Bozeman, Montana from August to December in 1969 a guy loaned me a 1940 two door. I drove it all over that part of the state once I replaced the master cylinder. It handled the snow/ice well, always started, and stopped as well as anyone. I was sad to have to return it. Great car!

A new radiator cap seems to have fixed the problem.