I just recently bought my first clasic car: a 65 mustang 289.

I pulled up to a restaurant today and steam started coming out from underneath my hood. I looked down at my temp gauge, and the needle was almost all the way up. So I opened up the hood and checked my coolant level (after I let her cool down)... stupid me... no coolant at all.

But my question is this: There is a plastic reservoir attached to the front of the engine bay next to the radiator with a cap that says "windshield wiper fluid only" that was bubbling over. There is a hose that runs from that reservoir to right underneath the coolant cap. Like I said, I'm a newbie. But as far as I know (unles i'm insane) i do not have washers on my 65. When I fill up my car with coolant, shoud i fill this reservoir with water? with coolant? any suggestions? sorry if this post is silly... i'm just getting into the classic car arena. Thanks in advance!

 

im pretty sure a 66 and 65 are the same and washer fluid is held in a bag, not a plastic reservoir....not even sure they developed plastic then. im pretty sure that reservoir is aftermarket overflow tank for the radiator which seems weird since u were out of fluid, unless your car was REALLY over heated

when u fill it up with coolent just fill the radiator. wait till it fills up and start the car (cap off and also heat on so coolent is movin to the heater core) and wait for it to warm and drive her around, get it to operating temp and turn it off. let it cool a bit and check the level and add if needed. should be able to c the coolent and b able to stick your finger in the coolent (bout an inch or so from the radiator cap)......u could add it to the reservoir but it would b pointless...its all just overflow

 

Yeah I was just reading an article in Mustang Monthly online that metioned that some people have installed windshield wiper reservoirs as coolant overflow reservoirs. Guess that's what the PO did. When I first put the coolant in should I fill it all the way up, or leave about 1" from the radiator cap?

 

I wouldn't suggest sticking your finger in hot coolant, that will probably hurt!

It sounds like the previous owner is using a wiper fluid container as a radiator overflow. Fill the radiator with a 50% water, 50% coolant mixture. Put in enough to cover the top row of fins, but don't fill it all the way to the top. Another thing to note, you should never put water in an already hot engine, it could cause the block to warp or crack. Wait until the engine cools down.

Good luck!

 

I guess everybody has their own way of doing things. What I do is fill the radiator with a 50-50 mix of coolant/water along with a small bottle of wetter water and close the cap. Then I use that same mixture to fill the reservoir about 1/3 full. By doing this, you will be able to burp the system.. When the water is hot and you turn off the engine, a bit of the hot water goes into the overflow tank along with the air that is in the system. Then as the car cools down, the water is sucked back into the radiator, making sure the radiator is topped off at all times. Works for me.

 

I've always used Soarings method on other cars, and I don't see whyI wouldn't do the same with a classic Mustang. It's normal to have some air in the system after you have drained the radiator or worked on any part of the coolant system. If you don't put extra coolant in the overflow, you could easily run very low again as the air works its way out.

 

well of course when its not hot[8D]