Rehab of Patrol L60-2-00655

[r1lark]

A couple of weeks ago, I pulled the thermostat housing and removed the thermostat to test it. What was in the Patrol was p/n 21200-61001,180 deg F. Interestingly, I couldn't find this number in the 1962 parts catalog or online.

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Finally got around to testing it today. Hung the t-stat in a pot filled with water, and used a known accurate thermometer to check the opening. I like to monitor while heating the water up, then take the pot off the burner and let it cool and monitor it as it cools.

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The t-stat barely started cracking open at 140 degrees F, and was fully open by 180 degrees F. Here are a few pics -- first one at 158 deg, second at 175 deg, and third at about 180 deg:

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Seemed fine, and although I wish it was a 160 degree t-stat, I'll put this one back in. Drove this thing mainly in the summer in the '70s, and never had an issue with overheating even on the interstate.

[RiverPatrol]

Cool.

[r1lark]

Cool.

Thanks River! This is not some wimpy 'modern' thermostat, this thing will really flow some coolant -- look at how far that opens!! I learned with my Studebakers that most 'new' thermostats just don't flow enough, with the exception of the RobertShaw t-stats that are sold now as "high performance'" t-stats. I keep my eyes out for NOS '50s/'60s t-stats for my old cars.

[Esteban]

I had no idea regarding the wide opening on older thermostats. Will need to keep an eye for them.

Thanks for this information.

[r1lark]

Do you happen to know what year the Patrol went from positive ground to negative ground?

Just to close the loop on this question from several page back, in case someone in the future is digging for this...........after doing some searching, I ran across the archived service bulletins here on the forum (link: viewtopic.php?t=1681). The March 1966 Service Bulletin notes the change from positive ground to negative ground on the Patrols. Both the generator and voltage regulator part numbers changed at this time.

As a side note, this service bulletin notes that a 45 amp alternator and associated voltage regulator became an option on the Patrol at this time also.

[L60Boerne]

Good morning Paul. I think you are on the right track. In my experience, the standard "run of the mill" coils work fine. The "high power coils" seem to fail sooner so I don't use them anymore. Maybe I will not have anymore problems but I keep a spare coil in every Patrol.

Lastly...leaving the key on after the motor is off....will kill the coil. Maybe you are trouble shooting the motore and you forget to return the key to the off position, for example.

Rolling and Patrolling,
L60Boerne

[Esteban]

Just to close the loop on this question from several page back, in case someone in the future is digging for this...........after doing some searching, I ran across the archived service bulletins here on the forum (link: viewtopic.php?t=1681). The March 1966 Service Bulletin notes the change from positive ground to negative ground on the Patrols. Both the generator and voltage regulator part numbers changed at this time.

As a side note, this service bulletin notes that a 45 amp alternator and associated voltage regulator became an option on the Patrol at this time also.

Very interesting to revisit the 3 Service Bulletins in that thread.

I don't know why the generator and regulator were changed when they switch to negative ground. Certainly can't dispute that, but in my case, the switch didn't cause any problems at all, and in fact I drove like that for probably 30k miles until I finally installed the alternator with its corresponding voltage regulator. Don't hesitate to do the change. I guess the idea of new part numbers for the generator and regulator was to avoid embarrassment, or they were beginning to catch up on stealership practices...

[r1lark]

Spring is here is North Carolina (the daffodils have been blooming for almost a month!), so looking forward to getting back to working on the Patrol. Been working on Studebakers this winter (reassembling one, and assembling an engine for another), so haven't done anything on the Patrol carb. But, did receive the 9mm OD x 1.5mm wall Borosilicate glass tubes from China via Amazon, so I have plenty of tubing to practice on to make the carb sight glass! Also need to get the intake and exhaust manifolds bolted back together, and build the exhaust.

Unfortunately with spring comes grass cutting and yard work too. I see that all the folks that told me "......after retirement you still won't get done everything you hope to....." were right.

[r1lark]

Brought one of the Patrol's original wheel and tire home to remove the tire, see what the wheel looked like inside (to determine whether it might be ok to run tubeless), and verify the wheel width.

My 1950s tire changer couldn't get the tire off, since the tire was so stiff. The wheel/tire has been sitting outside for a couple of months, so I decided to attack it. Using a jig saw, was able to cut the tire off just past the bead (as close to the rim as possible on both sides) which got the main part of the tire (and the tube, which is an original Bridgestone also) off the rim. Went to cut one of the thick beads to get it off the wheel, but the last part of the bead would not cut, and actually dulled the jig saw blade. What the heck? Ended up using a metal cut off wheel in the 4-1/2" grinder to cut thru it. Once I got a good look at it, the reason it was so hard to cut thru was obvious (and surprising) -- the tire bead has a metal (looks like stainless) cable molded into it! Did not know this was done on tires made in the early 1960s --- anyone ever see this?

Here are a couple of pictures. First, the bead with the multi-strand cable molded into it:

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Here is what the cross section of an original Patrol tire looks like (with the bead on the right side missing):

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Here is the wheel. It has a rubber piece over the rivets all the way around, I guess to protect the tube from chaffing on the rivets. Wonder if this also would effectively seal the rivets from leaking air past them if a tubeless tire is used? Has anyone successfully run tubeless tires on these 16" Patrol wheels? Also, note the wheel is only 4-1/2 inches wide........I was surprised at that, thought I'd read they were wider. Maybe the later Patrols had wider wheels?

[RiverPatrol]

Cool stuff! I'm pretty sure L60Boerne runs tubeless on his 16" rims.