| MG | -- 02-21-2011 @ 5:33 PM |
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On page 29 in my '37 Ford Reference Book/Owners Manual, the battery is depicted with a vent tube which runs accross the top of the battery and attached to the battery filler caps. I would like to duplicate this with a rubber hose and three Ford script battery caps I have. I need to know how to attach the caps to the hose so that they will still turn/screw on & off the battery. Have any of you had any success in building/duplicting this setup?
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| supereal | -- 02-22-2011 @ 11:38 AM |
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We used to see tube vented caps on tractor batteries long ago. The had the unfortunate habit of allowing acid to escape with the fumes, causing damage to battery trays and any other metal nearby.
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| ford38v8 | -- 02-22-2011 @ 9:48 PM |
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Bob, the setup that MG describes is a single year (1937) orphan, and must be that way on the Concourse to avoid a point deduction. MG, I have seen some nice looking installations and some pretty rough ones, but for the life of me, I can't remember the exact detail of the good ones, other than black rubber tubing with one L and two T connectors, the final tube going down the side closest the fender. The connectors are hidden by the tubes pushed close up, any part visible being blackened. The caps themselves being script raises a big question mark in my dumb head, as the scripts would obviously be obscured by the connectors at the centers. I'm ashamed to say I've judged '37's at almost two dozen meets and can't give you a better answer than that. Alan
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| MG | -- 02-24-2011 @ 5:28 PM |
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Alan, I'm in the process of duplicating one of these vent tubes. Do you happen to know if the vent tube should be plugged/capped at it's battery end or left open?
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| nelsb01 | -- 02-25-2011 @ 6:18 AM |
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Given the modern technolgy of 6 volt batterys now, I know that several owners of 1937's had 'fake' vent tubes on their batteries. The tube as I remember, was D shaped, with the flat part of the D being the piece that connects to the battery cap vent. A little 'black goop' and you can 'attach' the D tube to the battery caps. How they got the D tube to bend down into the fender is unknown. Hope this helps --- it is a simple 'fix' to not lose points, and look correct.
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 02-25-2011 @ 8:35 AM |
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I always thought the battery caps had special battery caps with little tube with pointed tips on the end and the rubber hose has slits in it that you slid over the pointed ends of the special battery caps,and the rubber tubing was routed down so the fumes would escape out down below, some of the foreign cars still do this, AUTO ZONE SELLS some batteries that also have the drain tubes,that are routed down and out, my 3 cents ,37RAGTOPMAN and KEEP on FORDIN,,,,,
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| supereal | -- 02-25-2011 @ 8:59 AM |
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Alan: I learn something new every day. I have always admired the style of the '37s, but never owned one. It seems that there was a lot of experimentation that year, with a new water pump location, cable brakes, and other "tweaks". Part was playing catch up with competitors, particularly Plymouth, and it was likely the resurgent depression caused some soul seaching to perk up sales. Some ideas worked, others were abandoned by the time '39 rolled around. It rather reminds me of the current scene.
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| ford38v8 | -- 02-25-2011 @ 12:12 PM |
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MG, I wouldn't modify the vent system for a modern battery at all. As Bruce said, the vent hose can be fake for appearance only. Regarding the D shape hose, that also rings a faint bell among the cobwebs, but I for one would not doc points if it were a round hose, provided the installation was neat. Bob, The cable brakes were new to Ford in '37, but were original to the Lincoln Zephyr in '36. It's a shame that they were still imperfect by '37 and required aftermarket floaters to correct the flaw. Alan
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| Lincoln | -- 02-25-2011 @ 12:32 PM |
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The 1937 FORD Book shows this same picture and gives a brief description of how it is setup. As already described, the rubber tube that collects and vents off the battery fumes is "D" shaped and hollow on the inside, and has three small holes on the flat side which corresponds to the location of the three battery caps. It is about 31 1/2" long and in one piece. Each battery cap has a small vent nipple protruding from its top that slides into the hole of the tube. The tube, part number 78-10719, is soft enough to accept the nipples and still allow it to hang down along side of the battery where it exited through the right side inner fender panel. Each battery cap had "FORD" script and "USA" in small letters that was offset to the nipple. No doubt this tube did not last too long when the car was serviced later on and the battery water level was checked. The tube was probably discarded. Lincoln
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| MG | -- 02-25-2011 @ 1:04 PM |
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Alan, The vent tube pictured in the owners manual certainly is not "D" shaped but rather, it is round. I'm using 3/4" O.D. - 3/8" I.D. rubber hose. This hose fits perfectly in the exit hole provided for it in the inner right fender. As for the battery caps, I purchased three 'Raindrip' inline irrigation dripper/nipples at my local hardware store. I drilled the vent holes in the caps to accommodate these dripper/nipples and super glued them to the tops of the caps - looks like the caps were manufactured that way. I drilled 3 small holes at the correct distancing between caps in the rubber hose and slipped/pushed the hose on to the nipples. It's a nice tight fit and the caps still turn. Installed on the battery, I must say, this setup looks exactly to what is pictured in the owners manual. Also, I think it is functional in venting the battery. But again, I can't determine from the picture in the manual if the hose is plugged at the battery end. It would seem to me that left unplugged, air would be forced through the hose by the engine fan and forward movement of the car thus forcing any liquid in the hose out the other end. I do have a rubber plug for the hose and the setup looks much better with this plug installed. To plug or not to plug - that is the question. This message was edited by MG on 2-25-11 @ 5:01 PM
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| ford38v8 | -- 02-25-2011 @ 5:02 PM |
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MG, Yes, the rubber plug sounds good, if only to prevent fumes in the engine compartment. A fun little project would be to experiment in the making of a D shaped tube, but again, neatness is more important here. Lincoln, I don't know why it never occurred to me to look in the '37 book! We can always count on you to trump all speculation with your research. Alan
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| Roy Nacewicz | -- 02-25-2011 @ 5:12 PM |
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MG If you are trying to get to Concourse "original" on the caps and vent tube, give me a call. I've been to the rodeo before you and know the way back. The hose is indeed "D" shaped and LINCOLN is correct in his write up above. I'll share some "know how" with you if you want it. Roy Nacewicz 734.654.9450
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| MG | -- 02-25-2011 @ 6:00 PM |
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Roy, I appreciate your input/expertise in this matter. I'm not trying to be "Concourse "original" on the caps and vent tube" although this would be a plus should I ever decide to do so. What I'm trying to accomplish is to avoid what happened and what I described in a previous post (02/15/2011) I made here titled "Battery boiled today". I filled my battery as per the instructions in my '37 Owners Manual - Ouote: "When adding distilled water to the battery, fill to the bottom of the of filler tube in each cell". By my doing this, battery fluid/acid (due to expansion) sprayed over the right side of the engine compartment while driving to and from a 60 mile event. I'm of the opinion that the "vent tube" arrangment as pictured in the manual will prevent this mess from happening in the future. Functionality is more important to me than being "Concourse" correct. What do you think about my fix as described above? Again, what I've built thus far looks exactly as pictured in the manual. Where can I find a "D" shaped hose? Do you have an opinion about my "plug" question above? BTW - The radio chassis mounting bolts you provided to me for the Ashtray Radio in my '34 worked like a champ! Thank you for what you do. This message was edited by MG on 2-25-11 @ 7:12 PM
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| Roy Nacewicz | -- 02-27-2011 @ 12:25 AM |
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Thanks for the kind words....we try! The original "D" shaped hose was plugged on the end closest to the center of the car. The hose had three 3/16 holes that fit on the nipples of the '37 only battery caps. It was, at best, an ill conceived attempt by Ford to route the majority of battery gas out of the engine bay. (Remember, this was the first attempt to place the battery under the hood and they were apparently concerned enough about gases to go to this unique set up). That said, there was certainly no attempt to route fluid out the tube. At one time, I reproduced the unique battery caps and "D" shaped hose but discontinued the offering due to variety of replacement batteries being offered. There appears to be very little standardization with the threads on battery caps. An original Ford cap will not fit into any modern battery so a "special" cap with an original top and unique thread had to be produced. When the number of unique threads grew to 3 or 4 varieties, I quit!
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| MG | -- 02-27-2011 @ 1:28 AM |
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Roy, I see that you have 1937, 1938, 1939 FORD FLATHEAD BATTERY HOLD DOWN BOLTS available. Are these bolts to be painted black to be correct in appearance? This message was edited by MG on 2-27-11 @ 1:30 AM
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| Roy Nacewicz | -- 02-27-2011 @ 6:46 AM |
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Oh No! The originals were Cadmium Plated and ours are as well. The hold down bracket was painted black but these very unique bolts were Cadmium plated. Hope the clarification helps.......
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| MG | -- 02-27-2011 @ 11:29 AM |
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Thanks for your advise Roy! I will plug the vent tube as you pointed out. Also, I will be ordering a set of your battery bolts in the not too distant future. Keep up the good work......MG
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| schmitz1022@sbcglobal.net | -- 02-09-2023 @ 2:16 PM |
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I am resurrecting this thread to see if anyone out here might have a picture of the correct battery cap for the 37. I have a coworker that can 3D print them for me. He just needs a picture of one and he can take it from there. Can anyone help me?
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| Kens 36 | -- 02-10-2023 @ 9:05 AM |
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This picture is from "The 1937 Ford Book" published by the Early Ford V-8 Club. I'm sorry that the scan comes across very dark. You can barely see the tube going across the top. In the book, it looks like the battery caps are unscr*w*d and connected to the tube. If you can get your hands on the book, the picture is much better than this scan. Ken
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