Power111

On a different note....A lean condition (vacuum leak, wrong jetting, exhaust leak, etc...) will cause the motor to run hot. You might pull the plugs and check them out.

If you have already done that to no avail....nevermind.
You might remove the thermostat all together and see what happens....it don't cost nuthin'.

I am hooking up an oil cooler on mine.

C64BOB

Are you running coolant or water? If coolant dump it and try water (I'd add Redline water wetter). Water will always run cooler (way better heat transfer). If this works then your system can't tranfer heat efficiently enough for coolant. One other comment if you have a 400 block or an aftermarket block that has siamesed (sp?) bores well these just flat are harder to cool.

wmf62

Scott
is your electric fan hooked up to run all the time, or does it have a thermostatic switch? if your using a thermostatically conrolled fan, how/where is the thermostat mounted? are you still using your mechanical water pump mounted fan too?

most electric fans that i have seen only have small, if any, shrouds and pull air mainly through the portion of the radiator right in front of the fan and are usually only effective in traffic or at an idle; they're really not needed going down the road at highway speeds. if you're not using the water pump mounted fan too, then there really isn't any need for any of the shrouds.
Bill

Oriondriver

If I run it without the stat... it indicates cool in nearly all conditions... but understand the problems associated with running it without one...

Bill... I have both the water pump engine driven fan (flex fan not the original) as well as the electric pull fan... the electric is swith activated and I typically just turn it on in traffic to help out... it also has a thermostatic input but I don't think it is working properly... so hopefully the shrouds will make a difference...

Running water vice coolant... now that is one that I have not tried..

Scott

geo65

Have you tried reducing the pulley diameter on the water pump? This worked for me...

wmf62

Bill

Oriondriver

Geo.. what size pulley did you put on? what was the original size?

Bill... thanks for the photo... will pick some insulation up tomorrow and give it a whirl... no real noticeable difference with the electric fan running.... the mystery continues...

Thanks again for all of the inputs... another reason I love this forum!

Scott

1955 copper

Did you say you removed the thermostat and it runs cooler at all times? Is so the water pump inside (fan) is not calibrated to your engine, did you put a high -Po water pump in , if so your pushing the water to fast not allowing the water to stay in the Rad. Long to cool the water.This is common among hot rodders , they keep adding bigger Rad. Thinking careering more water will cool the engine.(NOT) they are pushing the water around to fast.

Oriondriver

Alright... now I am flat out confused... I know the rad is working based on the IR gun readings... but you are saying that the water pump is pumping water too fast? Previous post from Geo sounded like a logical possibility but a smaller pulley will push water faster...

Confused..

Scott

geo65

I just found the old pulley...
my original pulley was 7 in. and I replaced with 6 in. after diagnosis of poor flow rate from an in line flow test device.

geo65

BTW, always wondered what the original diameter was on a 65 327/365?

Injected Stingray

Scott, Something thats simple and easy to overlook is the thermostat being installed upside down it takes much longer for it to open. Also per my last post to you, I forgot to mention that the stat. must be open and you may have to rev the motor a bit to see the compression bubbles. Chris

Oriondriver

Thanks... I am in no way offended by the question of whether the stat is in right side up or not... everyone has asked that question and I asked myself.... it is right side up though...

Geo... I have a 7" pulley on right now... might have to think about changing it out as another option... thanks for checking for me!

Scott

aaronz28

Scott,

what exactly makes you think you are overheating? the guage?

everything else seems just as it should be... i wasn't followign your other post...so i'm a little behind, but everything i've read in this post woudl indicate that everything is ok.

do your heads have a boss with a plug between cylendars 1 and 3 or 6 and 8? if so, then you can remove a plug, and put a mechanical style temp guage and compare it to your in dash guage... my bet is that you have either a goofy guage, or there is something in the wiring that is sending a false reading to your guage... could be a wire with too much resistance or something flueky like that.

Is your motor completely stock?

And if you have an aftermarket high-flow pump, you could easily be pushing too much water through the rad... this would mean that the water isn't in the radiator long enough to cool.... once your motor gets warm enough to open your stat, the pump might just be pushing the hot water through the radiator faster than the radiator can cool off. I've seen many people try to figure out why their car runs hotter with a 170 thermostat than it does with a 190.... its becaue with the lower stat, once the water reaches 170, the stat is open all the time and the radiator can't cool the water... with the 190 stat, the water will have a chance to sit in the radiator for a minute or so to cool off. Sounds backwards, but it is correct. You have a 180 stat so you should be just fine there.

if your motor is entirely stock.. then use an OE cast iron pump with the correct pulleys. As long as you have the aluminum radiator, and all your shrouds installed, then you shoudln't have any issues.

If you have a 180 stat in the car, and your IR gun shows 190 at the thermostat housing... then you shoudl be right on the money.

Remember that these motors do need some temp in them to run correctly... so I woudln't shoot for 140 degrees all the time LOL.

my FI 1964 coupe is very tempermental until it gets to 170 degrees or so. Anything cooler than 160 and it is rough.

Good luck

Aaron

Oriondriver

Aaron... thanks for the reply... the car has a Fast Burn 385 (SB 350 with Fast Burn heads) crate motor with a BG Speed Demon carb... the gauge has a nice steady and consistent rise in temp as it warms up... it will steady out at 180 and within a minute or two... BAM... it shoots up to 220+... I will check for the option of a mechanical temp gauge.. thanks for the tip!

Oriondriver

Okay... so here is an update... I pulled the hood off... pull the rad... installed the lower shrouds... can you say Rubik's cube... anyway... I got the lower shrouds in... next.... seals installed to cover the gaps btwn the rad and support... added new antifreeze/coolant... put it all back together and out for a test drive....

Nice consistent rise on the temp to 180... settled out... then slowly crept to about 190.... then back to btwn 180 and 190 as I drove... so far so good... slowed down at a stop sign... temp crept to about 195 but upon acceleration it settled in btwn 180 and 190.... so far so good... pulled back in the driveway... temp quickly rose to 220+... I was totally psyched up to that point... thought I had it solved... partially solved for now... not sure what else I can do at this point... plenty of airflow now that the shrouds are installed... you can feel the fan pulling air from the front side of the rad... thoughts?

Thanks
Scott

Ironcross

Loosen the radiator cap to the first notch and drive it! See what happens. What you will be doing is releasing the pressure build up. Something I personally had to do to travel hugh distances once in the 62 Vette and another time in the 57 Bird.

wmf62

Scott
was your electric fan on when you were sitting in the driveway?

try the 160 thermostat just to see if the temp goes down from the temp of the thermostat you're using now. if it does go down, then you will know the thermostat is doing it's job and the radiator is adequate to shed the heat in order to lower the temp to 160.
Bill

Aussiesnagz63

Just a quickie from OZ,We had a over heating problem in our ol' torana (ozy muscle car) a while back.Get a mechanic to put an CO2 tester in radiator and see if you are getting any exhaust gasses back through the cooling system.It may be happening without any bubbles so the correct tester is required.We had a blocked exhaust (on one side) which was putting to much back pressure on the head gasket and forcing the CO2 back through the cooling system.Thus, this overheated the buggery out of it as soon as you stopped in traffic or lights etcetc.The torry had a 308CI V8 in it which is just smaller than the 327CI chevy motor thats in ya vette, just as in my 340hp 63 roadster too. .I hope this helps mate, i feel for ya as i'm 33 with no hair and my finger tips missing to the first nuckle due to this little drama. .Good luck from all in in the land of OZ, Snagz

Oriondriver

Electric fan running in the driveway... will pick up a 160 stat today and give that a whirl...

Ironcross... won't I run the risk of boiling over from the expansion tank with the cap a t the first notch?

Thanks again!
Scott