Guys I've just finished up several upgrades on my 76. As you may recall I installed a T56 about two ago, and I just finished installing my Vintage Air sure fit system and Autometer Phantom Gauges. While putting in the Air I found my Radiator support rusted out and had it welded up and I have an after market Radiator that never fit just right so I made some other modifications so it would fit better. So after getting everything put back together, I had the air conditioner charged and man is it kicking this Alabama Heat in the A**. I'm really happy with it!!

So now to my question, during the installation I realized my thermostat gasket was leaking, had thought it was a heater hose issue. So I changed the thermostat out( had a 180) and was told a 195 thermostat was what I needed. SO I changed it out and in the last week of driving I've been real careful making sure everything worked and also fearing I forgot to tighten a bolt or two. So far everything is working fine, except I noticed my temp seems more unstable than in the past. When Driving the car on the interstate it would stay right around 195, but when I get into traffic in town it would go up to 210 when stopped or in traffic (short stops sitting for no longer than five minutes and then back to driving) but would go down once back on the road but would never go back to below say 205. So I decided to go back with a 180 thermostat and i've found it operates about the same, once driving the car it would hover around 190-200 and go up to 210 while in traffic. In the past my temp would stay right on 180 even in traffic in town. I'm comfortable with the Autometer gauges being right and I did change out senders for both oil and water. I'm assuming the condenser being mounted in front of my radiator now may have some effect on the higher temps in traffic?? ALso i'm not sure what effect the whole ac system will have on cooling the engine. I have a five blade clutch fan and my radiator seems to be a three core but was purchased as an oem replacement and I haven't had any problems with heat in the past. I do most of my own work but must admit it's not from automotive knowledge I usually learn as I go, but I really dont' know what I can do or even if I need to do anything. Is 210 in traffic reasonable, but I do fear it would climb higher if i was not moving? I installed the ac system for comfort and mostly because I wanted my wife and I to take the car to the beach this summer. I'm having second thoughts now knowing that if the temp is creaping up in traffic in town it will probably not do well sitting in traffic while cruising at the beach. I've read some post about people not liking clutch fans, but I'm not sure as to why. Would putting a different fan on make any difference? SHould I look at some electric motor fans?? Or am I just making too much of this???

 

You should get an IR temp gun and see what the temp really is. Don't just assume it is reading correctly. My 65 reads about 30 degrees hi and my 75 reads about 20 degrees low. And thats with new senders. Verify and then ask for help.

 

An I.R. gun takes away the guess work. The only other thing I would do is make sure that you have good seals between your radiator and shroud and hood so that you pull air through the radiator and not around it.