In the 1960's it was common uh "knowledge" a quart of ATF was needed in every tank of gas to "lube" the upper end and I would imagine some gullible fools are still doing that.

"It is ignorant people who start these silly myths and ignorant people who perpetuate them".

Toobroketoretire 2015

 

I would like to share an observation on what looks like trapped air pockets to me. My 79 has a TPI system with a vortec lower intake. I have mounted a 1/8" valve in the lower intake near the distributor. After letting the engine heat up and burping it till it seems full, with the engine running the thermostat open and the cap off I open the valve, steam shoots out and finally when I see coolant I close the valve, The water in the radiator drops, a lot, I top it off again and close the cap. If that was not trapped air in the system what was it? It sure wasn't rainbow scented Unicorn farts? In the last few years I have repeated this experiment more times than I care to admit. It is the same result every time.

 

Okay, here's yet another myth that has been floating around ever since the middle 1960's: Every emission device found on a car causes a loss in horsepower. A little bit true but the major loss came from the lowering of the compression ratios we once had combined with the shorter duration camshafts, taller rear end gear ratios, and overdrive transmissions. Have you seen pictures of Beijing China during a winter day lately? Visibility of about 100 yards? THAT is why we have those worthless emission devices on our cars.

 

Regarding air filters:

1. The higher the flow rate the more dirt passes thru

2. The lower the flow rate the less dirt passes thru

Since the whole object of an air filter is to stop dirt from entering your engine its only obvious you want the most restrictive air filter possible but with the largest possible size. As the engine compartment of today is filled with all kinds of whim-whams and gizmos its impossible to put a huge round air filter in so the manufacturers had to resort to making them in smaller packages but with the same square inch area; usually around 40-45 square inches (a 14" X 3" has 42 square inches). So its easy to design a 6" X 7" filter that has 42 square inches of area. The Tri-Power GTO's in the mid 60's had three 2" X 7" air filters with a total of...............42 square inches of area! And as long as those 3 little filters were ran in relatively dust-free conditions they lasted for years before needing replacing.

When I see new Corvettes rolling off the assembly line with oiled cloth air filters on them only THEN will I be convinced they are better. But until that day comes I'll continue to use my 14" X 3" "restrictive" air filter and replace it every 5 years at a whopping cost of $7.50.

 

Pleases tell me how taller rear end gears and overdrive transmissions lowers horsepower... As far as Beijing, it's not only cars that cause their smog, you do know that don't you?

 

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/SK..._rear_axle.pdf

Read the last sentence in the procedure. Doing figure 8's is recommended by GM.

Not that you'll pay any attention, but possibly someone else will read it to know that you are wrong.

 

You need to pay better attention. That procedure is for 2004 to 2008 Corvettes.

 

Another myth that has circulated all along is the engine has reached full operating temperature once the coolant temperature has risen high enough to open the thermostat. That's not true at all because it can take 20-25 miles of driving to get all of the engine's components up to full operating temperature.

 

And your point is? The OP started rambling on about imports, other 60's cars and other myths that came started back in the 60's. So, if he want to open it up to include any car then it's also quite fair to use a document from another vehicle that uses the same functional type of limited slip differential.

Besides, do you have access to all the service procedures for a C3 online?

 

(pssst, you can't use the same formula to measure square area when some filters are cylindrical, and some are flat)

Just sayin'

 

LOL, you beat me to it. The last time I checked the area of the outer surface of a cylinder is 2 x pi x radius x height and not height x diameter.

14" x 3" cylindrical filter = 132 square inches ignoring the pleating.

3 of 7" x 2" cylindrical filters = 132 square inches ignoring the pleating.

As noted, he also ignored the pleating when talking about the actual surface area of the filter material.

 

Comment DELETED by me.

 

They don't need to be adjusted hot, but the majority of professional mechanics screw it up on the stand. The other problem with adjusting them on the stand is your camshaft profile. You need a degree wheel so you know the intake opening point and exhaust opening point. You're not guaranteed that because your at TDC on #1 or #6 or whatever the procedure is that a valve won't be a few thou open. That is why when we build race engines we like to do them hot, at idle, because we can feel zero lash.


That depends on the intake manifold. We had a problem with Miniram manifolds because the area where the thermostat goes was not deep enough to allow the thermostat to sufficiently open. The resolution to the problem was to drill holes around for added coolant flow. We've seen the same problem on some other intake manifolds as well. On a stock engine this isn't necessary, but again on some aftermarket manifolds (race manifolds for example) you may have an issue.


Sometimes it gets purged, sometimes it doesn't. I've seen old farts who have been turning wrenches for 30 years scratch there heads because the car was running at 260 degrees with the fans on after an initial startup. I always leave a fitting off the intake to purge air. I've always done this and never had a problem, where I've watch people not do it and had a problem.

Sure they do. But it's only part of the system. I typically run 180 degree thermostats on my street builds, and I configure my electric fans to turn on at 190. My radiators are sized appropriately for the combination.

This depends on the size of the radiator. Sizing the cooling system to the engine is part of blueprinting.


That depends on the cam profile, compression ratio, and type of chamber. You give it what it wants to make max power.

This is a very common problem with the third gen fbodies and headers. The starter will get hot, and then the car will not re-crank.

113 heads came with 'guide plates' that were actually for assembly purposes, which was evident by the self aligning rockers. I suspect this is where the myth originated for other heads.



-- Joe

 

THIS is a very (obvious but) true statement.

I normally warm up my car stationary at least until the water gauge moves off the peg. I prefer it to warm to 160, but that doesn't always happen.

My oil pressure, however, remains at 40 to 40 psi for quite a while. I drive easy out of the neighborhood and to the first traffic light perhaps 3 miles away. Even then the oil pressure is still high, a clear indication that it has not warmed sufficiently.

It isn't until the NEXT traffic light another 4 mile drive (at 2,500 RPM) away that when the oil pressure gets to ~20 psi at idle. I know then that the oil has warmed to 'operating temperature' and I can start to have fun with the car.

Interestingly enough, my engine builder encouraged me NOT to get an oil temperature gauge when I got a full set of AutoMeter gauges. After living with the cluster I ultimately purchased, I totally agree with him. I can tell all I need to know about the oil temperature by reading the oil pressure, especially at idle.

A little off the subject:

I will further say that connecting the oil pressure gauge with a full-sized #4 hydraulic line made a MASSIVE difference in the utility of my oil pressure gauge. When you pass it through the pitifully small stock (or 'upgraded' copper) lines, it takes many seconds for the gauge to react to the actual oil pressure in the engine.

With the #4 line, my mechanical oil pressure gauge reacts as quickly as does my tachometer. It's very entertaining to watch them bounce around. And it is VERY, VERY informative to have an immediate and accurate oil pressure reading. That is BY FAR the most informative gauge in my cluster.

 

I still wonder why people talk about #6, which speaks to high volume pumps and coolant dwell time in the radiator. The speed of the coolant has zero effect on radiator dwell time.

 

I can no longer stand the pain....

UNSUBSCRIBE

 

I am enjoying every minute of it... Ha!

 

Another myth to consider: It was long believed a good "quench" was necessary for good performance but that was back in the days when combustion chambers were small and flat top pistons were used. But the HEMI has no quench nor does engines with dished pistons. The open chamber big blocks have very little quench as does the engines with 4 or 5 valves per cylinder but yet they can make awesome power so it appears quench has been a silly myth all along.

In the case of oiled cloth air filters the manufacturers started the myth of "more restrictive" in order to provide the cure at 4 to 5 times the cost PLUS the cost of the expensive oil for those filters. Slick, huh?

 

It's quite entertaining to watch everyone pile on.

 

Oh boy..

-- Joe