Airboss52

I am running a '89 TPI track car, and we're getting it dialed in. As usual, the faster we go, the more problems we uncover. We had an overheating episode last weekend, and I am wondering if the "Big Mouth" air dam mod really works? We have lowered the car overall, and I'm also wondering if the lower stance negatively affects the stock airflow.

cv67

Yes I noticed a difference, cooled down quicker at speed doesnt help at idle. Also ordered the deep style air dam from mid america

Churchkey

Suggest an oil cooler on a track car sustained rpm's over 3K will cook the oil. You need a good oil pan with extra capacity & trap doors a stock pan with 4 qt capacity = air in the bearings during hard braking when the oil runs to the front of the pan. If your analog aftermarket gauge shows lower oil pressure while braking you know why.
Always turned the water pump 30% slower via pulley sizes + used a vane pump rather than a paddle wheel pump = no cavitation.
Tune water flow with restrictors in the t-stat housing pic here:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-63440
Add an angled "blade" to the lower valance for more rad air. 6011 aluminum sheet is soft & will bend 90* without cracking.
Luck with your track car.

Tom400CFI

If the OP is running hot, I doubt that he wants to restrict water flow. That ain't gonna work.

Pwnage1337

More info on the blade on the lower valance?

Churchkey

Worked on my 648 crank HP Gen 1 track car motor (see avatar) & the 5 oval track championship cars I wrenched. Motors turned around 7500 rpm twice a lap.

Suggestions posted are based on empirical oval track data & may not pertain to road course racers.

Your mileage may vary.

Tom400CFI

What exactly "worked"? That your car didn't overheat w/a restriction in it? Or that you solved an overheating problem by installing a restriction?

Churchkey

Restrictors were used to adjust on track coolant temps I like them to run about 220 @ full song.

Kubs

I will second an oil cooler. When my car was a stock street car, and I was in college and poor, I used just a simple cheap Summit brand cooler maybe 10" by 10" and a sandwhich adapter between the block and oil filter. I didn't even have AN fittings, but hose barb and hose clamps. Cheap. After that I could run the car all day and the needles would never leave the middle range of the gauge, both oil and water temp. I also drove mine on the street and would have to cover the oil cooler with a piece of cardboard in the cooler fall months because it ran too cold to burn off moisture on the street.

whalepirot

The BeCool engineering support told me that coolant needs to stay in both the engine/radiator to absorb/dissipate the heat. This is why a no-thermostsat approach is wrong. Coolant flow can be optimized with a variable insert, or as they suggested, various oriface sized washers. Thermostats act somewhat like a switch, opening and closing, responding to variable excess heat from the engine's variable workload.

I found the standard Stant to have a too-small oriface for my midified engine, after throwing aftermarket WP and radiator at it. The solution was more wter flow, achieved in my case with a relatively low-dollar approach: a Robt. Shaw, as a Vette pal did. Some drill 2 or 3 holes in the thermostat to increase flow.

It is an adjustment in restriction to allow the coolant to be effective.

I like the strength the Big Mouth brings to the lower front of my car, not really needing any increased cooling air. Making a similar part wouldn't be difficult with its straight bends.

Tom400CFI

No, what that "engineer" told you was wrong. Or you interpreted it wrong.

I've run cars w/no stat and the barely got above 100*F. You experienced a similar thing; restricted flow caused it to run hot...you increased flow and observed better cooling, right? Sooo....

Also the T_stat is not like a switch. It is not I/O. It is variable and can regulate coolant flow in an infintely variable way from fully closed to fully open. Obviously, once fully open it can not longer influence anything in the cooling system and flow is regulated by the water pump speed and specs, and cooling is regulated by system capacity and engine BTU output.


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whalepirot

Yup. The RS replacement flowed more. The point here is exactly that, not to throw mega-bucks at the issue when the solution may be simple and cheap.

Pardon me. It's a variable switch, rather like a rheostat. Never did I mean to aver totally On/Off, but this is all off the OP's question, isn't it.

Tom400CFI

Copy that. Sorry. Others have literally tried to state that the stat acts like an I/O switch so I thought you were saying the same thing.

PLRX

Save your money