ive done everything still running up around 220. have 180 thermostat, aluminum pump, aluminum radiator, air dam intact, 1 bottle redline water wetter. 350 with 425 horses brodix aluminum race heads-can't afford to warp em. Ideas? next plan is to drill 1/8" hole through edge of thermostat-suppose to give 10 to 20 degrees.

 

i drilled holes in a 160 stat and it ran cooler until it got hot out i think they where 1/16

 

Try to get a 170 stat but if u cant stay with the 180 and get a lower fan switch or just rig the fan(s) to a switch and manually turn them on anytime.

I am not sure about drilling holes in the stat, u might want to run a search on that to see feedback.

 

i would do the whole fan thing but see i had the clutch fan originally, im now running a flex fan

 

When do u run at this temp? on the highway, city traffic
Do you have an intact air dam?
Does your condenser for ur a/c have anything blocking it, if you have one?
Maybe try running a different coolant mixture..

 

Drilling holes in the t'stat is one of the things that John Lingenfelther advises in his book on building small block Chevies.
I think John knows what he is talking about.

 

it has it in the tpis insider hints book that where i read it

 

one of these days when it is not as hot out im gonna do some drilling. Air dam is intact, a/c is long gone, run hot at idle while moving i can keep it at about 190 thanks alot everybody

 

the flex fan is proably not helping as much as you would think.

A electric fan would be better, and also the flex fan pulls a few hp from the motor unlike the electric one.

Try adding some water wetter or 40 below to your mixture. It will drop temps by 20-40 degrees.

 

flex fan!

 

I saw that you already did the water wetter thing. make sure you dont have too much antifreeze (use only a 50/50). I agree about this electric fan thing, and flex fans are for bombs, not serious brodix headed bad boys. I had a cooling problem once, on a project car, years ago (1990). I added an extention (made from bathroom/kitchen stuff that goes from the wall to the floor, its rubbery stiff plastic) to the bottom of my air dam (the small important one directly beneath the radiator), I got single fan (dont forget the upper and lower shroud replacements they hold the radiator and fan in place) and 1 core aluminum radiator (factory radiators utilize a very broad single aluminum coring) from a wrecked 89 TA (a twin fan setup from some TPI cars would be better), hooked up the fan to a relay to run it any time the key is on so that it would get full battery power as well as run any time the key is on, and the discovery that the common misbelief that too much timing causes over heating, THIS IS NOT TRUE, too much RETARD can cause overheating, it is just the opposite of the old belief. this caused my .060 over 400 small block to run so cool with the 160(with 1/8 inch hole) thermostat that I had to put a 190 in it to get it to heat up and make more power! oh and definitely replace the radiator cap they are cheaper than thermostats (as well as easier to install) and cause more overheating ailments than I care to list (someone has probably already covered that) I had an 82 that I drove for years in the 80's that I could not drive on the highway because of an overheating problem, after replacing every cooling component including hoses (about $1000) it still overheated! then I replaced the radiator cap and POW! it was fixed. its embarassing but atleast you know where my root of experiences comes from, years and years of R&D (retard and development)

 

I'm gonna start post whoring about drilling bypass holes in your thermostat. I did in on a 195, and the car runs at a rock steady 210. here's a pic:

 

TA350, does your car have a heater control valve? If not, you can get a universal one from autozone, which has a manual valve (looks like a water faucet valve), which you can add inline to either heater hose. My car did not have a heater control valve on it, and when I added this one, it dropped my temperature about 20*.

 

if ur not running A\C. then id say 50/50 solution is way to much antifreeze.. id go more with like 20/80 or less, water is way better at transfering heat then collant. if u use water wetter you COULD use 100% water like i am doing in my car.. stays cool as possible.. but nothing over 20/80.. this DOES help alot..

 

I have the same problem, I was wondering if the new antifreeze, the red stuff, would that help? I have a 160* and a toggle switch on my fan. It runs cool at first but once it heats up it never cools down. I live in South Carolina and in the summer it gets really hot. No air dam, fact rad. Not wanting to spend tons of money. What do you think I should do?

 

If the car still has the AC condenser check between it and radiator, sometimes stuff like plastic bags, cups, feathers and paper get in there and block off up to 1/3 the radiator. One sheet of paper can block a LOT of surface area on the radiator.

Good Luck

 

You need a little antifreeze in it , no matter what , it lubricates the waterpump .

 

a piece of paper about a month ago got stuck on the grill of my car , i was running at 210 I belive in a matter of mins my gauge shot up to 240 b/c the radiator was not getting enough air .

 

all a/c components are gone. anyone else try the heater control valve? i just took the thermostat out and tried like that today. ran ok (175*) for like 3 min, then heated up to 210 after i got on it a little bit. i was even driving with the hood off. i have a stock replacement aluminum radiator (1 core). i have had some other people tell me i NEED more cores. keep ideas comin-everybody is helping alot!

 

Since when is 210 considered too hot?
What is considered an 'ideal temperature?'

I know EFI cars have to run warmer to work right, but do carb cars run as cold as you can get them?

 

Well a normal temp to run at is 220 right in the middle of my temp gauge. If you want more performance you need to lower the temp by lowering the stat temp to like 180 and have the fans come on earlier, with a fan switch, and a new computer chip. You need to retweak the computer to get everything to response normally to the new found lower temps. If u run at a lower temp with out changing the chip you can get bad gas mileage and not the most performance out of your new lower temps.

Well not too familar with carbs but i would guess with the lower temps you would need to retweak the carb to get the car to run right.

 

yeah, that's all well and good, but why is everyone in love with 160 degree thermostats. Does running at 160 make that much more power? If so, why, and how?

 

At 160 the car may be giving the motor more gas. More gass =more hp. Don't quote me but I think that is how it goes and why people are in love with the 160* stat.

 

Well, first heat is the worst enemy of an engine. If you keep your temps down then your engine will last alot longer. Second, a cooler engine means a cooler air charge in the plenum. Cooler air is more dense and more fuel can be added for the increase in air, and whats already been stated more fuel/air = more power.

 

Yeah that's true, but when u lower temps in a tpi car programmed to run at a higher temp you need to get/make a custom chip to make everything work right with the lower temp.

And what i have heard is that instead of swaping stats all the time, u should try to get a 170 stat, so u can build up enough heat for the winter. If you cant find a 170 get a 180.

 

im not sure if you guys are starting to talk about your own cars or not. there is no computer, carb has been adjusted several times. anyone else try the heater control valve idea-run the valve open or closed? anyone runnin a griffin or be cool radiator? found dual elctric fan at local junkyard for $35, just have to go pick it up. bought new cap today. 220* is my shut down temp. between 150 and 180 is my ideal temp.