I was recently discussing with a friend who has a lot of circle track experience and has dealt with SBC's quite a bit about the F-Body cooling problems a lot of us have. The first thing he said was that he has seen people try just about everything to remedy this. He explained the problem is the size of the "steam ports" on the heads. The terminology might be different but he explained that the water passages on the heads are reduced at the point where the coolant enters the head from the block. By enlarging these passages by as little as 1/32" to 1/16" in diameter the coolant flow through the heads will increase and therefore an improvement in coolant temperature.
Has anyone tried this, and if so what results did you get?

 

That's a bad idea for a street car... the holes in the block are enormous; the ones in the head gasket are carefully sized to make the water flow where it most needs to go, which is the center of the head at the exhaust side, the place where there are 2 exhaust parts right together. That's the hottest part of the heads. If you just drill out the holes in the head gasket in a street car, it will run VERY hot at that point when idling or cruising at low speeds.

A high-pressure water pump such as from Stewart Components is a better answer to the problem.

www.stewartcomponents.com

Check it out.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Thanks for the information and clarification.

 

ummmm i dunno if that is entirely true.
i am not sure but i know 400 blocks had stem holes. i built a 406 and put l98 head on and had the heads drilled to match the block, it was a small hole but the engine builder told me it would help keep the 400 from overheating. i dont know if racers use this on normal small blocks. but i dont see how it would cause anything to overheat
NEVERMIND SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I READ.......IM TOO TIRED!!


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87 z28 bowtie aluminum 420small block dry sump crower lt. wt. knife edged crank oliver lt wt rods brodix track 1's super ram intake slp 1 3/4 headers accel dfi art carr 700 r4 3.42 gears ssm sub frame/ladder bars.....other parts on the way ,soon to be finished!! couple more weeks!!!

[This message has been edited by 87tpi420 (edited July 24, 2001).]

 

400 blocks (I know, I have had one in my 83 for over a decade now) have steam holes, which are an entirely different thing. They are not there to increase coolant flow. Their purpose is specific to the design of the 400 block and does not apply to other blocks.

The 400 has one giant cylinder liner thing on each side that has all 4 cylinders in it, instead of 4 individual ones. So there's no coolant flow available between them. The steam holes are at the top of the area right in the little "corners" where the cylinders come together, and are there to allow an escape route for any steam that might form during extended low-RPM operation in what would be little isolated "pockets" if the holes weren't there. They're very small holes, and do not significantly impact coolant flow anywhere.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

All you need to know about cooling system problems is that if you have a relatively mild set-up (for example, stockish compression, reasonable cam, NA) you have NO excuse to have cooling problems. The fact that there are more people that you can count who run an equivalently 'hard' to cool combo with no problems tells you one thing....something is wrong with your cooling sytem. Period. You don't need any fancy tricks to get you by. If all the basics of your colling system are good, you won't have cooling problems.
Basics =
-known good radiator cap
-all hose clamps tight
-no leaks of any nature. Even a pinhole leak can screw up the ability of the cooling system to hold pressure, making cooling erratic and/or weak
-no blockage of the radiator (internal or external)
-good waterpump (over years, the impellers can wear out from corrosion and friction w/ particulates in the coolant)
-reasonable water/AF mix. No matter what, never run more than 50/50...i prefer closer to 70/30 water. AF is a horrible coolant. If you're worried about corrosion, there are products you can add to the mix to make up for the lack of AF. Water wetter by redline is one such product, and it also helps in cooling things down as well.

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Ed Maher - Moderator @ The TPI & Carb Boards
92 Z28 Convertible - Quasar blue / Tan top
LB9 4L60 GU2 G80 - stock, soon to be sleeper
-=ICON Motorsports=-

- Definitely prototypes, high powered mutants of some kind. Too weird to live, too cool to die