running temp

essexcoupe3131

All right all you guru Chevy motor guys!

Went back to the drags last weekend ran slow times than previous
but that's OK was worth watching the people dribbling over the old girl
when I was going through scrutineering, the inspector asked where my over flow tank was for the radiator and I said that I have never required 1 because the old girl runs pretty cold even in heavy traffic sitting there on a hot day she has never been over 150 and generally runs at 120
He was saying that I should be running her at about 180 to maximize the fuel burn

This is a alloy head engine and was after feed back to this
It runs with the original radiator top and bottom tanks baffled, and has a very high flow core, the thermostat for the electric fan kicks in at 120 but on the motor way switches off, I take it that it has a standard thermostat fitted at 160 and have thought about restricting it with a low flow 1 as when the radiator was baffled the radiator guy said it would move huge amounts of water and the engine has a high flow heavy duty Edelbrock ali water pump

Interested in your thoughts and by lifting the temp would this help with my et's

PS ordered 20 liter's of high octane 103 for my next time out
still ran at 92 MPH on 1/4
watched a new rail thats just come into the country same day broke the track record for us at 5.556 @ 243 MPH and running 212 at half track not bad for a engine built down under

Thanks
Mike

[Deleted User]

Mike, You have a great piece of work there. Before swapping to a 1 row radiator or even changing the thermostat. I would try putting different sized pieces of cardboard in front of the radiator until I achieved the temp I wanted. If the car is driven on the dtreet very often I would love to have one that runs at 150* and would not want to go above 160* on a alloy head. When I ran my 67 Camaro I tried to get to the stasrting line at about 160* and end the run at 180* it would cool back down to 150-160* by the time I made it back to the pits. Then I cooled it even further by spraying cold water on the radiator. I ran 9:90s in the quarter but was using cast iron 202 heads and the motor was destroked from 327ci to 302 ci. Finally after 3 years the camshaft broke during a run. Destroyed everything but the intake and carb, 1 piston that was stuck to the head and the vibration damper. Did not do much for my damper either as it was turning 9500 rpm when it broke.
Anyways I would try the cardboard first to see if the higher temp helps your et, before making any major changes.
Just my opinion...
Bob Hickson

mrsbojigger

Just a thought! Have you checked the actual running temperature with an outside temp gage just to make sure your interior gage is reading correctly?
Peace,
Chaz

GrimGreaser

Generally you want your coolant in the 180°F range, at least that's what I've been told.

Here's something I found with a quick internet search: http://www.carnut.com/ramblin/cool3.html

And here's a good primer on cooling systems in general: http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/14_rules_for_improving_engine_cooling_system_capability_in_high-performance_automobiles.htm

For what it's worth...

essexcoupe3131

thanks guys,will give it a try with the card board, the thermostat and gauges were brand new and the whole lot only has 2500Ks on it, I now I am not burning all the fuel as I wear a bit of it on the rear guards after a run, though i have had her on a dyno and they say the air fuel mixture is perfect, so this is why I wondered, on the motor way it would sit on 100* and as I said in the past I took her to the beach hop and it took us 1/2 a tank and 1 hour to go down 1 side of the road and back again and that's where it hit 150* and this was in a summer evening

Mike