I had new upper and lower rad hoses, belts, rad cap, and 180 thermostat put on today, as well as flushing the cooling system and installing new anti freeze, and added water wetter. Trying to prepare for a drive to Hot August Nights this year. Anyway the car now seems to be running a little hotter now??? The thermostat that came out was a 180 degree one but had 4 small holes drilled in the top sort of spaced at intervals around the circumfrence. Why were these holes there and would this be the reason for the higher temperature now as the new one does not have the holes?
I have not tried it on the highway yet, but in city traffic and a fairly warm day here in Victotia( 25 degrees) the car seemed to run at 200 degrees,{city traffic),before it would likely have run about 185 maybe 190 . It will likely now run 185 on a highway speed.
Well I am a bit younger than you and I am used to smog ladden cars and Cadillac Northstars which run at 200 + all the time. I don't think a cast iron block is in serious trouble until 260, even an aluminum Northstar will tolerate up to 248 before kicking in limp home mode.
-- Edited by 73SC on Tuesday 2nd of June 2009 01:33:10 AM
Some guys drill the holes to help purge the air out of the block when filling also upon first warm up it allows a little of the hot fluid to bypass to the cold side. Two schools of thought there. 1) It will help the thermostat open a little quicker the first time as they generally open a little late upon the first opening at warm up.
2)A little bit of circulation through the holes may help to eliminate localized hot spots.
I've had lots of trouble with new thermostats, some just don't like to open the first time... goes really hot upon 1st open... after that they cycle fine.
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My car has a 85°C, 180°F? Thermostat and the first thing I did was to drill a hole in the rim. Temperature also ran hot in the begiining (100°C) but with daily use has settled at 90°C. So I think your argument carries some merit!!
If the problem still exists after a couple of runs, change the thermostat again. Just a thought, you do have a fan shroud right? Maybe go with a slightly lower temperature stat if you have to change it.
Idon"t have a shroud on it now , the rad, fan and engine are all original, have looked into getting a shroud,(there is a aftermarket one made for a Chevelle 327), but I don"t think it will work with my present set up. I am going to try going down to a 160 degree thermostat.
You have to run a shroud. HUGE difference. and the other posts are on the right track. You will have air in the system for sure, and once that works out it will get a bit better. I am a parts dealer, and I hate to admit it, but thermostats fail once in a while. If your going to Reno, make sure you can idle for an hour in the heat. Enjoy the trip!
I realize that I should have a shroud, I have looked into it and can get a aftermarket one out of the states, but when I went to order it at our local restoration shop they said it wouldn"t work with my rad set up. There is a metal set up in front of the rad that sort of funnels air in, but there doesn"t seem to be any way of attaching a shroud on the sides to go in front. Marty on here has the same set up on his 66. If anyone has a 66 Beaumont 327 and have put a shroud on please let me know how. I will try to attach some pics, thanks Ted
I may be wrong, that radiator looks the same as my 65 Malibu's which is the same as the Impala. The Malibu has no shroud whilst the Impala with the fan extension on has a shroud fitted. Perhaps someone can show you the Impala set-up! It is a bolt-on.
It's been a few years but I don't believe the regular cooling non A/C SB cars (ctr. rad cap) had a factory shroud?.
If you update to the factory HD style rad (offset rad cap), they have the provision on the rad mtg brkts for the shrouds but I think may be offset from ctr. on one side?.
If you want to modify yours to accept a shroud from a top/bottom tank B-Body, I believe the rads fit but unless you're swapping a whole rad or mounting the brkts to yours, you'll have to fab some brkts up..
Look to see if you can remove any spacers between rad support/rad to move the rad forward and gain more room on the engine side for the shroud if necessary..
Good luck!.
-- Edited by Ghost Post on Friday 5th of June 2009 02:11:25 PM
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