Restricter? You aren't dealing with a race car, you vehicle is a street car, I would remove the restricter and install a thermostat.
Thermostats definitely have a benefit with faster warm up time. Removing it totally will give you an idea if you experience any improvement. The next step would be to find a replacement that has full flow when open. Or just leave it out all together.
I may have to install electric fans. I have always believed you can stop over heating problems with mechanical fans, but I may be wrong in this case. I have most of my problems with the AC on. If I shut it off the temperature drops 10 degrees within a couple of miles
That’s why I went to the tri flow radiator but it doesn’t do any better. With a front steer subframe there isn’t room for a radiator bigger than 26 inches
Petejoe has it right on the old wives tale of coolant moving too fast to be adequately cooled. I cringe every time I read that BS. What do people who spread this shit think high flow water pumps are made for? If your running 210 at highway speed with the A/C on what does in run in stop and go traffic? Hearing about a Tri Flow is a new one on me. Who makes it? Is it aluminum? How many blades on that steel fan?
In town in never runs hot. It’s a 7 blade fan, I don’t know who made this one but I bought it from Eastwood. They basically block off the tanks to send the coolant back through the core and back again the other tank
Uh oh, hot at an idle and around town = fan issue Hot at speed? I guess I missed that part earlier. No wonder @Moriarity went after that lower hose spring. hmmm
I just realized something... we are talking about a convertible with air conditioning??? remove the AC and put the damned top down....
Looked on the Eastwood web site and saw the aluminum radiators they are selling for $149. Now I too suspect the radiator. How much quality do you think your getting for a $149 Chinese radiator? I'd throw it in the trash and buy the biggest, baddest US made copper/brass radiator I could find. Besides copper/brass radiators have a greater cooling coeffiient then aluminum. I learned a long time ago that when it comes to Brakes, Steering and Cooling is to buy the best and you'll never be disappointed. To me its ludicrous to have ten of thousands of dollars on building a car and then spend $149 on a radiator. Its no fun driving our cars with one eye on the water temperature gauge. The nature of attending car shows, its a given your going to be stuck in traffic and there will be cooling issues with a poorly designed cooling systems. Takes the fun right out of the whole experience. Gary
I am not one for sssssnake oil but this is the bloody 21st century, after 100+ years of using water to cool a engine maybe there is a better way? https://www.evanscoolant.com/products/high-performance-coolant/ I have no knowledge of this stuff, and it is $50 bucks a gallon so an overheat is going to be costly puking this stuff out. Waterless, boiling point 375 degrees, -40 freeze point, NHRA approved for use on their tracks. They claim less cavitation, less corrosion, lower system pressure. Of course it would suck if you need to top off the radiator and you didn't throw a gallon in the trunk on your road trip. Sssssssssss
How old are the pulleys? A worn pulley will slip. Incompatible belts will slip. It is easy to check. Use a magic marker or layout dye and coat the sides and bottom of the grooves on the crank and water pump pulleys. Reinstall the belt(s), tighten to spec and run the car for a while. Shut it off and inspect the pulleys. The dye or marker should be on the sides of the groove. If it is worn off the bottom either the pulley in question is worn or the wrong belt is used.
I have been fighting this problem from day one. I’ve had two different Griffin radiators in the car, so I can’t fault the tri-flow I just put in. It’s normal price is comparable to the Griffin. I don’t have the room to put in a bigger radiator
Oldsman, I've never been impressed with Griffin radiators after I had one in a 41 Willys. Somewhere along the line some people get the impression aluminum cools better then copper/brass which is not true. I use only copper/brass radiators. Another thing the Eastwood description of the $149 radiators doesn't mention wether the cooling tubes are epoxied or Tig welded. I seriously doubt you'd find a Tig welded aluminum radiator for $149. Epoxied cooling tubes render the radiator a throw away if theres a leak. I've also heard of some cooling tubes on Chinese radiators being clooged by the epoxy. I also would not recommend you try using some of the Snake Oil at $50/gallon. A properly designed system doesn't need it.
If a guy can figure a way to stuff in a bigger engine, he can find a way to stuff in a bigger radiator. Sometime ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Or, remove the AC condenser currently blocking your radiator.
The space between the frame and the steering gear on the other side is limited. I have a front steer subframe on the car. There is no way to use a larger radiator
Could you fab a scoop(s) under the frt bumper to feed more air ?? Maybe try blocking the rear of the hood up to see if modifying the air flow would help ...? In the 60's , before I went to a straight axle and a 1-piece glass frt end on my ' 57 Chevy , that's what we did at the strip to cool the engine when running rounds ......
Move it up. Make it taller rather than wider. Offset it to the passenger side so it doesn't hit the steering box. You might need to cut something up.
It sounds really similar to what happened with mine. Great at idle and in town, 220+ on the highway. I tried all kinds of crap. Finally decided to go against the common advice and ditched the fan shroud to see what would happen (free and easy). Ran perfect going down the highway, and I’m running a cheap Chinese radiator. After that, I ditched the shroud and electric fan, and ran the largest mechanical fan I could fit. Haven’t had a problem since. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app