Alright. The results are in. Yesterday afternoon I took the truck for a drive. It stayed at 180° driving at lower speeds around town. Then I took it on the highway around 55mph. It climbed to 210°. then as I took it home going slower, it came back around 190°. I was little disappointed though, making progress. This morning I put the timing light on it to check. It was set at 33° adv at idle. Whoa! I set it at 12° and it gets about 33° as it advances. Now I get it warmed up and hit the highway. I go around town. Back to the highway. Drove up a very long and steep hill then drove it to the highway back to town then home. The temp stayed between 178° to 182° the whole time. I believe my cooling issue is behind me. However, as usual, it's three steps forward, one step back. Towards the end of my drive the engine suddenly had a miss and a stumble. I opened the hood when I got home and saw # 6 spark plug wire melted to the exhaust manifold.....Sigh.....I got this one!
My Vortec 350 crate motor runs up to 240* at any speed. The gauge stayed close to that all the way to El Mirage from San Antonio in May. Stopping to fill up, the engine cools to 180 in 5" which tells me the engine wasn't hot. Someone on here talked about installing a line from the intake to the water pump to relieve steam or something. Anyone have anything on this ? It's a steel Deuce highboy roadster with a crate Vortec 350, 7004R, 8" posi with 3.73, 30.5 rear tires, Vintage Air, and a 3-row aluminum radiator. It has been doing this for 38,000 miles @ 222.5 mpg. When I use the heater, the temp goes to 140. P.S. I just read Country Joe's post and now wonder if I could have been driving for 9 years with intake gaskets installed bassackwards ? GOD, forgive me !
Not a Vortec manifold, but you get the idea. Can be had as a kit: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Water-Bypass-Kit-1-Inch-AN6,370722.html
It will, but I’ve only noticed it a speed, not stop and go as much. My “thoughts” are unburnt fuel heating up in the exhaust and transferring that heat to the head, and then the coolant temps come up. That said, I have brown eyes…
Actually you seem like a pretty bright guy given the way you methodically worked on finding a solution and not giving up. "Dumb Mistakes" happen to all of us as much as we hate to admit it ....even to ourselves. Someone who never made a dumb mistake just never did anything. Glad you got it fixed.
Thank you for the kind words. Being on a tight car budget will make you think long and hard and take everyone's advice to consideration before you just start throwing money at a problem.
Is there a way for the hot air to get out the back of the inner fenderwells and if there were original mudflaps you'll need them to help guide the air. Also if there is no pannel between the top of the radiator and the inside of the hood you'll need to ad one,it stops the hot air from going back to the front of the radiator. Stuff most people don't remember about cooling air flow.
Old Super Stock trick to help cooling.......remove the cowl to hood seal and bump the hood hinges up a bit. When you close the hood, you'll have a gap for hot air to escape from the engine bay. Doesn't help temps in the ventilation system but you can always dress like Tarzan. Joe
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