check the accuracy of the factory units against a pair of quality accessory gauges such as SW, Autometer, etc. maybe you are worrying for nothing !!
fresh motors will run a bit warmer as the clearances and such are still pretty tight. also with the fan 3/4" off the radiator you dont need a shroud.
Anyone have an experience with one of these caps by Mr. Gasket? If they work good it would be a way to not have to re-plumb an original, factory setup. Also, I believe he's running a 8lb cap right now, as he has in the past. Stay with that or go up or down on the psi? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MRG-2476BK/ Thanks again for all the replies, he's about to be done working long hours so we'll have time to get his car sorted out!
If it were my car, I would buy/rent/borrow/steal an infrared hand held temp checker. I would put on a 13 pound cap, and a small coolant recovery tank. Go for a ride, when the temp goes up, pull over in a safe place and shoot the hand held around on the engine to verify the dash gauge. It may be just fine the way it is.
He drove it on a 60 mile trip yesterday, pulled into a parking lot and popped the hood. Using an infrared gun, the bottom hose was 176* and the top was about the same. The intake manifold read 205*. It didn't spit any fluid out the overflow. I'm thinking the new sending unit reads a bit different than the old one.
Thats not good, there should be 10degree differential between upper and lower radiator hose otherwise the radiator isn't giving any heat up. Maybe he got a bad reading.
i had a similar problem with the idiot guage in my 60 dodge. it had new radiator, hoses t-stat. the guage would read to the hot side in traffic. turns out my guage was just worn out. put in an analogue mechanical gauge under the dash and found out everthing was fine
i have a 66 bird with 428 . it ran hot all of the time. tried fan shroud new water pump. new stat. water wetter. and any snake oil fad i could find. luck would have it i ran a drill bit thru the top of it by accident. and had to buy a new one. by the way i had mine boiled and inspected also by a reputable shop. when new radiator showed up all of my overheating problems went away. on cool days 60-70 degrees it almost runs a little cool. you mentioned not much difference in temp top and bottom hose, so the radiator isnt doing much. you have a ton of money in a old family car, are you to cheap to pop for a 3-4 hundred dollar radiator. remember that unit is pushing 50 years old. its done its job get a new one
i rebuilt my 390 in 07 in my 62 gal.i run 100% distilled water and water pump lube,i dont have a shroud and it never gets above 190.try runmning water it cools better.just remember to drain it in the fall
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