Question about cooling system on a 69 Cuda with a 360.
 

The car is having issues with heat climbing on hot days. Has 2 electric fans, high flow aluminum radiator, not sure if the water pump of high flow or not and a 180f thermostat. The engine is stroked and pushing about 520hp.

The autometer gauge goes up to 220f on the highway. Would a higher flow pump help? I keep getting told to pop the center of the thermostat out by all the hot rod club guys.

Leave the thermostat... Knocking out the center is not going to fix the issue....
Not sure what the set up is fully.... But make sure you have a 50/50 mix on the coolant side...
Make sure the thermostat is opening at the rite temp.
Make sure the pulley speed is ok.
Make sure you have a fully inclosed fan asm to cover the entire radiator.
Make sure the timing in the engine is correct and the engine is not lean.
If it still making to much heat... try 2 cans of "Water Wetter" and see if that helps.

Keep us posted...

On some OE fan shrouds there are flaps that allow air to pass around and through the shroud at speed because it is a airflow restriction.
Does it have a small performance pulley on the crank?
do you know the condition of the water pump or witch one you have, standard or a heavy duty pump ?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Red-Line-...&wl13=&veh=sem
this actually works, I used it in a tractor of mine and it dropped the temp 15 - 20 degrees.

t -

If you're hitting 220* on the highway and it normalizes at idle, something is seriously wrong. It's usually the opposite.

Hate to say this, but are the fan moving the air in the right direction?

And btw - water cools better than antifreeze and water wetter works with both water and antifreeze. However, it's effect can be short lived.

Archer

Oh I know fully it's working opposite then normal. When it's driving on the highway it's not cruising lol. My dad is driving it like he stole it.

The fan is 2 fans encased in a full aluminum shroud. 1 single fan would hit the pulleys.

The crank pulley is a powerbond PB1004SS.
As I said I have no idea what pump is on this. He's ordering a high flow edelbrock water pump. I will see if I can find a pic of the fans on my phone.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/moparfo...fae6aa40f2.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/moparfo...5f25b1a882.jpg



Ignore the mess. 20 days straight of working on this after hours started getting to me lol. Mid wiring in these photos.

First I would put a 160 degree thermostat in it, and take of that plate between the fans and the radiator with those louvers on it. It's blocking air flow.

t -

The radiator is pretty small for a 500+ HP motor, as are the fans. How many rows does the radiator have?
Still, the fact that it's hot at highway speed and cools at idle is troubling.

If you're sure the fans are working correctly, the next step would be replacing the water pump and/or checking for a blockage, but .. you can do a visual check first. With the engine cold, open the radiator cap and start the car. You should see water moving. Slowly increase throttle and the water flow should increase. If it does, it's OK, if not, the pump either isn't pumping enough or something is stopping the flow.

Archer

Define perfect?

Inltial?
Total mechanical at 2000 rpm ?
Total at cruise with vacuum advance?

I never set it. To be honest. But just yesterday he took it to the guy who built the motor and they set that and the carb after the engine broke in. I don't have the car near me to test it so I can only go by what I'm told. I will say the engine builder knows what he's doing from talking to him. He's build a lot of cars for alot of people.

I dont know how many cores the rad has. Came with the car. It's 3" thick. The fans are both working correctly. The pump has flow. We tested that when first starting it.

Now it's not a sudden temp increase either, it's very slow, if it's 22 outside the temp doesn't move passed 190. It's on the hot days it's slowly increases. Also I talked to my dad more about it, he mislead me. It's not so much that it's on the highway as it is everywhere except idle. In a day where the Temps are reaching 25+ (80f) the temp will slowly climb after an hourish of driving. In tow as well, he just said highway as thats where he always drives it.

Sorry if I'm everywhere with these posts, I'm just going by the info I'm given, which he changed on me.

t -

Get more info on the car when you can.
The radiator/fans may be the culprit, but really can't tell from here.

Archer

As the new engine breaks in and the friction lowers, you'll get a handle on the cooling system...