quinchem

I rebuilt a 289, .040 high compression (not sure ratio) pistons, rv cam, edelbrock 600 carb...nothing major high performance. Got it running about 2 weekes ago and she runs hot. Haven't put a thermometer in it yet, but the guage creeps up and coolant pukes. I did a new 3 row radiator and shroud, 6 blade flex fan, new water pump and a 160themostat. It takes about 1/2hr of driving before I have to refill it with 3/4gallon coolant (I put a bottle under the hood for an overflow). I was careful in the rebuild to be sure all passages were clean and the headgaskets correct side up. I set the base timing to 10deg and it doesn't ping at all. It runs good...execept for the heat! Any ideas how to cool it down???
thanx

dodgestang

I would start with a 180 or a 192 t-stat
I would check for spring in lower hose
I would check for proper rotation on water pump
I would make sure I was running 50/50 mix and not straight coolant
I would still flush the whole system if it still was creeping up
I would adjust the carb to make sure I am not running too fat/lean which produces excess heat
I would replace the stock gauge with one with numbers so that I know the real temp

quinchem

I started with a 180thermostat and it did the same just quicker! I amrunning 50 50 mix There is not a spring in the lower hose...is there supposed to be? How could the rotation be wrong? Guages go in this week. Thanx for the advice

Gun Jam

Replace the lower hose with one that has a spring in it. The spring prevents the hose from collapsing on itself and restricting coolant flow.

It could be a bad radiator cap that is not holding 13lbs might only hold a pound or two.

It would be nice to see if it was really running too hot (240 to 300F) or if coolant is simply leaking out.

If you can find a raytec non-contact thermometer or similar and actually measure the temp of the radiator on the top and at the thermostat that would be awesome.

Gun

67mustang302

Make sure your ignition timing is correct too