Iskwezm

you could always try a pusher fan on the front of the radiator

urban_cowboy

A couple of things to check.

1. If you have a fan clutch, you need a clutch fan. If you do not have a fan clutch, you need a flex fan. What type of fan do you have? What diameter fan is it?

2. It sounds like vapor lock, but the big question is why is the car overheating while idling. What temp is it getting to? What thermostat are you running? What was the air temp?

3. Rich will not cause heat problems, but lean will.

4. Too much timing will cause heat problems. 8* at idle sounds more right than 14* given you are having cooling issues.

5. A carb spacer can help keep the carb cooler and more isolated from engine heat and help with vapor lock. This can also help with tuning, but the bigger issue is your overheating problem, no vapor lock, IMHO.

6. There is no reason why a flex or clutch fan will not cool you engine correctly if everything is right. IMO, there is no reason to go to the trouble of an electric fan (push or pull) if everything is working right. I increased the diameter of my fan to a big block style, which really helped my cooling issues by getting more air movement.

kalli

thanks urban

1. no clutch, and not a clutch type fan. but solid. no flex

2. thermostat no idea. took whatever was in tehre. air temp only 60 deg F

3. Rich will not cause heat problems, but lean will.
will richen up anyways now. see what gives

4. Too much timing will cause heat problems. 8* at idle sounds more right than 14* given you are having cooling issues.
good to know. i think i'm still a bit advanced. need to check with piston stop for timing make accuracy

5. i think i overheat and therefore get vapor lock. probably no issue anymore once i get heat sorted

6. cool.

---> Check my picture. I'm convinced I am a muppet who mounted the fan the wrong way round. not making use of those Shovels

fakesnakes

Hey man, your fan is mounted backwards!

It really is and your lower water issue could very well be normal air burping over time after the initial fill. Frankly, your symptoms are the classic ones of a undersized or poorly performing fan. Turn it around, top up your water, and drive it for a while with some prolonged idle periods. The only other thing you may want to check prior to worrying about bigger problems, is what was mentioned earlier - underdrive pulleys.

Good luck!

urban_cowboy

Yep looks backwards and looks like a clutch fan with no fan clutch. Both of those would cause problems . I would think about getting a real flex fan since you do not have a clutch and at least turn is around...

One way to tell if you have it on backwards is to hold a paper towel to the front of the radiator with the engine running. If it gets sucked on to the radiator, it is mounted correctly (pulling). If is gets pushed away, the fan is backwards.

kalli

Thanks mark and urban for confirming. I'll turn it around and get that 7blade flexfan from summit. seems like a good idea.

But I have to disagree with the fact that a wrong mounted fan would push the wrong direction (your paper idea) mine is mouted the wrong way round. imagine engine turning clockwise now. it would still pull from rad and push to engine. but not as efficient as I would not use the straight bits (the flat side now mounted towards engine).
this is the reason I hve it the wrong way. i believed the same theory. i imagined if it would push or pull. was happy with the fact it would push this way round and thought it had to be the correct way

So I'll go home, feeling like an awful idiot but nevertheless delighted that might already be the issue :-) and i might not have hurt the engine

mark: "underdrive pulleys" does that mean bigger pulley at crank and smaller at pump so it goes quicker ?

Kalli

urban_cowboy

Hey man, I mount stuff backwards all the time. Furniture kits are the worst. No worries!

As far as the backwards fan, whether the blades are pushing or pulling air into the radiator depends on the pitch of the fan blade compared to the rotation. Since your engine spins counterclockwise when looking at it from the front, the pitch of the blades are going to be pushing air from the engine compartment through the grill as it is mounted right now. Instead of pulling cool air through the radiator, you were pushing hot air out. That does not work well .

kalli

if my engine spins couterclockwise when looking at it from front I feel like an even worse pillock as then I'd have the completely wrong fan :-]

cprstreetmachines

Not positive, but chasing your tail certainly sucks. You can fix it the problem, and still be overheating.No milkshake in these type of blown HG's. Milkshake is usually caused when you push the top out of the HG. White smoke is only when it's burning A LOT of antifreeze. Water won't smoke. I bring it up because I had the exact same thing with mine. No milkshake, no smoke, no coolant lose, no overheating. These are only signs. I didn't know until a block check. Only reason I had a clue was when it first warmed up to open the t-stat, the temp would shoot to 230 for 2 seconds, and come back down. That was it until the next day. No other signs. Thought the T-stat was sticking at first. When I pulled off the head, I had lifted the head, and scorched the gasket, but was still intact enough to seal.(so-so)
I brought it up because an engine usually shuts off around 235-250 deg. That's HG territory.

urban_cowboy

Scratch that, I am all backwards too . The water pump and pulley should spin clockwise on a v-belt setup when viewed from the front. Sorry for the confusion. Disregard my previous post.