Running Too Hot

[Bob maio]

I have a 65 Belvedere with a 440 bored 30 over. 22 inch aluminum radiator with 2 cores (1 inch each). I use a 6 bladed fan but no shroud. When the car is running under any speed the temp gauge is at the low normal range. At idle for a few minutes it starts to climb. In 10 minutes it is at the high normal range. originally I was using an underdrive crank pulley but switched to a stock 6 1/2 inch pulley with no change. I placed a sheet of paper on the outside of the radiator to check if the fan was drawing air at idle, and it is. I am not sure what to do. I am so paranoid about getting stuck in traffic and having it overheat that I am turning pre-maturely gray. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[gtx6970]

Best thing i did for mine was upgrade to a Stewart components thermostat.

 

[Don Frelier]

Sounds like a lack of airflow when not moving.
Put a shroud on it or turn on the heater place in neutral and rev the engine.
Make sure the fan blades are only about an 1" or so inside the shroud back edge when you install it.
Pictures?

 

[turbine68rt]

What is your initial timing set at?

 

[hunt2elk]

Stewart or Milodon full flow stat, shroud, and a FlowKooler water pump will help a lot.

 

[Bob maio]

What is your initial timing set at?

10 degrees

 

[turbine68rt]

10 degrees

Depending on how much mechanical advance your distributor is providing, it may help to go with about 16-20 initial and 34-36 total. You can also use a limiter plate to customize those figures.

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

Try a stock 7 blade fan.
Mine stays cool sitting still and with no shroud.

 

[Aron Gleason]

I would upgrade to a 26 inch 3 core radiator with shroud and a 18 inch 7 blade fan.

 

[Ranger16]

I'm with Don. I'd add a shroud. Worked well for me.

 

[steve340]

General rule of thumb is if the car gets hotter while idling you have an airflow problem across the core as suggested earlier.
An engine makes say 100 horsepower at idle and 250 horsepower at 3000 rpm. The heat load is substantially more from 250 HP at 3000 rpm on the cooling system. If the cooling system copes with this it is adequate for the job.
Address the fan/shroud issue and you should be OK.

 

[steve340]

There is a good article on Speedway Motors toolbox articles titled "Does a fan shroud make a difference" that it would pay you to look at.
I know there are a few electric fan haters out there but I always use them as they run full tilt at idle and you can free up around 14 HP. But they do need to be installed correctly.

 

[EARLY B]

Fan shroud with fan blade at proper depth!