Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
You really need a restriction in the water flow to allow the water time to cool down in the radiator. If you don't want to run thermostat, the best thing is to knock the center out of an old thermostat and install that.
Joined: Sat Mar 04 2006, 01:49AM
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 154
TNT440_Cbody wrote ... I have read that running w/o a thermostat can sometimes increase your temps, too, since the water flowing through the rad. goes too quickly and doesn't cool off. *shrug* Any merit to that idea? I just run 180 degree thermostats in all my cars and have been fine.
True here in AZ some cars run cooler in the summer with a 195* thermo because it holds the coolant in the rad longer and lets it cool. I use 180*s in all my cars as well.
Put a thermo in it and your temps will be cooler. If you don't live in hot weather you may be able to run a 160*.
I have heard people mention you HAVE to have a thermostat before, with varying BS explanations why. Bob's is the first one that ever made since. The neck is leaking now after I took it out, the old one was defective and wouldn't open till about 210!!! I will knock out the center and try that when I reseal it.
Last year I didn't have any temp issues, it might creep a little here and there, but nothing to worry about, then the thermostat went nuts and it was immediatly overheating and then would cool down fast and bounce all over. So I took it out and now it runs on the hot side all the time. So actually Bob's scenario might be the ticket!
I picked up a new 160 today. It is still hard to understand how allowing the water to get hotter is more effiecent in cooling. For this theory to work it would mean that the thermostat was constantly opening and closing. Warm up, open, fill radiator and push cooler water into block. But somehow that gallon or so of water would have to either cool the block enough to drop back down enough to close the thermostat so the next radiator full of water could be closed, or not warm up above the thermostat temp in its trip through the block.
My Dakota is obvious when the thermostat opens when it is cool outside, because gauge moves to the half way point and then drops back down to about 3/8's. It will then stay there. If the thermostat was constantly opening and closing wouldn't I see the gauge constantly going back and forth from 3/8's to a 1/2?
The 32 is most likely the total timing at the higher rpms, after all the advances are kicked in. Initial would probably be around 10-12??
You might consider the MSD Adjustable Timing Controller now that you have the MSD ignition, right? It allows you to alter the timing while driving and without moving the distributor. I have one installed, real easy, cheap and it works!! Nice safe guard in case you get some bad gas, altitude or what not. It also will let you back the timing off when starting, for easier starts.
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Main problem may also be the reason few people run tunnel rams on the street. All of the heat soaks into the tunnel ram and boils the fuel out of the carbs....or vaporizes the fuel on it's way down to the ports. <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Sun Jun 25 2006, 04:35PM ]</span>
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
In drag racing, besides using a cool can around the fuel line, the cars are cooled down & sit in the pits between rounds. This gives the intake manifold time to cool. For restarts on a street driven tunnel ram, maybe 71F3 can hook you up with some 12 volt computer cooling fans to blow thru the ram
Seriously....insulate anything that sees heat, vent the underhood heat like Chrysler did on the Turbo cars (vents that let the heat "chimney" it's way out when sitting & not running), and slip thin stainless block-off plates between the heat riser passages on the heads and the intake.
I had to replace my fuel inlet line a coupe weeks ago. The one the shop fabbed up was laying right across the heat riser, and boiling the fuel in the line. I bought a prefabbed one for the Edelbrock and pulled it up quiet a bit. If you are running hard fuel lines, wouldn't rubber lines provide a little extra protection? I also had a local shop fab me new trans lines, cause the ones I did were pretty sad. They slid the the hard line down a piece of rubber trans line to protectect it where it was at its lowest points under the car. Wrapping your hard lines in rubber or another heat shield should also help.