Trying to keep cool

[magicv8]

So - I've got this new aluminum BB radiator in my 66 - and I'm finding that the temp is 170 (same as thermostat) unless I turm on the A-C - traveling through SD in 104F temps - in city traffic - but the car doesn't puke - just runs 205F in the city.
Change to a more expensive aluminum radiator and put the 5 month old aluminum radiator up for sale for $350 (I paid 495).

I notice that the temp is 170F idling with the A-C running on a 100F afternoon - unless I put the hood down. Must be the 7 blade flex fan can't eject the hot air with a hood blocking the exit.

Buy a 135 amp alternator so I can install a 16 inch electric fan. Buy two 60 amp Stinger fuse holders - make bracket for them, and get ready to mount the alternator - the front half of the alternator housing needs to be rotated CC 90degrees, and the pulley needs to be switched to get 3/16 more offset - but the pulley is on so tight that I can't move the nut with a breaker bar.

Okay, now I have to return the alternator and ask the vendor to pull the pulley nut off. But the vendor is closed until Monday.

Trying to get a 66 to stay cool with A-C in city traffic is a pita

 

[JL66REDCPE]

Dave - Interesting comments about the hood open vs closed. Do you still have the rain shields on the BB hood ?? I wonder how much of a differecnce they make with keeping the heat inside the engine compartment. What temp does it run with the hood closed.

 

[magicv8]

If anything I will remove the lower splash shields. I removed the rain shields once, and ended up with a rusty master cylinder and valve covers.

The alternator supplier will fix that setup, and I am posting the 60 amp fuse arrangement (that will hook to the 135 amp alternator )on the Details page of my homepages (below).

I expect to mount a 16 inch electric fan in the shroud after Funfext in Effingham. Since the aluminum radiators take care of the puking, all I need to do is cool the underhood temps by FORCING the air out.

 

[JL66REDCPE]

Dave

I wonder if one could mount small however powerful fans in the lower splash shields to pull the air out of the engine compartment and vent it to the pavement below ????

If the problem really is hot air inside the engine comparment, (which makes sense by the way), I wonder if the fan in the radiator is going to be powerful enough to force it out.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

What's the problem with running 205 degrees intermittantly? It won't hurt the engine.

 

[magicv8]

jl66redcpe - I am told that the big electric fans are 2-3 times as powerful as the mechanical fans. They also are thermostat controlled and use less HP than mechanical fans. Your idea about extracting the hot air is a good one, but it is simpler to go with a design that I can purchase and install - rather than invent and engineer. I am sure that the reason the GrandSports had big hood louvres is the heat extraction problem.

Mikey - Newer cars can run hotter - they have high temp thermostats (195-210) in order to get the catalytic converters working. They also have better seals to contain the thinner oil at that temp - and their starters, alternators, power steering seals, and cabin insulation were made to cope with the higher temps. I am frying starters, alternators, power steering seals, and leaking oil at the main seals when the heat and the A-C is on in the city.

With the aluminum radiator, the car doesn't puke, but I prefer to have the engine run at the thermostat temp at all times. It's a work in progress - and I think I can solve the problem.

 

[Hib Halverson]

(snip)
I prefer to have the engine run at the thermostat temp at all times. It's a work in progress - and I think I can solve the problem.

It'll never happen.
You'd need a radiator three times the area of what you have now and you'd need a lot more airflow.

For a BB, 205-deg. as your max. intermittant coolant temp indicates your existing cooling system is working very well.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Mikey - Newer cars can run hotter - they have high temp thermostats (195-210) in order to get the catalytic converters working. They also have better seals to contain the thinner oil at that temp - and their starters, alternators, power steering seals, and cabin insulation were made to cope with the higher temps. I am frying starters, alternators, power steering seals, and leaking oil at the main seals when the heat and the A-C is on in the city.

QUOTE]

Thanks for the lecture.

If you're really eating up all those accessories as you state, it ain't the little bit of extra heat from your engine! That's the way these cars ran, right off the lot and still do today. The engine coolant and external accessories get hotter AFTER you shut the engine off from heat soak back- much hotter than when the engine is running.

The hood louvers on a Grand Sport had nothing to do with engine cooling- simply aerodynamics at speed.