I just bought a 1964 skylark, 455/400/3.08 10 bolt posi.
I drove it home from 5 hours away. Ran great except it runs warmer than I'd like. If I was going 70mph the temp gauge read 215-220, 60mph ran around 205-215. I got bogged down in traffic a couple times, except for stopping after climbing a long hill at 70 it never got over 215. That time it stayed at 220 before finally cooling down to 200. Just idling, it hangs around 190-200. These are all without running the A/C, except just idling today, done that for over an hour with the A/C wide open, it ran 190-200 as well. It never puked either.
It it has an aluminum radiator(3 or 4 core, pretty thick) dual electric fans, 195 tstat. The fans kick on at 190 and never cutoff, obviously due to the 195 tstat.
I'm wondering if the shroud is hurting airflow, other than the holes for the fans, it completely blocks the radiator, and it's only about 1" thick. Or, should I look into a high flow water pump? The engine isn't anything unruly, it makes 16" vacuum at 500rpm idle. I don't believe timing is a problem as I didn't hear any pinging nor felt it, plus it turns over super easy. I've got a 180 and 160 thermostat on the shelf, but neither is going to help anything after sometime driving.
Sorry for for being so long winded, just want to lay out the details as best I can. Thanks in advance.
I drove it home from 5 hours away. Ran great except it runs warmer than I'd like. If I was going 70mph the temp gauge read 215-220, 60mph ran around 205-215. I got bogged down in traffic a couple times, except for stopping after climbing a long hill at 70 it never got over 215. That time it stayed at 220 before finally cooling down to 200. Just idling, it hangs around 190-200. These are all without running the A/C, except just idling today, done that for over an hour with the A/C wide open, it ran 190-200 as well. It never puked either.
It it has an aluminum radiator(3 or 4 core, pretty thick) dual electric fans, 195 tstat. The fans kick on at 190 and never cutoff, obviously due to the 195 tstat.
I'm wondering if the shroud is hurting airflow, other than the holes for the fans, it completely blocks the radiator, and it's only about 1" thick. Or, should I look into a high flow water pump? The engine isn't anything unruly, it makes 16" vacuum at 500rpm idle. I don't believe timing is a problem as I didn't hear any pinging nor felt it, plus it turns over super easy. I've got a 180 and 160 thermostat on the shelf, but neither is going to help anything after sometime driving.
Sorry for for being so long winded, just want to lay out the details as best I can. Thanks in advance.