I am finally running some short drives with my fury. My second temp gauge is still reading low about 30F, but with no thermostat, I am still getting to 190 in cool weather idling with hood down. So, I talked to a friend with 427 in comet, and he raised rear of hood about an inch and it really helps. So, I looked at the mopar hood hinge, and guess what. The upper mount is on the SIDE of a hood flange, meaning I cannot just add a spacer. My question is, has anyone tried to use up the adjustment on the hinges to simply raise the rear of the hood a bit......there is some adjust but am thinking not much. thanks
Engine heat and radiator
- Thread starter 66furys
- Start date
Forgive me, but lemme ask another follow on here. I see that Summit has a retro copper radiator. There is a summit with three rows and a spectra with only two that is out. Any experience with the summit copper radiator?? In and Out sizes right, and dimensions are about right for my fury. Do not see mount flange for the shroud, but my black cloud precludes anything going right.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I seriously doubt raising the rear of the Hood is going to help a thing.
VERY seriously doubt.
VERY seriously doubt.
Two points on that are first my friend has about ten old cars, including some with ford 512?? big block, a 428 in a comet, a 427, and a lot more, and is my age with a lot of car stuff under his belt, telling me that it helped him a lot. And, in my case, after heating up my 383, it will run cool at about 170 until I put the hood down where it then climbs to my 190 or so. Not critical, but I am running water right now....will get worse with glycol. So, am just looking for improvements.
rkrochen
Senior Member
Not sure what the problem is 190 is a fine temp to be at. Does it get hotter than that. I would put in a thermostat and glycol. Running water is not a good idea also don’t know why you say it would be worse with glycol.
Also a thermostat helps control the flow of the coolant and is a design feature of the motor. Running without does no good.
Also a thermostat helps control the flow of the coolant and is a design feature of the motor. Running without does no good.
That "raised rear hood" situation was quite popular to deal with high-speed overheating on Mustangs and such. Might be that they had such stuffed engine compartments and marginal cooling systems to start with?
Cars are NOT universal, especially back then. What worked on one brand might not work on another brand, especially NOT in the same corporate parentage, by observation.
First thing, get a 180 degree thermostat in that motor with some coolant in it. At least, that keeps things from rusting!
Second thing is that, by observation, when those cars were "used cars", they NEVER had an overheat problem in the TX summers as long as the cooling systems were in good condition. Our associates in AZ might have needed something extra, but not in 95 degree F TX summers, with the a/c running.
Third thing is that if you have a 26" radiator, you need a "332" radiator, which is 3-core, from whomever. If you have a 22" radiator, if you do not have a fan shroud and clutch fan, head in that direction. Whatever you might find in Summit or similar will NOT be a direct-fit situation, which means you will need to fabricate something to hold it to the core support. More "black cloud"?
I used to put new Modine radiators in everything if I needed something like that. I could buy a new Modine for just a bit more than a radiator shop re-do, plus get OEM-level parts and OEM-level solder, which I knew would last at least 3yrs with good coolant maintenance. Since Modine is not around, Spectra seems to be the new "high quality brand" item (and costs like it too).
Check for a large radiator shop which does repairs for big trucks and such, plus sells new radiators to dealership and private body shops. You might find the best products and prices there. I understand and relate to the "prestige" of dealing with Summit or Jegs, or getting an aftermarket aluminum radiator, but you need something that will bolt right in rather than having to fabricate something to make that aftermarket item fit what you have, by observation.
I understand your wanting to give credibility to your friend and his Ford Iron, nothing wrong with that, but that's for "Ford Stuff", not Mopar-related stuff. In the car hobby, one of the toughest (and possibly most costliest) deals is learning "who to listen to", even within the Mopar ranks, by observation. This is part of the learning curve in dealing with vintage vehicles.
A key thing is that, especially back then, you don't fix a Mopar the same way you fix a Ford or GM vehicle with the same problem. Each OEM had their own unique engineering approaches and those need to be respected, generally. Sure, there can be some overlap, but other things just get "cross-threaded" if you try something different.
As to the coolant temps you quote, nothing the matter there, either way. When our '66 Newport 383 2bbl w/factory a/c was newer and growing older, it never got hot enough to turn on the "HOT" light (Plymouth's and Dodges got gauges), with the factory spec 180 degree F thermostat. The engine never smelled "too hot" or acted that way, either. On my '70 Monaco 383 4bbl with factory a/c, if the heat gauge got past 3/4 scale, something needed attention, as it usually ran at or below the center mark.
Is the flap on the bottom-side of the hood still there, which helps route incoming air through the radiator rather than over it?
Some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67
Cars are NOT universal, especially back then. What worked on one brand might not work on another brand, especially NOT in the same corporate parentage, by observation.
First thing, get a 180 degree thermostat in that motor with some coolant in it. At least, that keeps things from rusting!
Second thing is that, by observation, when those cars were "used cars", they NEVER had an overheat problem in the TX summers as long as the cooling systems were in good condition. Our associates in AZ might have needed something extra, but not in 95 degree F TX summers, with the a/c running.
Third thing is that if you have a 26" radiator, you need a "332" radiator, which is 3-core, from whomever. If you have a 22" radiator, if you do not have a fan shroud and clutch fan, head in that direction. Whatever you might find in Summit or similar will NOT be a direct-fit situation, which means you will need to fabricate something to hold it to the core support. More "black cloud"?
I used to put new Modine radiators in everything if I needed something like that. I could buy a new Modine for just a bit more than a radiator shop re-do, plus get OEM-level parts and OEM-level solder, which I knew would last at least 3yrs with good coolant maintenance. Since Modine is not around, Spectra seems to be the new "high quality brand" item (and costs like it too).
Check for a large radiator shop which does repairs for big trucks and such, plus sells new radiators to dealership and private body shops. You might find the best products and prices there. I understand and relate to the "prestige" of dealing with Summit or Jegs, or getting an aftermarket aluminum radiator, but you need something that will bolt right in rather than having to fabricate something to make that aftermarket item fit what you have, by observation.
I understand your wanting to give credibility to your friend and his Ford Iron, nothing wrong with that, but that's for "Ford Stuff", not Mopar-related stuff. In the car hobby, one of the toughest (and possibly most costliest) deals is learning "who to listen to", even within the Mopar ranks, by observation. This is part of the learning curve in dealing with vintage vehicles.
A key thing is that, especially back then, you don't fix a Mopar the same way you fix a Ford or GM vehicle with the same problem. Each OEM had their own unique engineering approaches and those need to be respected, generally. Sure, there can be some overlap, but other things just get "cross-threaded" if you try something different.
As to the coolant temps you quote, nothing the matter there, either way. When our '66 Newport 383 2bbl w/factory a/c was newer and growing older, it never got hot enough to turn on the "HOT" light (Plymouth's and Dodges got gauges), with the factory spec 180 degree F thermostat. The engine never smelled "too hot" or acted that way, either. On my '70 Monaco 383 4bbl with factory a/c, if the heat gauge got past 3/4 scale, something needed attention, as it usually ran at or below the center mark.
Is the flap on the bottom-side of the hood still there, which helps route incoming air through the radiator rather than over it?
Some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67
Last edited:
190 is pretty good.
If you want to get it down a little more, make sure all the rubber "splash shields" are in place, the radiator and cap is good etc. Sometimes a switch to a 160 t-stat will bring the temp down a few degrees.
The hood deal... That was an old racers trick to bring cooler air into the carb. IMHO, it's not going to do anything for you except look dumb. That 427 in the Comet is a tight fit and he probably has headers that will bring underhood temperatures up. IIRC, you have a basically stock 383 and you aren't going to create those underhood temps.
All great comments.....appreciate it. I also worked on russian tanks for a bit, and they had some heat problems.....mainly designed for the cold steppes. And they would pull the glycol and run water with rust inhibitor in summer. The glycol has seriously less specific heat than water.....a lot. I am a bit over on some of this, I know.....just like to keep the machine in a happy place, so that when the hammer comes, it likes it. Part of the reason I am fussing, is that this radiator is not original. I am guessing it is about the right overall size and three row, but has no mount flanges whatever, and the cooling system is still ejecting brown crap after several flushes. Nothing killer, but would like a more proper radiator, and I dont like aluminium.....just me.
Mudeblue
Well-Known Member
190!!!!! I wish I had your problem!!! I wish I could sent you about 30 degrees!
GregG48203
Active Member
In case you hadn't noticed, there is a rubber seal at the back of the hood. This is to prevent underhood fumes (gas/oil/exhaust) from being sucked into the car's HVAC system through the cowl vent.
volksworld
Active Member
been dealing with hi temps on my motorhome...Evaporust make a flush called thermocure...drained and flushed with water (pulled plugs out of block) then added it...drove it an hour a day for 3 days...drained, filled, and flushed at least 3 more times (again pulling block plugs to get it all to drain out and give whatever crap that was in there to get out and disconnecting hoses)...made an adapter with a garden hose to 3/4 pipe fitting into a pvc 3/4 pipe X 1 1/2 pvc slip fit...it slid into the radiator hose and could be hose clamped so got good flow and pressure...flushed block from top down, radiator from bottom up..did all this without thermostat, when finished thermostat went back in...everything perfectly clear...also used Water Wetter it basically makes water+ antifreeze as efficient as straight water....straight water cools better but boils at a lower temp than water+antifreeze
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Now that's a flush
volksworld
Active Member
the drive cycles and the number of rinses were what the instructions specified so its not like i was doing anything obsessive
SixtySixFury3
New Member
I know, my car runs hot 220ish almost always. I really need to take the timing back a few degrees, that should help.
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