69Rat

I've had a heat issue with my '69 BB since I bought it a couple months ago. It used to run 205 on a good day, and 215 in heavy traffic. I tried cleaning the coolant system, tried different thermostat ranges.... I even added a permacool 2950 electric fan... NOTHING worked!! :banghead:

Well, I was ording some parts from Summit, and saw their hi-flow 185 thermostat.. I got it.. and Damn ... it worked!!! No matter how I drive it.. it goes to 185 and stays there! :hurray:
I'd HIGHLY recommend this thermostat to anyone having some heat issues!!

As a bonus... running cooler has even cured my pinging problems, allowing me to run a few more deg of advance... zoom zoom... more power!! :thumbs:

Daniels

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind on my 68 BB prior to the first start up!

Dan :thumbs:

69Rat

Hi Dan... Yeah I was amazed at the difference! It's a nice all copper unit with a huge flow neck. It was only $8-9... I was able to bump my timing back up 5 deg.. which woke the motor up just right! :thumbs:

LemansBlue68

What temperature did your old thermostat rating have? How old was it? Could it have been that it needed changing anyway? Just curious. 185 does not seem like a low temp thermostat rating. I've seen'em down to 165.

69Rat

When I got the vette, it had a 185 thermo.... but it ran 205-215 all the time. So I bought 3 new ones from Auto Zone...
- first a 195 - thinking that the water was flowing too fast for the rad to cool.
- second a 165 - thinking it wasn't flowing enough.
- then another 185 - thinking that maybe the original thermo was just bad.

None of that worked..
- I flushed the cooling system..nope, no change.
- I changed to an electric fan.. nope..still no good.

Then I bought the hi-flow all copper unit from Summit.. Shaaazaaammm!! It works GREAT! This thing has a MUCH larger flow neck then a stock unit... I've watched the temp guage and as it creeps over 185... poof.. it's right back to 183/4 range... high speed, heavy traffic.. idling in the driveway... no matter what.. it's always 185!
:hurray: :hurray:

Wish I would have thought of it sooner!! :lolg:

69Rat

just a tidbit... I've had several big blocks, and I've found that they don't like to run at 165 deg.... they seem to like a bit more heat in the cylinders .. my big pontiac was the same way. :cheers:

71stockray

In the Summit website I found a Milodon unit Summit # MIL-16400, but it is a 160 degree High Flow stat. Is this it? Could certainly use this on my AC/ equipped 71. On a related subject, using a thermal gun, I found my Temp gauge is off by 30 degrees. Suggestions? Replace sender or gauge? :chevy

mayberg

Yes - please post the Summit part number.

redvetracr

Rat,
Is that a "Robert Shaw" thermostat ?? ...redvetracr