1972vettman

I know that shark air flow and cooling problems seem to be notoroious in the
C-3's and i guess i'm no exception. I currently have the stock front spoiler on the car, have the fan shroud in place with a flex fan, using a a 165 degree thermostat, and i have a brand new 4 core radiator but still i'm running between 210 and 230. Being in Florida i know is no help, but there has to be a way to get the car to run cooler!
I've looked at the Indy style spoiler and just don't like how it looks, and i haven't been able to find an after market spoiler that will help with air flow. I am considering putting an electric fan on the radiator to help draw air in but concerned with getting enough air through the radiator! I know there has to be a better way so i'm turning to the masses for help :crazy: :confused:

mrvette

I have a muchly modded '72 355 ci here in Jax/north fla....

and IMO, the later F body radiators with say C4 electric fan is fine....it's the setup I moved here with in '97, BUT^....and here is the rub....with the stock L48 engine and L98 intake/DPFI....and the aluminum rad/fan mentioned above...it ran HOT on the freeways, but cooled down around town...strange but true....

so I finally dropped off the license tag and mounting plate off the car's center, thereby increasing the freeway cooling by ~30% or so....not bad, that one change, just opening up the tag area completely to the stock center grill ...dropped that engine some 40f on freeway runs....
keep in mind this was a 2 years old aftermarket replacement '89 V8 Camaro radiator with '87 vette electric fan in stock shroud for '72....
so now that overheating was greatly improved....on a 100f day it would maybe reach 20 over the 'stat setting of 180 or so....

now later on that year I added an engine with roughly 150 more hp totalling around 400 hp or so...and an O/DRIVE 700r4 auto....

what further dropped the temps to just fine, stat rating.....

THEN as the years went by, the aluminum core radiator developed a pesky thin core evaporative leak...maybe more than one...the water evaporated fast as it leaked, leaving nearly no trace....I can assure you this was about incidious/sneaky a failure as I ever seen in a car, fought that turkey for over a year....as in 'where oh where is my little WATER gone??'....

well after that the electric fan took a crap also.....so another fan motor and all is fine for about 1.5 years now....

so the steps are.....airflow, airflow, water level, water level, and once again airflow.....

I personally find all the posts about air dams, and later air scoop incuctions into the radiator areas to be a bunch of BS,.....sorry but by MY experiences, I have to say....those air 'dams' and scoops even from factory, are a bunch of 'HOOIE".....sorry to step on toes, just stating my observations....

GENE

OHSIXX

You need a high flow water pump. Mine went from 210 to 180 by this alone. :)
http://www.tuffstuffperformance.com/


[Modified by OHSIXX, 8:47 PM 5/14/2004]

stingray72

Get rid of the flex fan, and use a stock type clutch fan.
Also make sure the radiator and air dam seals are all installed.

Solid LT1

I have to agree, check with Dr Rebuild for the best foam inserts for your radiator support. I also use a Edelbrock Victor water pump, my car will run 180degrees all day long on a 90 degree or hotter day. You should also look at initial ignition timing, more advance will make the motor run cooler so set initial at 10-14 degrees before TDC and check for pinging in mid range (have medium strength distributor advance springs in your distributor.) Lean idle mixture can also cause overheating so make sure your at 14:1 or richer on AFR. I run a stock 5 blade fan with a clutch on my LT-1, it works well!

Schmucker

Yeah, getting rid of the front plate is a good idea. It's required to have in WI. I was thinking about putting a light spring load on it and hinges so as the vehicle went faster the plate was pushed down, but then when stopped (by nice Mr. Police Officer) the plate would be vertical again. Luckily I don't have any cooling issues, yet. The 406 will probably change that.

Larry B.

Make sure that you really have a over heating problem. Replacement temp senders can read high and will have you chasing a non existant problem for a long time.

Gordonm

My car runs very cool even on the hottest days. The rad is fairly new but I use the stock clutch fan and stock water pump. Make sure all the seals are intact and sealing.

Eddie 70

For radiator seals, I went to Home Depot and bought some of the foam rubber for water pipes. I wrapped the edges of the radiator support with this and dropped the radiator in. There is no air leakage around the radiator on mine. Nice and easy to do. :thumbs:

flynhi

In Florida, you probably don't need antifreeze. Consider a 90% distilled water/10% antifreeze (just for the anticorrosives) mix. Water is a much better heat transfer agent than antifreeze.

Try some water Wetter to improve surface adhesion inside the heads.

Flex fans don't cool nearly as well as a properly functioning OE fan with quality clutch.

If you have a small block with small radiator, consider changing to an alum BB radiator
[Modified by flynhi, 11:18 AM 5/15/2004]


[Modified by flynhi, 11:20 AM 5/15/2004]

page62

It's been said before, but I'll say it again. Scrap the flex fan and put a factory-type fan with heavy-duty clutch. For every flex fan success story, there are two folks who'll tell you it didn't work...