hey guys i figured out the fan placement on my 68 but now i have another problem. i finally got my engine broken in today but there towards the end my temp was at about 230. :eek: since i went from a mostly stock 350 to a mild 383 would this require a radiator change? i installed a 160 thermostat also would this be a problem? give me some ideas.
thanks
zack68

ps i did have the engine at about 2grand for 20 minutes.

I would try a high flow 180 thermostat,

flush the cooling system too,and change the oil and filter.

Breaking a new cam is a heat builder,
did you jet up after you did the work on the engine?If not your running lean too! ;)

Is the metal recycler/junk yard/ still in buisness near the airport? I used to go there and buy tires/rims
they would weigh you in/out,and you paid by the pound! :D graemlins/beers.gif

{ I lived in Midland 1976/1977}

Was a little dry there for me,being from Upstate NY,where i can walk to a river.

What's your timing set at? are you using a new carb that may be lean? did you have the car in a garage with no ventlation? have you driven it and had the same problem? at hwy speed? at a stop light?

cavemanmoron,i haven't gone out that way to any junkyards so i don't know if it's still there.i'll try a 180 thermostat.
djd,carb is the old one i ran before.no mods to the carb.it was broken in outside so it was ventilated. i haven't run the engine on the street before so i haven't seen how it reacts on the street or highway.
what do yall think about my radiator question???
should my stock radiator handle the cooling?
zack68

Here's my .02, just for notes.
From what I've been able to sort out, my car started life as a plain jane 327 w/powerglide. Went to a 70's 350 w/ th350 and now it has a new 385 fastburn w/ cam and 430 hp w/ B&M street/strip th350...and thru all these changes, it somehow kept its original radiator. With the 350 motor I used to overheat regularly, but that was the fault of the motor, and not being tuned correctly.
Last year DJD and I had discussions about cooling and radiators and such, even up to the point where I put in this new motor and was still thinking about an aluminum radiator. However, I decided to stay with the old one, just to see.
Well, its working out just fine! My console gauge hasn't been up to the 1/2 way mark yet! I use the stock shroud, and direct drive fan, no clutch and no flex. Dennis was right, they made an excellent cooling system for that car, and properly maintained, holds up surprizingly well today. So far, so good! :cool:

cool steve, i'll try and tweek the timing and carb to see if the tuning might be off.
thanks
zack68

Zack - a few things to keep in mind. Higher temps when sitting still are signs of not enough initial timing or poor air flow through the radiator core. Watch your total timing so you don't end up pinging when you step on the gas but shoot for 10-12 degs initial if you can. Check your fan and shroud, the fan should be apx 1/2 in 1/2 out.

Go drive the car, knowing if it only gets hot when sitting is important to solving this. If it also gets hot when driving down the road, you have a whole different set of problems to pick from...

Make a check list of everything that is different with the engine swap. Something as simple as a trans cooler mounted in front of the core could cause the problem. Remember sitting still at 2000rpm for 20 minutes isn't something that will ever happen again unless you swap out the cam so you may never see 230 degs again...