4th vs 5th gear over heat (with bumper block and belly pan)

[wildfire8]

Here is a picture of the front of my car.



It has been like that for most of the time I have had a block. I do have a half piece for the grill but I rarely use it.

It has only been happening when I have had to drive up the canyon in the snow, and stay in 4th for longer periods of time at slower speeds. I noticed that when in 4th and at 60mph that the temps where not going up. It just needs a good force of air going threw the radiator. Slower speeds don't push enough air threw.

I do need to check my coolant just to make sure I am full and at a safe level.

[NeilBlanchard]

You might want to try a different balance: bigger opening below the bumper, and block off at least the upper part of the upper grill? Here's a drawing from the Hucho book on this:



Also, is there an opening under the chin where the air can "leak" out before it passes through the radiator?

[wildfire8]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

You might want to try a different balance: bigger opening below the bumper, and block off at least the upper part of the upper grill? Here's a drawing from the Hucho book on this:



Also, is there an opening under the chin where the air can "leak" out before it passes through the radiator?

No there is no opening under the chin. The belly pan is covering that up. I also have some coroplast at the bottom of the bumper angled up so the air that hits it goes in to the radiator instead of just hitting the frame.

[moonmonkey]

for the summer you can use 100% water and water wetter, i used it on a f-150 where i had a bad overheating problem when pulling an over sized travel trailer, if i ran the heater at full fan speed it would stay just below boil over, that was with straight water, with water antifreeze mix it boiled over, with water and water wetter it dropped my temps an extr 6 degrees f allowing me to pull without running the heater,,, not fun in the florida summer. just remember to switch back to antifreeze water mix for winter freezes.

[Chief]

I had to cut a 2" hole with a hole saw to stay at correct temp. 1" might have been OK but didnt have one.

does anyone have good experience with a throttle body spacer to improve FE?

[TheEnemy]

Originally Posted by aerohead

CO,that's a good question.
What I've observed,is that if I do not remove some of the heat flux from the cooling system on the ascent,and then pull into a filling station and park;once the engine is turned off ,the coolant will boil out into the over-flow receiver,with some spilling to the ground.Bad!!!!!!!!!! Ethlyene glycol Bad!!!!!!!! It makes me feel like a *%&$#@)(+_<>?@#!
This is at 8600-feet at Cloudcroft,NM where baro pressure is reduced.If I run the heater fan,the problem goes away.
This used to happen to me close to sea-level in my El Camino with the 396 c.i. big-block,say,waiting in line at a drive-in theater in Van Nuys,Calif.This is probably where I used the trick for the 1st time.I'd blame my girlfriend.

I know that road, its pretty hard on the cooling system. Used the heater many times during the summer to keep the engine from getting too hot. But I usually only need to just keep the rpm up to move more water.

One thing you might consider is seeing if you can find a high flow water pump, they are supposed to help even when the engine rpm is lower.