455 Running Hot

Wait a minute..now its 16* with vacuum when set at initial of 0*, and it sounds good.

 

I should add that I relocated the vac source from the front bottom of the carb to the rear of the intake manifold.

 

It runs great!!!!!!!! 190*

 

LOL
yeah constant vacuum works best in my experience though 1500 rpm is way too high

if the engine is up to proper operating temp and connected to constant vacuum source keep it at say 900i-1000ish rpm in park or neutral with it dropping down to 550-600 in drive and it will probably be ok.

remember that timing and carb settings go hand in hand so you are going to want to readjust idle mixture settings too.
after all of this is squared away then you can get to more advanced (no pun intended) timing methods like optimizing the ignition curve with different springs modifying the weights and vac advance. It really wakes up a cars potential. Getting the ignition curve more optimized brought my Electra down into the high 14s all the way from 17-18s stock.

 

Glad it cooled down! I was running no vac advance, with 16* initial and about 36* total at about 3500. Before I beat it too hard and threw a rod... it seemed to stay pretty cool even in light traffic. Just an aluminum no name radiator and a cheap eBay electric fan that came on the car when I got it with no shroud. Is the vac advance really needed to have a no creep idle?

Also, definitely play with the curve. Going to do the same with my new build. That can really make a difference!

 

having as much advance as possible at idle makes it run a lot cooler/smoother yeah.

Ideal would be something like constantly adjusting fuel injection computer computer controlled ignition but the closest we can get is a modified (limited) vacuum advance with lighter springs and a limiter bushing in the distributor. I will have to look it up to be sure but ideal is something more like 42-46* total advance at cruise rpm.

I haven't touched my timing in years but I believe I am around 12-14* initial with another 14-16 coming in around 3k rpms mechanical and 10-12ish more with vacuum advance. I do not remember the exact numbers because truthfully I am not that organized. Lighter skylarks can probably manage another 2* timing over my heavy Electra though. poop tier California 91 octane hampers things a bit too (though not as much as people think)

 

Your lower Rad hose is not getting sucked down by chance like it has no support spring in it ?

 

While this has solved your hot running issue, you are probably losing horsepower by setting your initial timing at 0 deg. If you can buy or find a way to limit the vacuum advance canister to about 10 deg. instead of 16 deg. you can then set your initial advance to 10 deg. That will give you about 20 degrees of idle timing but, more importantly it will give you more cruising timing for even cooler running and more economy. If you do this you will need to make sure that the mechanical advance in the distributor is limited to about 20 -22 deg. so that your total timing is in the 30 degree range at full throttle. At cruise, with the vacuum advance in, you'll have over 40 deg. of advance which should give you the best fuel mileage.

 

Ok. My car has always preferred a flex fan. I believe it is because the clutch fan never engages due to the two inch distance to the radiator. The cars running at 195* but the clutch isn't engaged.

 

The shroud is stock. At what water temp would you expect the clutch be tight?

 

I believe it starts to engage around 170-180* .....******air temp***** NOT coolant temperature. The air coming off the radiator will be at least 10* cooler than coolant temp. On my car maximum drag (indicating full fan engagement) does not happen until coolant temps are at least 195-200*. truthfully maybe even a little more like 205* The effect is noticeable mostly with sound (whooosh) and a drop in idle rpm.


flex fans are poop tier and have no business in a car unless they are the only option.

 

Flex Fan is back on. Has been the only solution for 20 years.

 

Just limited the vac advance cans to 8 * and another to 10*.

Are the bushing s to limit mechanical advance in the MSD kits the same ID as the stock distributor? They look very similar.

Mike

 

Ok. The flex fan has solved all the overheating issues and I haven't installed the new water pump. Now to try the new 10* vac can on the dist and check if it has the mechanical adv limit bushing....on the 1969 set at 0*.

The recently removed 1970 dist at 10* BTDC seemed slightly better than the 1969 dist at 10* initial timing out of the hole.

 

Not to beat this dead horse too much but I'm still running hot on the highway. Finally upgraded to the 2 row 1" tube radiator. Idle timing w/ vacuum is 25*. 42* all in but only 19* of that is from the distributor, the rest is from the vac advance. Got a 160* stat and electric fan. Don't think I have room for a clutch fan. I'm going to see if I can lower the vac advance and re-time it. Any other suggestions?