What is normal water temperature for a 455 engine with A/C engaged?

Yep, and I honestly don't know what their test regimen was geared toward, whether it was meant to be test-to-failure or what have you. Kinda sounds like the 50 hours were meant to simulate long term driving before the punishment began. Would be nice to know.

Maybe it is like we always suspected, the really hot numbers from the magazine cars back in the day got some extra "love" before their testing began! Brands must always put their best foot forward toward the public eye, of course!

Devon

 

In the listed 1967 Buick Wildcat four door sedan, 50 hours of engine run time would be the driving equivalent of approximately 3,500 miles @2,500 rpm. Or 70 mph (or 1750 miles at 1,250 rpm / 35 mph).

I couldn't find the break in RPM used in the test materials Devon provided (very interesting read), but the test car had a 3.07 gear ratio, so the tire would have been a 8.45-15 which equals 28.5"

If my math is correct

My guess is it was at a higher RPM or a really high dyno load considered the damage they incurred.

 

Got GREAT news from the shop today.

With the installation of TA's high performance water pump and Evans coolant.
My Buick 455 is now running between 190*- 200* with A/C operating at stop lights and bumper to bumper traffic. YAAA

Some additional precautions will be forth coming:
(1) Re-checking timing and entire tuning setup.
(2) Operate the car on manifold & ported vacuum and determine which is better for the Buick.

TO ALL, I'm elated with the excellent results I received today. .

There are way too many on this forum to thank individually, so, I would like to THANK ALL for helping me solve this serious issue.

Originally, I had my Buick in the shop for a lot of upgrades, I never expected to find detonation and high-water temperatures,
to deal with.

As of September 2023, my car has been in the shop for 22 months. Not all this time was spent of work issues, a lot of time was spent on waiting for interior, buckets seats and hard to find "Good Parts".
Way too much junk from China being sold in the classic car market.

I will have other future questions and advise I will need from this forum, I'm sure.
Again, THANKS to ALL for your HELP. Regards VET (Navy)

 

Always happy to hear good news!

There may always be a little "tweaking" of this or that along the way. The most important thing is that the car does what you want, and does it dependently.

Devon

 

Thanks Devon. I will be checking to see what the #R45TS spark plugs look like. If I have to go to a colder plug, I'll go with the R44TS.

Not sure, but I'm thinking about inspecting around 500 miles? A guess on my part. VET

 

Also, water is the best coolant, the standard 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water WONT cool as well as say a 40/60 or 30/70 mix.
I run only 1 gallon of antifreeze in my GS, the rest is water.

 

AC45s too hot for 455....depending on your carb setup, timing and compression you could go as cold as 43s. I ran 42s on stock 70 Stage 1....allowed me to run 2-3 more degrees of timing.

 

As a past user of the Evans you might want to think twice. I used it for over a yr and when the next issue came up that required me to drain the cooling system I went back with regular coolant. Now not all of the issues I had were strictly due to the Evans it did contribute.


Have fought overheating issues for years with my modified 430. Tried everything in the book inc the Evans and the mac daddy 4 core copper / brass rad. Even ordered a custom made alumn unit from Dewitt's which did help but not cure the creeping issue. What totally fixed the problem and not by design was installing the TA aluminum Sleeper heads. I did it as more of a performance mod and got a much cooler running engine to boot. Another + is the paint does not burn off the exhaust ports.

 

I guess there is no fool proof way to combat heat temperature issues.
I'am having the just bought cooper/brass radiator pulled out because it's defective and installing a aluminum model that Larry on our forum has recommended to me. Have my fingers crossed for good luck.
Thank you for letting me know that Evans coolant may not be all it is advertised to be. VET

 

Also do not go over a 50/50 mix on antifreeze and water, actually less antifreeze to water is better as long as you don’t live in a climate that gets to 20 below while storing.

 

Thanks Mark, I live in Northern Virginia, about 12 miles South of Washington DC, it doesn't get 20* below.
I'am trying out the special Evans coolant to see how well that works. VET

 

If anyone needs it I have 5 gals of the stuff(Evans) I will not be using.

 

what issues were you having with Evans coolant?

 

What did you find about using Evans coolant was negitive?
I haven't heard anything negitive about using Evans coolant. In fact, the shop am
using is very high on Evans. VET