1936 cabriolet SC

Agreed with a thermostat is REQUIRED for several reasons.


Gary Parsons

Yes, Curt is correct, though on a nice spring or fall day I will run a few degrees under 180, so I like that via a 160 verses forcing it to 180 - and also like the longer warm up period. When I do for example the parade at ACD Festival, I like it taking longer to get to 180 as well.

Sidenote: Logic to what I just said would be that even better with no thermostat, but in actuality the thermostat is also a flow restrictor, so while a car without one my heat up more slowly, it can get you into trouble quicker on the hot end as there is a magic formula for amount of time water needs to stay in a radiator verses speed and .... (aka THERMOSTAT REALLY IS NEEDED)

Remember the difference between 160 & 180 thermostat is ONLY the temp that it opens., not the ultimate running temp of the engine. Those engines will run just fine at higher temps.

Is the dist. advancing the engine timing as it should? No advance, hot engine.
CORDiallyMike

Thermostat could be the issue - I would run a 160 verses the traditional 180. Also, I drill a little hole in the housing edge to prevent any air pockets. Also, if someone takes the thermostat out then you may get yourself into problems when driving under load and ... - it is a flow restrictor. Make sure the fan is on the right way. If you have a honneycomb radiator then .... Original heads are also suspect as are possible blown headgaskets. Timing is important. And, .... Also, do not add water to a hot engine

Hi, Paul: Having seen your car while it was at the trim shop, I can assume that the engine is well broken-in, which would eliminate the problem of overheating due to a new tight engine. You might want to check the timing to see if that is a contributing factor. As far as coolant, I found that if the system is filled too high, the coolant will overflow onto the ground, but that won't cause overheating. If you are able, have the radiator flow-checked, as well.

Might try the ignition switch. Tracking down where the power is failing to flow so the car starts every time is painful.

First road trip a Sucess! Drove hour and half to Road America Fall Vintage at speeds up to 60 mph. Overall a sucess....but. Car ran hot, ended up pulling over and adding gallon of water which lowered the temp. Coolant did exit the system through overflow? Could it be my timing that causing it Toruń hot? While my battery did charge nicely, I had problems with Startex. I had to start car once from plunger switch on Startex. I had taken Startex apart a Lea Ed everything up, that seemed to cause variability. Sometimes car starts from ignition switch, sometime not and I need to start from Startex. I have the Startex publication and I will read it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.