Technical SBC 350 - How hot is too hot?

yeah, you never know!

It's a 325, btw. I did the math. Our wives think alike.

 

While I was wandering thru a "spare parts yard'' in Rapid City SD, I tripped over what I recognized as a shroud from a 58-60 Chevy. Got 3 of 'em for less than $10.00. Adaptable to most anything. Used them all.

 

Oh wow, I looked at the universal ones and I don't think it will be easy to make them work. What cars did you use your three on?

 

I hate to beat a dead horse and appreciate all the advice.

I know now is the time to move the temp sensor to the intake if I am going to do it. I'm leaning towards leaving it alone. I had a feel for what the motor was doing before I changed the coolant and was comfortable with it then. I have a short window of opportunity to work on the car this coming weekend but on the other hand it would be a pain to drain the coolant again to move the temp sensor later.

 

This one doesn't run hot, but look at all the coolers in front of the radiator. Even a condenser for the A/C that sees 275+ on hot days.

Hope you're getting it sorted out, even with this thread getting away from us.

 

Mr 48 Chevy is correct. If it holds the antifreeze drive it. The only thing that will hurt that 350 is a dry water jacket.

 

you could always get a temp gauge and hook that up to the intake. That's what I did not I have both head and intake readings. LOL

 

My last 350 (bored to 377), ran it's best at 190-210. I used to panic, until i got caught in traffic and she never over heated.

 

X-3 for Mr 48. The worst problem we have is that the Temp.gauge is in plain sight.

 

Since this thread is kind of derailed and most of the relevant information has been given I'll add this;
The problem with water is, unlike most liquids, it expands when it transitions from a liquid to a solid and that's why block, heads and radiators break when the water freezes. A solution of ethylene glycol and water that turns to a solid at -20 degrees F doesn't expand as the ethylene glycol shrinks enough to cover the expansion of the water. Before antifreeze, people used to use alcohol or drain the water out of the engine after each trip and heat water on a stove before pouring it back in when they wanted to go someplace. They kept the radiator mostly covered to keep it from freezing. Adding hot water also made the engine easier to start. My neighbor said he drained the oil in his car and tractor and warmed that up too. It made them much easier to crank.

 

It's so cool to hear about this history on here!

 

Yea F-it. I will leave the temp probe where it is and concentrate on the other stuff. I already have a feel for it before I changed the coolant and will try to get it back to how it was before.

 

I'm with another poster here that asked if you had verified the actual engine temp by any other
means than the SW gauge. Do you have access to another mechanical temp gauge or a hand-
held IR thermometer to verify the actual temp?

 

Thanks, no access to other tools. I don't know anyone with a hand held IR thermometer. I supposed I could buy one but prefer not to.

 

Spare no expense;
http://www.harborfreight.com/infrared-thermometer-93984.html

 

They work good. I have a different version from there.

 

If it ain't steamin, it an't over heatin !

 

Haha. It ain't steaming for sure. Would operating for a long time closer to the overheating point (but never overheating) make a difference in engine wear? I imagine it would.

 

yeah, the warmer it is, the less wear there is. Until you get it way too hot, then it has problems.

 

Water goes from solid (ice) to liquid to gas (steam) as temp rises. If temp rises above the boiling point little gas bubbles appear. Where ever they are against the inside of the block, no water is touching that metal and no cooling is taking place at that spot. If the bubble moves water may cross that hot spot, and throwing water on hot metal can cause cracking and pitting.

Water boils at 212 at sea level. It will boil at a less than 212 in mile high Denver Colorado. My grandma did a lot of canning and used a pressure cooker because living in the mountains she couldn't get the water to the required sterilization temp before it boiled off. So more pressure equals higher boiling point. A higher pressure cap raises the temp the water can reach before those little bubbles appear.

Certain mixes of anti-freeze/coolant (emphasis on COOLANT) have a higher boiling point.

180 degrees is the number you hear thrown around drag strips but drag strips usually don't allow anti-freeze coolant because it's slippery dangerous and a cleanup problem. 180 is well below the boiling point at sea level but allowances have to be made because not all parts of the engine are at the same temp. Just like a river has places where the water doesn't flow as well or swirls backward near the shore you have that in an engine.

I think that pure propoylene gylcol has a very high boiling point but it's thick and I'm not sure how the standard water pump would move it.

I'd like to hear more input if anyone has experience with it.

 

Paralysis by analysis.

In your profile you mention you're a graduate from MIT. And an engineer.
Much advice has been given, try some of it. Peace out.

 

Yes Sir! Already have a plan in place and about to work on that in 30 min.

180 degree stat going in with a 1/8" drilled hole. Coolant mix will be changed to 25/75 (water/antifreeze).

 

MIT...hmmmm....I worked my way through a BS in ME in Tucson, taking apart wrecked cars at a junkyard, then doing the dirty work at a transmission shop. I learned as much at work, as I did in school.

 

You want 25 antifreeze / 75 water.
Hope that was a typo

 

Does your ride ever see the road?

 

Too late. aRRRRRG. just kidding. yes a typo. It should read just as you wrote it. Thanks for the catch.

 

Yup. Not often enough though. I took this photo last Saturday.

 

Here's a stupid question. I drained the radiator fully and just to make sure I removed the lower radiator hose too.

Does anyone have a guess how much (in percent) coolant would be left in the block given I have a 53' Chevy stock radiator ? I don't want to mess with freeze plugs today and will try to get the 25/75 mix based on what's left and what drained.

I could approximate what is drained if anyone knows from experience how much is left in the block.

 

take the threaded drain plugs out of the block. It's somewhere around half full still.

 

Just install the lower radiator hose and fill the radiator up with distilled water....close enough.