LUVTruck.com

What temp. do you guys average with a 350. We are not sure if we are running too hot or if it is normal.

Anything over 190 in any motor is cause for concern. Just my 2¢

depends on what you are running. The saying is that heat makes horsepower. the downfall is that is that too much heat is bad for a motor.

most computer controlled vehicles run 190-210 from the factory and HP is made by running those motors cooler to trick the computer into keeping the timing advanced. on non computer controlled vehicles, run it as hot as you can without meltdown and detonation.

for running around on the street you will probably want to keep pretty cool just to be on the safe side (just in case you get caught in heavy traffic). If you ever see your temp creep up to the hot zone, be sure to shut it off by 230 degrees at which point it will probably shoot up to 250. shut off a little earlier with alum heads

my car ran its best times with cardboard taped over the radiator and running 210 vs no cardboard and 160 degrees.

How hot has the motor got? What did you do for a cooling system with your mod? Did you install a new radiator? If so, how big is it? Is it a 4 core unit? Are you running a fan driven from the water pump or did you go with an electric fan? Are the fenderwell shrouds on the truck or did you remove them to make sure that enough air could escape from the engine compartment? What degree thermostat are you using? There's a lot of factors that can cause the overheating problem. If you give us a rundown of cooling system, we can get a better idea of what could be the reason. If it turns out that your cooling system is up to par, we can focus on the motor itself.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

I remember when my boss brought his car by and asked a similar question. "how hot is too hot?" I looked in on the dash of his car while it was idling in front of my apartment and it said 240. oh did I mention that it was a Ferrari Testarossa with an all aluminum opposed 12 motor? LOL. some ppl don't deserve cars like that.

about 200* should be good for an average 350. But youll whant to be able to keep it coller at idle and street dsriving, about 190*

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

If you haven't already ...check the timing,run a 160 thermostat, & go with an aluminum radiator. My hot probs weren't solved until I went aluminum.
The 4 core copper just wouldn't cool it like the aluminum. I wasted my time and money on copper in the beginning ten years ago. Smiles!
Tim
P.S. I run a 15" plastic flex-a-lite fan that works great.
I'm in project photos under Tim.....no last name given.