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What kind of engine temps are V-8/Luv owners dealing with? I got a 4 core radiator with an electric pusher fan that runs constant. My temps are at 190 on the Hwy, 195 thru town and 205 in stop and go traffic. I'm not sure that my gauge is very accurate but i think i can live with this. And does anyone know if that purple additive crap for the coolant actually works?
I'm pretty sure that this topic was covered before but i tried to use the search feature and i got all kinds of topics that didn't have anything to do with this.

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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.

Water Wetter (sp?) is supposed to be good stuff. Engine oil cooler not a bad Idea if you want one.

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75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

Well I dont know if you have a aluminum rad. or not, but I do and am runnin bout 190+ around town at the moment.

was up blue. my 350 runs at 165 on the street and 190 at freeway. with 2 pull fans on all the time with a 31x13 rad metal, 165 thermostat

I have a standard 4 core unit from a Ford Ranger. It's the same one i was using with the Buick V-6. The Buick seemed to run pretty warm but i was thinking that the 400 smallblock and the Buick V-6 are both siamese design engines. They're inherently prone to run at higher temps. I've been dialing in the motor since the build, There might be 1000 miles on the engine and with having distributor problems and carb setup issues, i've been dealing with either a hot running engine or a faulty mechanical water temp gauge. I finally got the distributor working correctly and i've made major progress getting the 600 c.f.m. carb tailored to the motor. With a smoother running engine, all of my gages are showing more stable readings. I'll most likely change out the temp gauge because it's over 13 years old and im not certian if SunPro gauges are that accurate. In the future, i plan to get a fiberglass, cowl induction hood and make it to help displace underhood temps.
But for now, i just want to be sure that i dont destroy the motor.

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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.

Geez Nelson, How did you fit a 31" radiator to the truck?

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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.

F.Y.I---there are fiberglass cowls for luvs on ebay right now.

easy with my hands!! jk well i kind of have a pic of it when i was puting the new intake and carb on it.

u can see verly under that dirty shirt is the radiator cap and the other end is near the lil tab where the hood prop used to be mounted.

its 31inches wide and 13inches tall and if iwanted i could fit a 31X19 with no problem

Got a Griffin 2-core aluminum here. If I leave the pusher fan on all the time, the temp will stay pegged at 180-185 except for on the hottest of days.

Of course, if I leave the fan on then I get a dead battery after a couple days, but that's another story...

I recently got a new exhaust system installed on the truck and it's made a noticable drop in engine temps. I have to think that the other system was too restrictive and it was trapping heat in the engine. With the motor breathing easier, the heat escapes better! I never considered that the exhausts could have such an effect. Im still going to swap out the temp gage with an Autometer unit though.

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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 am runing at about 190 without the fan on, on a 75 degree day. All I have is a 22'' by 19'' 2 core all aluminium radaitor.

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I try to keep er around 190 on the street. at the track about 200-210. heat in the combustion chamber makes HP. too much heats melts shtuff.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Ah the cool SoCal weather, it gets over 110 here, try 215-225 around town in the 115 days, will climb to 230 in sit and go on hot hot days, and thats with fan pulling through alum radiator in my II, elec water pump, 160 thermostat. I leave the line at the track at about 190-195, just depends on how hot it gets where you live I guess. Pretty normal around here tho, mine runs hotter I think due to the block filler and the heads have very small water jackets.. fyi

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LUV Truck Desserter!
76 Daily driver (SOLD)
73 LUV (rusting away at the moment)
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63 Nova
74 Camaro

I've read a few times around here that removing the rubber strip along the rear side of the hood helps a little with under hood temps and indirectly engine temps. With a V8 taking up all the space under there and radiating out heat, the hot air doesn't escape very well. All you have to do is remove the 4 or 5 screws holding the cowl down and pull out the rubber flap from under it. If it don't help, stick it back on. Might be worth a shot.

Thats not a bad idea but in my case, it's too risky. I was having headlight relay problems because water made its way down the firewall and would cook my low beam relay. It took tearing in to relay #3 to see that water fried the unit. I've corrected the problem and the lights have continued to work for about 2 months now. If i removed the rubber strip, i would most likely loose low beam with one good rainstorm. This has me thinking about a cowl induction hood again. Getting engine heat to exit thru the hood could help.

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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.

Yeah, I forgot about your rainy day headlight relay issues. If you have a bit of good weather coming you could try pulling the seal for a day and see if you gain anything though. Might tell you a little about what you'd get out of your money from a cowl hood. With Rita headed toward Texas I suppose dry weather won't be coming this week though, eh?

My armchair BS physics tells me that hot air to the intake would have a similar effect to running the motor leaner, which can make it run hotter too. You could get a double bonus for getting underhood temps lower. Cooler motor because the air temp is lower and rad airflow is better, plus cooler intake charge which could lower engine temps a tad more. Like I said though, that is BS physics talking, heavy on the Bull and not too light on the S%&t either.

That is a good idea. Even though mine stays relitivly cool I would think that everything would help. And it hardly ever rains were I am at right now. But when I move to Wyoming next week I think I might wanna keep that rubber strip on there. It gets a little cold and a little windy there.

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Right now the truck is with me in Savannah Ga. It was an amazingly wet month last July. I went thru 3 relays in a month. Im tempted to try a cheap hood scoop mounted backwards just to see if it makes any difference. I'm still set on getting a cowl induction hood and ditch the stock one. The stocker has it's share of problems so modding it for testing seems like smart way to go. Also, with having a big radiator, the hood hinge mounts were eliminated and hood pins were used. The core support was cut out and air can flow over the top of the radiator. I should try and close that area off so air only flows thru the radiator core. Eventually the radiator will fail and an aluminum unit will take its place.

_________________
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.