New gal from TX

snakewench · #1 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 10:16 AM

Hola Club Cobra!

Newbie to club, newbie to Cobras too. Santa was very good to herself this year...my '67 Cobra rolled off the delivery truck back in November, and I have been having the time of my life ever since! Saw my first Cobra at the tender age of ten and knew one day I would have one...yep, that time has finally arrived.

The car came from Colorado, so it's taken a couple of months of tinkering to get the carb jetting corrected for 250ft (Houston suburbs) vs 6500, and she's still a bit rich, but running better since swapping the original boat-anchor Edelbrock for a Holley 750. She runs pretty hot too, still trying to improve the airflow dynamics...I'll be doing alot of studying here for tweaking tips n tricks!

Lookin' forward to talkin' Cobra with you guys!

littlewave · #2 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 10:26 AM

Snakewrench, What does your coolant system consist of?

Tutosnake · #3 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 11:20 AM

Pictures?!

snakewench · #4 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 11:33 AM

Littlewave...that's snakeWENCH, not wrench. Understandable mistake, but I take considerable pride in my hard-fought WENCH status!

Thanks for your response. My car has the custom 2-row aluminum radiator supplied by Midstates back in '99 when the car was built. It runs a 16 inch thermostatically-controlled electric fan (automatic at 205 degrees) with manual override switch. I run the fan pretty much all of the time in this car since operating/travelling temp hovers around 200 and creeps up to 210-215 if idled very long. I've seen the gauge creep up to 225 at a stop light when ambient temp was only 75, but humidity was up there around 80%. This car came from Colorado, so heat and humidity were not such an issue as they are hear in hotbox Houston. I have put about 1100 miles on the car now, and fortunately the weather here has been pretty decent with ambient temps no greater than 75. Of course, that will soon be changing as Spring approaches here, with temps in the 90's with 75-90% humidity...

There's not much room for airflow in the bay when stuffed with a 460, so I wonder if there is anything that could be done to improve it...any ideas/input?

Thanks!

snakewench · #5 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tutosnake

Pictures?!

I'll go take some engine bay pics...I need all the help I can get with this heat issue!

Thanks!

MFE III · #6 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 11:46 AM

Do a search on here for Taurus Fan. Very strong two-speed fan with a shroud. Cured my cooling problems.
Welcome to CC.
Matt

littlewave · #7 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 11:55 AM

Oil cooler?

vector1 · #8 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 12:05 PM

oooh, a wench that can talk wrench

mln385 · #9 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 01:02 PM

Make sure the area around the outside of the radiator is sealed. If air is going around the radiator instead of thru it you are loosing some cooling. You may need to go with a different radiator.

snakewench · #10 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vector1

oooh, a wench that can talk wrench

Oh yeah, and this wench can wrench too!

My favorite wenchy quote from James Shirley's Hyde Park (1639):

"...'tis no shame for men of his high birth to love a wench; his honour may privilege more sins. Next to a woman, He loves a running COBRA!"

(loosely interpreted, of course...)

snakewench · #11 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mln385

Make sure the area around the outside of the radiator is sealed. If air is going around the radiator instead of thru it you are loosing some cooling. You may need to go with a different radiator.

Thanks for the input, mln385. I'll sure check that out.

Bernica · #12 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 04:27 PM

Welcome and congrats on your new car. You are among the most informed and helpful folks on Cobras, however surley they may be at times. Just have a thick skin and ask these guys anything. They have been a wealth of information for me over the years and a great bunch.

Racer_X · #13 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 04:34 PM

Welcome to the board, SnakeWench! There's a Houston Cobra Club on yahoo groups you ought to sign up on also. They usually meet once a month for a get together (just met yesterday) and do some fun events together. Usually have a lunch meeting in different spots around town to hopefully make it somewhat convenient.
The heat can be murder down here as you well know. might check the thermostat, make sure the water isn't flowing too fast thru the radiator (doesn't have a chance to cool off), try adding some water wetter for heat conductivity increase. A fellow Houston Cobra Club member James Yale has a shop in Tomball and specializes in the Backdraft Cobras, but they are all the same under the hood.

I'll second making sure the front area is sealed to force the cooler air thru the rad. What temp thermostat is in the engine? a single 16" fan might be too small for our climate.

TexasSnake · #14 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 04:56 PM

Sankewench,

Are the cooling fan pushers or pullers? (in front of or behind radiator?) In hot climates like Texas the only way to go with any big cubic inch motor is a good puller fan system that is correctly shrouded in front and behind the radiator. I have a 500HP FE big block my car and have never had it overheat even on the hottest day in the Houston. I'm running a 180 degree thermostat and a fully shrouded dual puller fan system.

Seagull81 · #15 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 05:13 PM

Welcome to the Madness. You might be interested in the Texas Cobra Club Meet in San Marcos the first weekend in April. There will be over 100 Cobras there. Hook up with the Houston group and they can tell you about it. here is the website.
Texas Cobra Meet

snakewench · #16 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bernica

Welcome and congrats on your new car. You are among the most informed and helpful folks on Cobras, however surley they may be at times. Just have a thick skin and ask these guys anything. They have been a wealth of information for me over the years and a great bunch.

Thanks, Bernica...I have no doubt that I will one day be able to snatch that proverbial pebble from CC's collective hand, and don't worry, we wenches are a thick-skinned lot for sure!

snakewench · #17 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racer_X

Welcome to the board, SnakeWench! There's a Houston Cobra Club on yahoo groups you ought to sign up on also. They usually meet once a month for a get together (just met yesterday) and do some fun events together. Usually have a lunch meeting in different spots around town to hopefully make it somewhat convenient.
The heat can be murder down here as you well know. might check the thermostat, make sure the water isn't flowing too fast thru the radiator (doesn't have a chance to cool off), try adding some water wetter for heat conductivity increase. A fellow Houston Cobra Club member James Yale has a shop in Tomball and specializes in the Backdraft Cobras, but they are all the same under the hood.

I'll second making sure the front area is sealed to force the cooler air thru the rad. What temp thermostat is in the engine? a single 16" fan might be too small for our climate.

Thanks, Racer_X! Great info! The car has a 180 degree thermostat with 16" electric puller fan, which was the largest single fan available from MS when the car was built. She runs aluminum heads w/10.5:1 compression, so I should get by on 93 pump gas, but just in case I have been adding a bottle of Lucas octane booster with each tank fill. Never heard detonation, but then again that's pretty tough with those sidepipes blaring away!

You mentioned the Houston Cobra Club yahoo group, but I can't find it...did a yahoo group search, but nothing close came up...do you have a link by any chance?

Thanks!

snakewench · #18 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlewave

Oil cooler?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mln385

Make sure the area around the outside of the radiator is sealed. If air is going around the radiator instead of thru it you are loosing some cooling. You may need to go with a different radiator.

I took some pics of the engine bay today. You can see the gallery on my profile page. If you guys see anything I should consider changing, please let me know.

Thanks!

snakewench · #19 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seagull81

Welcome to the Madness. You might be interested in the Texas Cobra Club Meet in San Marcos the first weekend in April. There will be over 100 Cobras there. Hook up with the Houston group and they can tell you about it. here is the website.
Texas Cobra Meet

Thanks, Seagull! Sounds great...I sure will look in to that! Whatta fabulous sight (and no doubt sound) that must be with 100 Cobras together!

jwoodard · #20 (**permalink**) 01-13-2013, 08:18 PM

Welcome to Club Cobra and the fun of owning a cool car. One thing you might check is to verify you have good grounds on your gauges. The first Cobra I built ran hot and several times I actually pulled off the road to let it cool off. One time I decided to open the hood and check things out when the gauge was reading really hot. I felt the radiator hoses and listened for any boiling noises and looked for any overflow, and nada. The hoses were hot but not what I expected them to be at the temp shown on the gauge.
That led me to think about the ground so I ran a temporary one direct from the gauge to a verified good ground and voila, no more over temp issues. Later I rewired the ground system for the dash to insure I had good grounds for all gauges.
Just something to check.