overheating 427...a reprise

[Allan A]

Ernie,

Please do not blow up the car until Feb, I have to head to Pearl and I want to try out the latest changes to my old car.

Allan

[Excaliber]

Ha ha ha,,,,, as a matter of fact I was thinking about hitting the drag strip tonight. BUT, theres a BIG car show Sunday so I gotta cool it till after the show.

Car's waiting for ya! Come get some!

[Allan A]

Looking forward to it, I love the wheel and tire changes.

Sorry Steve. Just add something between the fan and rad and see how it works.

[ToyCollector]

Originally posted by Allan A


Steve,
I have a single puller and twin push, they come on at 90c and keep the motor there during traffic with high ambients.

DING DING DING...and Allan A has won our Grand Prize!!! I rest my case.

BTW, disclaimer, I also hit the switch BEFORE the stop and go is going to happen like Jamo...I just have less miles on mine.

[Turk]

Aluminum blocks may have something to do with all this. My car overheats more than the other two I owned. I need to find out what radiator Shelby and ERA are using. They seem about 3/4 to 1" thicker. Fluidyne (sp?) I think. My current engine is an iron block.
As far as I know Kirkham is not using Spal.

I have serious heating issues with mine. I don't have the two pusher fans Jamo has. I always thought they were more cosmetic than functional. I am re-evaluating my beliefs.
Maybe cheaper on the long run to try two of those before I try switching radiators..

I also miss the thermal switch that turns on the fans on and off automatically.

TURK

[Jamo]

Hey Cisco Kid...hold on a damn minute.

Allan's came that way...have him disconnect the two pushers and let's see. Pat doesn't run pushers and he's never complained about overheating.

I added my pushers about 6 months after I got my car...AFTER last summer's heat. Mine ran cool then and runs cool now. I added the pushers for looks against strong advice from many. I don't always use them...I usually rely on the puller alone.

Why? As Pat noted when we went to Redding...since I like to leave my fans running to expel heat from under the hood after a good run, "little hands" can reach in there and get chopped off. Also makes a mess of any birds that happen to get sucked in.

Personally, I think the air flow added by the pushers simply offsets the air flow they block.

Then again..who the phuk knows. It seems to have helped Steve's.

Turk...you have the mounts in there ready to go, and the wires are already brought forward for them.

Joe always told me arruminum would run cooler...that's why he liked the idea for Fresno. Maybe there's something to it.

[ToyCollector]

Originally posted by Jamo


Personally, I think the air flow added by the pushers simply offsets the air flow they block.

I mostly agree. I can tell you we will soon know through redneck science. Someone has gone to the effort to do a shroud that the Kirkhams could put their name on, that may eliminate all future discussion of this. Even looks like the welds came from Wasaw!

[PatBuckley]

Late to this....

As Jamo mentioned, my aluminum block runs cool with no thermostat - just a 5/8 restrictor, one puller fan, stock Kirkham shrouding - although I did make sure that all the air that goes in the nose has to go through the radiator.

My water temps on a 95 degree day stay at 80 C while going down the highway and will go up to 90C when I hit stop and go traffic.

I am using an electric water pump that I think makes a big difference - I would feel comfortable letting my car idle for extended periods with no overheating.

I use distilled water with 15% coolant .

[Jamo]

There must be a pollak or two down there that could sign it, no?

[Turk]

In Georgia?
Hell there are many....
You need names?

If I put pusher fans, where would I put my driving lights and horns?

[Jamo]

There's room for the lights...I've already got that planned.

You putting air horns up there? Groits has some little basturds...one piece...that have caught my eye and can be mounted off to the side on the inside, away from the air flow.

And there's still room for the deer whistles and the neon lite kit which I think will look super around the light pods and grill opening.

[Jamo]

Hey Allan, tell me the next time you've got a trip planned to Lompoc. I'm doing work at Kendall-Jackson in Santa Ynez for the next couple of months.

[REDSC400]

Steve:
Regarding you point about the radiator and air flow (shroud), my Cobra has the optional "splitter" or horizontal air foil that fits across the nose of the cobra. This splitter was a Shelby option for the 427 and was supposed to increase air flow direction (at speed) to the top of the radiator by compressing the air and pointing a second air stream at the upper part radiator. The benefit is that you use both the lower and the upper face of the radiator with the splitter. Without the splitter, the upper part of the radiator is obstructed with direct air flow by the body work of the upper part of the nose. I suspect the splitter overcame some of the air turbulance by creating a sort of "jet stream" of air, much like the air going over the wing of an airplane. Brock was apparently the father of this invention. He seemed to be rather good at aerodynamics.

I now have the splitter removed in favor of the twin pusher fans more for esthetic purposes than anything else.

[steve meltzer]

This has been very interesting and informative. I'm planning to pull the shroud and "glass" in as much as I can, and when we do the reinstall, I'll put some of that foam/sticky stuff along the interface between the rad and the shroud. I have often wondered about the obstruction to air flow from those semi-marginal fans. Well, I'm off to Home Depot!

[ENTDOC]

Guys ,get this worked out soon,I am about to drop in the SO and do not want to worry about cooling issues.As to humidity,it largley only affects mammals.Sweat does not evaporate in high humidity so the primary cooling mechanism is shut down.This is why 115 degrees is Las Vegas is tolerable.It should not affect engine cooling however. chuck

[Allan A]

Jamo,

Looks like soon, I will let you know. We can hit one of the great steak houses in the area.

Allan

[Lew Ledyard]

Would it be difficult to fit the thicker radiator that the SAI cars have into a KMP?

[Allan A]

Lew,

It should work fine, the top mounts may need some work. On another thread regarding color of a car I noticed that the car had another modification. It mounted the puller fan closer to the radiator. See attached.

[ENTDOC]

I would think twice before going to the expense and trouble of changing to the thicker radiator.Apparently,frontal surface area is much more important than thickness for cooling capacity.Since our unshrouded fans leave significant surface area uncovered,this seems to be the key for better cooling for us.I agree that a thicker radiator would help ,but seems drastic and still does not guarantee to be the cure. A shroud or larger CFM fan seems most prudent. It is also pretty obvious that some motors run cooler given the same environment,so maybe timing could tame some overheating issues also.A high volume water pump with no underdrive pullys so the coolant passes through the radiator faster and with good volume would help.Some think slowing the flow through the radiator helps and this is not true. chuck