Quote Originally Posted by plumpurpleplym View Post
is there a perfect temp to run 350/carborated/hei/auto at? my motor seems to lose about 40/50 HP when warmed up.any ideas?
How are you coming up with your estimated loss of 40/50HP? Seat of the pants? Just asking, as that's a lot of power to be dropping if you're tuned right and everything is functioning right. Are you sure your HEI distributor is not breakingdown with heat?

Thermodynamically the hotter you run without detonation the better your efficiency and power. I would say a nominal 195F thermostat is right for most modern engines and your 350, and some OEM's run 205F to 210F to help get their CAFE numbers up.