Thread: 318 running hot

Tweet

This thread is a bit old but still in 2012. I am excited to finally get my motor running after years of delays. It is a rebuilt 350 SBC two-bolt main '76 Corvette block with 882 heads shaved to 9:1 compression ratio and 0.030 rebore. I have a 15" flexfan on a Zip water pump setup and it overheats in about 15 minutes of idle at 1100 rpm with all Prestone in the Speedway Cobra radiator in a '29 Ford shell with a bottom cooler section for the trans. I have drilled one 3/16" bypass hole in the 160 degree thermostat, should I drill more bypass holes as well as add a shroud or add a restrictor washer or will just a shroud cool it? I like the idea of a restrictor washer but maybe holes in the thermostat plate can do the same thing? I would like to avoid a shroud if possible because it is really tight inside the '29 shell and I plan to run a stock Model A hood.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder