"If the thermostat is taken out and a blanking sleeve is not used, then
the cylinders farthest away from the thermostat end of the engine will
run hotter, and those nearer the thermostat will tend to run cooler
because some of the water is taking a short cut directly from the water
pump to the thermostat housing area of the head and then out throught
the top hose." David Vizard "Tuning BL's A-Series Engine
"A thermostat should be used on all road engines." "In a few
competition situations the thermostat can be discarded, in which case it
must be replaced with the special blanking sleeve" "Running without a
thermostat and without the sleeve can actually result in a reduced water
flow rate, so beware!" Peter Burgess "How to Power Tune MGB 4-Cylinder
Engines"
"The point of the so-called "blanking sleeve" is not to block the flow
of water but, instead, divert it to create better distribution of
coolant around the whole engine." Daniel Stapleton "How to Power Tune
Midget & Sprite"
I will make my stand with the "You need a thermostat" camp.
Kelvin.
Larryhoy@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi Ray, I feel the same way you do. The only thing that makes me wonder
> somewhat is I have heard that many factory racing teams (including MG in
> their day) replaced the thermostat with a special flow restrictor,,,,, hmm.
>
> But I will need a little more hard evidence to convience me.
>
> Anyone out there run their car without a thermostat?
>
> Larry Hoy
> 1969 MGB
> =====================
> Rick writes
> > > Actually, the answer to your question is Yes and No. The thermostat
> does
> > > help to maintain cooling , not by closing when it gets too hot, but by a
> > > restriction to the water flow through the engine, thus allowing the
> transfer
> > > of heat by the radiator.
> > > If the water passes through the radiator too quickly, it retains too
> much
> > > heat and consequently the return coolant is at an elevated temp.
> entering the
> > > block, where it picks up more heat, etc, etc.
> > > If you absolutely, positively have to run without a thermostat, (for
> > > competition etc), replace the thermostat with a blanking sleeve or a
> gutted
> > > thermostat to retain the restriction in the flow path, to allow the
> radiator
> > > a chance to do it's job
> > >
> > > Rick
>
> Ray replies:
> >
> > I am convinced this is not correct.
> >
> > Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
> > Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
> > gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
> >
|