Hi all,
I've run a 160 degree thermostat in my '67B in Southern California for lo these
many years. The car runs consistently at 170 degrees. The only benefit to this
over a 180 degree thermostat is that I have the extra time it takes the car to
heat up those extra ten degrees before the car overheats when stuck in traffic.
Even though the thermostat is open all time, it still restricts the coolant flow
enough to prevent the problems associated with having no thermostat.
The down side to this is that, in cold weather, the car never heats up enough to
run well. If the car doesn't get up to 170, it dies at idle. When I get
someplace with better weather and traffic, I plan to put a 180 degree thermostat
in. The optimum would be a 170 degree thermostat, but these aren't available.
In one of my attempts to solve the Southern California traffic overheating
problem, I had a three row core put in a B radiator. But I stupidly left it in
the car that went to Norway so I have no idea if this would have helped or not.
The car also had a 160 degree thermostat. The poor guy who bought it is still
probably trying to figure out why the car won't warm up. :-}
So, I'm still driving with a 160 degree thermostat and I just stop and do my
water jug dance over the radiator when the car gets too hot in traffic. It
probably looks a lot like a one-person Chinese Fire Drill.
Just my exciting experiences in B driving. :-}
Denise Thorpe
Max Heim wrote:
>
> To my way of thinking, a 160 thermostat makes no sense at all. The car
> isn't going to run that cold under any normal conditions, so it'll be
> open all the time anyway. Might as well not have one. If it did run that
> cold by some fluke, it would actually contribute to inefficient
> combustion (too low an operating temperature). So you were right with the
> 180.
>
> For reference, my 66 B runs dead on 190 (according to the gauge, FWIW),
> unless idling motionless on a hot day (200-210+) or driving home from
> Giants night games (150-170, kinda makes the heater useless).
>
> Glad you got out of that "sticky wicket" OK. Watch out for the open carb
> throats as well...
>
> Michael Graziano had this to say:
>
> >Hey all. Just a quick question, and a quick story.....
> >
> >1. WHat's the difference between a 160 degree and a 180 degree thermostat
> >besides 20 degrees? i.e. which should be used when? And when I went to
> >change mine, I found that the DPO didn't have one installed. Is this
> >indicative of overheating problems?
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