My restoration continues. The Bird a 65 Hardtop.
Chaned out the thermostat when I replaced the 2V with an original 4V manifold. Finally took her for a test run and brought her back running pretty hot.
Going to replace the water pump tomorrow. Radiator appears clean with to rust that I can see. Coolant is about a 50-50 mix.
My question is will the Cool Flex radiator hoses help reduce the engine temp even better?

Don't know the answer to that question. Some other ideas to consider.

Make sure you have right size radiator. Unfortunately, don't know what is right bet others do. But if you have a 2 core instead of a say a 3 core or whatever, what cooled a 2v 390 might not cool a 4V 390.

I am just about at the point of putting a radiator back in and mine is going for a rebuild first. Like yours nothing obviously wrong but corrosion is hard to see and if someone used Stop Leak somewhere along the way.... I figure the rebuild is cheap enough so I take that question out of the equation.

Have fun with the Tbird.

Howdy,

I have a 65 also and had similar problems. These things are supposed to have a 180 degree thermostat but when I put that in mine it did seem to run too hot. Didn't overheat, but just too hot. Changed it to a 160 and no more problem. Even in 90+ degree weather it hasn't overheated. I also drive it on nice days in the winter and with the 160 it warms up enough to give me some heat here in Wisconsin. Anyway, I'd try that before going to too much trouble.

Good Luck

Bob

I'll second that. I put a 165 thermostat in my 65 convertible just before I drove it to the VTCI convention in CA in 2002, from MN.
108 degrees in Las Vegas and city traffic. The 'bird didn't even threaten to over-heat. The needle on the temp guage never got past the t.
Randy Mattson

The other advantage to running a lower temperature thermostat is you are less likely to have any detonation or prefire from lower quality fuels.

Great input guys. I will change the thermostat to a 160 degree one. I like the results you guys got.

I'm trying to eliminate the source of my heating problem without my dash guages as they are not yet functional.

Is there a way to seperate the problem area from being radiator or water pump (or thermostat)? Is their a way to determine if it's one or the other (assuming both are not contributing? that is the problem?

when I brough her home from the drive I described above their was great pressure in the cooling system. It was trying to find ways of forcing fluid out of anyplace it could.

I have no problem replacing the water pump or having the radiator recored but would rather not do un-necessary work.

What do you guys suggest?

You mentioned that when it is hot it's trying to push out the coolant. You may want to forego replacing any more parts and have the cooling sysytem pressure tested by a local radiator shop, it's a simple test and shouldn't cost too much.

The cooling system can't have any leaks at all or you never will get it to run cool. The system must hold complete pressure. Often times it looks like a sealed system but a faulty radiator cap gasket or a pinhole that can't be seen. It can be subtle enough that your coolant consumption is almost not noticed. Good Luck!!

OK I think I won. Had the radiator pressure tested, no leaks and no blockage. Beautiful flow.

Changed out the water pump for a new unit. Tried to find a 160 degree thermostat, no luck at either of the local chains.

Refilled, and she runs cool. Yaaaaaah

Good News on the cooling system - should be set for many years now - keep the coolant green and look for swollen soft hoses on occasion and your good to go!!

Engine appears to be running cool enough but the guage does some funky stuff. From dead cold (Florida weather)just running the motor to keep her smooth and charged I can sit (in the space of maybe 3 minutes) and slowly watch the temp guage go from cold to H.

Can you suggust the cause?

Ken

Sounds like you have the fastest warming FE on the block!! You could install a temporary mechanical gauge to compare with. I would also take the cap off the tank during this warmup and see at what point the thermostat opens compared to the gauge. You could grab a rotary dial bi metallic meat thermometer out of the kitchen and slip in the tank and see how it compares to the gauge.

I wouldn't be too concerned with it as the important thing is that the gauge is repeatable and that it will show any deviations both high and low if you have a change in your system. Enjoy the drive!

My old gal runs hot also, but just in town. It seems long drives she runs way more cooler than in town.

Just changing to the coolest thermostat you can find could make a big difference. The Tbird has a pretty tight engine bay and not much open frontal area and with the big FE engines they tend to get a little warm in traffic.

is your fan shrod in place? my 66 had same problem. experienced radiator shop owner advised me T Birds always seemed to run warm. fan shrouds added to cure problem. I installed and it helped my Bird to cool down except when stuck in traffic on real hot days.

I just replaced the freeze plugs on my '61 cv. I flushed out the block before putting in the new plugs. The block was clogged up to the top of the freeze plugs. Had to scrape a lot of it first with my finger nails to loosen it up. I put the new plugs in and flushed it again. I am in the process of running just water to "boil" out the block. The engine is running much cooler even under extreme conditions. I am going to repeat the run and flush a few times to really clean out the system.

Mike

want to know if the same repair would help my 60 bird. it tends to run hot with a 180 t-stat. it is a 352 that has just been rebuilt, new water pump etc.
mwph@mwpower.net