[slik]

Hey I have a 71 nova the engine is a 350 bored out to be around a 389, it has lots of performance mods. Anyway my problem is the car seems to be overheating and I am not sure what the problem is.

I took the radiator in and had it checked out and cleaned, replaced the water pump, it has a flexlite fan with a shroud, new thermostat. I am wondering if it is the gauge, it is an autometer pro-lite the temp sending unit seems to be a little hoaky so that might be the problem, it is mounted in the head between the headers I am not sure if thats the problem or not.

Also the thermostat that was in it when I got it the person had just cut it out so it was just a hole whether that helps or not. The gauge says after running with the no t-stat it starts getting up to 210-230 in about 15 minutes of driving and with the t-stat in it gets to about 210 in about 4 minutes of ideling so that seems to be really weird. I am not sure what to do now.

Sorry it is so long but any help would be very greatful.
Thanks.

[Siggy_Freud]

Sure your motor isn't stroked? You cannot bore a 350 out to 389. The cylinder walls arent thick enough. Id check the timing and fuel mixture and make sure its not running very lean. Also verify that there isnt a temp difference between the top and bottom hose. What temp thermostat are you running? Rent or borrow an infared heat gun and verify that your guage is accurate.

[slik]

Yea the engine is stroked I forgot to mention that, the thermostat is a 180 to a 195, cant really remember. With the heat sensor gun where is the best place to check the temp.

[gpeak]

388? lol

[Centerline]

On a SBC there should be a mounting flange for a temp sensor near the thermostat housing in the intake. I'd put a new sending unit in that location. There are different sending units depending on whether your system originally had an idiot light or gage so make sure you get one that is compatible with your particular gage. The temperature reading will probably not be accurate if you use the wrong one.

Centerline

[granprix76]

Slik,

Here is a thread i started a while back regarding the same kind of issue. Take a look and see if any of this seems to help you out and let me know...

http://hotrodders.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38906

P.S

Just to let you know I bled the air out of the system 3x before it finally all got out. I had the front of the car jacked up as to help push the air out of the block...

[dmc12mk3]

How old are your radiator hoses?

[slik]

What is the best way to bleed all of the air out of the system. The radiator hoses are pretty new they are not cracked or nothing like that. I think I will try a new sending unit or just move the sending unit to the manifold and see what that does.