High underhood temps

A cowl induction hood would suck the air through the radiator over the motor and out the back @ the windshield. Probably the most efficient way that I've heard of cooling the motor and radiator at the same time. Of course your looking @ $500 to buy and ship the hood, then add the fitting and painting of it.

Scott Williams '66 HCS

I considered that except that I believe that when moving a high pressure area is created by the windshield pushing air into the engine compartment, not out of it. Cowl induction brings in cool fresh air.

-M

Get the headers ceramic coated. Jet hot is one brand. Is the electric fan your only fan? How many amps does it pull? Are the high temps in stop and go traffic or out on the interstate?

If it is hot on the hiway you should consider a high flow water pump like an Edelbrock. Replacing the pump made my Sunbeam Tiger go from running 230 on the freeway to 195. Everything else in my system was new and up to snuff and it still ran hot. Change the pump and BINGO, cool cat.

Do you have Gano filter in your top radiator hose? If not, pull your radiator and take it to the shop, I GUARANTEE you have rust chunks clogging some of the tubes. After the radiator is cleaned out, DO NOT start the car until you have a filter installed. The amount of crap my filter collects is enough to give a guy religion.

You could also get a thin Phenolic or wood spacer to put between the carb and manifold. This will cut down on the heat that gets into the car. I would do this last tho.

Erich got lots of experience making SB Fords run cool

It's more like an airplane wing. The faster moving air over the top creates a "suction" or "lift" effect at the backside of the cowl, causing the air to speed up through the whole system under the hood (Like under an airplane wing). It doesn't let cooler air in through the cowl. It sucks hot air out of it. The way you describe it the air would have to make a 180 degree turn into the cowl, not gonna happen @ 80 MPH. I've seen a trick at the dragstrip where (if you don't have cowl induction) you raise the hinges of the hood creating a quasi-cowl with the hood itself. Yes, with a flat hood you would have a high pressure area @ the windshield. The lifted section of the cowl actually causes a low pressure area (like a wing) at the base of the windshield. The faster you go, the more flow there is, the taller the cowl, the more area for hot air to escape. Now combine those 2. High speed and tall cowl = lots of flow. Go look @ a few funnycars with cowl induction. I've seen some as tall as 9" with an intake scoop on top. It's not just a matter of getting cold air to the carb, but hot air off the motor. Which is why a cowl works. OK, so was that too long an explanation? :) Did it help?

Scott Williams '66 HCS

How do you have the carb jetted? Are they the jets that came in the carb when you purchased it? Your heat problem could possibly be from running slightly lean. If it is, you need jets with a higher # than what is in there now. Pull a spark plug and look at the electrode, and let us know what color they are. Another possibility is the timing could be advanced too far. Does it ping when you jump on it pretty hard when the temps are up there? Also you could try a 165 degree thermostat. As for the fan, are you also running the stock fan on the water pump? Is this car a manual or an automatic? If it is an automatic, you could put a tranny cooler in front of the radiator, and have it go through that before the fluid enters the radiator. That would help, not only the engine temp, but the tranny fluid temp as well. Someone already mentioned a high flow water pump, this is another good idea. One last thing, make sure the fins in the condenser are not smashed together, blocking air flow. How this helps.

Gary

"MKiehl" wrote in a message:

I'm a little confused, I've always heard cowl induction hoods let air enter the engine compartment from the rear of the hood. Something about a low/high pressure area at the base of the windshield.

Dan

GEB opined in news:X459b.3736$ snipped-for-privacy@news1.epix.net:

Hmmm How does THAT work?

Now the air going through the core is gonna be hotter than it would if the trans fluid flowed through the rad first.

IMO, it's a tossup.

AND definitely not the recommended way.

What it does is cool the tranny fluid a little lower before it enters the cooler in the radiator. The external cooler needs to be mounted as low as possible. This was done a lot on automatic equipped vehicles that was used for towing purposes. A lot of drag racers are now putting theirs in the rear of the front fender well. I opted to put the one in my race car in the trunk with a fan on it. I figured if the cooler was to let loose, I didn't want the fluid getting under my slicks. But this is not practical for a daily driver.

Gary

actually a true cowl induction is isolated from everything except the carb and fresh air coming from the base of the windshield, they don't let hot air out they let cooler air in to the carb. see nascar,180 + mph with only cowl induction feeding air to the carb. IMO a front opening hood scoop would be a better ideal for cooling the engine.

someone here has crossed the same bridge.

I've crossed that same bridge with my '66. We have very similar setups, except I also have the Cowl Induction hood, Edelbrock high volume (meaning big bucks) water pump and braided stainless steel radiator & heater hoses...

You've gotten alot of advise, but I'll add my 2 cents worth.

Just get a bottle of "Water Wetter" by Redline. Its about $9.00 and will cool you off by about 20-30 degrees. It worked for me in Georgia, it should work for you too! It won't decrease the underhood temps, but will keep the engine cooler, which is what I think you're going for.

I think I will give the water wetter a try and see. I'll be traveling through Georgia next week. I'm going to pickup my son from his training in SC. Make sure there is nice traveling weather for me wiil ya?

Thanks for the advice!

-Michael

We believe in Southern Hospitality here in Georgia. If you want nice traveling weather, you've got it! Of course I make any promises about those folks in SC.... if that hurricane decides not to turn north, there might not be any SC next week!