Thermostat or not?

[Wayne G.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

Very interesting read Wayne. I think I will switch to the 160 high flow stat. The owners of this Vette will not drive it in the winter. Thanks!

Jim

Hehe OK here I go my first bad post? Maybe?

There was a day when I was young ( hehe only 46 now ) that the rule was as such! If you owned a Vette it never seen rain, snow or was seen in public with less then 20 coats of the best wax, nor did it ever never have a aftermarket part that was not at least from another year corvette... hehehe
and the saying was always!

Wrap your ass in fiberglass! I still have a few t-shirts with that on on it!

Save the Wave! And ride em proudly!

[James S.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

Hehe OK here I go my first bad post? Maybe?

There was a day when I was young ( hehe only 46 now ) that the rule was as such! If you owned a Vette it never seen rain, snow or was seen in public with less then 20 coats of the best wax, nor did it ever never have a aftermarket part that was not at least from another year corvette... hehehe
and the saying was always!

Wrap your ass in fiberglass! I still have a few t-shirts with that on on it!

Save the Wave! And ride em proudly!

Wayne,

If I owned this one owner original paint car, I would drive it all of the time! I drove yesterday on it's maiden voyage and man the thumbs up were every where!

A few time I felt like the t-shirt while working unde the dash on this car! I'm 57 and trying to be a contortionist again like when I was very young was a bear!!!

Jim

[Wayne G.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

Wayne,

If I owned this one owner original paint car, I would drive it all of the time! I drove yesterday on it's maiden voyage and man the thumbs up were every where!

A few time I felt like the t-shirt while working unde the dash on this car! I'm 57 and trying to be a contortionist again like when I was very young was a bear!!!

Jim

Oh I here ya there anytime I work on my 82's the seats come out its just a habbit anymore, so much easier, well a little but it sure does help, I wish they were like the 60 and just lifted out... that helps somewhat... anyvette seems to have issue most regular cars do not, from getting a jack under them, to getting yourself under them, then the tiny fingers needed to get into most areas... and those bend over the motor fixes ouch so hard on the back... even waxing the darn 82's is a pain so low to the ground, I can't wait to get my car stacker so I can get under and to the side easier...

Hehe I just checked my profile and the age was listed as 29 oops looks like I made the year of birth my 82's not my actual age, I am correcting that... its almost double that, but still young at heart...

[Joe L.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

I'm gonna tackle this a bit, I am no expert but all the questions I had asked when I redid my 82 Crossfire to a high 436HP motor every one had a reason for this or that, but what I found is this...

Most folks like 180 as that seems to be the best to use for ENGINE OIL operating range. So one does not get any oil build up issues, Just what every one said... guess they claim sludge can build if the motors not hot enough or other build up can happen? I think it all depends on what one is going to do, Race? Street Driven, or how and were you drive....

Most folks argued that a cooler thermostat would give better performance since the gas at intake will be cooler... I don't think its that important as is the actual air coming into the car, FRESH air away from any and all engine heat to first mix with the gas gives a better air/fuel mix.

I was warned I would never keep it cool with that much HP under the hood and the stock rad. well alls I did was run a HI FLOW water pump, alum not that it makes that much of a difference and I stayed with a 180 vs 185 as factory calls for it... since I don't drive in the winter I dont think the thermostat is all that important in the summer any is ok or even none as long as it about 60-90 outside, that being said the thermostat is for warming up the motor faster. And to provide a temp or heat range to the heater... So if you not winter driving a 160 HI FLOW is just fine. If you overheating you have overheating issues no thermo higher or lower would solve that issue... You need to look at the FAN and Rad and make sure it is adiquate to cool the HP you have... I added a simple fan switch to my 82 and now I can turn on the electric secondary fan that normally cam on around 210 and change the temp sender for it to be 195 now if the car gets hot I can turn on the fan at and before startup to cool the car, as it gets pretty hot once I shut her down, I almost wish I would take the time to make a shutdown timer and have the fan cool the rad after the car is turned off till say 180 or have it turn off after about 5 minutes, the fan is not all the efficent so it pulls or draws a bunch of amps and that may kill the battery tho?

Also I completely clean her and redid all the rad support rubber and foam seals. I would guess to say a small unsealed area can cause some air flow issues. Just makes sense, and the 82 has a few gaps her and there... Plus I know the air dam really help when I put it back on, to many people on the C3's take em off since they bottom out very often, just have to know its a Vette and a low to the ground car...


So again a 160 is fine it just means the thing will open at 160 and start to flow... No matter what you car will get a range at idle and go up or down depending on outside air temp, and when driving she will go down of course. If she's overheating no thermo will fix that... Unless its stuck or you try a HI FLO and allow more flow that may help. A larger cooling system will help, a electric fan can assist. Or a more efficient radiator or water pump. If its factory as I have stated in my post it should work fine if she is as from factory, clean out the fins with a air hose just be careful you can blow them shut and mess them up if you don't spray straight on and move slowly accross it... I would soak it with a clean and wash it with water first... worked wonders on mine... and make sure all gaskets are in place and shrouds and you should be fine... A hi flow water pump may help a little also...

Good luck and enjoy the temp sender, works great on headers or exhaust temps also to spot a problem just make sure you don't shine it on any reflective surface vs. a other type as you will get different readings... example coated headers can give untrue readings from pipe to pipe depending on coating thickness and such... but its a great tool....

The Robertshaw one is a nice idea if she stays open when fails? Not sure if the MR GASKET one I used can do that, but I must say they look almost identical.... I can't see any flow diff myself at the rad, but I had not to start in the car and now after all I have done she stays at 190 and not much over that so far on a 85-90 degree day... I am idling at 800 as per what I read on a FI motor... used to be 450 but I can tell she gets way to hot at that speed so for now 750-800 and later when it cools back to the loppy 450 I really like that thump..... thump... almost stall.... sound!

I have the issue of the gas purculating a little in the HOLLEY, I may try and get a Phenolic Spacer or back the levels down 1/8th under the site as Holley suggest... Its not much but I hate the little bit of gas that gets on the drivers side intake. Seems to look like Gatorade all that GREEN DARN CORN SYRUP CRAP they are calling GAS.... err time to make the trip to get 94 Sunocco! Least its not green!

I was going to also chime in before about the IR gun I got one at the (super store) Harbor Freight hehe actually my son got it for me, said it was under 20 bucks, real nice tool cheap looking but has not failed yet, has peak hold and a pointer on off... I check it with another and also with my cars temp senders and IAT's and she dead on... rather scary how across a room of 20 feet its pretty accurate... Enjoy!

Wayne-----


I seriously doubt that Mr. Gasket manufactures thermostats. Much more likely, they purchase from Honeywell/Robertshaw and repackage.

[Joe R.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

Restored original drivetrain on this 60 Vette, 283 Cubic inch, 4 BBL.

I was thinking about removing the thermostat as well to have better water flow. Any advice is much appreciated.

Jim,

I know this question has been addressed somewhat, but I found a better answer to it in the thread below. See post #12 by John Hinckley.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...age=2&uid=4989

Joe

[Joe R.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

Very interesting read Wayne. I think I will switch to the 160 high flow stat. The owners of this Vette will not drive it in the winter. Thanks!

Jim

Jim,

I don't think the 160 degree thermostat is such a good idea. Here's an old thread on this very topic:

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...69615&uid=7144

Joe

[John H.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

Wayne-----


I seriously doubt that Mr. Gasket manufactures thermostats. Much more likely, they purchase from Honeywell/Robertshaw and repackage.

Joe -

Robertshaw sold their automotive thermostat business to an internal management group about ten years ago; they couldn't make a go of it here, and moved their manufacturing to Mexico about eight years ago. That didn't work out either, and now their high-flow "330-" line of thermostats are made in China, and the Robertshaw name is gone (Mr. Gasket used to buy them from Robertshaw and re-package them, but the current Mr. Gasket look-alikes are made in China).

[Stuart F.]

Re: Thermostat or not?

I recently failed a new Mr. Gasket thermostat and thought I'd lost my engine. They are made in China and are junk! It failed closed and only the fact that my L-76 has a bypass hose got me as far as it did down the road. Once I nailed it for a stretch, it went up in steam. I had been to a car show which saw me idling in line too long such that I pulled upwards of 210*, then after it cooled down and closed, it stayed closed.

Also, one important factor for using a thermostat is that it slows the coolant down in the radiator giving it time to cool. W/O it, it moves through it too fast and doesn't cool, i.e. basic auto mechanics 101.

Stu fox