My 67 BB runs about a 190* in cruise and 210* in heavy traffic. New desert cooler 4 row radiator, OPGI shroud and the stock 4 blade fan thats totally all in the shroud and a 160* thermostat. Should I be concerned with those temps? I would prefer for it to run cooler as it seems to run better at around 180* on cooler days. Some say fans are no good with 4 row radiators and it seems nobody agrees on the best fan or thermostat to use. Whats a guy suppose to do?

My 67 BB runs about a 190* in cruise and 210* in heavy traffic... Whats a guy suppose to do?

Wouldn't worry me in the slightest. My '65 Owners' manual indicates 243*F is where safe engine operation becomes questionable.

But, try this... One day in July, drive South from Bakersfield at 4PM with your AC going full blast, heater off, and 75 MPH in high gear, with a load; or better yet towing a trailer. If the temp stabilizes below 231F while going up the grapevine on I-5, you'll be good to go.

My $0.02

Sounds fine to me.

Joe,the temps your running are pretty common for BBC esp if your temp gauge sensor is in the head where it reads a higher temp than most of the motor is acutually seeing.

The stock 4 blade GM fan you say your running is basically useless when compaired to a stock GM 7 clutch fan like used on the H/Perf 396's -454's and for most V8 AC applications from the time period too.

Get that clutch fan setup and you should be able to lower the temp a few more deg.

Lastly,ditch the inefficient/too cold 160 deg stat and get a good quality high flow 180 stat ,the motor will run more efficient at that temp.

Scott

Does that apply to small blocks as well? As my sb 350 runs around 220. not sure of t stat, but seems to stabilize between 220 and 230..
Just curious....

Does that apply to small blocks as well? As my sb 350 runs around 220. not sure of t stat, but seems to stabilize between 220 and 230..
Just curious....
My 350 runs 190 most of the time, during this current heat spell in the nasty commute traffic going home no more than 210.

Camino350,220-230 deg when crsusing is too hot,you have a problem/s that need to be corrected.

Are you sure the temp gauge is reading correctly esp if it's an older stock electric unit?

If your motor never really seems to be overheating esp right after you shut it down and it can heat soak but never spits out any coolent , smeells hot ,or lo0ses power when hreated up i would suspect incorrect temp reading/s.

SBC & BBC should theoretically be running the same approx temps so 180-190 at cruise and 200-210 in stop & go trafiic on a hot day which are normal temps to shoot for.

Keep in mind the at your temp will read anywhere from 5-15 deg hotter than normal on avg if the temp sender is located in the head by the exhaust manifold/header.

I have tested this delta between the temp reading from head sending units VS the actual temp of coolent in the radiator and intake mult times over the yrs in different cars and found that to be the case. The temp readings in the rad & intake run fairly close to eachother and are always lower then the temp as read from senind unit in the head.

Here are some general things to checkout and or do to reduce your motor temp.

Verify your actually running at 220-230 deg f.

If running a mech temp gauge and sender is in head make sure to insualte it from the head to the firewall to protect if from heatsoak.

If your running a non stock aftermarket perf cam you must have the initial timing set to approx 16-18 deg btdc due to the longer duration of the perf cam.

If your running less timing than 16-18 intial your inital timing is too retarded which can also cause you motor to run hotter so check that out and advance it if its less than 16-18 deg btdc initial.

Replace your stat with a high flow 180 deg unit.

Are you running the stock fan shroud,if not get one.

If using the stock 4 blade fan trash it because it useless for moving much air and get a stock gm 7 blade clutch fan and clutch for your yr car/motor.

Replace your rad cap with a new 15-16lb unit.

What cond is the radiator in and how many core is it? If it's cond is questionable or it's old or a 2 core unit replace it with a min of 3 core unit for your 350.

Run a 50/50 mix of antifreeze & distilled water. More than 50% anti frz makes it harder for the coolent to tranfer the heat which can make the motor run a little hotter.

If you have an auto trans switch to an external cooler to take the cooling load of the trans off the radiator/motors cooling system.

If you get all this squared away and you stil running a little warm as a last resort i would replace the water pump with a new high flow unit from summitt/jegs.

This is because you may have a good or even new pump but many of todays new pumps use a cheap inadequate star/cookie cutter looking stamped steel impeller to pump the coolent . This stamped steel impeller is less efficient than the cast iron impellers the oldler pumps used which is whats in some of the new high flow units from summit/jegs that Moroso makes & Summitt sells under their name too for approx 80-90 bucks.

Scott

Strange how these BB's are. Like mine, I feel lucky I don't have any issues with cooling. 50/50 on the coolant. I have a 180 thermostat and it mostly stays there. Like today, jamming down the Long Beach freeway at aprrox 60 to 65, Sun beating down but no problem, 180, Than I hit stop and go freeway traffic for a few miles, noticed the temp moved to approx 190 and NO farther. Stop and go for the next 4 miles, 180 to 190. Back to open road, well no open raods here, but back to 60 mph at 180. Thats it, 280 magnum comp cam head work, large valves , headers, 3310 holley, running 16* timing. Runs cool, and feel very lucky.

Rich,your rat runs nice & cool and i have some questions on your what lookes to be a very avg perf street setup that will help others here with hot running BBC's sort out thier hot running motor issues.

What radiator,fan (std or clutch?) ,water pump (high flow or stock),is temp gauge elec or mech,is temp senosre in head by exhaust or in the intake, if running a mech temp sensor in the head did you insulate the metal sensor cable from the head to firewall to prevent heatsoak,and what gear & trans arde you running?

Thanks....scott

Rich, sounds almost like my car. Well 396/402/408 instead of 454. Comp 280, closed chamber oval ports, larger valves, 18* initial, 3 core stock radiator. Runs 180, dead on almost never varies. May creep up a little in hot weather and traffic but don't think it's ever gone over 190.

My "502" runs best with a 190 thermostat in it and I agree that the stock clutch fan is the way to go. I have the A/C condensor and a tranny cooler in front of the radiator and a 2nd radiator cooler/heater in the radiator. I went with a custom built five row that was about the cost of an aluminum radiator.

Rich,your rat runs nice & cool and i have some questions on your what lookes to be a very avg perf street setup that will help others here with hot running BBC's sort out thier hot running motor issues.

What radiator,fan (std or clutch?) ,water pump (high flow or stock),is temp gauge elec or mech,is temp senosre in head by exhaust or in the intake, if running a mech temp sensor in the head did you insulate the metal sensor cable from the head to firewall to prevent heatsoak,and what gear & trans arde you running?

Thanks....scott

I feel VERY luck to not have to worry about cooling problems. Other problems of concern are enough.
I have a standard 4 core radiator and have an Alumitech rad. Waiting to go in one day. I don't know the brand of flex fan but its a 17" stainless with 6 blades, looks like a flex-a-lite. I would have put a 18" if I had bought it. Its 3/4 of the way into the fan Shroud. Mech. guage with sensor in head and no insulation on wire. But have had in mind to insulate wire and move sensor to intake for some time now. Water pump is the standard Edelbrock Aluminum victor series. Stock pump before cooled just as good. 180* thermostat (stock type). Rear gears are 3.55 posi with T400 tranny.

I am having a temp problem also, with my 70ss396. I have a 4 row rad. removed flex fan and installed a new 6 blade temp/clutch fan didn't make any difference. I have a 16lb cap also have electric fan pushing on the drivers side of the rad. Car runs 200 - 210+ no matter if your on open road. Car has mild cam don't know much more but I had a 70ss454 with much more motor and it ran 190* in traffic on 98* + day. I don't get it.
I also have a question about the Fan shroud the one on my car does not cover the whole rad. I'm almost sure the others I owned covered the whole rad.