Wondering if water wetter will help. Engine is basically a 65 stock 396, except the cam. I found out this winter it is an old cam dynamics cam equivalent to the comp cams 284H. Car is driven in MN and stored winters in MN. It has run a little warm when the summer temps are at 90 or above(210 by infrared temp gauge). Advance was set at 10 and was using a stock 66 distributor and van can.
I just finished putting in a 40/60 antifreeze/ water solution. Was using 50/50. Standard 3 row Harrison Radiator from 66 that has had core replaced.
Just heard about Water Wetter today. Would it help to add some of the WW? Thanks.
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James,You dont need water wetter,you need to properly tune/dial in the base/total/vac adv timing for the cam your running along with a maybe even a t-stat change which i will leater explain why i mentioned that too.
That 280H comp cam in a 396 needs a lot more then only 10 deg base whit is substantially retarded resulitng in higher idle/lower cruise speed temps.
BTW,i had that old cam dynamics 284H in my 396 yrs back,it was a good single patt hyd FT cam with 228/228 deg dur @.05 ,.544/.544 gross lift on a 112 deg lsa.
I ran 18-20 deg base + 18 deg mech adv from dist + vac adv and it ran great with that setup with q-jet/stock ex manifolds/2.,5" pipes thur flowmasters/m20 4spd/3.31 gear.
Now whish i went with that CAM DYN 280h a 2nd time when i rblt the motor some yrs back but unfortunately i didnt and went approx 1 step down in cam timing just enough to loose the kinda nasty somewhat choppy idle it had when warmed up,performed well to with proper base/total timing.
Good place for base timing with that cam in a 396 is approx 18 deg with mech adv in dist setup to give you 18 deg by approx 2600rpm.
Thats a great place to start,you can also install cranes adjustable vac adv limiter p[late to limit stock type vac adv to 10-12 deg max.
So then you have 18 base + 18 mech in dist for 36 total + 12 deg vac adv for a conservative 48 deg titming when at cruise for better throttle responce esp off idle/better fuel mileage/coller running motors/more power.
But your current retarded 10 deg base timing is too retartded and 39 total is not the best place to be for a mild street perf 396,trust me when i tell ya 18 to even 20 deg base + 18 deg mech from dist for 36-38 total by approx 2500-2600rpm & 10-12 deg from vac adv will make the motor feel a lot snappier esp off idle and at lower engine rpm before total is fully in and may run cooler too along with instalkling the cxrane vac adv limiter plate too that took me 15 mions to install with dist still in the motor.
Have to reset base timing opost installing vac adv limiter plate.
I run the vAC ADV limiter plate in my mild street 396 hyd ft cam with 222/226 deg dur @ .05,.525"/.525" gross lift,112 deg LSA along with 19-20 deg base /18 deg mech in dist in by 2500rpm/vac adv limited to 12 deg.
The additonal 8 -10 deg bease timing will maker it run cooler in trafficv andf at lower engine speeds.
Latsly,install this autozone duralat stat 15356 and i gaurantee it will lower you traffic/.cruise temps in hot temps.
I was running 180 deg hi flow stats on my car and it would creep up over 200 to 205 and even 210 on 5 mins in 90 deg temps in trafficv and190-195 at cruise in 90- deg with new hi flow w-pump/newly restored original hi efficiency 4 core harrison rad/new hd fan clutch/772 gm 7 blade hd clutch fan/stock fan shroud .
Those arent horrible temps but not great either for my stock GM setup with a new hi efficiency 4 core rad /hd fan clutch(not std duty) /hi flow pump/7 blade clutch fan/stock shroud etc that was capable of running lower temps but wasnt for some reason even with proper timing and carb jetting good too which was driving me frigging nuts .
So even though i tried 2 new brand hi flow 180 deg stats from 2 diff mfg's and 2 dif sources the temps didnt come down which was when i decided to try a new stat which was the 15356 autozone duralast stat i listed above.
Well boy i was glad i FINALLY did that even though i already tried 2 new hi flow 180 deg stats. After doing that the cruise temps went from 190-195 in 90+ deg heat to a rock solid 175-178 max,and in traffic temps went from 205-210 to a rock solid 180-183ish max in 90+ deg temps.
Thats a 15-20 deg reduction in temp just changing out the hi flow 180 stat to the duralast stat,i could actually see coolant flow was much better in the rad with std flow durlast stat vs hi flow 180 stat when i would blip the throttle a bit,there was truely a day and night diff with std flow duralast stat making for much better /more coolant flow vs hi flow stat.
The bbc motor responded well to that 15-20 deg reduction in temps esp in hot weather ,themotor didnt loose near as much spunk/power, oil pressure stayed approx 5-8 higher,and in car/cabin seem'd a little cooler too with the motor running 15-20 cooler.
BTW,the duralast stat i suggested is actually a 160 deg stat but it never runs 160 deg in outside temps of approx 60+ . Lowest its runh for me with everything new was 170 deg in 55-60 deg temps so dont worry motor will run too cold unless you plan on driving the car in 30-40 deg temps which i dont think you will be doing. But if you do regularly drive car in 30 deg temps then take 10-15 mins to swap to the durlast 180 derg stat in cold season opf the yr. Then swap back to 160 stat for warmer/summer months to run cooler if need be.
I also tried the duralast 180 deg std flow stat which did better then the hi flow 180 deg stat but not as good as 160 stat with a 8-10 deg dop in temps on avg vs the 160 deg stats drop in temp of 15-20 deg on avg which is why i stuck with the 160 deg durlast stat.
In 80 deg temps the cruise/idle temps ran 5 deg cooler and at 55-70 deg tops the cruise/idle temps ram approx 8 deg cooler.
I have a couple of friends with 70 chevelles running mild bbcs running other mfg's std flow stats that had a tendency to run a little hot on hot days which was causing some concern on thier part. I talked them into letting me install the stat i suggest here and WALLA their traffic temps dropped at least 10-12 deg & cruise temps dropped approx 15 deg & they were happy campers.
Thats not quite as good as my motors 15-20 deg drop in temps on avg but 12-15 deg drop in temps for 10 mins work/$10 ill take any day of the wk/LOL!!!!
So do yourself a favor & take 10 mins to install the 15356 autozone-duralst stat along with advancing base timing from 10- to at least 18 deg and your temps will come down for sure.
But dont forget when adv base timing you need to recurve/reduce mech adv timing in dist too or total timing will ber too high along with taking 10-15 mins to istall cranes vac adv limiter plate too for 10-12 deg max timing from vac adv at idle with the vac adv hooked to full int vac all the time.
Scott
