[64speed]

This is kind of a preemptive question and soliciting first hand experience. My car will be back on the road tomorrow hopefully and I plan to drive it a lot. When it went down 10 days ago it wasnt running hot but in stop and go traffic it was getting up to about 200 degrees in 75-80 degree weather. Now we are in the good old South Carolina 85-90 degree weather. I never really sat long enough to see if it went much higher than that but just in case I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Victor water pump? I have done all the tricks. I have the fan half in and half out of the shroud that has had as much of the air gaps as I could seal done with AC foam. I am running the proper ratio of coolant, my water pump plate is clearanced (although not by me, it was done by my machinist whom I trust)I have a cold case radiator although I only had the Tempest radiator shroud so I do not have the bigger radiator. I did order the HO radiator they sell that has the inlet on the drivers side and is supposed to be more efficient. As most of you know this is a driver and although I dont live in metro Atlanta and hope I wont ever be stuck in traffic for hours I still dont want to have to worry everytime there is a Clemson game and it takes me 30 minutes to go 5 miles. So long story short does the Victor really make a difference. What I read the people that have them swear they made a difference but they also list a bunch of other mods so....

[tom s]

I have been through all diff pumps including flo coolers.No diff.My go to is the get the car warmed up and put a lazer heat gun to check the temp of the water going into the radiator and out of the radiator.The radiator should show a 30 degree drop through it.If not will look at timing next,then the fan and shroud system.I always try to use a smaller diameter water pump pulley.Good luck on your search.Tom

[tom s]

FYI,one of my engines has a old 4 bolt water pump,one a 8 bolt pump and one a 11 bolt.I have never clearance a 11 bolt water pump.TOM

[tooski]

I also went through a series of changes to better control the coolant temp in the 400. Stock pump, flow cooler pump, not clearanced, clearanced, depth of fan in shroud, clutch fan, non clutch fan, 4 row oem rad, hipo aluminum rad, timing changes. Nothing made a change. 180° stat. Runs 175° to 180° on highway. Slower around town 180° to 190°. At a stop light 200° to 205°; comes down quickly when I start moving. Back down to 180° when back on the highway. Ambient 80° +/-. I would be inclined to shut it down to cool if it hit 220° +. For me, it is what it is, I'll live with it.

[grivera]

I have gone from a factory pump to a flow cooler with no difference - both pumps clearance correctly.

In the other thread, you said you had a small mechanical fan - what size is it an how many blades? You need a big fan to cool down the big engine.

Do you have the heavy duty fan clutch?

You also have an AC condenser in front of the radiator inhibiting flow. I asked this in your other thread, have you tested it with the AC on? this will be a true test of the cooling system's capacity.

What are your timing specs? Do you have manifold vacuum advance and how much?

[chuckies76ta]

The stock pumps are hard to beat with the cast iron impeller. We ran one on wife's car with close to 600 hp and it stayed at 160 deg. What size pulley are you running on the water pump. We ran the smaller pulley on the water pump. Worked great.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by 64speed

This is kind of a preemptive question and soliciting first hand experience. My car will be back on the road tomorrow hopefully and I plan to drive it a lot. When it went down 10 days ago it wasnt running hot but in stop and go traffic it was getting up to about 200 degrees in 75-80 degree weather. Now we are in the good old South Carolina 85-90 degree weather. I never really sat long enough to see if it went much higher than that but just in case I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Victor water pump? I have done all the tricks. I have the fan half in and half out of the shroud that has had as much of the air gaps as I could seal done with AC foam. I am running the proper ratio of coolant, my water pump plate is clearanced (although not by me, it was done by my machinist whom I trust)I have a cold case radiator although I only had the Tempest radiator shroud so I do not have the bigger radiator. I did order the HO radiator they sell that has the inlet on the drivers side and is supposed to be more efficient. As most of you know this is a driver and although I dont live in metro Atlanta and hope I wont ever be stuck in traffic for hours I still dont want to have to worry everytime there is a Clemson game and it takes me 30 minutes to go 5 miles. So long story short does the Victor really make a difference. What I read the people that have them swear they made a difference but they also list a bunch of other mods so....

IF you have a real, genuine overheating issue, you need to address it of course.
It's important to remember millions of these 60's cars were produced and ran just fine all over the country without Cold Case, Edelbrock, Flow Cooler, Electric fans, special parts of every shape and description. They just went about their business year after year. Break the situation down into 2 categories. 1. If the car get hotter and hotter driving down the country roads and expressways, it's a water flow/radiator problem. Assuming the engine is in proper tune. 2. If the car gets hotter and hotter when sitting in traffic or moving down the road at slow speeds, say under 20 MPH and gets cooler as you get up to road speed it's an air flow problem. It's as simple as that. Air flow wise, I much, much prefer an engine driven fan for a street car with a good fitting shroud and a clutch fan or a good 7+ blade flex fan. They simply move more air through the radiator than 90% of the electric fans out there. Unless you just feel the need for a very high dollar multiple electric fan and shroud set-up like a Be Cool unit. Now your into 4 figures that a $100.00 flex fan can equal. Water pump wise, I am with Tom. If the damn thing doesn't leak and has decent divider plates and/or tube seals, any cast iron or aluminum pump has served me just fine for 50 years. Not saying you can't tweak 5-10 degrees out of very carefully setting the impeller clearance and tube/seal fit with shims, but not generally necessary. They slapped these cars together, 600 per shift, 7 days a week! Nothing was ever checked or clearanced on the line. You were lucky if all the bolts were installed and not stripped out. It was mass production, yet very few of them overheated . Honest water temp under 210 on a hot summer day can not be considered an issue. Good luck.

[64speed]

I have the stock fan off the 326 with the heavy duty fan clutch. It’s the biggest fan that will fit in the stock shroud. I let it idle about 15 minutes today after a test run and it crept to 200 but stayed there. I suspect that spacing the fan another 1/2 inch In the shroud may help.

[mgarblik]

Do you know what it has for a thermostat temperature wise? If it has a typical 193 degree thermostat, holding at 200 would be normal. Typically, the engine temp will stabilize around 10 degrees above the opening temp. BTW, the manufacturers of the clutch fans never recommend using any kind of spacer with a clutch. Honestly don't know why, but Hayden and 4-Seasons warn against it. They do make extended shaft clutches for some applications.

[64speed]

It’s got a 160 unfortunately which it stays at perfectly when moving

["QUICK-SILVER"]

David,

Did your clutch fan tighten up (get louder) when the temp leveled off?

Clay

[64speed]

Originally Posted by "QUICK-SILVER"

David,

Did your clutch fan tighten up (get louder) when the temp leveled off?

Clay

To be honest I’ve never paid it much attention, I will report back. In the meantime what part number should I have

[lust4speed]

I agree with the statements above concerning that there is no difference in what water pump you install. I have friends in the car club that I tell this too and they still purchase the latest wiz-bang pump advertised as a great improvement -- only to be rewarded with absolutely the same results they previously had.

We've discussed tweaking the spring location to bring the fan in earlier. I purchased a new 2797 fan clutch for the Catalina wagon with the 496 and installed the clutch as-is to get a baseline running temp. Car ran exactly 200° with all the trick adjustments, pulley ratios, and Cold Case radiator with the as-delivered fan clutch. Took it back out, tweaked the spring and put it back in the car. It now runs at 158° which is exactly where the new thermostat opened when tested in a pan of water on the stove.

Hayden states that their fan clutches are adjusted to come in at 175° air temperature, and this seems to corelate to about 200° coolant temp. Nothing wrong with running at 200° but I just feel better keeping the engine and the area under the hood much cooler during the summer.

The below photo goes back over 20 years and shows the stock location of the H.O. fan with the factory available shroud. It's 1/3 in and 2/3 out. Fast forward to today with the addition of Vintage Air, AC depth Cold Case radiator, 19.5" fan, and AC shroud addition and the fan is still 1/3 in and 2/3 out and runs with the AC on max at 160°.

[64speed]

Originally Posted by lust4speed

I agree with the statements above concerning that there is no difference in what water pump you install. I have friends in the car club that I tell this too and they still purchase the latest wiz-bang pump advertised as a great improvement -- only to be rewarded with absolutely the same results they previously had.

We've discussed tweaking the spring location to bring the fan in earlier. I purchased a new 2797 fan clutch for the Catalina wagon with the 496 and installed the clutch as-is to get a baseline running temp. Car ran exactly 200° with all the trick adjustments, pulley ratios, and Cold Case radiator with the as-delivered fan clutch. Took it back out, tweaked the spring and put it back in the car. It now runs at 158° which is exactly where the new thermostat opened when tested in a pan of water on the stove.

Hayden states that their fan clutches are adjusted to come in at 175° air temperature, and this seems to corelate to about 200° coolant temp. Nothing wrong with running at 200° but I just feel better keeping the engine and the area under the hood much cooler during the summer.

The below photo goes back over 20 years and shows the stock location of the H.O. fan with the factory available shroud. It's 1/3 in and 2/3 out. Fast forward to today with the addition of Vintage Air, AC depth Cold Case radiator, 19.5" fan, and AC shroud addition and the fan is still 1/3 in and 2/3 out and runs with the AC on max at 160°.

I am not familiar with the spring tweak???

[grivera]

Originally Posted by 64speed

I am not familiar with the spring tweak???

Read this - go to post #31 https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...ghlight=hayden