OK LARRY, i did the mod to my stock canister, i have it set for 6 degrees of vac advance at idle ,with my 16 degress of initial thats a total of 22 at idle, when i road test it and it runs good and i seam to run cooler at idle should i leave it alone??? or adjust it to get a few more degrees of vac advance?? what range of degrees can you be in and it should run about the same????
Kelly, That's great. You can experiment with the amount of degrees if you like. 8-10 is usually optimal, you have to see what works for you. I run 16 initial +10 full vacuum for a total of 26 at idle. I have no problems at all. Automatics love 20 + degrees at idle, they are very responsive to the throttle in that range. See how much it will tolerate, you'll run even cooler I think.
Overheating 455 Headache Mine has been overheating lately as well. The other day on the way to church my upper radiater hose exploded.:shock: I relaced the hose but it kept getting hot the rest of the day. On the way home from my folks house about 5 miles my Stop engine started flashing. When I pulled over there was smoke everywhere. I let it cool while I went to the parts store to buy another thermostat but they were all closed. So I took my 160 degree thermostat out just to get to work. Will running the car with out a thermostat damage the motor? It seemed like it wouldn't warm up this morning until I got halfway to work. What temp is best? My car is stock I think though I suspect it may have a hotter cam in it. 73 Buick Centurion w/455
If your system is working correctly it will run the stock thermo. Running too cold has its own perils. I suspect stock was 195 but 185 is Ok too.
I'm not sure if you realize this, but the Stop light doesn't measure coolant temp. It measures head temp, i.e. the metal temp.
