Hello all. In the Northeastern part of the States (Boston). I have a 1969 Buick Skylark Custom project car that I am working on.Reaching out as a new member with a couple of silly questions. Does it matter what color antifreeze/coolant you use? Is green accepatable in a 69 Skylark or does it have to be orange?
For what I've been told here couple years ago ... Ethylene glycol is Ethylene glycol. Something like this one should do the job, with deionized water in the mix. anyone can confirm ?
Is this a 350 2BBL ? I went to Salem and Tyngsbury last week I enjoy my road trip there from Quebec,Canada !
If you want to go all out, but it's not cheap. Go with waterless coolant, it's called Evans. Look it up on the internet. Does an excellent job of protecting your engine. This is what I do. VET (Navy)
"waterless coolants" allow an engine to operate at temps beyond original engineering designed parameters. Meaning, an engine cooling system can maintain non-boiling (vapor) condition beyond the point of "boil over" . So, where a 50/50 water/glycol coolant permits an engine to operate to a 265F with a 15/16 pound cap pressure in the system, a waterless coolants permits a much higher system operating temperature above 365F, but while the cooling system is "happy" at such high temperatures, the poor engine has already exceeded the temperature where damage begins Kick the can down the road, but sooner or later, ya gotta deal with the can. Or, either build/tune/operate these machines as intended, or spend you money and time defending garbage science. There is no magic to proper cooling, the engineering and science is almost settled. The reason people see so many new innovations, is often a money grab. Once in a while, it works consistantly, and folks benefit. Other times folks are ripped off.
Just so you know why I said Evans waterless is a very good coolant system. I ran into a serious where the previous owner did some serious engine modifications to the engine of his Buick (462ci) that he did not make known to me before I bought his car. This Buick had detonation and high-water heat problems. In order to deal with these problems, I took advise from several members of this forum who were helping me. I made several changes to the coolant system but I made one big mistake that I should have done first but did later on. (1) Replaced the clutch fan. (2) Replaced the thermostat with a high flow volume model. (3) Replaced radiator with Brass/Copper HD model. (3) replaced the water pump with a High-Performance TA pump. (4) Replaced all the water hoses. (5) Added the Evans waterless coolant. After all this, I was still running a little too high-water temp. Larry70GS suggested I replace my Brass/Copper radiator with a Griffin 2-Core Aluminum radiator. So I did and this is what cured the high-water temp. (6) Replaced radiator with Griffin Aluminum radiator. Since I already added the Evans waterless coolant into the radiator system. I left it there as added insurance. Below is a write-up of the Evans coolant product. I'm not a coolant engineer. This product was recommended to me by one of the forum members and I trust our forum members and have received a lot of help and knowledge from our members with a multitude of problems I have faced with this Buick over the past 2 years, and I appreciate very much of these members taking out of their time to help me. Again, thank you ALL for your help. VET (Navy) See statements below from Evans Cooling Systems... Water-based coolant boils at a temperature only slightly higher than the operating temperature of the coolant. The boiling point of water-based coolant is somewhat above the boiling point of water for the pressure of the system. Localized boiling releases water vapor that can only condense into coolant that is colder than the boiling point of water. Any vapor that doesn’t condense occupies a volume that displaces liquid coolant. Water vapor is a very poor conductor of heat. Hot engine metal, insulated by water vapor, becomes an engine “hot spot” that can cause pre ignition and detonation. In contrast, the boiling point of Evans waterless coolant is much higher than the bulk coolant temperature and any locally generated vapor condenses immediately into the surrounding bulk coolant. There is no persistent vapor to insulate between hot metal and the liquid coolant. Liquid coolant is in contact with all of the coolant jacket at all times, providing a path of excellent heat transfer away from the hot metal. WILL EVANS COOLANT LOWER THE OPERATING TEMPERATURE OF MY ENGINE? Typically, no. Vehicles running under normal operating conditions should show either no change or a slight increase in temperature, but that will depend on cooling system configuration as well as driving conditions. In high horsepower applications, the temperature effect of running Evans waterless coolant will depend on the engine and cooling system components. IS EVANS ADVOCATING OPERATING ENGINES AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES? Not really. With Evans waterless coolant, operating temperatures may be modestly higher than those of water-based coolant, depending on driving conditions and whether the vehicle is stock or configured as high-performance. When the engine is stressed, the coolant absorbs more heat and temperatures rise. This is not a concern when using Evans waterless coolant. The combination of the high boiling point of Evans waterless coolant and a correctly-sized cooling system means that an increase in temperature can be accommodated without cooling system failure. Another good write-up from a successful race team that helps explain how Evans helps. When coolant boils in the radiator, that is a sign that the coolant is saturated, and cannot absorb any more heat from the engine. If water is part of the engine coolant, the water will expand as it turns to steam which will force the coolant out of the radiator overflow. When that happens, you lose coolant resulting in less coolant remaining in the cooling system to absorb the heat from the engine. With less coolant present to carry away the heat...the temperature of the coolant in the engine will continue to climb. That is when the physical damage can occur to the engine, Flathead Fords often developed cracks in the block when this occurred. The high boiling point of the Evans Coolant combined with the fact that it has minimal expansion even at the higher temperatures means that there is no coolant loss with the Evans Coolant. The Evans Coolant has the ability to absorb a much greater amount of heat from the engine as compared to a 50/50 antifreeze and water mixture. One thing you will notice with the Evans Coolant installed is that the in-dash temperature gauge will read slightly higher. That is because the Evans Coolant is actually drawing more heat out of the engine block. If you check the engine block using an infrared temperature gun...you will see that the engine block is physically cooler than it was with the antifreeze and water mixture. Remember...the temperature gauge in the dash is reading the temperature of the coolant itself, and not the temperature of the engine block. You also need to remember that the antifreeze in a conventional antifreeze and water mixture does not directly benefit the engine cooling process. It is there to counteract the effects of water in the cooling system, to prevent rust and corrosion from forming that would eventually reduce or stop the flow of coolant through the radiator. To explain it another way... Antifreeze... is there to keep the inside of the cooling system clean and does nothing to directly benefit the removal of heat from the engine block. Water has that job. That is why when you add a coolant mixture greater than a 50/50 mix your antique vehicle. it overheats quicker. It is because there is less water present which is actually what draws the heat out of the engine. Hopefully this helps explain the benefits. VET (Navy)
Dexcool is for 1995 and newer vehicles and is better for vehicles with aluminum radiators and blocks. The old green/yellow is propylene glycol and is for older vehicles. You may be ok using Dexcool in an older car, but don't leave it in 5 years/ 150K miles (Don't leave it in a new vehicle 5 years either). Change it every 2-3 years just like the green antifreeze. I prefer the green stuff.
