After fixing my coolant leak of a popped freeze plug, and cleaning some of the junk out of it's way, I finally got the Regal out from it's long winter slumber. The pic is after I got back from putting some fresh gas in it, and some air in the tires. Still has the power , did a couple sessions of pavement painting, but still seems "off", (hard to explain) and still wants to hit 210-215 degrees after stomping on it. wont go down for a long time. Dosent seem to be "hot" under the hood, like a overheating engine should.
If it doesn't seem that hot under the hood, it's probably an instrumentation problem. I went through this recently with my '70 Chevy truck. The gauge was all over the place. I hung a new Autometer gauge under the dash, and it is rock solid at 180 F, except when pulling my Skylark up a steep hill on a trailer, when it goes all the way up to 190 F. ...and a 455 Regal equipped as yours would be an outstanding ride, I'm sure. Even my old 400 cu in '66 Tempest (well, to be fair, it WAS a Judge motor) was a thrill ride...90 feet of rubber into third with a 3.55 posi and 11" tires.
Congratulations Chris, glad you got it on the road again! You'll figure out the cooling system. I like the Regal, I'm a G body fan myself. And I like the multi-color body panels too! See my avatar and signature, I've got 3 different hues on my car as well.
What thermostat? Clutch fan? What radiator? I have had the best luck with a '80's 1 ton 454 Hayden clutch, 180-195* F thermostat and most G-body replacement radiators are of aluminum construction similar to those in '93-02 F-body cars. They will run warm if the timing is advanced as well.
Funny this was brought up again... just got inside from switching out to a Dodge Intrepid dual fan assembly, from the single GN one, will be going with Water Wetter, distilled water, and a 180 stat.. Also plugged off the heater hose nipples, got rid of that big u bent hose between the water pump and the top of the manifold. RIght now its a gutted t-stat , and a 3 row brass/copper rad, from Jack Cottons. Will get it wired up in the next cople days.
Here's a link to my fan install http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.p...ic-Dodge-Intrepid-Fans-install&referrerid=589
Hey Chris - nice to see this up and running. I remember when you first brought it home... Cooling. Damn, I had a battle to the death with this 5 years ago.... With these symptoms, it's your rad. If it's too hot after applying power but OK sitting still then try a larger rad. If it gets hot sitting still but is fine when power is applied focus on the fan. Based on the rad posted here you're undersized just slightly IMHO. A griffin dual core finally sorted out my issues when i had similar symptoms (heat wouldn't drop after I stomped on it). Some easy mods - remove the rear weatherstripping, notch up the hood a bit and add the air dam under the rad support for an extra 10*. Go with an external trans cooler for a bit of juice too. ...hope that helps!
