Here is something to think about too..... a fan shroud makes most but not all the air that a fan pulls go thru the rad and AND THEN THRU THE HOLE IN THE SHROUD, how many sq inches are your rad??? how many sq in is the hole in the shroud???? how much does the shroud cut that down?? now , that said,,, the manufacturer of the car will tell you that the cooling system of cars since the 60's is marginal at the best.... that is the reason that I put the heaviest duty radiator that I can get my hands on in any car that I have,,,, now, back to the shroud,,, your rad is no better than the shroud that you have on it.... at low speeds....huh?,,,, above 30 mph you can throw the fan and shroud away and the car will cool just fine....but we dont drive at speeds above 30 mph all the time,,, we find our selves in traffic stopped and idling on a hot day....blocked in and cant get out,,,, so you need a good shroud and a fan with lots of cfm.... now the best shrouds have a ''funnel'' shape to them.... when you start forcing air thru a restrictive opening, it acts like a liquid,,,,a shroud is a restrictive opening....a shroud needs to also be a funnel, the best ones even have a venturi built into the back side of them...where does that lead us...?? NO FAN SHROUD, WILL ALLOW THE MOST AIR TO FLOW THRU THE RAD.... all of its sq. inches ,,, right...so,,,if you brought the car to me and said make it cool, here is the path I would take....I would change out the upper hose, and take the single shroud/fan off and install the biggest set of dual or even tripple fans that would go behind the grill as pushers....both thermostaticly and manually controlled...so if need be, you can override the system....or if you want to go to a factory type fan/puller system, first change the hose and the pulley, then get a funnel type of shroud and at least, at least, a 19-20 inch 7 blade fan with 3/4 in clearance from the tips of the blades to the shroud....and centered in the fan hole.... I had to cold turkey build a fan shroud for my 65 GS because buick didnt and I wanted it to cool,,, time consuming, but it works.... The possibility is, that the shroud with the square sides/opening, you have on it now, allows enough air thru to cool the engine at idle/low speeds but not enough thru at road speeds.... you have to have free as possible flow of both air and coolant thru a system in order for it to work right.... And cut that skin peeling bolt on that battery hold down offfffff......
Andy, one thing I don't recall seeing. Don't forget the shroud is a restriction. Therefore the inlet portions of the radiator needs to be sealed also. Meaning that there should be NO openings where air can easily pass around the radiator. Know what I mean???? Air is like water or electricity. It will take the easiest path. In the front we need to force ALL the available air through the radiator & not around it. Even a piece of metal below the radiator support to help direct air INTO the radiator. That by-pass hose for the heater HAS to go. All it is doing is recirculating the already hot water. Plug those & all the problems might just go away. Easiest thing to try 1st.
Ok, shroud, is gone! I will also get rid rid of the bypass hose. I'll also make sure all the gaps around the radiator are taken care of. Thanks again Doc, Guy, and Tom! Happy 4th :beer !
Ok guys, took a few days off, had one helluva 4th, and now I'm back at it. So far the shroud has been removed. I'm waiting on an order from Summit so I can re-mount the electric fan directly to the radiator. I closed up the gaps around the radiator as best I could, will re-evaluate after the next test run. I removed the crappy flex hose and installed a factory molded style unit, with a piece of exhaust pipe spilced in between the two angled ends. No more kinks! I also removed the heater bypass hose, and the hose fitting in the water manifold. I plugged that with a pipe fitting. What should I do about plugging the water outlet off of the water pump? It's just a straight outlet that's part of the pump, no way to remove it and install a plug. Once everything gets put back together, I'm going to go ahead and just top it off with straight water. I probably only lost 1/2 quart of coolant at the most from draining the radiator a little bit, and removing the heater hose. Thanks again guys! Summit order should be here by Friday, hope to be crusing by the weekend :3gears: !
Andy be sure to put some corrosion inhibiter in the cooling system with the water... or it will corrode the aluminum stuff very quickly..... major damage....
I'm only replacing about 1/2 quart with water - probably shouldn't even effect the 50/50 mixture all that much. Any suggestions for plugging that port Doc?
Well, there is a few ways to go, you could run a fine thread tap down inside the pipe and install a pipe plug... or search untill you find a rubber cap that will slip over the pipe and put a hose clamp on that.... or epoxy a plug in there... or go whole hog and have a lot of nads and tig weld the thing up.... but dont try other kinds of welding... too hot for the seals... but you could submerge the thing in water as a heat sink, leaving the pipe out.... But I would go for some way that was reversable...may be down the line that you would want to use the thing....
I swear, this damn car hates my guts. I've put so much time, money, blood, sweat, and tears into this thing and it continually fights me. It takes all the fun out of it. Needless to say, tapping and installing a plug didn't work out, AT ALL. Thought I had the right sized tap, but I didn't. Went out bright and early this morning and got the right sized tap and pipe plug. Went to work. Everything was going perfectly, tapped perfectly, etc. Then I went to install the plug, which seemed to be going good. Got it about half way in when I noticed a large crack in the port. Figured what the hell, already going to need a new pump, so I cranked it a little more, at which point the port more or less cracked and broke apart. So a new water pump is in the works. Probably going to bite the bullet and go with a FlowKooler setup. Might as well get the A/C pump while I'm at it. It's only money, right ? Wish I didn't just quit my job. I leave for college in less than a month and this thing still isn't done. I'm going to burn the hides off this thing before I leave, one way or another. Ok, rant done, thanks for listening and thanks for all the help.
Dang, guy,,,, I am sorry you got into trouble with this thing.... all pipe fittings and plugs are tapered.... so you have to be carefull when they come up tight.... the more you tighten them down the more they expand.... Hmmmm,,, I looked at the water pump.... can you cut off the busted part and start over.... try some other options before you take the pump off and chunk it.... if you cut it off and retap and put the plug in not so tight with some pipe sealer on it.. it probably will work,,, or find a cap and clamp it .... look at a plumbing supply... for solutions.... there is not much pressure on the system... 20 psi or less....
Yea, I was actually thinking about that yesterday. I can cut off the part that cracked apart and start over. However, I'd be willing to bet that same thing would happen again. The pump housing just doesn't seem to be up to snuff. I think I'll try and find a rubber cap of some sort and clamp it, and then if that doesn't work I'll re-tap and try the plug again. Thanks for the help Doc! By the way, how's your heart doing? Hope you passed that last test with flying colors :beer !
Actually, it turned out much better than I was originally told,,,, originally they said that I had a previous heart attack and just did not know it,,,, and that I had a main valve that could need replacing.... and i had a scar inside my heart,,,,,,not good..... fortunatly I was refered to the best heart Dr. in Tn....... and in the mean time I had special prayer at church.... then came the test at the heart center in Nashville.... in the end,after the tests,,,, The Dr. said he could not find a scar, the valve , I had the day I was born,,, and all it needed was watching,,,, and the arteriorigram showed that I was not plugged up at all... no blockages at all..... so I came home and as soon as possible I started back to work on my Buick.... :laugh: :laugh:
Ok, so I finally found a cap to use on the broken water pump port. I went from auto part store to auto part store, to Ace Hardware, to Fleet Farm, and finally ended up at Home Depot. The only thing I was able to find were the rubber caps meant to go on the end of canes or table legs. It worked out pretty good and it seems pretty beefy, I think it'll work out alright. So I got the bypass hose totally removed and plugged each port. I removed the shroud and reinstalled the fan. I closed up the gaps around the radiator as much as I could - they are better than before, but aren't totally perfect. I replaced the flex hose with a molded (+ exhaust pipe) unit, and also topped off the radiator with straight water (maybe 1/2 quart at the very, very most). It seemed to idle a little hotter, and after 25 or 30min got up to 200* before I cooled it off with a hose. I let the car cool off for an hour or two while I waxed it. I took it on the same cruise I did last time where it went from 160* to 210* in 5mins. When I left it was at about 150* and when I pulled it was at 190*. So there was definitely some improvement, especially considering it's about 90* and fairly humid. Not sure what else to try, except a bottle or two or Water Wetter. I'm going to take it on a slightly longer cruise later and see how it does. And for what's it worth, I think the carb is tuned pretty damn good. You can absolutely lay into this thing and it never stumbles or stutters once it's warmed up - it just flat gets!
