1957 thunderbird cooling thermostat

[ford289ci]

I have a 57 thunderbird that was running hot I replaced the thermostat with a model (from mr. gasket model #4366 160F) which is packaged for a big block mopar but is the correct size for a 55-57 tbird (63mm) It is a wide mouth thermostat. I also purchased a new water pump and 7 blade fan (prestige in santa fe springs). The car runs much cooler. Driving in 102 + stop and go traffic for 30 miles, it didnt lose and coolant. I have a heavy duty 4 row radiator. I was considering purchasing the waterpump from casco. If you go on their website they did tests, with several combintations of large and small thermostat openenings as well as standard water pump, water pump with the baffle and a casco high flow water pump.

The 2nd best combo is the large thermostat no baffle, but the best combo is the high flow water pump. flowing a few more gallons thru the radiator at low rpm per min. However I have heard that actually it could run hotter flowing more water thru due to water not having enought time to cool down in the radiator. Does anyone have this Casco water pump? it has a addition on the impeller which appears to fill the area the spacer creates.

[timtron]

I dont have a 312 in mine, but I do have some experience with cars that wont cool well. I have heard (from the same place as you) that the high flow pump does helps the 312.

But what you said at the end is very true that the cooland needs to stay in the radiator to effectivly cool, as heat transfer needs time to work. Think of it like having a hot electric burner on your stove, or a hot exhaust manifold... you can tap them quickly and feel the heat and not get burned, but rest your hand on one of them and its burn city.

Which brings me to the 160* thermostat you are using, its one cooling step above a "racing washer", which is primary used in drag racing aplications where getting to optimal temp fast is perfered, then 10 to 13 seconds later the motor is turned off, no real need for multi situation cooling over long periods of driving.

The Temp of a thermostat is the temp that the tstat closes, allowing the the radiator to transfer heat out of the coolant. If you are using a 160* tstat once your operating over 160* the stat will be open and wont close unless temp drops below 160* which isnt going to happen unless the car is turned oss, and you have effectivly installed a "racing washer" or restrictor plate.

It seems backwards but a 195* will often cool better as it has an opportunity to cycle.

I have a 460 in my 57 with an electric puller fan only, the stock radiator, beefed up but stock size and a large heater core mounted in front of the radiator (out of sight) in line with the heater hoses, giving an extra gallon of capicity and a 195* Tstat. And it would run between 197 and about 212* in normal conditions, and was slow to recover.

Last week I had to replace the rad hoses, so I decided to try a cooling additive, I used 3 quarts of antifreeze (as eth gly) doesnt cool as well as water but it does have anticorosive properties and boils at a higher temp than water, and freezes lower, so I like a small amount for a car that lives in a garage at night (im in california, not much freezing here). And used purple ice from royal purple as the parts store was out of water wetter, and now it runs below 180 and I can watch the temp drop as rpms go up, pretty amazing i think. Its almost too cold now.... oh well, I guess I can live with that

Just my $0.02