First Generation Firebird-L Mailing List ......................................................................... Back around 1968, My friend owned a 6x Nova 4-speed that he raced on weekends. He had no problems with overheating even in hot Washington DC summers. Then he installed 4.11 gears. From that point onwards, he couldn't cruise on the freeway without overheating. Above 45 mph, the temperature gauge moved higher quickly and he would boil over. Modifications from stock condition can add to overheating issues. The air control devices in the front of the car are important. Losing or removing these air control devices over the years can cause a new issue. We should also consider timing changes folks make to accomodate today's gasoline. In 1968, the streets were not lined with Pontiacs with steam pouring out. I think these issues come from modifications to the original configuration, corrosion in the radiator or rusting out of the water pump baffle. I remember an old Popular Mechanics column about car problems. It discussed an overheating car. It was traced to someone removing the thermostat. The thermostat is necessary to control water circulation so water flow is uniform. In this article, the overheating was solved by installing a correct thermostat where the t-stat was missing. Back in 1970, I replaced my stock thermostat with a cooler one, thinking this would extend engine life. The cooler running engine ran noticiably poorer. I ended up replacing it with the correct t-stat. That was on a 350/3-speed 68 bird. Larry
--- On Tue, 8/25/09, Brent Block <[email protected]> wrote: The subject of our cars overheating has come up several times over the years and yes everyone has their own theory on the resolution which is most likely based on what worked for their own situation. What has not been discussed is why the Poncho motors tend to have this issue and our Chebby and Ford buddies don't seem to have these problems. Is this an inherent design flaw with our engines or are we creating our own issues with mods made to our engines. Ex: boring out the blocks thinning the cylinder walls, removing items that assist in cooling etc. Any ideas? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Submissions to Firebird-L: <[email protected]> Unsubscribe from Firebird-L: <[email protected]> Help: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/firebird/Firebird-L.html> Classifieds: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/ubb/> Owner Pictures: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/show/>
