Re: Few repairs and upgrades to the 79 |
Subject: Re: Few repairs and upgrades to the 79 by rklessdriver on 2011/8/13 20:59:05 Everythings installed and working fine. So far it won't go past halfway on the gauge. Before the test drive I let it idle for about 15mins to get up to operating temp. Temp stayed rock steady at 160*F (1/4 of the gauge). I used the same 10 mile test drive I drove before and the car easily would climb to 220*F (3/4 of the gauge) with the stock radiator.... Going down the road temp stayed at 160*F, until speed picked up past 50mph at which point temp goes up to 190-200*F (halfway on the gauge) and stays stable. At stop lights the temp goes down to 180*F ish (sometimes a little less) and then climbs back to 200*F when driving at anything past 50mph. Didn't go out on the hwy (I-95) because it's a parking lot. Will try 70-80mph tonight. Obviously at speed the fan clutch is disengaging and no front spoiler, means limited air flow... common problem with these cars and easy to fix with a $40 spoiler. We will pick up a new front spoiler at Carlisle. Until then at least we can drive the thing without the temp gauge being 1 mark away from pegging out at 260*F. A few notes. 1. The overflow nipple supplied on mine is the wrong size. OD is too small for the factory hose. 2. The overflow nipple and drain petcock were threaded in at the factory with teflon tape, wrapped the wrong way (of course). I removed and resealed them with PTFE liquid teflon. 3. The tranny cooler threads seemed a bit loose going in but tightened up fine and so far do not leak. I do have a few pics of the new radiator if anyone wants to see and judge quality for themselves. Will |