The Single Best Overheating Fix For All Classic Cars

Overheating classic car? Yeah, me too. This is the best way we have found to permanently fix the notorious overheating issue.

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[HighDesertAquatics]

Single best advice for cooling is running the correct heat range plug and vacuum advance. Magic Pill: vacuum advance. Every time. None of the cars I set up require electric fans. Because I set them up correctly. Yes. Even my .030 over 10.66/1, Avgas burning, Iron head Pontiac runs 175° in the Texas heat with the AC on. Factory radiator, fan and clutch. Advance. It’s everything.

[MrXerxes]

I definitely saw those fans 30 years ago on TV. It was during an old episode of General Ben.

[lazyhiker]

Good advice, and good content. Also...if you want to eliminate the need for an extra temp switch, you can set up the Holley Sniper to control the fans.

[a]

I've had 10 hot rods in the last 45 years, and without exception, every one of them, except the last one had overheating issues at one time or another. My last car though was a freak, a 1969 Nova with a 505 cu in supposedly making 657 HP. I bought it from a classic car dealer, I test drove it, and then let it idle for 20 minutes waiting for the dreaded heat issues to show up. I was shocked that it stayed at 180 on an 80-degree day too. It had 2 1/8 ceramic headers which ran at 245 degrees middles tubes, and 230 outer via laser heat gun. Under hood temp shocked me because it was so cool. Radiator was a modern aluminum with shroud and flex fan to boot. I wish all my other cars ran as cool as that one. I sold the car after 7 years due to taking it out on a Banzai run and almost flipping it. Excellent video!!!!

[prun]

For my 460 in my Gran Torino. I converted to electric fans. I got an aluminum 3 row from Champion with their shroud. I got two high volume Spal fans that pull. Pusher fans are kind of dumb. It's like a hurricane when the fans start.
The water temp actually DROPS at stoplights on really hot days.
I've done a few cars. Electric fans and electric fuel pump (with a return) are the first two mods I'd make on any old car. No overheating and no vapor lock.

[adaboyz]

My 58 Bel Air with mechanical fan and OG radiator runs like a champ in West Texas.

[jeffreymiers]

I thought you were gonna say move to Alaska! Thats a sweet set up.

[altratronic]

I have a '67 Firebird with a 428 and a Ron Davis radiator with dual electric fans. It runs cool.

[musclebone]

Damn...you guys are cracking on homies Camaro😂

[bennyhelgeson]

I have 50 chevy that runs hot and currently building 66 Nova. I will incorporate your good advice on my Nova

[thehoule]

Those back tires are on the wrong side the are spinning the wrong direction boys 😮 I love your guys channel especially the master m he’s totally funny 😂❤

[mikeconroy]

He correctly identifies one of the problems @8:25. no coolant reservoiur. Coolant expands, spews out the overflow hose and is later replaced with air, which exascerbates the situation. He's probably running the wrong pressure radiator cap too. I've also seen people buy the wrong fan and try to make it work. Sometimes they buy a "pusher" when they need a "puller" and will flip the blade around, but the blades are designed to move "X" amount of air at a given rotation. Driving them backwards by flipping the blade or reversing polarity will not yield the same results.

[thomasward]

I just looked up that Ron Davis set up and it is 2, 250 holy cow. I'm sure you could rig something up with a mechanical fan and a new radiator for half that or less

[Tsizzle]

Yes, the setup you used will work and by the time you pay a shop to install it you'll spend $2500-$3000 or more depending on the mess they find installing it. An AcDelco fan clutch, 6 blade 17"-18" fan and a shroud will fix this every time on anything Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Olds, AMC, etc for around $300 in parts given you have an engine and radiator that are in good working condition, setup right and room for the fan. Running a 160 degree thermostat is not good advise, neither is how you set it up with the holley sniper system. An engine does not run at it's most effiecient in that heat range, scientific fact. Neither does the aftermarket EFI. The Sniper system is setup from holley to not allow closed loop operation below 160 degrees for starters. You should have put a 195 degree thermostat in it, throw away the temp switch you put in to control the fans and wired them into the Sniper system to control them with a trinary switch for his Air conditioning so the fans will not only turn on/off with the temperature set up in the holley but they will also turn on when he switches the air conditioning on and cycle as they should with the AC system. They can also be programmed to shut off over a given throttle position for added performance. A better option if your going to spend that kind of money but don't have an EFI system to control an electric fan setup is to use a controller from someone like Dakota Digital with pulse width modulated fans that operate like a newer vehicle. For years now the manufacturer's have used 2 temp senders, one that sends a reading to the gauge and a second sender that sends a reading to the ECM. The gauge tells the driver their car is running at 195 deg, the one for the ECM is telling it the real running temp which is 205-210 degrees. They did this because the public has been used to seeing their vehicles run at 195 forever and when they figured out what we originally thought was the best temp for an engine to run at (195*) was wrong most people freaked out when they saw the temps running at 210*. The easiest way to make the public feel at ease was to just toss another sender in and program it to show it was running at 195 when it really is at 205-210 degrees. Looking at OEM programming with HpTuners, EFI live or using a J2534 will show you this.

[pinkysgarage]

My 83 Regal runs a Cold Case radiator and the original factory clutch fan. NEVER gets past 180, even on the hottest days. The factory shroud is also in place.
It has a Blueprint Crate Motor that makes decent power.

[ArlowFarrell]

I love the catch can addition, you never see that. However, I disagree on the switch; I like the 160 switch instead of the 180. I also use PERFORMANCE high CfM expensive fans. On top of that, I use a 160-165 thermostat instead of a 180. Other than that; this is a perfect recipe. I would look into high cfm ($230 a piece) fans though. And I have an eBay aluminum 4 core radiator and it has dual fan mounts, and my cars are doing better temp wise than what you were hoping for with this build.

[Mike_The_Hog_A_Nator]

I would love a 5.7 swap in my Blazer ZR2. Mine is doing the same at regular driving

[johnmilnerQQ]

In my 70 Z/28 4 speed I am using a 4 core rad, factory clutch fan with a 180* stat. The temp stays at 180* even in 93* weather.

[LouieGarcia-nzww]

Hi, Love watching you guys. Do you guys have a video on replacing shocks and coils on 62 impala

[paulbains]

You couild run 2 overlapping plastic mechanical fans with a pulley system . then you could get them lower and spread apart .On one car I built, I put a second rad, flat over the fuel tank, with an electric fan . I ran tubing in series with the front rad, and you can make the rear rad as big as you want, because its hidden . It worked very well .