Hi guys,

I recently purchased a 1953 Studebaker with a 500 caddy engine. The engine is bored .030, has a mild performance cam, edelbrock carb and intake, and sanderson headers. She is very stout and torquey! It was 90 something degrees yesterday afternoon and I got the car out on the road for the first time. We drove for a couple hours and the engine temp stabilized at 210 to 215 running at 60 mph with the ac on. Temp didn't change with the ac off. It got up to 225 occasionally when we stopped at an intersection. I'm concerned that it may get too hot in stop and go traffic. The car has an aluminum griffin radiator (19 x 18 x 3" core) with a electric fan (14.5"). I cannot run an engine driven fan because the top of the water pump pulley is almost to the top of the radiator! The fan runs all of the time at these temps and I don't think it will last long. If these temps are OK I may just have to get a higher temp fan switch? What degree thermostat should I be running? Have any of you tried the Flow-Kooler water pump? I claims to pump 30% more water. What about a waterless coolant? A larger radiator will not fit without major core support modifications, so does anyone have some suggestions?

Thanks,
Dwayne

I read that the stock temp. alarm didn't go off until 230 degrees, but the t-stat stock was a 195. FYI in case you didn't know, that stat is a special one unique to the Caddy. Make sure you ask for it. BTW that car sounds really cool, how 'bout a pic?

Barge Master is right on.

I think you are ok for now. But (I may be wrong) you may have some issues in hotter weather, say 100 degrees.

I would not do anything to shut down that fan, it needs to be running 100 percent of the time in the weather you describe. The 472/500 caddys had big (belt driven) flex fans with a high pitch angle. These fans moved vast quantities of air (don't remember exact cfm). Also the radiator was wider than the one in your setup. I realize that your radiator is of better quality than the stock caddy, but do not know the btu capacity. If you plan to drive in hotter weather, you may wish to consider a bigger fan (more cfm). Perhaps other viewers can offer advice.
I never used waterless coolant, but have used pure water (with rust inhibitor and water pump lube) without any problems. Water performs better than regular coolant (as far as heat removal), don't know about waterless.
The thermostat determines the minimum engine operating temperature not the maximum (unless it gets stuck closed). Maximum temperature is determined by the amount of heat the cooling system can remove.
Anyway, it sounds like you have a really neat car, good luck.

We drove for a couple hours and the engine temp stabilized at 210 to 215 running at 60 mph with the ac on. Temp didn't change with the ac off. It got up to 225 occasionally when we stopped at an intersection.

210 on the hiway sounds ok but 225 and I would start to worry. Can you get a bigger electric fan on there (more cfm not necessarily more physical size). I have heard good things about water wetter http://www.redlineoil.com/products_coolant.asp?productID=53 . Maybe that would help? I like a 180 thermostat on the older engines but don't think any choice would be causing this problem.

Steve B.