Cold Running 5.7 Chevy in AK

[DJC]

Hi, I have an AK with an old school 5.7 chevy in it. Still like to use it in winter (on a dry day) but it struggle to get to temp when cruising at 60mph. I've heard some fabricate brackets to slot in a cover to restrict the air flow over the rad?
Mine has an open front so more likely to hurt in cold weather!

Any advice?36ECE88C-9BF3-46DF-92DF-273F2CBC7FAD.jpeg

[KevinW]

Nice looking car.
Depends on what you mean by cold?
I went out when it was 3 degrees and it took 15+ miles to get up to temperature.

[JamesB]

Surely if the thermostat is working correctly it should still warm up quite quickly? Are you sure that the thermostat is A)working and B)correctly rated? I used to drive my car in the winter and never suffered from this problem and I did not have any radiator covering, but to be fair in that guise the car was more likely to overheat in any weather!

[KevinW]

Maybe my thermostat opens too soon, but its what Mike Huddart fitted.
Anyway, point I was making is that on a very cold day with cold air blowing over the engine, it takes a long time for these large lumps of American metal to get properly warmed up.

[DJC]

Thanks Kevin, When starting the car in the drive & left to idle..... takes 5 - 10 mins to heat up to temp when fan kicks in..... the journey i did was 38 miles down the A1 & didn't get up to temp at any point. When accelerating it spluttered as if cold & temp gauge was around 45 degrees! The outside temp was circa 4 degrees.

[skinnymathew]

Does sound like the thermostat, then; if it's stuck open or opens too early then the air through the radiator whilst moving will cool the engine prematurely; sitting on the drive without the airflow allows it to reach temperature.

[DJC]

Thanks, will look into that.

[KevinW]

Sounds like thermostat...maybe I should check my ow as well!

[427jlc]

It won’t be your thermostat if it works through the year. On the fords the thermostat hosing is at the front directly in the path of the cold air hitting the front on the engine. The thermostat housing is very thin but I doubt it would cool the water that quick coming out of the block to cool the thermostat and close it. The temp probe is at the front of the blocks directly into the cylinder water jacket. I have a manual gauge with a capillary, mine looks like it runs cold as I think the cold air is cooling the capillary at the front of the engine before it gets hot enough to move the needle on the gauge, with having a thermostat switch in the top hose I know the water is getting up to temp as after a couple of spirited drives the fans come on and go off at their preset temp range.

[Dek]

You could always pop it out and put in a pan of heated water with a thermometer if you have one and see what temperature it opens.
Dek
ps
I’ve sent you a pm.