1960 overheating problem

[scott scearce]

Hi all,

I bet this is a post subject that has been submitted before.

I have a '60 that overheats in hot weather/traffic. I got the radiator checked out and put on a quality flex fan which may have helped a bit. And I have a shroud on it. But the car still overheats.

2 weeks ago I went to the Good Guys car show here in California and spoke to a guy that owned the only C1 there; a '57. He told me he had the same problem and that he tried a whole slew of things to help; electric fan, new radiator, shroud etc and still has an overheating problem.

The problem seems to involve the distance between the fan and the radiator and the fact that the radiator is angled relative to the fan.

Has anyone ever seen a solution that seems to truely help? I am hearing now that a high volume water pump and lower temp thermostat really helps but I am hesitant to spend the money unless I get some more feedback.

Did people driving these cars 40+ years ago just have a lot of overheating problems?

thank for your inputs/advice,

Scott Scearce
San Jose, Ca.

[Mark B.]

Re: 1960 overheating problem

Scott, I have a stock 59 with a DeWitt's aluminum radiator (a DirectFit replacement), the stock fan shroud, the four blade stock fan with a 1-1/2-inch long stock 1960 aluminum spacer, a stock water pump, a 180-degree thermostat, and the proper air-blocking rubber surrounds on the exterior side of the radiator. I am using a 50/50 mix of distilled water and Prestone anti-freeze with no additives and a Wells TU-5 temp sending unit from AutoZone. I live in the Dallas area and drive the car in 90 to 100 degree weather all the time without overheating. Sometimes when stopped at long traffic lights, I will notice the temp gauge creep up to 200 degrees, but it comes back down to around 180 or below when moving at 45 mph. With all of this said, how's your initial timing at the distributor? I run a vacuum advance single-point distributor with 12 degrees of initial advance vs. the 6 degrees from the factory. I also have the vacuum hose hooked up to idle vacuum at the base of the carb. Timing may be your problem.

[Terry D.]

Re: 1960 overheating problem

Scott

You are right, this problem has been discussed numerous times. Search the archives, most of the time it is caused by improper timing. If you don't find what you are looking for in the archive ( I think you will) e-mail me and I will send you a great article written by John Hickley on the subject.
Terry

[Jack H.]

Many conclude they have an overheat...

problem simply because the temp gauge needle climbs too high for their tastes! You'll know when you have a bona fide overheating problem as the rad cap will pop from excessive pressure and you'll spray coolant all over the engine compartment.

If that (a geyser of coolant) has NOT happened, it's probably premature to declare you have an overheating problem! Search the archives and you'll find MANY prior threads on this subject that typically begin with getting a second opinion on the pointer needle position of the temp gauge....

[John O.]

Re: 1960 overheating problem

Hi Scott

If your overheating problem is only that your temp gauge is reading high and your not having any other signs of overheating, then your problem is the sending unit. Do as Mark says and get the Wells sending unit. I had the same problem in my 62 vette. The sending unit was from Corvette Central. My gauge read 200 plus degrees but I never actually overheated. I posted my problem here and was told to get the Wells sending unit from AutoZone. I replaced mine and now my temp reads around 180 to 190. So far so good.

Good luck....John

[scott scearce]

Re: 1960 overheating problem

Thanks a lot everyone!!

I put in an electronic ignition 2 years ago. I never have had a gusher out of the radiator yet but the car starts to run pretty rough when it starts to peg the needle; it almost stops running actually!

I bought a standard sender unit and put a variable resistor in line between the unit and the gauge and varied the resistance until the gauge matched a long thermometer I put into the radiator. I then replaced the variable resistor with a fixed one. I have no idea how linear it tracks over the full temp range.

I will definetly try the Wells unit and go back through the archives although with the electronic ignition it looks like I cannot do much there.

Thanks again for the help. Its great to be a part of NCRS.

Scott