My Apologies, Tom, Duke, Jerry, et al

["just plain old " Everett]

I didn't mean to stir it up about heat transfer again. Yeah right... Hey, I'm having fun here - no one else is? Jerry, I don't have numbers for you either on any of my personal experiences. My whole point was to say that a blanket statement of "more water is better" is absolutely not true in some if not most closed loop circulating systems. This is based on the fact that heat transfer is a gradient driven process which requires time. It is not a "flash" process. So, with all that said, there are some radiators/systems out there where more water flow may be appropriate (like modern multiple row types with a high ratio of transfer surface area to coolant volume), and some systems where it is not, like my mid year big block. It was marginal when brand new, and if it scales up, the radiator cannot transfer the heat from the water to the air as quickly (as it did when new), so higher water flow in that case would not help. That's about all I was ever saying. My first personal experience with this was with a hot rodded GTO which had a bigger, hotter engine in it with the stock radiator, and it definitely could barely keep up. At higher RPM on the highway it overheated, and I could see the temp gauge come down as I slowed down coming in off the highway. It was one of those systems where the balance of all the components was just such that at some point the coolant flow became "non-optimal".

[Tom B.]

Re: Quit apologizing, You're right...

Cousin Everett,

It's no hassle, unless someone wants to take it that way. Jerry's going to continue to use high flow water pumps and no one is going to change his mind. I'm not saying they can't or won't work, just that "blanket statements" (like you say) about overheating problems aren't the solution. Duke's point is well taken, Chevrolet engineers aren't a bunch of dummies, if they knew the benefits of faster flow would have solved the problem they would have implemented the appropriate measures. TBarr #24014

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

No need to apologize to me!

I think we're in basic agreement, Everett. Overheating problems seem to be a common topic on the board, particularly on BBs, and I'm genuinely interested in bringing whatever knowledge I have to bear on the problem. These kind of discussions can get pretty rancorous. I can recall some meetings when I was in the aerospace business where guys were practically lunging across the conferance table to get at the throats or the "other side". Hopefully we can minimize this and keep focused on the problem. I've been working with Tom on some experiements with his BB to see if we can reduce his operating temperature. We'll keep the Board informed of anything we learn.

Duke

["just plain old " Everett]

Re: My Apologies, Tom, Duke, Jerry, et al

Thanks guys. Actually I wasn't really apologizing - after all, I feel that my role here is that of an instigator and you all know how much I like to stir the pot with those non-controversial subjects like heat transfer and stamp pads. Speaking of stamp pads.... Just kidding. I enjoy these free-for-alls. Everyone gets his or her say, and we often learn something. Duke, you and I are definitely on the same side of this argument regarding the physics of heat transfer. Beyond the physics, every system has its own specifics and I was simply trying to clarify some common misconceptions. Have a good weekend all.