Cooling problem solving

[Raycudamopar]

I finally ran the car in idle (this is without a fan shroud) again this morning after disconnecting the vacuum advance hose and plugging the distributor and carburetor stems for 15 minutes and it stayed at 180 for most of that time except right at the end it climbed to 195 and so I just shut it down. Normally, before disconnecting the vacuum advance it would have hit 210-230 by that time?

I noticed that at first the oil pressure was about 75 psi when first started cold then stayed at around 60-65 for quite a while until the car started to go beyond 180 at which time the oil pressure slowly went down to about 38 psi as the water temp increased in tandem??

Anyway, I will take it out for a drive soon and see what it does on my way to change the "break in" oil and replace it with regular oil and see how much that helps if at all.

I know this is still too early at least for me to formulate any ideas but any insights from you more knowledgeable guys would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[mrwfp]

Check the thermostat.  After mine failed, I replaced it with a brand new 185 degree one and my car did the same thing - got to about 230 in that time.  The thermostat was defective right out of the box.  I placed it in a pan of boiling water and it did not even start to open until around 230 degrees. 

[AARuFAST]

Do u have electric fans or clutch fan?
Why did you remove the shroud?

[Beekeeper]

All of my cars show lower oil pressure when it's significantly warmer (to a point). Your numbers don't seem bad at all in my view. Also, 195 doesn't seem that hot to me for a car running at idle for long periods, especially with no fan shroud. I'd love for all my cars to always remain at 180 under those conditions. I have to wonder if your fan clutch is starting to fail though since it was at 180 most the time but went up to 195 at one point for no reason.

As far as the vacuum advance, I never run them. more trouble than it's worth in my opinion. Most of my engines seem to like around 15-18 degrees of initial advance with the centrifugal advance bringing it up to 36-38 total at higher rpm's. I never have trouble with overheating, pinging, starting, etc. and they all run nice and strong and smooth at all ranges.

[Raycudamopar]

Check the thermostat.  After mine failed, I replaced it with a brand new 185 degree one and my car did the same thing - got to about 230 in that time.  The thermostat was defective right out of the box.  I placed it in a pan of boiling water and it did not even start to open until around 230 degrees.

Checked thermostat and it is ok

[Raycudamopar]

Do u have electric fans or clutch fan?
Why did you remove the shroud?

Neither just have a direct mechanical flex fan
Shroud was removed because on  Champion 4 row radiator that was not made for it and attached through the radiator fins I did not feel that it was stable that way.

[Raycudamopar]

All of my cars show lower oil pressure when it's significantly warmer (to a point). Your numbers don't seem bad at all in my view. Also, 195 doesn't seem that hot to me for a car running at idle for long periods, especially with no fan shroud. I'd love for all my cars to always remain at 180 under those conditions. I have to wonder if your fan clutch is starting to fail though since it was at 180 most the time but went up to 195 at one point for no reason.

As far as the vacuum advance, I never run them. more trouble than it's worth in my opinion. Most of my engines seem to like around 15-18 degrees of initial advance with the centrifugal advance bringing it up to 36-38 total at higher rpm's. I never have trouble with overheating, pinging, starting, etc. and they all run nice and strong and smooth at all ranges.

Will take your advice into consideration, thanks

[Chryco Psycho]

I do the same more initial advance 16-18 * range & no vacuum they run better this way

[Grancoupe]

Did you try turning the heat on full blast to see if the heat drops? If it drops the radiator is probably in need of a shroud. If it keeps getting hotter you might have a flow issue. Under drive pulley? Failing water pump? 
Did you look at the plugs? Are you running too lean?