110 degrees, out cruising and all is fine.

[Kern Dog]

One of my goals for my cars is to build them to take the "abuse" that late model daily driver cars can take without trouble.
Oil leaks, charging issues, alignment problems and road noise seems to be some of the issues that we classic car owners deal with but this time of year, the risk of overheating seems to be at the top of the list.

So far, today has been the hottest day of the year. We had a few days over 115 last September but this was the high today. Not much for humidity here but still more than Arizona....
I hadn't driven "Ginger" in well over a month, before I broke my shoulder. The car has a Tremec 5 speed so I needed my left shoulder to be adequate to steer the car while I shifted. Automatics are easier to drive but this car is more fun!

I was out and about, enjoying the drive. This transmission is great even at easy shifting, cruising type driving. It feels like a late model car with the hydraulic clutch and smooth shifter design. I don't drive this car easy all the time. I like to rap it up and hear the exhaust humming. The down rev as I upshift is intoxicating.
Free flowing traffic or stuck at lights, the temp stayed within a narrow range. ZERO detonation even with 6 week old (or older) gas and high temps.
I now have the same radiator and similar shroud in my other Charger after having trouble with a Griffin and no shroud. I'm hoping that the overheating problem I had on the freeway is a thing of the past. I simply stumbled into good luck with this combination. I've seen some people struggle to keep their cars cool even with quality parts.
How is your cooling system holding up in the heat?

 

[ckessel]

It was a blistering 65 today.

 

[Ray70Chrg]

Hey KD, didn't know it got that hot there. My charger has 383, auto, and has been on the road since 2019. I have no problems driving in 106 temps, but it's always after sundown. The thermostat is 180 degrees and the most I've encountered is 190 to 200 when in stop and go traffic. A/c is not installed yet so it's not fighting that. I believe the radiator is the original.

 

[1967coronet]

Glad it's running cool Greg and that your getting healed up.
My old 67 cools just fine 26 " 3 row champion , napa pump, 180 stat, 18" mechanical fan and shroud.
That color fits that car.

 

[threewood]

I just flushed my cooling system. At idle, over 100 outside temp the car will hit 205 running in the sun. Once it gets going it drops to 190. I drove it plenty of times in Yuma.

 

[kiwigtx]

It was a blistering 65 today.

Reached a max of 57 here today. Positively balmy weather.

 

[Cranky]

My 28-year-old Dakota beater still is doing fine with an aftermarket single core aluminum radiator. IIRC the tubes are 1 1/4" and the temp doesn't even climb sitting in traffic with the AC on and yes the AC still works in that thing. The 27 year old Dakota with an unknown radiator does fine too until I get into traffic light stops but I don't have a shroud on it right now. I left it off after I did a water pump job and a couple other things and the main reason I left it off is because I noticed the transmission line was seeping but it's not leaking enough to bother with it after a year so I guess I'll put the shroud back on. The 26 year old Diesel 2500.....the only thing that will make the temp on that thing come up is if I block the radiator 70%.

 

[Kern Dog]

Just to set the record straight, I have an Engineered Cooling Products 26" aluminum radiator with 2 rows of either 1" or 1 1/4" tubes. I don't recall exactly. The water pump housing is aluminum. The pump is a Flowkooler. I have a standard 7 blade clutch fan and a factory shroud.

I have a Milodon 180 degree thermostat and run as close to 50/50 mix of anti-freeze & water.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Let me know when your ready for a serious test.... We've done Old Priest Grade when it's 105 degrees... If you make it without overheating your cooling system works pretty well.. We've lost a few cars.... Average grade is 13% with a few stretches hitting 19%

 

[Kern Dog]

I did get stuck in a short traffic jam on the way home. A Jeep had flipped over and was blocking traffic so two lanes of cars were backed up...I was 1/4 mile from the intersection and expecting to see the temps climb. It runs at 200 or so in cold weather and about 210 in hot weather.
A steady grade could tax a system past it's comfort zone though...

 

[Geoff 2]

Happy days! Your example shows that [a] the factory knew what they were doing & persistence pays off.

 

[Kern Dog]

One other thing that really helped:
Several years ago I swapped in a Carter mechanical fuel pump that maxes out around 11 PSI. I installed a regulator with a return line so all fuel pressure over 6 1/2 PSI goes back to the tank. Keeping fuel in a loop eliminated vapor lock and stumbling 100%.

 

[kiwigtx]

Let me know when your ready for a serious test.... We've done Old Priest Grade when it's 105 degrees... If you make it without overheating your cooling system works pretty well.. We've lost a few cars.... Average grade is 13% with a few stretches hitting 19%

What is the max altitude?

Only asking because no doubt the next question will be the carb is running rich, and why?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

What is the max altitude?

Only asking because no doubt the next question will be the carb is running rich, and why?

Not very high... Around 3000 ft... But the road is less than 2 miles long & gains about 1500 ft of elevation.. Now if ya care to join us for a trip up to Kirkwood for lunch the peak elevation on that drive is over 9000 ft & some of the carb equipt vehicles do start blubbering all over themselves...

 

[moparedtn]

110F??
Fluck that shiyat!
After replacing the radiators in both the '04 Ram and now the '12 Charger (and they NEVER vary much
on operating temps), I gotta wonder how the hell the same job is being done now with these plastic tanked
single row aluminum radiators as is being performed with my big ol' Griffin in Fred?
Must be some magic in these newer ones, because it ain't surface area differences or what have you...
Hell, makes me want to try one in Fred, honestly.

 

[gtx6970]

Im in southern Az and I'll take mine out in 100-110 degree days. It doesnt have air so hot summer days are limited. Mine is a black car and trust me, it makes a difference in the cabin on hot days.
Recored OEM radiator ( 25 years ago btw ) and factory fan shroud, 180 degree hi flow stat ( I think this one is a Mr Gasket brand). Direct drive stock 18inch fan.

Mine will run right in the 180-190 range,, untill I get in stop and go traffic. Then it rises to the low 200s. but cools right back down once moving again.

I run straight distilled water. But plan to flush it here soon and add a gallon of antifreeze for the corrosion protection more so than the freeze qualities.

I took the drive up Mt Lemmon 2 years ago. it rises 6000 ft in 28 miles. No temperature issues at all

 

[beanhead]

Just to set the record straight, I have an Engineered Cooling Products 26" aluminum radiator with 2 rows of either 1" or 1 1/4" tubes. I don't recall exactly. The water pump housing is aluminum. The pump is a Flowkooler. I have a standard 7 blade clutch fan and a factory shroud.

View attachment 1495506

I have a Milodon 180 degree thermostat and run as close to 50/50 mix of anti-freeze & water.

View attachment 1495529

I run pretty much the identical setup to yours but with an ACC (ebay) radiator, that I painted black. 440/505". I do have the auto trans plumbed through the radiator's cooler, then to an external one mounted in front. I'd always figured that would increase the operating temps some...but it hasn't seemed to. Took the car out for some errands yesterday, it was only about 105 at that point but even idling in traffic it stayed under 195 and that was after a few stops, so it had some good heat soak. I haven't "altitude" tested it but pleased as punch with the around-town cooling!
I don't have A/C and even though it isn't terrible in a white car with all those windows down I don't spend too much time out in it when it's this hot.
It's also worth mentioning that a good tune and timing really help cooling performance.

 

[beanhead]

110F??
Fluck that shiyat!
After replacing the radiators in both the '04 Ram and now the '12 Charger (and they NEVER vary much
on operating temps), I gotta wonder how the hell the same job is being done now with these plastic tanked
single row aluminum radiators as is being performed with my big ol' Griffin in Fred?
Must be some magic in these newer ones, because it ain't surface area differences or what have you...
Hell, makes me want to try one in Fred, honestly.

Ed I've wondered that too...my '04 has that nice electric fan setup but there's an A/C condenser and oil cooler in front so the radiator isn't even the first thing to feel the air. Must be the modern efi and computer-controlled tune.
I've pushed my hemi Ram pretty hard in some severe conditions and temp never seems to change. The only time it did was early on one of the plastic tanks developed a crack and leaked a bunch of coolant; the temp gauge immediately showed it.

 

[moparedtn]

Ed I've wondered that too...my '04 has that nice electric fan setup but there's an A/C condenser and oil cooler in front so the radiator isn't even the first thing to feel the air. Must be the modern efi and computer-controlled tune.
I've pushed my hemi Ram pretty hard in some severe conditions and temp never seems to change. The only time it did was early on one of the plastic tanks developed a crack and leaked a bunch of coolant; the temp gauge immediately showed it.

I agree - both these haven't lived exactly pampered lives and of course, we're in the hot n soupy SE down here,
yet neither have had any issues staying dead on operating temps regardless.
The problems were the typical separating of the plastic from the aluminum deal at the seams....
It's like radiators are routine maintenance replacement items these days.
I almost pulled the trigger on an all-metal aftermarket one for the Charger a few weeks ago (yep, they make
'em) but instead opted for the "mid-level" Denso one, which turned out to be very nice for what it is.

OH, almost forgot - changed out the Chargers' 203F thermostat for a 192F just because - well, I'm ME, too.
I wondered if the computer or the fans would take issue with it. Nope, sucker runs dead 192 now.

 

[Kern Dog]

110 out west with the humidity in the 20s is equivalent to 90 degrees with 70-75% humidity. Delta V posted a link here once when I wrote about our trip to Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky in 2021. I wrote how the trip was part fact finding mission to see what the weather felt like. Back at home, I mentioned that we had a day that was 109 and that it felt similar.