Over heating risk after enclosing grill

[wheelrdealer]

We ran at Maxton a few times, completely covered grill. Aluminum double pass radiator with two fans. Ran the Moroso billet water  pump during the run and turned the fans on when I hit the return road. Never got over 190 and was cooled down by the time I got back in line. I run the fans and water pump on a separate battery  because they suck a lot of amps. Ignition and data logger run on a second battery. At Bonneville I would hit 200 to 205f.

Bill

[RebekahsZ]

Thank you. See you there in June?

[RebekahsZ]

Starting with an engine water temp of 194, with the grill blocked, at the end of each run, water temp was up to 230 when turning onto the second turn-out; it rose to 244 while waiting to get my timeslip.
With the grill opened to a 3" X 12" opening, water temp rose to 199 at the second turn out and rose to 207 while waiting to get my timeslip.

Unfortunately, I do not have a good same-day comparison of mph.  On day one with a small tailwind, the car went 174mph with the grill blocked.  It went 167 on day two with the grill open, but we were bucking a really big headwind.  Speeds were off enough on day two that most competitors went home early.  I will try to be more systematic with my research in 2016.

[joea]

very cool, appreciate your reporting back, regardless of situation !

[redhotracing]

We run a closed off grill but a 2"x12" cut out for forced air into the radiator... It works great. Previously were getting 220*'s and now tops out at ~200*.

[BobDcuda]

Redhot, did you lose any MPH when you added the air inlet?

[redhotracing]

No loss in MPH... We built an internal shroud so all of the air was directed at the radiator, will puller fans on the other side, as well.

[sdroadster]

I have a yellow 53 Studebaker #352 C/GCC with the grill completely closed off. The car has an aluminum radiator, and an electric fan. We began to run warmish at El Mirage in 1.3 miles. I knew we would overheat at Bonneville so I had a aluminum water tank made. The tank sits in the area of the passenger seat, is rectangular, and holds 10 gallons. I plumbed the tank like you would a heater on a production car. One 3/4" line comes off the pressure side of the pump to the top of the tank. At the bottom of the tank one 3/4" line returns to the water neck at the top of the intake manifold. We are running a 600 horse 368 SBC with iron Dart heads. In 2013 we ran 221 mph on the long coarse. The water temp is about 220 degrees when we shut off. The only thing I failed to consider, was the hot water, and wait time between runs needed to cool the water down. I may buy a pump at Harbor Freight to replace the hot water with cool in the tank. Your welcome to look at the car in the SDRC pits at Bonneville if you would like.

[sdroadster]

Oops, I told you wrong. The 3/4 hose comes off the bottom of the water tank to the threaded suction port on the top of the pump. The top of the intake manifold near the water neck has a 3/4 hose running to the top of the water tank. So hot water comes out of the top of the motor, gets mixed with cooler water in the 10 gallon tank, and then returns to the water pump ultimately supplying  cooler water to the engine.

[RebekahsZ]

I guess one thing I need to figure out is:  how hot is TOO hot?  For an aluminum block LS. I think the factory low-temp fan turns on at 210 and the high-temp fan cones on at 229. (?). Do the guys with no radiator and just big water tanks run ice water, antifreeze, a liquid with improved heat exchange, or just tap water?