G'Day everyone,
I have a question about what my temperature gauge should read under normal driving. when driving only about 10 to 20 miles my
temperture gets up to over have way very quick and to me this seams to be hot .Could someone please let me know what temp is normal for a corvette to be sitting on I hope you's can shed some light on this problem . I thank you for your answers.

What temperature thermostat is in the engine , and what temperature shows on the gauge ?

Geo

being your engine is supercharged it will get hotter faster. high compression of the additional air forced in from the supercharger will creat high heat levels not found in a normal engine. (thats how a diesel works, high compression of air/fuel causes high heat to fire the mix)) thats why your enging heats up fast and may cause your cooling system to taxed to its limit.

G'Day again
i'm running a 160 degree thermo stat and have removed the super charger for now,the gauge reads 200 at halfway mark and 280 at the end .When driveing it seems to sit at the 200+ mark and creeps up ,the motor is new and i have flushed the radiator , my concern is between 200&280 doesn't leave much room before it will over heat,is it normal for the car to sit at this temp.
I have just got it back on the road and can't remember what temperture it sat on before.
Thanks for your reply.

Rabbit:
Just for reference, my 79 generally runs between 180 and 200 when warmed up. The only time she creeps up over 200 is while sitting in traffic for an hour on an over 80 degree F day while "Cruisin" the Woodward strip.

Hope this helps,

Here's my .02 cents
If the gauge you are looking at is the stock gauge in the dash, don't for a second think it is accurate. The gauges back then gave a " ballpark" number. Go to a mechanic that has one of the new digital temp gauges that you just point at the engine or heater hose and see what it reads. I am not saying it will be dead on correct but I bet it is much more accurate than the gauge in the dash.
Don't know if this will work but if you can find someone with a C3 near your year, try running a jumper from your temp sender unit on the engine to the wire going to his temp gauge. You might also have to run a ground wire between cars to get a common ground.
Good luck.

I have put in a Robertshaw 175 or 180 thermostat (better flow) and went to a flex fan because of high temps. I also use Moblil 1 oil. Now I have no problems with my 69 350/350.

I definitely agree with GLENNS about the stock guage. My '69 guage was reading high so I replaced the temperature sender with a supposedly correct chevy replacement from NAPA. It now consistently reads aroud 220 - 225 deg. F under normal driving conditons. I used two stainless steel hose clamps to strap an AC type thermometer to the top radiator hose as close to the thermostat housing as I could get it. I drove the car for about an hour and found the temp guage was reading 36 degrees higher than the thermometer!!!

My '79 ran at the 220 mark when I first got it 6 months ago. I dropped a 160 'stat in her and she stays at the first mark and runs a lot cooler. It creeks up just a bit on the highway, seems to love the city life...

michaelandyolie said: ... I dropped a 160 'stat in her and she stays at the first mark and runs a lot cooler. ...

Any idea what the old thermostat temperature was?


Jim O.
Save the Wave...!!!