Anips-

The clogged condenser is a good point, a lot of guys treat A/C as an accessory that has no impact on engine issues. Unfortunately though, mine is clean, and I even flushed it just to be sure.

My cooling system seems to be almost identical to yours; what is your engine package like? Particularily, what compression are you running?

Mbarney-

Speaking of hoses, the theory that the lower radiator hose may be collapsing at speed is another that has come up. As of yet I have not figured out a way to test this.

Hey Ken, any ideas??



|UPDATED|8/6/2004 11:19:23 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Same problem as before. I'm going to have the radiator pressure checked and then go on from there. I've had zero time work on the car in the last month. I'm planning to put a new engine in the car sometime over the winter anyway. So until then, well I'll just fix what I can when I can. I'll post more after the radiator test.

Rick, the LT-1 was rebuilt 10K ago with 9.25 TRW's but with the bigger bores and the surfaced heads I'am thinking maybe 9.5 or more, 37' total mech.advance all in at 2k, plugs look a little on the lean side but no problems, with headers and 2.5 exh and reworked HEI, I made sure that all the air went through the radiator, plugged all the holes in the foreward bulk head, there should be weather stripping around bumper brackets where they come through the bulkhead and where the inner fender meets the outer fender at the top of the bulkhead, there should also be a rubber air dam bounded to the inside lower valance to keep air from going past the bulk head and forward crossmember, make sure where the AC lines pass through the bulkhead that they are plugged, trimmed about 3/4" off the bottom of the black plastic that shield the headlites and opened the lower air intake holes at the bottom of the valance a bit.

|UPDATED|8/7/2004 9:14:27 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Rick, get the engine fully warmed up, and rev the engine up to about 2000 rpm and watch the bottom hose. If it's going to collaspe you will be able to see it deform some at this point.

For it to collaspe, it needs to get wider as well as flatten out. Put several hose clamps around the hose, about 2 or 3 inches apart, all the way up the hose. Just snug them down enough to hold the round shape of the hose. This will prevent it from collasping. If the clamps cure the problem, the hose was collasping, and you can replace it.

You don't have to take the hose off to install the test clamps. Just fully unscrew the clamps and place them over the hose, then restart them and snug them to the hose.

|UPDATED|8/7/2004 8:00:24 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Anips-

Sounds like you have a real nice set up there. I suspect that you're well below the compression level that creates heat issues. And thanks for the tips on sealing all those little openings.

Ken-

Thanks for the ideas on how to test for the collapsing hose. The hose clamp idea is truly ingenious. Two of our local speed shops didn't have any ideas and neither did the numerous gearheads that I talked to. Sounds like a good tech tip.



|UPDATED|8/20/2004 10:45:17 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Your Welcome Rick

The hose trick is one that I came up with out of desperation. I use it on a fuel hose the first time. A replacement hose keep wanting to kink, this stopped it until I could get the correct hose.

kstyer said: The hose trick is one that I came up with out of desperation. I use it on a fuel hose the first time. A replacement hose keep wanting to kink, this stopped it until I could get the correct hose.

you can use wire ties for this also..

and my old man showed me how to do this by cutting the ends off of a beer can and slide over trouble spots on radiator hoses.

or use snips to cut in half long ways to wrap a beer can around smaller hoses..

oh yeah the beer can hose splice too.. cut the ends off, snip a line, roll it up tight... slide two hose ends over it, and you have a temporary splice.

this post is not an admission of guilt in any way..

|UPDATED|8/21/2004 5:46:47 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Not guilty???? Not an Admission???? You my friend would lose in any court!!!!

using wire ties to temporarily and not so temporarily reshape hoses... guilty..

beer can splice... guilty on lesser charge of mountain dew can splice.

I guess either open container laws didnt exist or they werent enforced back in the late 70's/early 80's..

my father always took one for the road... and smoked while pumping gas too.

but I have a question for you ken.. do you teach your students these special problem solving techniques??

while were talking about the "good" old days.. my grandfather owned a garage that did shop service (after retiring from sheriff).. every summer I gophered 5 days/week in his shop (to save money on a baby sitter no doubt). He also ran a mobile repair truck, he had an old box van full of tools and common parts.. you could call him up and he would bring tires, hoses, new battery, alternator, starter, etc, and repair the car road side.. He always took the roadside jobs so I was the truck gopher too.

Ive never heard of anyone else doing this. Anyone else seen, used, or performed this type of service ?

|UPDATED|8/22/2004 10:50:08 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|