I've been having trouble with vapor lock in the white princess lately and want to get the engine temperature down. Today I installed a 160 thermostat (a 195 was removed ). I also put a bottle of WaterWetter in the radiator. Just curious if anyone has tried this stuff.... does it work ???

I know there was a thread on this stuff some time ago. Try doing a search to locate it.

As far as getting the coolant temperature, a lower thermostat isn't going to do the trick for you. All that does is let the radiator open up sooner. If your engine's optimal operating temp is 200, its going to get there and stay regardless how low you go with the thermostat. In fact you may do more harm than good by keeping the initial engine temperature down. The Car & Driver column I referenced in a posting might help answer a couple of questions regarding coolant types to try.

I was having some vapor lock problems also with mine last summer until a friend suggested putting some space between the carb and the intake manifold, to insulate the carb a little from the block temperature. I found a Mr. Gasket spacer kit at a local Champion Auto store which raised the carb 3/4 of an inch off the manifold. My vapor lock problems disappeared right away. In fact, before I installed the kit I couldn't touch the carb after running for awhile because it was so hot. But after installing the kit, the carb is barely warm to the touch, even on the warmest days. The only problem I had with the installation was needing to fabricate a longer connecting rod for the choke coil.

Good luck!

Yes, it really made no difference it was a waste of money.

I also tried the wetter water. It seems to help ( slightly ) as long as I am moving, temp seems to be about 10 degrees cooler. But as soon as I stop, it climbs right back to about 220-230. Before the new engine goes in, I plan to get the radiator rodded out. If that does not fix it, then it will be time to check out BE COOL aluminum radiators and electric fans. Maybe even an electric high flow water pump and high flow thermostat.

Norsky - raising the carb 3/4 inch... didn't you have problems with hood clearance?
How did raising the carb affect performace, if it did at all...

I read the thread regarding cooling and antifreeze. That's what gave me the idea for WaterWetter.

I'll keep yinz guys posted on the results of the theromostat change and WaterWetter.

Using the full gasket kit would have added an inch to the space between intake and carb, and yes, that did cause a clearance problem. But by pulling some of the spacers, I was able to solve the clearance issue and still get the carb A LOT cooler.

As far as an increase in performance, all I can say is that there seems, or feels, to be a bit more zip to "The Toy" since putting the kit in. I don't have any hard and fast numbers to compare before and after, but resolving the warm start problems has been the part of the deal.


Jim O.

I disagree with the comment about the termostat. I have an 80 that ran 220+, city or highway. I installed a hi-flo 160 degree thermostat and now it runs at 190 to 200. By opening sooner and flowing more coolant the motor will not heat up past 200. I know it worked for me.

I'm no expert, but my understanding of how the cooling system functions is to maintain a minimum operating temperture within the engine.

Say you have a 180 degree thermostat installed. When you startup a "cold" car, the coolant temperature is whatever the ambient temperture is around the car. The thermostat remains closed to allow the engine to reach it's minimum optimum operating temperature (180) as quickly as possible. Once the coolant temperature has reached, and exceeded, 180 degrees the thermostat remains opens until the coolant temperature drops below that temperature again. The thermostat only controls the minimum temperature of the coolant, not the maximum.

The "heat exchangers" in the system, the radiator and the heater core, work to keep the maximum temperature of the coolant under the point where the engine "cooks" itself. So if the optimum operating temperature for your engine is 200 degrees, the thermostat regulates getting up to that temperature as quickly as possible. It doesn't have anything to do with regulating whatever maximum temperature the coolant may get to. Excessive coolant temperatures result from the "heat exchangers" not being able to do their jobs effectively, whether it be from restricted air flow, coolant flow, or whatever. I didn't realize until I read that column I referenced earlier in the thread that the type of coolant and/or the mixture of coolant and water would have that much of an impact on the cooling capacity of the system.

I think the "hi-flo" part of the thermostat that was installed had more to do with dropping the engine temperature than the lower degree level of it. Allowing more coolant to flow through the system lets the radiator do its job of lowering the coolant temperature better. Putting in too low a degree thermostat makes the engine run longer before it reaches its optimum operating temperature. That means that the oil temperature remains lower longer (which could mean more engine wear do to insufficient lubrication) and could possibly have an impact on the fuel/air mixture.

It took me a long time to grasp that concept, but I had it "beat into my head" by several friends who are serious "motorheads".


Jim O.

I am far from an being an expert, myself, but I know the results I got on my 80. If you have time someday try a 160 degree stat in your car and check the results. I would be interested . My vette runs cooler with no detonation and better all around performance. I guess my old thermostat could have been sticking or not opening all the way. But the 160 made a big difference .

Another few items to check is that your radiator is not blocked with debris, if you have a thermo fan clutch its working, also make sure the foam air dams are present and in good condition. If your problem is heating up at idle, your going to need an electric fan and possibly an after market radiator. One last thing a thicker radiator more rows does not do all that much, wider is the trick, but not much room for a wider unit.

Thanks Glenn