What is the overheating temp?

[mulletman]

i am all done overhauling my cooling system on my 440  new water pump skirted thermostat clutch fan hoses flushed and hot tanked the rad and put in a new temp gauge with numbers on it and i was wondering what is the temp thats too hot and i should stop. before i did all that she would get real hot going up hills all the way to the top of the stock gauge i had to go up all hills in first gear and never open the 4 barrels just pushing on the gas a little bit not working it at all there seems to be lots of power but i cant use it. i hope its better now. oh ya there was a non skirted thermo in it before and from what i have read on here you need a skirted on i hope that makes all the difference

[77Brave]

I hope you can keep us posted as to your results. I'm curious about this 'skirted thermostat' subject. I've asked a lot of reputable mechanics about it and they all looked at me like I had three heads. I did take off my thermostat housing and found my recently acquired Brave does have the Skirted Thermo. I tested it and it does work but I don't know how old it really is. So, I'm hoping to hear how your work goes.

[mulletman]

for sure i will post after my trip going for a week up the biggest hill here in b.c. canada i think it is like 25k up hill the hole time last time i went up it, it was sept and it was still getting hot bit that was before all the upgrades

[77Brave]

Sounds like one big 'hill'...! Have a safe trip...

[mvptarheel]

Most 50/50 antifreeze/water mixes have a boiling point of about 265 degrees F with a 15 psi radiator cap. My '72 w/413 will sometimes reach 230 degrees when I push it hard on warm days, then go back down when i back off a bit. I often run at 220 for several hours at a time with no damage. Make sure you have an overflow tank installed, as expansion forces antifreeze out of the radiator when the temperature increases.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

How Car Cooling Systems Work
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system3.htm

Dave

[mulletman]

well i just got back from my trip the skirted thermostat made all the difference the temp never went over 210 i would hit the big hill drop her down to first and start climbing going up at about 40km and about 3000 rpm she would start to heat up and just before it would hit 210 the fan would kick in and the temp would start going down to about 200 and thats where it stayed even on flat ground going 100 km it would hang around 200 i am vary happy with the outcome