@FWJ posted:@jwelch68 Quote:
If I put a 160 degree thermostat in, then it would run at 160 degrees.
This might be the case if your cooling system overall is able and capable to achieve 160F under these weather conditions. Maybe it runs at 175F and that’s it.
When I got my car back from Pantera Performance Center the engine was running at 160 degrees. That was indicating on a good Autometer water temperature gauge and not the factory Veglia gauge. When I called Dennis about this, he told me that he put a 160 degree thermostat in my engine because he thought that all of the Pheonix Pantera owners used them. The problem is that I live 200 miles from Pheonix and at over 4100 feet. The mornings in my area can be very cold and it is a different climate zone than Pheonix. I took the 160 degree one out and installed a 180 to get the temperature up to where it needed to be. If you are using a Cleveland block, there is the potential problem to have thin spots in the cylinder walls due to the thin wall casting method that was used to build them. Some blocks have the problem and some don't. If you bore a Cleveland block that already has thins spots, then you are making your cooling problem worse. Now put in a bigger camshaft and up the compression ratio and the problem gets worse because you are making more power.