Re: {Chrysler 300} Advice for a Hurst that is new to Texas

Hi John ,

The thermostat has no effect on ultimate cooling ability if working right once it is open , which it will tend to be no matter what rating is on a hot day with ac .

And water at 190 can reject far more heat to the air than water at 160 . People mix up temperature and heat removed , not the same thing . You want heat removed at as high a rate as possible , ( how much hot air goes out) and given that the rate of cooling ( throwing away heat) is completely dependent on the difference between the air temp and water temp — you need high temp to throw away heat .

So the size of the radiator sets the max cooling along with how hot can it get . All good.

Pressurized cap allows maybe 235 , but if all that cooling is not needed , say cruising along the thermostat closes a bit to keep engine at at least 190 to avoid condensation inside and correct viscosity of oil . Avoids sludge . Old cars are unpressurized so 160 gave you more time before boiling , say climbing a hill . Your car does not work like that .

So you are doing exactly the right thing , clean radiator and new hoses to stand the 14 psi or whatever stock cap is. That 235 is your reserve cooling ability . Remember removing total heat is the job , not keeping water temp low .

So stay all stock and don’t worry about it . You are not the first ac 440 in texas(!)

Can’t resist :

By the way I had a 70 imperial 2 dr coupe in 71 , after getting in a lot of trouble with cops with a 440 challenger rt convert , after all I crossed 30 yo, no more street racing !

However it went 135 or so one night , uphill(!) beat a porsche uphill on route 2 hill out of Bostion at 2 am . He passed me over top at about 140 , but I won up the hill ( go 440)

However big single exhaust on those had a rust hole in pipe over top of rear axle , that wot run uphill set the trunk rug on fire . Case of beer in back seat put it out .

Never overheated! Can’t resist that story , all true . Loved that car , 70 300 convert still grabs me .

John

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 10, 2023, at 6:15 AM, John Nowosacki <jsnowosacki@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Greetings from down south. Having moved here fairly recently, I'm loving the fact that I'm still going to cruise nights during the week and car shows/swap meets on the weekends here in central Texas in January, but I know I'll be paying for it next summer.
On that note, I've pulled the radiator from my A/C equipped Hurst to have it pressure tested, cleaned, flow tested, etc. by a reputable radiator shop in the area. I'm also taking advantage of the somewhat emptied engine bay to change upper and lower radiator hoses and heater hoses.
My question to the group is, I believe the thermostat in the car is a 190 degree unit, which never, ever gave me any issues on 90+ and humid summer days in New England, but with multiple 100+ degree days in my future, and while everything is out of the way, should I consider replacing the thermostat with one of a different value, such as 180 or even 160?
The A/C works fine as far as cooling is concerned, but there doesn't seem to be much difference in fan speed between medium and high speeds on the dash. I'm hoping that with a flush, clean, flow and pressure test, when I put it all back together it will be quite some time before anything has to come apart again, so now's the time to decide on a value for the thermostat. I've seen some things on the internet about people drilling 1/8" holes in the plate of the thermostat so there is some flow even before it opens on its own, etc., but I don't want to do anything strange to a car that has only overheated that one time I was doing over 100 mph and threw the small belt for the water pump pulley. I don't do that dumb stuff anymore, but I will want to try to make the system bullet/Texas proof while I have it apart. That radiator (original to the car) will be cooling the tranny as well as the motor, and will have the big condenser in front of it pulling Texas heat out of the interior, so any advice would be appreciated.
Looking forward to going to Fredericksburg this coming September, as it is less than 2 hours from my house, which is pretty much just down the street for Texas driving. ;-)

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