Re: IML: 1960 gauge/personality notes

["Rob van der Es" <r.vdes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Kenyon,

Thanks for your input!,

With regard to the brake pedal travel: my 60 behaves exactly as yours:
pedal grabs 35% of the way to the floor and
is full lock by 60%.

I understand your point of view with regard to the  temp issue, but maybe 
you
can make another thing clear to me.
What was the the default OEM thermostat type that was fitted when our 1960
Imperials leaved the factory?
I thought it was 180F, but when I openend my thermostat housing latst week I 
found
a 160F thermostat!
I think that this is the reason for qetting constantly low readings on the 
gauge (and actually driving around
with an engine that is not reading the correct operating temperature).

My idea is that the previous owner (who lived in your backyard btw) has 
fitted the 160F
thermostat due to the hot Californinan summers, and the fact that he had 
installed a hitch make
me think that pulling heavy loads (maybe a big trailer) also contributed for 
the need of a thermostat that
opens earlier to prevent the engine from overheating.

Now that we have the unusually situation here in the Netherlands that it is 
dry during the end of Ocotber
with almost temperatures around the freezing point, the engine temp remains 
in the C area on the gauge with the
160 F thermostat.
And what is more, the heater couldn't heat up the car properly either!
As a matter of fact, if I set the lever of the heater to the Max heat 
position, the needle at the temp gauge
would even drop back more to the C region on the gauge!!

So, I decided to fit a 180F thermostat, and voila, proper heat from the 
heater and a clear view through the windows now
(no more steamy windows :) and the needle of the temp gauge is now exactly 
between the C and H mark on the dial.
My only worry now is what will happen at a hot summer day..
Maybe I have to go back then to the 160F thermostat, like the previous owner 
did.

Last question: is 180F the factory default thermostat for a 1960 Imperial?

Thanks a lot,

Rob
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kenyon Wills" <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 8:07 PM
Subject: IML: 1960 gauge/personality notes



--- Rob van der Es <r.vdes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


> Maybe the other 60 owners, Paul, Tom, Kenyon and
> Charles can jump in on this and tell us how much
> pedal travel they have?

"normal"  Pedal grabs 35% of the way to the floor and
is full lock by 60% or 70%

If you own a 1957-62 car and have not completely read
and then subsequently referred to the MTSC book on
adjusting those brakes, you're flying in the dark.


> And since we are talking about 1960 Imps here, what
> is the correct reading for the temperature of our
> cars?

20%-50%, between C and H and it varies from car to car
to car.

Sjak said something about variety in gauge calibration
and variety in condition of the sending units?  He's
dead-on, and I think your gauge reading C instead of
50% is no big deal.  Unlike a religious text, your
gauge has not been blessed by a diety and is likely to
be showing low on the face, but reacting properly to
the input it is being given.  If not
tested/calibrated, it may be low or high.

My 64 reads "75%" when the tank is full.  Since I've
gotten the gas to overflow and still had this
condition, I conclude that "empty" is actually 25%
below the peg where the gauge says E, so that gauge is
running "cold" as well and the mechanism probably just
wants to be rotated in relation to the face of the
gauge so that the needle can reach F when the float is
pegged against the roof of the gas tank by a full
load.

What you'll want to watch for is CHANGE - the needle
jumping upwards (in your case "H" would probably be
50% or whatever).  If it runs C and jumps to 75%, you
have a problem that should be addressed by shutting
the engine off!

Most temp gauges will come up, stay up, and should
really not move once up.  When they start moving
around, that's an indication of a problem.  My various
cars are all over the place.  The needle behaves the
same, it just lands in different spots from car to
car.

None of my engines ever run "too cold" when I stupidly
put my skin on the hot radiator by mistake, I can tell
you that much.


-K

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