EdelBrock 4 BBL and Trans kick down rod help.

The radiator is about 5 years old. I flushed it about 2 years ago. The engine in it was rebuilt and had about 20K on it when pulled from a truck. The motor I was told was rebuilt and had around 12K on it so I over estimated to cover basics. I will flush it again and look for air restrictions. I can't for the life of me figure out why it won't overheat in traffic, only on the freeway. depending on what the mechanic says, I might try an edelbrock high volume aluminum water pump.

 

If you want to know what's going on with the engines tune at that speed/rpm then you should get a vacuum gauge and see what it's reading at those speeds/rpm. Also verify what ignition timing occurs at that specific rpm as well to help correlate these events.

From this latest description, short of some major obstruction in the cooling system or severely slipping belt(which should be audible, it sounds like you are either leaning the motor out from too much ignition advance or running severely retarded timing. Spark plugs may show a lean condition if you pull one as soon as possible after a highway cruise before idling or off-highway cruise speeds may recolor the plugs back up to mask the lean condition. Lean will also prematurely round off or burn the plugs ground straps too.

The other thing I would mention is that an engine only needs about 35-40 horsepower of heat generation to maintain steady state cruise down the highway so it takes one hell of a cooling system obstruction to overheat an engine in that scenario. Personally, for basic troubleshooting I would pull the t-stat out altogether or install a new 160° unit and see if that increased flow rate changes anything before tossing new parts at it. If that doesn't do much and still gets hotter during steady state cruise then you most definitely have a tuning related issue. If that's the case then a timing light, vac gauge, and fresh set of plugs for an accurate AFR reading during tuning will be required.

 

about 3 weeks ago I took it and had it tuned. I actually thought that got it because it was off 3 degrees. I know that's not much but I thought at high RPM and a hot day it could have been. After the car was timed it ran much better around town. Im going to look to see if I have an air restriction Then and change the stat.

 

Well mechanic has had the thing a month and can't find why it has an overheating problem.

 

Did you install a 160 t-stat?

What exactly is "tuned"? By the book?(your "off by 3 degrees" comment says alot on its own).. by a vacuum gauge?.. across the entire rpm range during part throttle or just WOT?.. custom tuned to be all it can be?

Point is.. the term "mechanic" is very generalized and part of the main reasoning I learned how to do much of these things myself. Got sick of guys turning wrenches selling me on their expertise of all things that go fast only to find out not much was really changed besides my wallet being thinner and lighter after all was said and done.

 

Well John is a close family friend who owns Lefflers auto. His dad started the shop after he got out of the marines in 1946. Very reputable man. He is really the only person besides myself that I'll let work on my car. by "tuned" I simply meant the engine was 3 degrees out of time. So I'd say factory timing. He didn't tell me whether or not he put a vacuum gauge. He also didn't tell me if he went through the RPM range. I didn't think to ask, it was found out of time it got fixed and he didn't charge me so I'd say probably no. I put the new distributor in it when I changed the engine and timed it but the distributor seized up and I warranty replaced it and sent it to john to make sure I had it right when it overheated. I was off 3 degrees. I have a working SUN automotive test center for points vacuum, timing and ignition. I could of checked it myself but it seemed convenient to have someone else do it. Either way its still up there and I hope he just hasn't gotten to it yet rather than not finding the problem.

 

Hey guys it's been almost a year since I first took my car to the mechanic to find the overheating issue and 3 mechanics later!!!........... no one can tell me what's wrong with it.
I changed this engine once, god I'd hate to do it again!

 

Has this engine always overheated?

If head gasket(s) is reversed, it will overheat.

 

The first engine, it's original lost a main bearing, the second engine was a loner engine I had, a 289 that just kept it going (but did overheat) till I got this one. a rebuilt 289. This one was rebuilt by a local mechanic who later died and I bought it off the stand. If you look at my photo album you'll see removal of old motor and current motor that is in it. Would that explain why it's overheating on the freeway and not light to light? the flipped gaskets?

 

Look at the lower front corners of the block, if the gaskets are backwards, you will be able to see the block's deck surface poking out from under the heads. If you see gaskets there covering the decks the gaskets are on correctly.

 

A friend has a 302 short block rebuilt 20 years ago oiled and sealed. Thinking about pulling the Mavericks engine again. I'm leery of a rebuilt engine even if it was sealed that's 20 years old.
Don't know much about the engine I do know its a C8AM-601-B block and the crank is marked 2M. I can get it reasonable just leery.

 

A "plus" for this one is it's a Mexican block with the large Hi-po main caps. Otherwise the block's no different than any other 68-79 302 block. A prime candidate for a stroker motor

 

What about the short block sitting for 20 years since the rebuild?

 

If it's been stored properly, I see no problem. Just inspect it before handing over your $$$$ . Bores should be rust free as should the bearing journals.

 

I might buy it for my 1960 falcon.
I looked over the motor and showed the mechanic the deck edges suggesting the gaskets on backwards. He called a short time later and said that's what it was.