[bhunt31]

Originally Posted by 69chevyshort

well i dont know whats changed since yesterday but now i got it down to 17deg at the crank with a vacumed advance total of 39deg(distributor kicks in 22deg) and it still runs great and starts easy. i also found out that my dist. has an adjustment to change the amount of advance, do i want to leave it all the way open so it will advance the full 22deg. or try to back some out of the dist. im also having issues with the temperature. i have tried 3 different thermostats with bad results. the best thermo. so far is a 160deg. but the temp will stabilize at 180deg. which is fine, but when i take off driving it will rise rapidly to about 220 sometimes 230 and then start to slowly go down. any ideas why this is? also heres a quick rundown of everything ihave under the hood :: sbc355 trick flow alum 195 heads, comp 480/494 lift cam, air gap intake ,holley 675 street avenger, new water pump, new 4 core radiator, corvette elec. fan. any info on how to keep this stuff at a stable cool temp would be great. OH YEAH i also shaved and painted the firewall while i had the engine out. just a little FYI.

are you sure it's actually getting that hot and it's not just the guage giving a false reading? I've never seen a SBC with a 4 core radiator get hot, especially full of coolant. I have a 4 core diesel radiator in my 84 and I can run it a gallon low on coolant and still not have a problem with heat.