Engine compartment "Refresh" by CougaDan70

4 minute(s) of a 45 minute read

Hey Gents, for the ones of you who followed this thread, be aware that the car has fired up last Friday and that there seems to be no leaks + PS pump was manually primed before attempting to start!! This Cat, my Cat, will for sure get back on the road this week, after I receive a couple bushings and anti-rattle pad from WCCC.

I needed 7 hours to adjust the hood, still a little high near the cowles on passenger side, but will stay like that for now!
The trick that mystified me so long was the adjustment with the cowles (height and gap) that I succeeded by pivoting the hinge down toward the passenger compartment after having adjusted overall height with the lower screw of the hinge on the engine side. Only then did I thightened the upper screw of the hinge to firmly secure the assembly in place.

On another subject, I hope to have resolved an overheating issue at idle. No problems at all as soon as the cars moves (20mph or so), but hell in traffic jams!
My car is equipped with a fix fan (6 blades - probalbly aftermarket) and 2¼" spacer. No clutch since this is small block witout A/C. After reading/discussing here and other site, I decided to try a shorter spacer (1¼") to pull the fan toward the engine by 1" in such way that it is now about half way out of shrould (see lower pic). The idea is to create a stronger vaccum behind the fan and hence improve aspiration of air through the rad. First test (5 minutes in the garage) seems positive as air flows through the rad better than before + needle did not climb as fast. Will know for sure when I drive in warmer temperatures.

Old 2¼" spacer, fan sits 100% in the shroud

4-17-2014

Today was the day back on the road... nice 50°F with sunshine and future looks bright!
1) No problems at all with new PS hoses, pump and cylindrer + no more noise and now easier to turn at near stop speeds on parking lots.
2) Overheating isuues at idle seem to be diminuished as well: I went though a 10 minutes jam on red lights under the sun, with heater off, and temp needle never climbed higher than ­¼ of full scale. If resolved at it seems, I will then be able to drive in cities this summer without having to turn the heater on and/or fear stalling! I am still crossing my fingers but having pulled the fan 1" toward the engine (in such way that it now sits about half way in shrould and half way ahead, instaed of all in) seem to work for me.

Here are pics of engine bay before and after the refresh:

Lastly, pics from the passenger side:

The End.