<VV> external oil cooler - overheating

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

Bryan wrote:

>While I'll agree that the cooling system is not capable of handling  
>the engine at full throttle non-stop on anything besides an 80, it is  
>perfectly adequate to cool the engine powering a Corvair car (the FCs  
>are a different matter) under normal circumstances in most of the  
>U.S. - I'd like to know where the idea that it isn't comes from.  
>
Hey Guys!

What's the story with this?  Where, besides some high power race tracks, 
can you run a Vair at WOT for a couple hours?  Maybe between Winnemuca 
and Salt Lake?  LA to Sacramento on Sunday night, with the rest of the 
Beemers and such?

And since when is the stock cooling system inadequate for that -- must 
be since the mid 1980's, 'cause before then, I can recall a couple 48 
hour trips to Texas in the 95 van (2 carb 140) during the summer  from 
Portland to Dallas, fully loaded and hammer down -- no overheating 
problems though. Cross winds when meeting trucks in southern Colorado 
and west Texas were another matter.

In fact, the only time I've ever had a genuine overheating situation in 
a Corvair was in an original 140 hp
Corsa convertible, trying to go north on the interstate in the southern 
Oregon mountains on a 100º+ day with the top down -- put the top up and 
that danged buzzer quit going off. 

Mostly, back when they weren't "collector" cars, I drove them like 
there'd be another one parked along side the road to be had for $25 if 
something happened to the one I had at the moment. -- redline and shift, 
redline and shift, and this was before the mandatory 55 came along and 
speed enforcement in this part of the country was pretty lax -- still, 
flat out WOT was then and is now triple digit speeding, and the tickets 
were/are expensive, but they'd hold 90 for several hours without 
overheating (including FC's, or at least mine) and it wasn't a worry 
unless you were racing with a loose fan belt or some such.

So, what is the big deal now?  I was told back then that GM factory 
techs suggested running them with the rpm's up and the belt tight to 
"keep the fan spinning and the air blowing" and if you blew enough air 
they'd stay cool.  I was just a dumb kid back then, but I believed them, 
and guess what?  It worked!  Has anything changed?  Most of my hard 
driving has been with 164 inch motors and the mag fan, but other than 
that covertible, I really can't say that any of them ever overheated as 
long as the belt stayed on.

What has changed is that these days, there are a lot of other high speed 
cruisers available on the market, but back in the seventies, a car that 
would reliably run 90 all day was less common, unless you had a Corvair!

Bill Strickland