<VV> CHT Re: valve seats and "Ping"

[FrankCB at aol.com]

John,
     Of course gauges don't FIX  any problem.  But they do alert you to the 
developing problem that  will shut down your engine if you don't take 
measures to prevent it.   Without CHT gauges I never would have made it home on 3 
cylinders one time, or  with NO functioning fan another time.
     Wonder why Tom Keosababian used water  injection at Bonneville instead 
of just using "better cooling".  Maybe  he just couldn't find a better FAN 
or an INTERCOOLER good enough to do the  job.
     Frank Burkhard
     Boonton, NJ   
 
 
In a message dated 5/13/2012 9:02:13 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jvhroberts at aol.com writes:

Too hot.  If the heads were cooler, there wouldn't be so much pinging. 
Gages don't fix  this problem, we all know it's there. Better cooling does! 

Sure, Viton  and synthetic oil survive this kind of heat a lot better, but 
it doesn't  change how hot the combustion chambers are operating. 



John  Roberts




-----Original Message-----
From: FrankCB  <FrankCB at aol.com>
To: patiomatt <patiomatt at aol.com>; jvhroberts  <jvhroberts at aol.com>; 
virtualvairs  <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Sun, May 13, 2012 2:16  pm
Subject: CHT Re: <VV> valve seats and "Ping"


Matt and  John,
Some decades ago when I drove my 1965 180  regularly to work, it would 
NORMALLY run at 400 deg.F (stock gauge and  thermistor) on level highways at 55 
to 70 mph.  Occasionally I would  "floor it" going up a long hill to see 
what boost I got and the stock CHT  would go to 450 deg.F. but I did have a 
electronic knock eliminator (Carter  EKE) which may have saved me.  The boost 
reached 8 psig on a non stock  gauge.  It was only after I insulated the 
exhaust piping UPSTREAM of the  turbo that I was able to get 10 psig.  But the 
stock exhaust piping  lasted only about 6 months before it disintegrated at 
the UP-bend due to  overheating of the metal (according to the chief 
metallurgist at the chemical  plant where I worked).
My other Corvairs (110 and 95 hp  models) I ran with an aftermarket CHT 
gauge installed.  This was a  Stewart Warner "Corvair Cylinder Head Temperature 
Gauge" (Model 366-LW) with a  gauge that ran from an indicated 200 to 500 
deg.F. and included a thermistor  that was installed in the STOCK 3/8 in. 
tapped hole in the "forward portion of  the left cylinder head".  I checked the 
calibration of the gauge in  boiling water and it was right on using 14 
volts.  In operation both the  110 and 95 hp engines normally indicated 350 
deg. F.  Except for the two  times when I let it get up to 450.  One time I had 
to drive home on only  3 cylinders due to only one functioning carb 
fortunately on the left  bank.  The other time I had to drive home local roads with 
NO functioning  fan due to harmonic balancer separation.  Both times when 
the temp got  over 450, I stopped for a time and let the engine cool off 
before resuming my  trip.  Both times the engine suffered no apparent damage, 
but it did  ha
ve the advantage of synthetic engine oil and Viton O-rings.
That's why I believe EVERY Corvair needs at least ONE CHT  gauge.
Frank "likes gauges" Burkhard
Boonton,  NJ