Re: Cold running Spider

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@domain.elided>]

Hello Henrik:



I would guess you've got either no thermostat, or else a bad one that's 
stuck open.  You may hear some suggestion that the restrictor in your 
bypass hose may be the cause, as well, and that might be an equally valid 
opinion.  For comparison, I let my '74 idle for maybe a minute 'til the 
water gauge just nips 100 degrees, and then drive very slowly for about the 
first mile or so, with revs below 3000, and by then the temp's at 180.  I 
still won't use any real revs for another 10 minutes or so, as when I had 
'67 GTV (with an oil temp gauge), the oil temp took quite some time to get 
above 200.  Granted, I'm in s. Florida, but on cool winter mornings at 40 
degrees outside, the process doesn't seem to take much longer.

Why no anti-freeze?

As an aside, you mentioned the XR3000 ignition.  I've got one on my Spider, 
with the LX-91 coil.  I've found that performance is less than optimum with 
the Lodge HL plugs (or Bosch Platinum +4).  The electrode gaps measure 
inconsistent, both inter- and intra-plug, and I've had better results with 
a single-ground platinum plug with a gap of .040".

Good luck the Spider.  I saw some pics from Concorso Italiano, and it looks 
great.


Regards,

Dean W. Cains
dwc@domain.elided

'74 Spider Veloce (had so much fun driving last night, I tried to engage 
6th gear)
Lutz, FL

At 01:29 PM 10/12/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 10:28:09 -0700
>From: "Henrik Johansen" <hjohansen@domain.elided>
>Subject: Cold running Spider.
>
>I have a question for the collective wisdom of the digest.
>
>My 74 Spider has begun to take it's sweet ole time to get up to operating
>temperature. Before I started making mods to the engine and engine bay, it
>would take a few minutes to reach 180 degrees F, now it takes 15 miles and
>almost 1/2 hour.
>
>Mods made: Electronic ignition, Crane XR3000, 105.48 cams, Golden Lodge 2HL
>spark plugs, added fan shroud and chopped the fan to two blades. I am running
>on pure water (well, pure and pure).
>
>Yesterday I changed the oil and cleaned the engine with Zep 50 (good stuff,
>maybe not the most environment friendly, but damn effective). I let the car
>idle for about 10 -15 minutes but the temp guage never went above 140 degrees
>F, and I could put my hand on the camcover without problems.
>
>And, no we don't have freezing conditions in San Francisco.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>TIA
>
>Henrik Johansen
>San Francisco, CA
>74 Spider - running cold
>83 GTV6

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided