how much abuse can one motor take - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

ed70 · 03-21-2009, 05:37 PM

i have a 350 or 400 sbc in my truck...(we haven really checked the numbers to tell... everything is leading to a 400) ne way i over heated it the other day the temp was reading 240 and i was spraying antifreeze out the over flow... well the motor held up and i still drive it... today i pecked my temp gauge to 250 for like 15-20 min on the highway before i could get stopped to check it(i had forgot to put the cap back on my radiator before i left for work i added water and continued to work that i was late for and checked the oil and the motor still hadnt blown a head gasket... now i made a phone call to ask the previous owner if the motor had been gone through to make sure i wouldn need to crack it oopen and rebuild it my self later cause i know this isn good for the head gaskets one bit... well turns out the motor has never been rebuilt... well i know for now the gaskets are good... but he also informed me that he had over heatd it in that same matter like 4 or 5 times in his owner ship of the truck... all in all i think the truck has been through hell and im going to need a motor soon but i just wanted to share how incredibley impressed i am that this old motor can with stand that abuse so many times and still hold its own on a 60 mile road trip everyday.. lol cross my fingers i hope i didnt just jinx myself... i believe its just been luck

ne one else got a funny or scary story about over heating?

Hottrucks · 03-21-2009, 05:40 PM

Dude do yourself a favor put some syn oil in it ...any guess on why it keeps over heating??? is it an intenal prblem or cooling???it def not a lube problem

QKENUF4U · 03-21-2009, 06:08 PM

ive drove a fresh (2 week old) 355 400+ miles with no oil pressure... spun one rod bearing .....pulled it apart that weekend and put a crank/rod in it and drove it home (phoenix to durango colorado then back to phoenix)
as for yours. prob. worth your time to tear it down and reseal it before it lets go out in the middle of nowhere........like mine did (across indian reservation almost the whole way there)

ed70 · 03-21-2009, 06:38 PM

yeah thats my #1 worry and as for the problem the radiator dont flow right it seems to be real sh@$ty the kid that owned it before me put a single core radiator in it with no thermostat.. it sprays out the over flow tube when it gets hot and i lose almost all my fluid evertime i drive it... i plan on going to the junk yard and picking me up a 2 core out of a cadi to put in it and hopefully that will fix my flow problems... i also got rid of the flex fan and installed a electric fan which has helped a little... right now im fixing my hood so im driving hoodless which makes it runa lot cooler and gets me some looks from the chicks lol but yeah i plan on tearing down this motor pretty soon...soon as i get some cash a have a temp motor to go in the truck whiole i refresh my good one hopefully...

**clay68c10** · 03-21-2009, 06:39 PM

Go get a lotto ticket, you're lucky so far.
I had a 350 way back when I was young and first started tinkering that I put a cam in and proceeded to beat the $hit out of for about a year. It had hairline cracks all over the crank's rod journals and never let go on me. An 'old-timer' advised me that it would blow up in short order when he saw the crank, I'm surprised it didn't.
I should have bought a lotto ticket then...

**tnblazerk5** · 03-21-2009, 06:44 PM

i am going to say thats its a 350 , every 400 i have messed with or been around that got that hot that many times would have cracked the block of just died

ed70 · 03-21-2009, 06:45 PM

yeah im scared to have anyone actually take anything off theis truck till i get my next pay check...
some one needs to take the kid that owned it before me out back with a switch... i almost cry the more i tear into the truck how much was half assed... just uncalledfore.... he was so lazy he had a chain wrapped around the header because the driver side motormount broke... 6.99 and 1 hours work later no more chain... he also ruined my dash with spray adhiesve and carpet... im so glad i got the truck when i did before something else got ruined....

ed70 · 03-21-2009, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnblazerk5

i am going to say thats its a 350 , every 400 i have messed with or been around that got that hot that many times would have cracked the block of just died

yeah probaly... the harmonic balancer and the freeze plugs are telling me and my freinds it might be a 400 but i haven checked the numbers yet... its probally a really old 350...

70k52wd · 03-21-2009, 06:57 PM

Funny story. When I was younger, the neighbor across from a buddies house was ticked off at his old Chev pick-up. He dumped the radiator fluid out, started it up, threw a brick on the accelerator pedal, and walked away. We stood there for 10-15 min laughing our butts off. It was smoking and sputtering, but kept running. He came back out more pissed than before, slammed the hood shut, turned it off and stormed back inside. He drove it for a few years after that. He got another Chevy truck after it finally tanked.

ed70 · 03-21-2009, 07:01 PM

jeez wonder what set that guy off that bad?

LONGHAIR · 03-21-2009, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ed70

the kid that owned it before me put a single core radiator in it with no thermostat.. it sprays out the over flow tube when it gets hot and i lose almost all my fluid evertime i drive it... i plan on going to the junk yard and picking me up a 2 core out of a cadi to put in it and hopefully that will fix my flow problems... i also got rid of the flex fan and installed a electric fan which has helped a little... right now im fixing my hood so im driving hoodless which makes it runa lot cooler

The radiator and lack of a thermotat are probably most of your problem....but if you continue to run it like this you will need a lot more parts to get it going again....

ed70 · 03-21-2009, 07:36 PM

yeah i plan to get everything in proper order as soon as possible... it worrys me everyday

spinning wheels · 03-22-2009, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ed70

yeah probaly... the harmonic balancer and the freeze plugs are telling me and my freinds it might be a 400 but i haven checked the numbers yet... its probally a really old 350...

Some of the 350 engines also have the larger harmonic balancer. It has also been pointed out, that some 350s also have 3 freeze plugs on the sides.
I think the 307 also has 3 freeze plugs on the side.

Don't put too much blame on the kid. Remember, most kids now a days understand how to run a computer. Most aren't interested in old iron. They prefer their "tuner cars", if even that. Oh c*^p, I'm starting to sound like an old fart.

Hottrucks · 03-22-2009, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 70k52wd

Funny story. When I was younger, the neighbor across from a buddies house was ticked off at his old Chev pick-up. He dumped the radiator fluid out, started it up, threw a brick on the accelerator pedal, and walked away. We stood there for 10-15 min laughing our butts off. It was smoking and sputtering, but kept running. He came back out more pissed than before, slammed the hood shut, turned it off and stormed back inside. He drove it for a few years after that. He got another Chevy truck after it finally tanked.

thats funny as hell I had a 66 chevelle with a staight 6 in it did the same thing while a 283 waiting to go it set close by...the thing wouldn't blow up so we drained the oil and drove it down town and did burn outs with it all night till the gas tank was empty...last I knew that 6 was running a ski lift as a back up motor....and 3 days after the transplant we got T boned by a Bonniville the 283 ended up in a half dozen Vegas with a power slide behind it

QKENUF4U · 03-22-2009, 04:21 AM

my brother bout a subaru station wagon off a guy. hit a deer with it and took the rad out etc... wasnt gonna give the junk man a good motor so he put a brick on th pedal at redline and let it there for over 45mins..... oh and that was after draining the oil also........ came back out with no oil pressure and thermo gauge pegged figuring the neighbors had enough. shut it down and left it till morning. went back out the next day thinking it was gonna be all locked up. threw the key in it and it fired right up and ran perfect......... lol

68C15 · 03-22-2009, 07:06 AM

I had a customer with a mid 90's civic. the water pump let loose and he kept driving it. got so hot the plastic timing belt covers melted. weird part is it didn't kill the engine.

if your balancer is scalloped on the outter diameter then it is a 400. (externally balanced) but I doubt it is a 400, they seem to overheat if you look at it funny.

**special-K** · 03-22-2009, 07:46 AM

You need a proper radiator in there.I had the same problem in my`72 last summer.I had to run the hiway under 3 grand.I never cooked the coolant out.I just kept focused on the temp guage.Mine wasn`t leaking,just would run hot.The radiator was clogging up and my radiator man figured the core couldn`t handle a rodding.I brought another 4-core in that I had cored back in`89 for him to core,instect seal,and pressure test for $75
You`d be lucky if a blown head gasket was all you had to worry about:cracked and/or warped head(s),warped and/or cracked block,warped intake,cracked ring or piston,or problems from poor lube due to cooking the oil out of the motor.
Running a motor that hot for 15-20 minutes is more harmful than spray adhesive on the dash.You really lucked out on that one,if you did no damage.If you put water in it more often wouldn`t you be safe until you fix the problem?It only gets hot when it`s low,right?Sometimes we can get by like that until we fix it right.Like a chain until you replace the lift side motor mount...it works.I`ve had to do more of that this year than ever in my life.I had to plug in my engine heater religiously,top my coolant,give a shot of starting fluid,and use a block under a tire for a parking brake forever.I`d plug it in as soon as I got somewhere and had about 3 hours on a cold day that it would start unplugged w/starting fluid without alot of cranking(which delutes the oil.So,not good.A typical day went like this:
Pop the hood,put funnel in radiator,top-off (1 gallon),go to rear tool box and grab starting fluid,one quick squirt into the 1/16" hole on the engine side of filter that I drilled so I could stick the Brakleen nozzle I fitted to the starting fluid nozzle(custom),Go around to start,back around to grab starter fluid,put back in rear box,let motor get warm for a bit,get in and back up a foot,turn off motor to leave in gear,go back and remove block from under tire,put block back in truck,get back in,start,ans go!I`d have to repaet this where I was working to come home.
I`ve also had some of the nicest/well-maintauned trucks you`ve ever seen.You gotta do whatcha gotta do.

ed70 · 03-22-2009, 05:17 PM

yeah putting fluid in it gets me by i only have problems when it gets low but i know its not flowing right... it leaks out the over flow... when i say leak i mena spray like a fountain... iv been driving around with no hood but got one for free today from a freind... i also found a original cluster for 30 bucks that works and is in perfect condition and has a tach that mine did not come stock.... and a rebuilt th350w/torque converter for 100 bucks....

spinning wheels · 03-22-2009, 05:29 PM

ed70, One last item you might want to check. Check the timing on the truck, if it has jumped from an old timing chain chances are it could be causing the over heating. I have seen this happen before.

69halfton · 03-22-2009, 06:16 PM

yip, not uncommon to see a small block over heat like crazy and live to run another day.

infact its quite common at the circle track i run at. enduro races in beat up old malibus and such, the rad goes out of it.

we run then until they completly quit, had one actually seize up, let it sit over night, and it ran and drove itself off the trailer.

I race a honda civic (the only thing i can afford) and between the rush ofthrashing on it between races..and lack of cummunication, we ended up out on the track with no water in the rad. all that was in there was the water that was still in the block after we swapped rads.

the temp gauge (which is measuring steam temperature

) read about 260* i ran it hard for about 15 more laps, and i was starting to get lapped because the car had no power anymore, pulled in the pits, filled her up with water and raced it in the next heat

Its funny, when you dont care, they will never die, when its your daily driver that you baby around, it seems to be one thing after another..

ed70 · 03-23-2009, 01:26 AM

totally the truth want it to live and it gives up not care either way and it will out live you i totally understand lol... well i haven had any more overheating problems... turns out it was a bad cap.. im still going to get a better radiator though... this one still leaks... bu ever since i changed the rad cap everything has been gravy... and yes im def going to check the timing... tomorrow im putting a new oil pan and gasket on to fix my leak... today i put a new hood with out the bondoed on hood scoop with hole in it... i also primered the whole thing at the walmart parking lot... lol its grey... i will have pics to post up tomorrow... i have one trans am mirrior on it and going to get the other one later on...but yeah im glad iv got the overheating issue under control at least for now... i still watch my temp gauge religiously...

westofb · 03-23-2009, 06:04 AM

I was a MP in the army back in the 80's. Was stationed just outside Washington DC. On winter night was on patrol in a Chrysler K Car (part of the government saving them from going tits up). Anyhow we got out k car from motor pool, and spent the next 12 hours freezing to death driving it, never shutting it off. At end of shift we had to fuel it up, when checking the oil noticed that the radiator was cold to the touch, popped off the cap and it was bone dry! We added antifreeze and water mix to it and the heater worked great! Talk to motor pool sergeant, said that they had put in new radiator the day before and must have forgot to put fluid in it. I know it is off the subject, but just a funny story about how such a POS kept on ticking! Oh by the way, 400 chevys are external balanced, balancer will have notch cut out in outer ring and if you can see the flex plate, it will have weights attached to it near the ring gear. The number of freeze plugs is not a good indicator of what you have, notch and weights is dead give away of 400. Hope this helps, good luck with your truck!

03-21-2009, 05:40 PM	#2
Hottrucks Redefining LowBudget Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: lebanon Cow Hampshire Posts: 4,538	Re: how much abuse can one motor take Dude do yourself a favor put some syn oil in it ...any guess on why it keeps over heating??? is it an intenal prblem or cooling???it def not a lube problem __________________ 1970 C10 CST fleetside 472 ....big dreams little cash... http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=335721 SunShine Syndicate.. Mikes Sandwich Fair Run OCT 8th 2011 http://www.thesandwichfair.com/html/...auto_show.html

03-21-2009, 06:08 PM	#3
QKENUF4U Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SUNNY WARM BIKE RIDING COTTONWOOD ARIZONA Posts: 2,097	Re: how much abuse can one motor take ive drove a fresh (2 week old) 355 400+ miles with no oil pressure... spun one rod bearing .....pulled it apart that weekend and put a crank/rod in it and drove it home (phoenix to durango colorado then back to phoenix) as for yours. prob. worth your time to tear it down and reseal it before it lets go out in the middle of nowhere........like mine did (across indian reservation almost the whole way there) Last edited by QKENUF4U; 03-21-2009 at 06:08 PM.

03-21-2009, 06:38 PM	#4
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	Re: how much abuse can one motor take yeah thats my #1 worry and as for the problem the radiator dont flow right it seems to be real sh@$ty the kid that owned it before me put a single core radiator in it with no thermostat.. it sprays out the over flow tube when it gets hot and i lose almost all my fluid evertime i drive it... i plan on going to the junk yard and picking me up a 2 core out of a cadi to put in it and hopefully that will fix my flow problems... i also got rid of the flex fan and installed a electric fan which has helped a little... right now im fixing my hood so im driving hoodless which makes it runa lot cooler and gets me some looks from the chicks lol but yeah i plan on tearing down this motor pretty soon...soon as i get some cash a have a temp motor to go in the truck whiole i refresh my good one hopefully... __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-21-2009, 06:39 PM	#5
clay68c10 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Centennial, CO Posts: 2,979	Re: how much abuse can one motor take Go get a lotto ticket, you're lucky so far. I had a 350 way back when I was young and first started tinkering that I put a cam in and proceeded to beat the $hit out of for about a year. It had hairline cracks all over the crank's rod journals and never let go on me. An 'old-timer' advised me that it would blow up in short order when he saw the crank, I'm surprised it didn't. I should have bought a lotto ticket then... __________________ ClusterTruck: 68 C10 Bought in 89, wrecked in 03. Slow low $ rebuild started '17. 6.0 & TKO http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=788602 93 K1500 Short Step, 350, NV4500, EBL flash ECU. Vortec heads & roller cam someday... 05 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. 3” lift & 6-speed 02 E320 the insurance total “free car” 13 Tahoe LTZ

03-21-2009, 06:44 PM	#6
tnblazerk5 User #12137 Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: kingsport,upper east tenn Posts: 11,598	Re: how much abuse can one motor take i am going to say thats its a 350 , every 400 i have messed with or been around that got that hot that many times would have cracked the block of just died

03-21-2009, 05:37 PM	#1
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	how much abuse can one motor take i have a 350 or 400 sbc in my truck...(we haven really checked the numbers to tell... everything is leading to a 400) ne way i over heated it the other day the temp was reading 240 and i was spraying antifreeze out the over flow... well the motor held up and i still drive it... today i pecked my temp gauge to 250 for like 15-20 min on the highway before i could get stopped to check it(i had forgot to put the cap back on my radiator before i left for work i added water and continued to work that i was late for and checked the oil and the motor still hadnt blown a head gasket... now i made a phone call to ask the previous owner if the motor had been gone through to make sure i wouldn need to crack it oopen and rebuild it my self later cause i know this isn good for the head gaskets one bit... well turns out the motor has never been rebuilt... well i know for now the gaskets are good... but he also informed me that he had over heatd it in that same matter like 4 or 5 times in his owner ship of the truck... all in all i think the truck has been through hell and im going to need a motor soon but i just wanted to share how incredibley impressed i am that this old motor can with stand that abuse so many times and still hold its own on a 60 mile road trip everyday.. lol cross my fingers i hope i didnt just jinx myself... i believe its just been luck ne one else got a funny or scary story about over heating? __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-21-2009, 06:45 PM	#7
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	Re: how much abuse can one motor take yeah im scared to have anyone actually take anything off theis truck till i get my next pay check... some one needs to take the kid that owned it before me out back with a switch... i almost cry the more i tear into the truck how much was half assed... just uncalledfore.... he was so lazy he had a chain wrapped around the header because the driver side motormount broke... 6.99 and 1 hours work later no more chain... he also ruined my dash with spray adhiesve and carpet... im so glad i got the truck when i did before something else got ruined.... __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-21-2009, 06:57 PM	#9
70k52wd Blaze-Air Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,117	Re: how much abuse can one motor take Funny story. When I was younger, the neighbor across from a buddies house was ticked off at his old Chev pick-up. He dumped the radiator fluid out, started it up, threw a brick on the accelerator pedal, and walked away. We stood there for 10-15 min laughing our butts off. It was smoking and sputtering, but kept running. He came back out more pissed than before, slammed the hood shut, turned it off and stormed back inside. He drove it for a few years after that. He got another Chevy truck after it finally tanked.

03-21-2009, 07:01 PM	#10
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	Re: how much abuse can one motor take jeez wonder what set that guy off that bad? __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-21-2009, 07:36 PM	#12
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	Re: how much abuse can one motor take yeah i plan to get everything in proper order as soon as possible... it worrys me everyday __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-22-2009, 04:21 AM	#15
QKENUF4U Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SUNNY WARM BIKE RIDING COTTONWOOD ARIZONA Posts: 2,097	Re: how much abuse can one motor take my brother bout a subaru station wagon off a guy. hit a deer with it and took the rad out etc... wasnt gonna give the junk man a good motor so he put a brick on th pedal at redline and let it there for over 45mins..... oh and that was after draining the oil also........ came back out with no oil pressure and thermo gauge pegged figuring the neighbors had enough. shut it down and left it till morning. went back out the next day thinking it was gonna be all locked up. threw the key in it and it fired right up and ran perfect......... lol

03-22-2009, 07:06 AM	#16
68C15 blood type; Retumbo Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: next to my reloading bench Posts: 10,269	Re: how much abuse can one motor take I had a customer with a mid 90's civic. the water pump let loose and he kept driving it. got so hot the plastic timing belt covers melted. weird part is it didn't kill the engine. if your balancer is scalloped on the outter diameter then it is a 400. (externally balanced) but I doubt it is a 400, they seem to overheat if you look at it funny.

03-22-2009, 07:46 AM	#17
special-K Special Order Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mt Airy, MD Posts: 85,852	Re: how much abuse can one motor take You need a proper radiator in there.I had the same problem in my`72 last summer.I had to run the hiway under 3 grand.I never cooked the coolant out.I just kept focused on the temp guage.Mine wasn`t leaking,just would run hot.The radiator was clogging up and my radiator man figured the core couldn`t handle a rodding.I brought another 4-core in that I had cored back in`89 for him to core,instect seal,and pressure test for $75 You`d be lucky if a blown head gasket was all you had to worry about:cracked and/or warped head(s),warped and/or cracked block,warped intake,cracked ring or piston,or problems from poor lube due to cooking the oil out of the motor. Running a motor that hot for 15-20 minutes is more harmful than spray adhesive on the dash.You really lucked out on that one,if you did no damage.If you put water in it more often wouldn`t you be safe until you fix the problem?It only gets hot when it`s low,right?Sometimes we can get by like that until we fix it right.Like a chain until you replace the lift side motor mount...it works.I`ve had to do more of that this year than ever in my life.I had to plug in my engine heater religiously,top my coolant,give a shot of starting fluid,and use a block under a tire for a parking brake forever.I`d plug it in as soon as I got somewhere and had about 3 hours on a cold day that it would start unplugged w/starting fluid without alot of cranking(which delutes the oil.So,not good.A typical day went like this: Pop the hood,put funnel in radiator,top-off (1 gallon),go to rear tool box and grab starting fluid,one quick squirt into the 1/16" hole on the engine side of filter that I drilled so I could stick the Brakleen nozzle I fitted to the starting fluid nozzle(custom),Go around to start,back around to grab starter fluid,put back in rear box,let motor get warm for a bit,get in and back up a foot,turn off motor to leave in gear,go back and remove block from under tire,put block back in truck,get back in,start,ans go!I`d have to repaet this where I was working to come home. I`ve also had some of the nicest/well-maintauned trucks you`ve ever seen.You gotta do whatcha gotta do. __________________ "BUILDING A BETTER WAY TO SERVE THE USA"......67/72......"The New Breed" GMC '67 C1500 Wideside Super Custom SWB: 327/M22/3.42 posi.........."The '67" (project) GMC '72 K2500 Wideside Sierra Custom Camper: 350/TH350/4.10 Power-Lok..."The '72" (rolling) Tim "Don't call me a redneck. I'm a rough cut country gentleman" R.I.P. ~ East Side Low Life ~ El Jay ~ 72BLUZ ~ Fasteddie69 ~ Ron586 ~ 67ChevyRedneck ~ Grumpy Old Man ~

03-22-2009, 05:17 PM	#18
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	Re: how much abuse can one motor take yeah putting fluid in it gets me by i only have problems when it gets low but i know its not flowing right... it leaks out the over flow... when i say leak i mena spray like a fountain... iv been driving around with no hood but got one for free today from a freind... i also found a original cluster for 30 bucks that works and is in perfect condition and has a tach that mine did not come stock.... and a rebuilt th350w/torque converter for 100 bucks.... __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-22-2009, 05:29 PM	#19
spinning wheels Registered User Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Hacienda Heights, California USA Posts: 474	Re: how much abuse can one motor take ed70, One last item you might want to check. Check the timing on the truck, if it has jumped from an old timing chain chances are it could be causing the over heating. I have seen this happen before. __________________ '72 GMC custom camper 350/350



Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.

03-22-2009, 06:16 PM	#20
69halfton Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: King City, Ontario, Canada Posts: 974	Re: how much abuse can one motor take yip, not uncommon to see a small block over heat like crazy and live to run another day. infact its quite common at the circle track i run at. enduro races in beat up old malibus and such, the rad goes out of it. we run then until they completly quit, had one actually seize up, let it sit over night, and it ran and drove itself off the trailer. I race a honda civic (the only thing i can afford) and between the rush ofthrashing on it between races..and lack of cummunication, we ended up out on the track with no water in the rad. all that was in there was the water that was still in the block after we swapped rads. the temp gauge (which is measuring steam temperature ) read about 260* i ran it hard for about 15 more laps, and i was starting to get lapped because the car had no power anymore, pulled in the pits, filled her up with water and raced it in the next heat Its funny, when you dont care, they will never die, when its your daily driver that you baby around, it seems to be one thing after another.. __________________ - Jason If you can turn, Youre not going fast enough. Favorite caption: first car to 200 mph in the 1/4 mile, no parachute, drum brakes all the way around.. ..back when men were men.

03-23-2009, 01:26 AM	#21
ed70 is very serious Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: moscow mills MO Posts: 154	Re: how much abuse can one motor take totally the truth want it to live and it gives up not care either way and it will out live you i totally understand lol... well i haven had any more overheating problems... turns out it was a bad cap.. im still going to get a better radiator though... this one still leaks... bu ever since i changed the rad cap everything has been gravy... and yes im def going to check the timing... tomorrow im putting a new oil pan and gasket on to fix my leak... today i put a new hood with out the bondoed on hood scoop with hole in it... i also primered the whole thing at the walmart parking lot... lol its grey... i will have pics to post up tomorrow... i have one trans am mirrior on it and going to get the other one later on...but yeah im glad iv got the overheating issue under control at least for now... i still watch my temp gauge religiously... __________________ 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 4spd (dads) - sold 1970 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 307 700r4 - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 327 3spd - sold 1969 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 350 th350 - sold 1967 C-10 2wd fleetside LB 250 th400 -project in progress Chevrolet=one who is dignified enough to expect every occasion is a special one and sees it fit to wear a bow tie... may others come under dressed.

03-23-2009, 06:04 AM	#22
westofb I really hate wet sanding! Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Brookfield, MO Posts: 601	Re: how much abuse can one motor take I was a MP in the army back in the 80's. Was stationed just outside Washington DC. On winter night was on patrol in a Chrysler K Car (part of the government saving them from going tits up). Anyhow we got out k car from motor pool, and spent the next 12 hours freezing to death driving it, never shutting it off. At end of shift we had to fuel it up, when checking the oil noticed that the radiator was cold to the touch, popped off the cap and it was bone dry! We added antifreeze and water mix to it and the heater worked great! Talk to motor pool sergeant, said that they had put in new radiator the day before and must have forgot to put fluid in it. I know it is off the subject, but just a funny story about how such a POS kept on ticking! Oh by the way, 400 chevys are external balanced, balancer will have notch cut out in outer ring and if you can see the flex plate, it will have weights attached to it near the ring gear. The number of freeze plugs is not a good indicator of what you have, notch and weights is dead give away of 400. Hope this helps, good luck with your truck!

Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.