Hot Running Windsor based 427 FFR Roadster

[mikeinatlanta]

One day I'm going to do a thorough test and disprove once and for all the myth of no tstat causing overheating due to excess flow through the radiator. Last one was proving air was in fact not hotter closer to the track surface.

Keep in mind that radiator sizing is determined by its ability to exchange heat with the air, not the water. Also this is a recirculating system so single pass heat transfer is irrelevant.

Water/metal contact is an efficient heat transfer mechanism while air/water is not, therefore, the radiator is sized based on air heat transfer. For the theory to be correct, it would require the water to pass the radiator so quickly that it couldn't heat the metal within it, which is simply not possible as a moving fluid is more effective at heat transfer than a stationary one. The air passing a radiator simply doesn't care how hot the water is or how fast it is moving, it only cares about the temperature differential between the air and metal. The truth is that the higher the water flow within a radiator, the greater the surface area of the radiator with higher temps and the more effective it is at exchanging heat with the air. Remember, the purpose of the radiator is not to have low temps at the outlet, it is to exchange heat with the air.

Think about it. If moving too fast through a heat exchanger was a detriment to heat transfer, then going too fast would have the same effect due to excess airflow and cars would overheat at high speed. While there isn't a reasonable purpose to running no thermostat on a car, the reality is that it causes overheating is an old wives tale. It's based on anecdotal reasoning from troubleshooting overheating cars with a little confusion regarding single pass heat exchangers vs recirculating systems.

As for the OP's problem: My money is on either the incorrect water pump or that it is using an inline filler in the upper radiator hose to tie into a coolant recovery system. Tying coolant recovery into inline fillers in the upper hose provides poor air removal due to lacking sufficient space for a stable air pocket to form while water is flowing.