1973 C10 "The Purple Truck"

[folkenheath]

Robert Shaw makes them for Stewart, they are good thermostats!

However, many have the bypass holes drilled in them by Stewart (not all) to keep their high flow water pumps working correctly. If you have one with the bypass holes drilled into it, you may want to swap it out for one without. That little flow may be too much for your stockish engine to warm up in the winter. I don't think you should need to block the radiator airflow with a gas engine and a working thermostat.

I'm surprised learn temp is 165, many aftermarket EFI systems use 140 as a learn temp.

 

[6872xtc]

I understand the differences in the radiator sizes. I have a tall, copper/brass 4 row in my '90 Jimmy. I had been that way with the original engine and now this one. No problems warming it up. Both small blocks, in case you don't remember.
It just seems odd to me that you have to do anything besides drive them! I don't get it. Sorry for the sidetrack.

 

[mrk5]

I also have a high flow water pump and thermostat for what that's worth.

I am going to have to put a switch or something in the wire that turns the cooling fans on with the AC. When I turn the defrost on, it turns the cooling fans on since it uses the AC system to help dry the air. That doesn't work so well when you're starting a vehicle on a 30° morning with a snow covered windshield.

 

[mrk5]

Upgraded the radiator block with aluminum.

 

[ashman]

That oughta block some air.

 

[mrk5]

It actually works pretty well. The fans run just like they would in the summer and keep the temps between 180-190 when driving around town. On the highway it pretty much runs around 174 due to the natural air flow.

 

[ashman]

It actually works pretty well. The fans run just like they would in the summer and keep the temps between 180-190 when driving around town. On the highway it pretty much runs around 174 due to the natural air flow.

Looks like prime real estate for cool stickers too.

 

[mrk5]

Looks like prime real estate for cool stickers too.

I have ideas....

 

[70jimmy]

fake grill sticker

 

[mrk5]

I have ideas....

 

[ZooMad75]

That's cool! Subtle.

 

[mrk5]

That's cool! Subtle.

I showed the picture to my wife and her first reaction was, "what am I supposed to be looking at?" Then she noticed the eyes. I told her my idea must have worked if she didn't notice right off.

 

[bix]

Thats a rad cover..!

 

[mrk5]

Thanks!

 

[Capt Ron]

I thought it was lights at first. I would rock it.

 

[mrk5]

I thought it was lights at first. I would rock it.

I thought people might think that.

I told my wife I should have put an image of a cat behind the grille. But then I decided I might have a lot of people chasing me down honking trying to save the cat!

 

[mrk5]

I don't like the factory air cleaner. I really do prefer the look of a classic open element air cleaner, but since that's allowing the whistle sound I decided to do something different. I also like the looks of the intake tubes and cone filters so I made one for the C10.





Used a Holley carb hat, some rubber couplers, and 4" exhaust pipe an employee didn't need. The filter is an Edelbrock Pro-Flo filter. I liked it because of the white stripe you can use to tell when the filter is getting dirty.

Only hurdle I had was the air temp sensor barely has a long enough lead to reach the tube.

I might change it up a little down the road. The rubber elbow I bought because it's the cheapest, but it lets the filter flop around more than I'd like. To avoid buying a much more expensive elbow, I'd like to mount the filter on the fender and use a flexible tube for the elbow to allow for engine movement.

Biggest surprise to me is the difference in air temperature. Even though it is not getting direct cold air, intake air temp is about 50 degrees cooler on the highway. Idling at top lights it warms up but still 20 degrees cooler. I didn't expect that much difference. I've decided the crew cab could definitely benefit some cooler intake air. I always thought it was a horsepower gimmick, but recently I've been hearing a lot about it also benefiting engine temperature. So I'm thinking it might help with my towing temps.

 

[mrk5]

I went back to factory TBI style air cleaner. Still had a little whistle with the cold air type setup and after seeing the decrease in air inlet temp, I'd rather put the cold air setup on the crew cab.



Bearing in mind the weather temps have been around 40°, here's the air inlet temps:

• Cold air type: 55°
• Factory TBI type: 100°
• Open element type: 136°

The core support in the 73 doesn't have an opening for the TBI tube so it isn't getting direct outside air, but neither was the cold air style. Also the air temp sensor on the TBI setup ended up being on the opposite side from the air tube, so it might read cooler if it was closer to the air coming in.

 

[mrk5]

In other news, I seemed determined to make the ECU on the PF4 not work. The truck was idling in park and the coolant kept getting hotter and the fans weren't coming on. Shut it off at 210°.

Popped the hood open to test the fan controller. I inadvertently bumped the ground wire and the fans came on for a second. Wiggled the ground and the fans came in again. Found the nut on the ground post loose.

The ground for the PF4 is on the same post! A couple of times recently the tablet has randomly disconnected from the PF4, but haven't noticed any other glitch, tho. Glad I caught it when it was convenient.

 

[ktmoutfront]

Easy fixes are nice to find.