Running Without Thermostat...?

Actually NO.
The thermostat also slows the flow of water through the system giving it time to cool in the radiator. Some people dont have a problem with not running a thermostat but I always have. The problems you will have will be a very slow warm-up time, bad idea in Norway, and possibly an overheat issue whiel running at higher RPM ( Highway) Get a good 180* Thermostat and you should be fine. If you are having overheating issues with a thermostat in, then you have other problems.
 
The Thermostat thing..

... Thanks a lot ! Interesting informatoion, I will go for a good rec. thermostat. My cooling system runs fine today, and I wont let my new Heads melt down... AND, I think you all must have Stroker Brains, because they contains a lot of Mustang Information...! :nice:
 
stock t- stat is 195, i think. the blocks should be ok to run as hot as 220-230* (though i sure try not to).

86 GT stang, i would recommend a good quality thermostat. the garden variety are not great. i, personally like the MR. Gasket 180 degree thermostat. it is balanced and is a nice unit. it will open FULLY sooner than the cheap ones. it also includes the bleed hole, which is nice (and saves you from drillin your own). here, they are only a couple of dollars more than the cheap ones.
 
86GT, i think you will be happy with it. i had tried a parts store variety 180* stat and was not happy, so the same week, i got a Mr. Gasket 180 ($10 US at local speed shop. about the same price or less, plus shipping from summit, Jegs, etc). i was running about 10* cooler (i have an aftermarket gauge so i can tell what temp im really at). good choice. :nice:

on my 88, the gauge goes from 130* to 270*, IIRC. interpolating suggests that the middle mark would be 200*. the stock gauge sucks, though. mine reads 10-40* cooler than my aftermarket gauge. not cool (pun intended).
 
Many racers avoid thermostats because of the possibility of failure and the catastrophe that it could lead to on track. I've personally never run thermostats on my race cars. Street cars really only need them if they are equipped with a heater or you live in a colder climate. Here in Miami, it seldom gets cold so I just don't bother with them on my street car either. Too much of a hassle. My van had a stuck thermostat and the piece of **** gauge didn't work (had no idea it wasn't working because it was stuck on 185). Blew a headgasket. After that I said "**** those thermostats" and went with restricted ssbh's and fittings on all of my cars. The AN-16 works great to act as a natural restriction (the hoses are smaller than stock hose) and it allows the coolant (I run Evans in all my cars, I never use water or antifreeze.. too much of a mess and a hassle if you spill it). I'm one of those guys who'll spend a small fortune to remove one step from the maintenance equasion. This is one step I am glad I removed.
 
Being that you are in a cold climate I would recommend the T-stat for it will warm up your block faster. I'm in San Diego therefore I do not run a T-stat and my car runs great. It all comes down to having good new parts in your car. My cooling system is almost too efficient, lol.
 
Thanks for your inputs, Guys. Interesting with the Race solution, but I drive a lot at public roads during my GT season, from last of April to middle of Oktober. Will go for the 180 tstat. Normal summer temperature here is around 18-25 Celsius(Mai-August) (My GT is stored during our freezing cold winter.The Focus and our 2.3LX is our all season Cars.)
 
86GT, your climate is not as warm as i thought. if i guess correctly, the temps you gave correspond to around 65-78* F. that is not warm at all. i would think you could run fine with even a stock thermostat. but if you are having cooling issues already (for whatever reason), the 180 should be fine (i really dont know since my temp range is ~110*F in the summer, and ~60*F for a low in winter).

good luck.
 
generally the hotter you run the motor the better
hotter motor means less heat going into the cooling system on combustion in the chamber which means more pressure
as we all should know more pressure means more power

so as long as you are not going through detonation or warping,craking the block hotter the better as it helps efficiency of the motor

and running with no therm or a therm stuck open (as in my case) takes FOREVER to warm up the block meaning less then steller performance
 
HISSIN50 said:
86GT, your climate is not as warm as i thought. if i guess correctly, the temps you gave correspond to around 65-78* F. that is not warm at all. i would think you could run fine with even a stock thermostat. but if you are having cooling issues already (for whatever reason), the 180 should be fine (i really dont know since my temp range is ~110*F in the summer, and ~60*F for a low in winter).

good luck.
...Ah Haa.. 110*F ,Thats what the T-tops are for.. ? :) My cooling runs fine today, no problems.
Celsius*=*F-32 Multiplied by5/Devoted to 9. Found that today.. (10*F here now) U guessed correctly,65-78*F. The tstat installed now is a ADS "powerchip" unit. Came with the kit. I will install a new one after the mods.
 
-86GTStang said:
...Ah Haa.. 110*F ,Thats what the T-tops are for.. ? :)
Celsius*=*F-32 Multiplied by5/Devoted to 9. .


glad you seem to be runnin ok. my car is a convertible, but that is a detriment, as the cold air doesnt even make it to my face before it "flies away." :-)

i lived in Germany as an exchange student, and have some numbers/conversion values stuck in my head from a decade ago. im too lazy to calculate anything. :-) glad my guess was not too far off.

above where you said "devoted to", i think you mean "divided by." no biggie. your english is way better than my German ever was or will be. LOL.