Hello folks...I need help...I bought a nice 63 bus and had a guy put a chrome engine kit and empi electronic ignition on it...Now it runs tooooo hot!   Need someone who knows what there doing when it comes to these old buses cause I don't....Thanks

What my guess is : chrome,which makes things hot and a electronic Ing. system  and somebody who doesn't know how to set Ing timing correctly, no seals around the engine to body. I don't know why people buy something that performs just find and then start messing with it causing more problems.

Ret.Bugtech is probably right . . . he usually is . . . at least 99.99% of the time.  The other .01% of the time he's probably at least half right too.  

There may be some "good" chrome engine tin out there, but most of it I've seen looks fantastic, but comes up really short in the "fitting correctly" and "directing the air to where it needs to go" catagories.  The original black tin absorbs heat from the engine and radiates it outward much better than chrome, which tends to reflect the heat back to the engine.  I remember seeing some test results somewhere many years ago that showed the difference in temperature due to chrome vs. black tin.  It wasn't drastic, but like Ret.Bugtech said, chrome does make it run hotter.  That's a documented fact.  Still, if everything else is OK and it's basically a stock engine, it shouldn't be enough to worry a lot about.

But, if you add on top of that a slightly incorrect timing setting, a few air leaks in the cooling system where the tin doesn't fit correctly, part or all of the engine bay seal missing, etc., etc. all the little things add up . . . then throw in a couple of days with temps near triple digits . . . you can have a major melt down in a hurry.

I'd start with the timing and make sure it's set correctly, and make sure the engine bay seal in intact.  Those two are a MUST, then start looking for other issues.  I love the look of chrome, but if it came down to LOOKING cool, or actually RUNNING cool, I'd ditch the chrome if necessary.  But if you get everything else right, you should be able to get away with the chrome.

The engine is NOT stock....The PO beefed it up alot....He says its around 110 HP....I have NO engine lid seal....Question:   Does the engine have to be removed to replace the tin?  

Heres the details of my engine:
1776 engine with,
69 Counterweight Crank;
Stock Rods;
Scat lifters;
90.5 Mahle Pistons;
42 37 Valves on Heads;
Scat 1.25 Rockers;
.40 Dual webers
Has less than 6K ,miles since rebuid...
MECHANIC NEEDED !!!!

That's what he said....I have no idea but it pushes the bus up the road better than the previous busses I've owned....

More horsepower = more gas/air being combusted and pushed through the engine = MORE HEAT than a stock engine

So I think with a souped up motor cooling supplies would be the last thing I'd skimp on. You never hear the V8 crowd saying "Its a 500+hp car with a chrome radiator that performs worse than the stock radiator"

If it were me, I'd track down the pieces of sheet metal at the next event you go to. If the vendors are good, you might pay $5 or less per piece, save the fan shroud which might be $20. Clean them up good and swap them around.

As for having to pull the motor to change the tins, you probably don't have to, but it would not be fun. I'd sooner pull the motor than wrestle around in an engine compartment...

And the engine lid seal isn't as important as the engine tin to body seal. Air goes through the fan, over the engine and out the bottom. Hot air rises so if it leaks back up into the engine compartment, you are cooling with already heated air. That needs to be sealed to keep from overheating.

Have you ever tried to pull a fan shroud off a Van with the engine installed ? So far we have talked about everything causing the heat build up.  I take it you do have the fresh air pipe(black paper things) on the fan shroud to the heater box's installed or sealed off. You are blowing about 50% or more cooling air off you engine if these are left opened.

It doesn't have heater boxes (bus came from Las Vegas) and the chrome fan shroud doesn't have the holes in them so that part is right...


I have all of the orginal tin that was on it when I bought it....I could see the ground and knew that wasn't right (although it ran cooler than it does now)
I'm ready to get all this chrome off! ...I won't be driving it much until I do...I can get a deck lid seal and install it but I need someone else that I can hire to do the tin work, set the timing etc...

Rick at R & M...Does his place have a bay window out front?

Funny...

I think we found the Rat!!!