Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Stovebolt driving report

Now that is a switch, a Harley following a truck. Congratulations on your first drive.

Thanks cletis. It's a ride I've been itching for a good while now. Larry

Drove the 37 some today. It's been awhile since I got it out on the road. Drove it for quite a while and it was good to remember just how much fun it is to drive.....and yes, had to smoke'em one time!

What great therapy Alvin.

Replaced the 180 thermostat I put in last winter w/the original 160 that came in it and I'm more happy w/the running temps.

I put the 180 in in-hopes it would do away w/the cold weather condensation buildup in the valve cover and it didn't. Not to mention I just didn't like the engine temps running above the 180 mark on the gauge.

On my nice 50 mile cruise the temps never got above the "8" in the 180 mark. MO better,
I know it'll run cooler come cold weather but that's OK. I can do a partial block of the radiator if need be as I'd rather this old 216 not pushing the temp limit.

Dave

Dave, the way to avoid that condensation [as much as possible] is always make sure you get the engine to max temp for an extended period, never short trips, and when you shut it down take off the breather/fill cap until it cools - don't forget to replace it before the next trip

Bill

Made the 4 mile trip from town back out to the ranch after getting a bunch of front end work done.

You're ready for a road trip now Martin.

Today I drove the Suburban, with the club, to Nocona to see Horton Classic Car Museum.

From there, Mrs. Cletis and I drove to Spanish Fort, now considered a ghost town that once served the Chisholm Trail cattle drives.

Next we went to Muenster to Fischer's Meat Market to buy some German sausage and some other goodies.

Had a fantastic time and put 245 miles on the 'burb.

But on a bummer note, the alternator started chirping. I pulled it and it appears to be bad bearings.

Not quite ready Cletis, front end alignment and a bit more finish work.

Good info Bill, I'll be trying the fill cap removal once I start detecting the condensation problem come cold weather.
Most of my trips avg a minimum of atleast 1/2hr with most going well over an hr. When I leave the driveway theres no telling where I end up letting it run

Engine blowby has decreased to the point I don't see any coming from the vents/fillcap when running now. Before it would poor out and find it's way into the cab through all the worn firewall seals. Giving me a distinct smell the Mrs doesn't appreciate.
Seems the rings are sealing better w/use.
I do get smoke/blowby out the vents/fill cap at shutdown so removing that cap may cut down on it as I'm of the opinion that blowby is a big contributor to the condensation buildup in cold weather.

I've been toying w/the idea of fab'ing up a deflector of some sort to mount infront of the valve cover to try and deflect the cool fan forced air away from directly hitting the front of the valve cover. The hot engine air inside the VC hitting a cool VC is a big contributor to the condensation no doubt.

To keep to the intent of this driving report thread, a couple more cruises after the thermostat change have kept the gauge temps down where I like them. The truck performed great both in back road and bumper to bumper driving. It's going to be really hard to take this truck offline for any reason now, I'm not even concerned or upset at how long the 235 build I'm doing is takeing as this venerable ole 216 is running strong
Dave