Although not strictly regarding the GT40, my experience here is certainly relevant. During a recent visit to the Red Line Oil factory, on impulse I bought a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter.
Red Line Water Wetter
I've used this stuff, on and off, for years, but hadn't put any into my Pantera before. Today I siphoned out an appropriate amount of coolant from the pressure tank and then dumped a whole bottle of Water Wetter in. It's good for 3-5 gallons, and the Pantera's system is 6 3/8 gallons so arguably I could have used two bottles, but one is what I had so one is what I used.
After topping off the cooling system, I fired it up and let it idle. I could see the water temp rise until the thermostat opened, then it dropped suddenly as the engine got a shot of cool water from the radiator. It eventually settled down right at 190 degrees on the gauge, verified by a laser heat gun on my radiator which showed 185. (I've got a 180-degree thermostat). One fan came on, then it just sat there.
After 15 minutes, I decided to force the issue, and revved it up to 3000 rpm for about five minutes. The temp climbed up to about 210 and the second fan was on. I then let it settle back to its 850 rpm idle, and after a fairly short time, the temp dropped back to 190 and the second fan turned off.
Nirvana!
My cooling system is as old-school as it gets. I have a standard stock replacement radiator (brass) in the normal stand-up configuration, and pusher fans, and a Brand X aluminum water pump, and I use a RobertShaw (Flowkooler) 180-degree thermostat instead of a cheap auto parts store thermostat.
It just goes to show that one doesn't have to go to great extremes to get a mid-engined V-8-powered car to run at the proper temperature. Having said that, it appears that the addition of water wetter may have knocked 5-10 degrees off my temps, because normally my car idles with both fans running once it's warmed up from cold, and indicates just over 190 degrees. At about eight bucks a bottle, that's one of the better improvements you can make from a cost-effectiveness basis.
FWIW, Red Line claims that adding one bottle of Water Wetter to a 50/50 water/glycol mix results in a temp drop of about 8 degrees, fully consistent with my findings. They claim an 18-degree temp drop when it is added to a straight water system (no antifreeze); as a bonus it contains all the good lubey things needed to keep your water pump seals etc. fresh. :thumbsup:
Red Line Water Wetter
I've used this stuff, on and off, for years, but hadn't put any into my Pantera before. Today I siphoned out an appropriate amount of coolant from the pressure tank and then dumped a whole bottle of Water Wetter in. It's good for 3-5 gallons, and the Pantera's system is 6 3/8 gallons so arguably I could have used two bottles, but one is what I had so one is what I used.
After topping off the cooling system, I fired it up and let it idle. I could see the water temp rise until the thermostat opened, then it dropped suddenly as the engine got a shot of cool water from the radiator. It eventually settled down right at 190 degrees on the gauge, verified by a laser heat gun on my radiator which showed 185. (I've got a 180-degree thermostat). One fan came on, then it just sat there.
After 15 minutes, I decided to force the issue, and revved it up to 3000 rpm for about five minutes. The temp climbed up to about 210 and the second fan was on. I then let it settle back to its 850 rpm idle, and after a fairly short time, the temp dropped back to 190 and the second fan turned off.
Nirvana!
My cooling system is as old-school as it gets. I have a standard stock replacement radiator (brass) in the normal stand-up configuration, and pusher fans, and a Brand X aluminum water pump, and I use a RobertShaw (Flowkooler) 180-degree thermostat instead of a cheap auto parts store thermostat.
It just goes to show that one doesn't have to go to great extremes to get a mid-engined V-8-powered car to run at the proper temperature. Having said that, it appears that the addition of water wetter may have knocked 5-10 degrees off my temps, because normally my car idles with both fans running once it's warmed up from cold, and indicates just over 190 degrees. At about eight bucks a bottle, that's one of the better improvements you can make from a cost-effectiveness basis.
FWIW, Red Line claims that adding one bottle of Water Wetter to a 50/50 water/glycol mix results in a temp drop of about 8 degrees, fully consistent with my findings. They claim an 18-degree temp drop when it is added to a straight water system (no antifreeze); as a bonus it contains all the good lubey things needed to keep your water pump seals etc. fresh. :thumbsup:
