Question for Larry Brumfield

Some customers (not in the Texas heat of course) have claimed their average temperature ran as low as 130 degrees after installing a Brumfield Head and the hottest the engine would get is 180 on a long hard pull (with an immediate cool down in a short distance back to the 130 range after the pull was over). A thermostat was needed and installed.

Others , in the Texas heat for example, merely claim that their overheating problem went away.

Now those who like fast driving or hot rod types often don't see much difference.

With two cars exactly alike in all respects except for the cylinder head differences, that is stock and Brumfield, the one with the Brumfield Head will tend to run cooler at the EXACT same speed and load because more of the energy of the fuel is used for power and less for heat.


Larry B.
 
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Larry

Is it required to run a thermostat with a Brumfield head? I was taught that one is need to keep a working temp. in a motor. I have seen excessive wear in modern motors that have been run cold, and was told that it was a result of not running a thermostat. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks--Randy
 
I know you posted this for Larry but thought I would jump in here. We have a brumfield head on the phaeton. After installing a modern temperature gauge found that we could not get the engine temp above 140 degrees on a tour in Northern California during the summer when the temp was about 90 degrees outside. The tour went through the hills, so there was some pulling on the engine and it still did not warm up. Modern fuel requires and internal engine temp of 160+ degrees for proper burning that is why Larry is suggesting a thermostat I'm sure. We wrote this up in the Model A Times in the Winter 2005 issue.
 
Something completely unrelated to model A's but I remember reading an article and even talking to people about why most car manufactures went to 195F thermostats in the late 70s early 80s. The reason was they found that fuel was condensating on cylinder walls and washing the oil off. This caused excess ware as well as wasted fuel. The increased temperature also allows them to run leaner without issues.

Obviously a 195F stat is completely out of the question on a non pressurized system. But figured i'd throw it out there as its something interesting.
 
My assumption is this brings it too close to the boiling point of water if not running antifreeze. And even if running antifreeze whats the boiling point at atmospheric pressure?

You figure the stat opens at approx 195F whats the temperature of the block in spots, 210? 220 even 230?

Even with 50\50 antifreeze your going to be boiling at 220-230F at the most making a 195F stat a bad choice in an open system in my opinion.
 
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28hiboy said:
Larry

Is it required to run a thermostat with a Brumfield head? I was taught that one is need to keep a working temp. in a motor. I have seen excessive wear in modern motors that have been run cold, and was told that it was a result of not running a thermostat. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks--Randy
Click to expand...


A thermostat is absolutely NOT required on all engines running a Brumfield Head. The ones that typically benefit with a thermostat after installing a Brumfield Head are the ones that ran cooler than most or nearly perfect with the stock head, which is often not the case.

I personally like to see ALL model A's, regardless of the head they're wearing, run a little on the warm side, around 175 degrees or higher, BUT, not high enough to cause an overheat on a long pull up a steep hill or with pedal to the floor acceleration. This will vary from one Model A to the next.

As for gasoline, engines run on the old gas benefited from proper engine temperature the same as now because sufficient temperature must be maintained for proper fuel vaporization.

Moreover, engines with STOCK heads and no thermostat that run too cool, which is often the case in cooler or cold weather, tend to sludge up the oil in addition to poor or inadequate fuel vaporization and also harmful by-products of combustion wind up staying in the oil instead of baking out.


Larry B.
 
"Brumfield Head will tend to run cooler at the EXACT same speed and load because more of the energy of the fuel is used for power and less for heat."

I thought power was heat energy? skip. Everytime I built a race engine I upped the cooling.
 
skip said:
"Brumfield Head will tend to run cooler at the EXACT same speed and load because more of the energy of the fuel is used for power and less for heat."

I thought power was heat energy? skip. Everytime I built a race engine I upped the cooling.
Click to expand...


Skip, notice what I said above:

"For those who like fast driving or hot rod types often don't see much difference"

Once the engine labors at high speed in the same manner as with a stock head at its high speed, the temperature will be about the same maybe even a little higher.


Larry B.
 
I installed a new 4 tube radiator ,no more heat problem,use a 160 thermostat,also manual temp guage,runs a cool 160 to 165 in this Texas summer heat ,before, it would boil ,throw water,steam and puke after 1/4 mile of normal speed 40 mph. I had original radiator boiled out at local shop and it did'nt help.Wish I had a Brumfield head tho, it runs good,seems to need more power pulling a medium grade.
 
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