<VV> Re: fan HP

[JVHRoberts at aol.com]

Funny, my Corvairs sans lower shrouds, warmed up plenty fast. It MIGHT have  
taken an extra couple of minutes, but they did warm up. And I never had  
mayonaisse under the oil fill cap. 
Now, in all fairness, most of mine were turbos, and there as always too  much 
engine heat. And on my non turbo cars, well, let's say I drove them in a  
spirited manner, and still, getting enough heat into things was a no brainer. 
And, 911 owners, with their total lack of thermostats and 12 quart oil  
tanks, don't seem to have this problem. Possibly because their oil coolers have  an 
actual thermostat...
 
Just sharing my experiences..
 
John
 
In a message dated 6/27/2005 5:23:54 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
burkhard at rochester.rr.com writes:

Yes and  no ... The Heater/Defogger is indeed non-existent without them, but
they  also do serve a useful purpose in 1) letting the engine get fully  to
operating temperature and 2) Letting it do this QUICKLY, getting through  the
high wear zone in a minimum period of time.

Years ago, when my  Dad and I were going to look at lots of Vairs for sale,
we notice a very  STRONG correlation between the ones with failed/missing
thermostats and the  ones with "mayonnaise" under the oil cap.  These cars
weren't heating  up fully/properly/or often enough and the engines suffered
as a  result.

I drive about 12 miles to work.  With the shrouds on, the  oil sump
temperature stabilizes by the time I am about halfway there. With  the
shrouds off, it isn't stabilized (and it's far below the condensate  boil-off
point) even after 12 miles.

Taking the shrouds off does  have some merit, in certain circumstances.  I
did so last year when we  drove the car from NY to KY. I probably didn't need
to, but it bought me  some cooling margin on the high speed long hot trip.
It is a terrible idea  to do for the majority of us in temperate climates who
just drive 10 or 15  miles at a time to shows, cruise meets, etc.  You aren't
doing the  engine any favors.  

Jim Burkhard