<VV> Cooling Question

[HallGrenn at aol.com]

Bill,
 
As you've already sealed the engine compartment and deflashed the heads the 
 next area I would check is the condenser seals to the body.  GM installed  
the condenser with square shaped dense foam strips that run between the 
body and  the top and bottom of the '66 & '67 style condensers to prevent air 
from  being pulled around the condenser instead of through it.  The condenser 
 should also be vacuumed from the front side (in the area below the grill 
behind  the rear window) and back flushed from the engine side into the area 
below the  grill whenever it gets dirty.  One owner I knew did this every 
spring  without fail.  If the condenser is clean, sealed properly and the 
engine  shrouding/seals are intact then all the engine cooling air will come to 
the  cooling fan through the condenser.  The air will be warmer from the 
A/C's  heat load being dumped by the condenser, but the cooling fan has the 
capacity to  still cool the engine.  The only overheat conditions I have seen 
when the  cars were new(ish) in the '70s was due to leaky shrouding/engine 
seals  and a dirty condenser which caused hot air from beneath and behind the 
car to be  pulled into the engine compartment by the cooling fan.
 
But if I owned a '66 or '67 with AC I would probably install two small fans 
 on the engine side of the condenser for heavy traffic conditons as well.
 
Best of luck with it.
 
Bob Hall