Hi guys i am setting up my 1987 iroc for autocross racing and was wondering what a cheap way of doing so was...thanks

 

I already responded in the lounge, but I'll post it here too since you're more likely to find it here.

 

i want to be able to keep the motor from running over 200 degrees or so....what is a good temp for the motor? given i have a 350 tpi...what degree thermostate do you think is good

 

First of all you have a 195 degree thermostat so you can run the fan all you want and the temps won't drop below 195. You can get a 160 degree stat which will let you cool down to 160.
Now you have two options, the most convient to use is to just get an ajustable fan switch, set it at whatever temperature you want and it do all the work for you.
Or you could install a manual fan switch:
Someone already described one method.
The way I did it cost me nothing. Their are two wires going to the AC in the engine bay that cause the fan to turn on when you turn the ac on. I just spliced wires into those and ran them into the interior a a 90 cent switch from radioshack. That is the ghetto way to do it. If you are interested I could take a picture of the wires I spliced for you.

 

that would be great if you could take the pic for me...i did have a 165 degreee thermostat in it at one time and the check engine light came on...i found out later that the thermostat was not the cause of the problem i did take it out because one mechanic told me some sensors will not turn on until you get above 165 degrees...i dont know if this is true but he thought it would be a good idea for me to change the stat out and it may turn the light off...to say the lest he was very wrong and i found out it was the computer itself....this is a reason i dont take my car to mechanics....the main one is i enjoy working on them....but anyway....what about those sensors...is this a true story...will the car be in a closed loop operation thinking the engine is still cold?

 

It is true, in a way. When you first start your car up, it's in open loop, and the engine basically runs on predetermined program so the engine will heat up quickly. You want the engine to heat up quickly so combustion will become as efficient as possible, etc., etc. Once certain parameters are met (one of them being coolant temp being above 160*, IIRC), the car goes into closed loop, which uses inputs from the oxygen (O2) sensor to more accurately control timing advance, reducing knock, fuel delivery, etc., etc. If your car never gets into closed loop operation, fuel mileage, emissions, and performance of the motor can seriously suffer.

 

right that was exactly my point the lowest thermostat that i should put in is 180....now on to cooling fans...what does it entail in order to put in a adjustable fan control...does any company make one...thanks guys for the replies its made for good talk

 

Yes, there are companies that make adjustable fan controllers. A company called Hayden makes some but I've never been able to find them, yet (Pep Boys supposedly has them). Here's a thread on Thirdgen.org that talks about them:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/show...hreadid=170903

Just click on whichever fan set-up you have, and they're PDF files, so make sure you have Adobe downloaded on your computer.