I'm a bit of a novice here. I have a 68 Cutlass Holiday Coupe with a 350. Just finished putting a new intake and 4bbl carb on it, as well as new radiator. The car has A/C as well. I also replaced the fan clutch last weekend.

Now when I drive the car only a few miles to the gas station and back it smells hot and there is a bubbling sound at the radiator cap (also new). Nothing coming out of the cap through the overflow hose, though. Hot engine light has not come on.

Should I be worried that the car is overheating? Any words of advice?

 

Buy a set of gauges, idiot lights are unreliable and come on late or not at all. I had a belt come off due to stretching, knocked off the other belt, gauge hit 260, pulled over before any damage. Make sure the system is full and thermostat is opening all the way.

 

Here is the problem, you have no idea what your temperature actually is, your speculating. As stated above, buy a mechanical temp gauge and permanently/temporarily install it and see what it is. The gurgling may be as simple as an air pocket caught in the block. the smell can be some spilled antifreeze slowly burning off surfaces.

 

I agree with the above posts.

If you find that the engine really is running hotter than it should, it could be due to something as simple as retarded timing. When you swapped intake manifolds, did you remove the distributor? If so, did you ensure the timing was set correctly after the swap?

 

Could be the timing. Thanks. I hadn't thought of that.

 

if it didn't overheat before, it probably has to do with something you just changed, the gurguling sound could be air. there is a specific procedure for bleeding air out of the cooling system after draining, probably on youtube or search the internet. also try removing the thermostat and running it. check and see if the lower radiator hose is collapsing when you rev it.

 

You just put a new radiator in, where it's "overheating" so quickly, I would make sure there isn't air in the system. I think you can run the car without the cap on until it's up to temperature and the air will purge itself from the radiator.

How much antifreeze(volume) did you add to the car when you changed the radiator? That'll give us a decent idea if there is air in the system.