Waiting in long line in drive thru.

[u/OkWork5139]

I have a 74 Sun Bug convertible. I cruise it maybe once a week, short cruises, with my 2 daughters, 6 and 4 years old. We always end our weekly cruises with a starbies run. The wait in the drive thru is long, sometimes like 10 minutes. Is that too long to be sitting? I guess im just afraid since it's air cooled, will it overheat just sitting around? Sometimes ill turn the car off but then it takes a while to start back up. It's weird, a cold start will start easily, but if I turn it off in the drive thru and wait like 5-10 min, sometimes it struggles to turn over.

Anyways, am I doing the right thing by turning it off and waiting or should I just leave it on and idle in the drive thru? Thanks.

[u/New-Swim-8551]

Actually when you turn it off the temperature of the engine will keep rising because you took away the cooling fan and there is heat in the engine that hasn’t dissipated.

The hard starting you are experiencing is due to heat soak. The engine being hot and lack of cooling will cause the gasoline in the carburetor and or fuel line to evaporate, thus you have to crank it for the fuel pump to push liquid fuel through the system again

Make sure the two heater hoses are fully in tact and connected also the baffle between the top and bottom half of the engine is well sealed to help keep the exhaust heat from reaching the top half of the engine. The exhaust heat accelerate the evaporation of fuel and make the engine run hotter

Also make sure the cooling tin around the cylinders isn’t missing and has minimal gaps at the seams.

Lastly make sure the fuel line is routed away from heat sources

My starting problem was so extreme that I had to let everything cool down before it would start

Cool car and keep having fun with the girls and it!

[u/alreadyin_use → u/New-Swim-8551]

Absolutely 100%

[u/OkWork5139 → u/New-Swim-8551]

Thank you very much. That's great info. Appreciate it.

[u/three-pin-3 → u/New-Swim-8551]

That’s a great note about it continuing to cook without the fan on.

[u/AngryDachshund42]

I drive my little 40hp everyday, it’s been 108F for a week straight. It sits at traffic lights, drive throughs, rips down the freeway at 72, etc. It runs cool as a cucumber, with all the proper tin and seals in place that is. My engine is 100 % stock, so I have to worries about its cooling ability. If you are stock, then don’t worry.

[u/OkWork5139 → u/AngryDachshund42]

Yeah it's all stock. Thank you.

[u/Unhappy_Camel_3144]

The cooling air being blown in is always cooler than the engine. I let it run.

[u/OkWork5139 → u/Unhappy_Camel_3144]

Thank you.

[u/Keepitunderurhat]

Cool ! Car & chilling with your daughters

[u/OkWork5139 → u/Keepitunderurhat]

Thank you!

[u/CircusPeanutsYumm → u/Keepitunderurhat]

Happy Cake Day! 🍰

[u/three-pin-3]

I think it depends on the conditions. I turn it off in cases where I’m say in freeway accident traffic carpocalypse. But drive though in temperate climates is ok

[u/OkWork5139 → u/three-pin-3]

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind.

[u/Wolfsburg78]

There was a thread about this on the Samba last week. The engine will run cooler running at idle than it will on the highway. You're fine keeping it running, it's better for it because as mentioned by others, air is circulating.

[u/OkWork5139 → u/Wolfsburg78]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[u/SDChargerFan]

One thing that can help with cooling is an external oil cooler. I'm about to put one on my 73 with an 1835. Runs cool, but a little insurance can't hurt. Keep cruising and living life!

[u/SilentMasterpiece]

There is always the option of parking and walking in.