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Well, now onto another issue. It seems that I am running a little hot after driving for 20 minutes. Temp goes up to around 205 , and I think it should be cooler than that. One thing is, the truck has a radiator ,what looks to be out of a larger older F series truck. Maybe F2 ? I may need a 4 row radiator. Also going to install a mid 90's Taurus fan. Right now it utilizes twin fans from a diesel Mercedes. That is what was in the truck when I bought it. They blow a lot of air, but they are set up as pusher fans and not pullers. I made an airtight seal, but I still think the radiator is too small. Any thoughts?

pushers dont work with big shrouds because they block airflow. all the factory pushers I see are for ac condensers and are made to be unobtrusive to airflow. I have a MB pusher in the garage, it barely even has a finger shield on it!

so you are maybe blocking airflow with your twin setup. also, make absolutely certain that all the air coming in the front is ducted through the rad core. most overheating problems I see are from having big openings where the air can go INSTEAD of through the core. think of air like a liquid, liquid will go through any opening with the least resistance before going through an opening with even slight resistance. I use plastic and tin to duct the air through the core (tanks dont need airflow)

if you are using a used rad, clean it out. in modern engines having any dissimilar metals, in this case aluminum rad core and iron block, and anything less than 50/50 coolant will cause galvanic corrosion as the heated water flows. this causes sediment that settles in the low parts of the cooling system, usually the rad tanks and in the block. reverse flush both, chances are some sediment will come popping out.

check for trapped bubbles. a pressurized cap means the system under pressure will not boil till well past 212, but only if there isnt a bubble to make steam. usually a bubble gets stuck in the heater (or lack of heater) loop. it seems like I have to drive my truck the first time and let the bubble burp with the expansion tank, after a big temp spike.

make sure you have the right cap and system attached. if its an expansion system, you need the burp line hooked up and an expansion tank with coolant mix in it, because the system will purge air through that line when hot and suck coolant back in as it cools. learned this lesson the hard way the first time by blocking the burp line (hey it was shooting on the engine!) and popping a hose off.

good luck! glad to hear about the 2 minute test turned 10 mile cruise, I have done that myself!
 
Well, now onto another issue. It seems that I am running a little hot after driving for 20 minutes. Temp goes up to around 205 , and I think it should be cooler than that. One thing is, the truck has a radiator ,what looks to be out of a larger older F series truck. Maybe F2 ? I may need a 4 row radiator. Also going to install a mid 90's Taurus fan. Right now it utilizes twin fans from a diesel Mercedes. That is what was in the truck when I bought it. They blow a lot of air, but they are set up as pusher fans and not pullers. I made an airtight seal, but I still think the radiator is too small. Any thoughts?

First thing, what thermostat is in it? If it's a 195, 205 isn't out of line. Maybe you just need a lower temp thermostat.

If it gets to a temperature and holds there, I would hold off on renovating your entire system until you check your thermostat.
 
First thing, what thermostat is in it? If it's a 195, 205 isn't out of line. Maybe you just need a lower temp thermostat.

If it gets to a temperature and holds there, I would hold off on renovating your entire system until you check your thermostat.

Thanks guys , for the input. Just so that I know what I have , I removed the radiator and took it to my local trusty radiator guy. He looked up the type radiator that came in a 69 Lincoln. He spouted of a type , then said that I should have at least 35 GPM flow throught the radiator to cool the 460 . When he checked it , it actually had 52 GPM of flow. He said I have plenty of radiator for that engine. The other day, I had changed the thermostat , trying to do the simple stuff first. I installed a 160* . That did not really do anything good, but actually made it get hot. He told me to put a 180* thermostat in it. He said what happens with cooler thermostats, is that they open and never close or partially close to allow the radiator and fan to cool like it should. Just for fun, I took the temp gauge out of the truck , and checked it for accuracy. Suspended in a pot of boiling water my temp gauge showed between 215-220*. I am going to strip the shroud off and try just running fans. Wont hurt anything. I guess my thinking was , that if it was sealed up then any extra air flow the fans put out would spread accross the radiator for better cooling. My radiator guy says no. Only on puller fans is that the case. I am also getting a 270* radius temp gauge. man, there is about an 1/8" between ok, and pull over shut her down. hahaha. I will let you know what I find tomorrow.
 
So, I decided to go for s spin today. Well, I wound up pulling over a few times to let her cool down. Nothing worse than a hot engine on a hot day. It actually never got hot, just about 210* was about the hottest. Friday I messed with my timing, carb adjustments, and airflow from fans. I have my timing set right at 10* BTDC, like the little sticker on the valve cover says. Then, I hooked up a vacuum gauge to the intake , adjusted the carb,and had steady 17hg with no fluctuation in the needle. She starts at a half a turn, but has a small stumble when going down the road. Gonna pull the plugs out in the morning and check them. But, that has nothing to do with the engine getting hot. gonna keep at it, until I find out why it wont stay cool.
 
So, I now have the radiator removed , and I am rethinking the whole cooling situation. I do not like electric fans, but I also know they have their place in hot rods. I found that if I unbolt the radiator support from its original location , I can move the radiator forward about 3 1/2". That will give me the room to install a regualr clutch type fan. The fan is 19 1/2" diameter, and the radiator is 22" wide. I am either going to build a shroud from aluminum sheet, or find a pull it shroud, and cut it to fit the radiator snug. Nothing worse than fighting cooling issues on a hot rod. The way I see it, Ford designed the engine to be cooled by a fan with a clutch, so that's what I am going with. I will get photos of what I did, tomorrow. Had heat soaked starter, and changed it to the newer gear reduction style starter, so that problem is solved. The guy at the radiator shop was trying to figure out what the radiator came out of. But, we do know that it has almost 60 gpm of flow. So, the radiator is plenty big.
 
Just wanted to give you guys an update on my cooling issues. I removed electric fan and all related BS to make it operate, and started from square one. I was determined to go back to a regular clutch type fan with a good shroud. First thing I did , was to have my local radiator guy straighten all the fins on the radiator, and give it one good flushing. Once I got that done, I had to figure out how to get a mechanical fan between the radiator and the water pump pulley. I only had about 1" of clearance before. I found a way to move the radiator support forward about 3 3/4". I had to weld a support on the truck frame to allow me to move the radiator forward. Got that done, then moved the radiator . I had to drill new holes in the inner fenders also. I then went to my local junk yard, where I found a shroud out of a 99 Explorer . It is perfectly square, and the fan is centered on the shroud. My junk man climbed all over a 30' 3 high shelf and found the perfect 7 blade fan . I stopped by and bought a new fan clutch, and within 2 hours I had a truck that runs 175* most of the time, and 180* in heavy traffic. I trhink sometimes in our quest to cool an engine, it is best to not overthink the issue. And while the internet is a good source for information, some of the information can lead you down the wrong path. Old man Ford was no dummy, and I firmly believe that if you want to cool an engine, start with the basics that were well thought out by these geniuses. I have been driving the truck now for 2 weeks, and she runs and handles just right.
 
I'm still having some issues with my 37 after installing the A/C condenser, with over heating at a long stop light.
I built a shroud and installed a 6 blade flex fan still didn't fix the problem so I'm gonna try the clutch fan like you did.
6014712_imp_221619_pri_larg.jpg
 
Ok, guys been a while. Been busy. With the business. And , we have our first Grandson Julian, who is now 3 months old. Couldn't be happier. So, I got the cooling issue solved by going back to stock Ford system. Fan clutch, and good tight shroud. Problem solved. So, I just bought an 89 Jaguar XJ6 to utilize the front and rear suspension. One thing I did not know, is that in 89 they used mineral oil for brake fluid. And their is an internal pump inside the motor that creates the pressure for the brakes. Still gonna use the suspension, but just run vacuum booster and master cylinder. I will be posting photos soon on the removal of the IRS first.
 
I decided that with everything I have going on , removing the front and rear suspension from the car will take me months to accomplish . So, I have a guy who works on my newer vehicles, who has a shop. He said he would put the car on his lift and remove both suspension cradles for a little cash and the carcass that is left. Now, this Jag setup is from an 89 model XJ6. So, I may have to do some mods to the truck frame to make it work for the front. The rear , I believe will be pretty straight forward. Once I get everything out of the car, I will post some photos.
 
nothing wrong with some help! if this site was a local area we could get together metalshapers-style and knock out everyones projects
 
Ok, been a while. I did get the old rear end off the truck. I have the Jag rear end set up under the frame now. Trying to figure out how I figure my ride hieght from here. I plan on using coil over shocks that are adjustable. Guess I probably need to buy them huh? I also plan on welding the rear suspension frame to my frame,after I box in parts if the frame.
 

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