How to make the engine stay cool?

[Justins72]

I live in CA and even though my engine really doesnt overheat in traffic that much it has come pretty close a few times. So besides getting into an expensive aluminum radiator whats the best way to upgrade the cooling system so you realldy dont have to worry about over heating in traffic? right now i have a 16" s swirl blade fan. The engine is a mild build 340 with a 727 tf.  Thanks

[72hemi]

Do you have a shroud on the radiator? If not get one.

[Daves74chally]

I have a 408 stroker in my car, and in heavy traffic the heat builds up fast. I don't have a fan shroud which is half the problem. But I think im going to go with an aluminum radiator and electric fans. Should help a ton.

Over all not having a shroud can really hurt your engine's ability to cool. Thats because the air from the fan is being pushed around the radiator rather than through it in slow speeds.

[Chryco Psycho]

swirl balde ??
 get a 18 " Flex-A-Lite clutch fan
 Also Use a Stant 180 * thermostat

[73Chally]

I have a 440 with stock 22 inch radiator, shroud, and clutch can like Chryco mentioned, and have no problems what so ever with overheating in Dallas summer driving.  The shroud and clutch fan are the key.

[moparmaniac59]

Antifreeze cools better than water alone. Not sure what part of CA you live in as there is a wide degree of climate conditions in the state. Make sure you use antifreeze, but not more than a 50/50 mix. Also you may want to check to make sure you have good flow through the radiator and that the water pump is doing it's job. When the engine is cool, remove the radiator cap, warm up the car and once the thermostat opens, look for a good flow action thru the radiator. Low flow could be a sign of a clogged radiator core, clogged cooling passages in the engine block or a bum water pump. There are aftermarket water pumps with more vanes that can move more water than a stock water pump. Just some options and some things to check that haven't been mentioned!!

                                                    Matt B.

[HP2]

How?

Heavy duty thermostatic clutch and fan
shroud
proper fan spacing
stock ratio pulleys (no underdriven billet stuff)
good radiator (clean tubes, straight fins)
strong hoses
radiator cap that holds rated pressure
50/50 water/coolant mix

[Justins72]

I live in San Jose. This is the electric fan that i have http://www.maradyne.com/maradyne_mobile/products/r_fans/m162.html  I found it in the garage and so i planed on putting it in.  The radiator was redone a while back.  I do run 50/50 mix of antifreez. With a higher flowing water pump would that cause the coolent to be in the radiator less and not cool as much?

Also the fan can be either a pusher or puller which would be better?  When i set it in the car there wasnt much room for a large shroud to be used as a puller.

[HP2]

Puller fans are better than pushers. Without shrouding your not getting as efficient cooling because you are not forcing air through the whole radiator and it will only have improved cooling in the area immediatly around the fan.

When it has gotten hot in the past, what were the driving conditions? At speed on the highway or creeping along in traffic through town? At speed would indicate an inadequate system with out sufficient capacity. In town with traffic could be insufficient coolant or air flow.

[Justins72]

It was in stop and go around town.  It was doing fine for a couple of hours then it started creeping up and finaly i just shut it down.

[Aracer]

In addition, some times the vacuum advance adj.is set to soft, so they over heat under light throttle.

[shawge]

If you're using stock manifolds, make sure the spring and flap in the passenger side manifold (I forget what the real name is) is working and not stuck closed. 

[HP2]

It was in stop and go around town.  It was doing fine for a couple of hours then it started creeping up and finaly i just shut it down.

This would tell me that you don't have adequate air or water flow, and I'd lean towards lack of air flow with your electric fan and non-shrouded radiator.

So if you can figure out some way to turn the fan in to a puller and shroud it. Even if you just duct tape together some cardboard to check it, see what difference it can make. If you like the results, you can turn the cardboard cut outs into a template for a sheet metal version.

Another option is to hit the salvage yards and see what other options you could pick off another car. Late A bodies and F J M bodied cars are still fairly abundant in yards and many of these parts can be interchanged or easily adapted to an E body.