Ok, so I am at my wits end with this thing? It's a '67 Ford 390 2bbl in our '47 Hudson. The thing will not cool. It's had a pusher, puller and pulley driven fan. Has a 2 pass aluminum radiator, 180 thermostat, I've had the radiator cleaned out but it really didn't need it. I even have some bilge fans mounted to pull heat out of the engine compartment when idling. I thought it was an airflow problem but now I'm not sure. Had it out yesterday and got near 250 before we could get back home. So I may have more problems after that. Any suggestions on where to go next?
A common error with FE's is putting the head gaskets in backwards. The water just circulates through the front of the engine and the rear cylinders get really hot in no time.
I was beginning to wonder if that could be the problem. I was thinking of heading in that direction with it. I'm doing an intake anyway so I might as well pull the heads also and make for certain they're right. Thanks for the input.
A two row radiator sounds a little small for a 390 honestly but that's just my opinion. I have a 3 row aluminum radiator in my 58 Edsel with a 361 and a 160 T-stat and it still runs with a 4 blade fan at about 180 - 190.
you didn't say, so i'll ask. since you felt the radiator needed cleaning, where did the crap that got cleaned out of it come from? do you know if all the freeze plugs have been pulled in the last few years and the water passages cleaned out? also, are you running a shroud? good luck
67 , with a 2 row radiator; I bought one from the original owner, and that's what it had. It was a 2 bbl 390, no a/c. You mentioned 250 degrees... What pressure is your radiator cap ? With a 15 lb cap, it can go that high, w / out boiling. 4TTRUK
Make sure you aren't running too much timing, or something didn't jump outta wack. I second that a 2row may just not be up to the task, as well as should run a shroud. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
An adequate number of rows in an aluminum radiator depends on the width of the rows. If you have a quality radiator with 1 inch wide tubes then a 2 row is plenty. If you got one of the cheap ones with 3/8 inch wide tubes then 2 rows isn't enough. Also.....do the "feel test". Shut it off and feel the core in the center....it should be about the same temp as around the edges. Doesn't matter if its been cleaned or is new. I've had both situations where they were cold in the center. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I do have a shroud. It's an electric puller with it's own shroud and covers about 90% of the core. This particular radiator calls for a 22lb cap. It has a 16lb currently. Howe radiator from Summit with 1" tubes. Timing is good. I've checked that several times. 10 Degrees initial w/full advance to 30. I have been concerned about the water passages in the block. I have no idea how long this engine set before put in the car. Could be pretty rusty. The radiator had bright orange rusty water in it but no chunks or flakes of rust. The big issue is when it gets hot it boils the fuel out of the carb and then dies and won't start till cool. So if I could keep it at 200 or less it would be fine.
if you flushed the cooling system 2 or more times and are still getting rust something is plugged and not allowing flow around the cylinders and the water is boiling on them loosing up crap . I would say back flush it but it probably needs more than simple Garden hose pressures to clean it out.
yaaa, at this point i'd pull it and knock out the freeze plugs. i bet you'd spend a couple hours cleaning crap out of the cooling passages good luck
few years ago , my galaxies FE428 one freeze plug started to leak, little pin hole. I removed plug, and I was shocked how much there was rust "flakes", over 1 inch high wall there. I took from that center hole all rust what was possible to get, lots of flakes still there. It was hard to get that new freezeplug tight, because also plug hole was corrored. With somekind of sealer, it still does hold antireeze. I feel that FE engine is like somekind of timed bomb :O(
I run a 4 row, triple pass radiator from U.S. Radiator. It's one of their Dessert Cooler Series since I ran A/C and didn't want overheating problems. When my car ran hot (210) turns out the vacuum advance was frozen and it was running retarded. Swap distributors and the car cooled down to 160. Run an isolator block between to carb and manifold to keep the fuel from boiling in the carb. Check fuel lines and isolate from heat as much as possible. If you run an Edelbrock carb, regulate the fuel pressure down to 5 1/2 lbs.
The head gaskets for the FE's are directional but they are also different at their ends. Installed on the engine, You should be able to see the head gaskets at the front of the engine under the yeads if they are installed correctly. If in doubt, look at a head gasket that's not installed and you'll see the extra material on the gasket that will allow you to see if the gasket is installed correctly. This could potentially save you from pulling the heads to simply check the orientation of the gaskets.
2 longshots, but I've seen them both happen: If it has dual exhaust, make sure both sides are flowing. If one side is blocked by a collapsed muffled baffle, rodent nest, or closed heat riser valve on the exhaust manifold, that will force all the exhaust from the plugged side to cross to the other side thru the crossover passage in the intake manifold. That really heats 'em up. If It has a big cam causing a very high idle speed, and an automatic transmission with a stock, low stall converter, that can overheat the transmission fluid while you are idling in traffic, going slow holding the brakes against the high idle. The heat from the transmission gets transferred into the engine coolant via the transmission cooler in the radiator. Good luck. Joel
Haven't checked this in a while. Thanks for all the info. I had gotten sidetracked on carb issues. Got that all worked out. About went crazy just to find out needle and seat had gone bad. Also chasing down charging issues. I'll be back on the cooling issue soon. Being winter it doesn't overheat as easily. I did check heat at different points on engine with temp gun. I do have an isolator spacer on carb. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Lots of good suggestions in this thread, another possibility: How long is your lower radiator hose? The original hoses were fairly long, and had wire in the center to prevent collapse. Many of the less expensive newer hoses have no wire, and the hose will collapse in the center PREVENTING water flow at RPM's much above idle. I had this issue, and made my own lower hose from two 90's that both had wire, and a piece of aluminum conduit in the center. Heating issue solved. Jon.
I have a 390 in my panel, everything I read about them told me to run a good 3 or 4 core radiator, a flow kooler water pump, a good fan and a shroud. Also I see your at 10 deg for timing, try moving it up a little if your retarded on the timing it will overheat.
390 in the 57 Ford I had ran cool as could be with a 190 t-stat and a two row aluminum radiator. Tooled around the fair ground at the Good Guys in Nashville and I was the only thing that got hot! It was a Summit cheapy universal and a five blade stock fan...
Well I have driven the '47 a couple times with no overheating. It is winter and cold though. It has typically been a slow overheat. I know come summer it will overheat again. So my next step is I'll flush out the block on our next warmish day. I do believe the headgaskets are installed correct in response to a previous post. Thanks for all the tips Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Did you check the lower radiator hose like Jon suggested? My inner "spring" rotted away and was allowing the hose to collapse and cause overheating issues. Check your rad hose, make sure it isn't collapsing.
Like Tedd said, you don't have to pull the heads to see if the gaskets are in correct. Do a search on vac advance. If its not right they will run hot. SPOILER ALERT....the way Holley and eldelbrock tell you is wrong.
Well I found the source of the overheat problem today. Pulled a freeze plug and this is what I found! Gonna pull all of them tomorrow and flush it out.
Well I seem to have gotten the block pretty clean at first flush. I'm going to fill it up with water run it some and then flush it out again. Not as much crud came out as I thought would based on my first discovery but my driveway has a slightly rust colored tint to it now.
Well "Rollingmenace" in his '51 Ford and we drove the '47 160 miles roundtrip yesterday to and from the Golden Supercruise and not a single overheat issue. Not at all was this the case on our last trip. I think the problem is solved. Stayed at 180 on the hwy and would creep up to 200 occasionally when we would be stopped in traffic. Good part is it would cool right back down to 180 when we started moving so I think a little more airflow would help that. Will probably try a bigger electric fan as that's all I have room for and I really don't know what CFM of the one I have now. Radiator is too close to engine for belt driven fan. Overall I'm pleased with it.
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