65belv
Well-Known Member
This is a follow up post to an earlier question I posed to members on how they cool their big block engines with a 22" radiator. Thanks to all who posted a reply with various solutions and suggestions for the causes of the overheating condition.
First the causes for overheating were two fold 1) Even though there was no visible leaking or dripping, I found a pinhole leak buried deep in the four row core when I was thinking of mounting an electric pusher fan. 2) Even though I flushed the newly rebuilt engine and radiator, there was mucho crap in the engine block that could only be removed with a power flush by taking the car to the radiator shop. There was a lot of nasty looking crap that didn't flush out with multiple attempts at home. The radiator shop reverse flushed the block and radiator with hot water and air pressure.
Second the fix - The radiator shop had recently installed radiators for some parade float vehicles that used 440's but overheated during the parades and the results were excellent. My intent was to keep a stock appearance for the radiator but I appreciate all the pictures that were provided in the original posting thread by all you guys that use the new square aluminum radiators. The original four row core was replaced with a high efficiency three row, large dimpled tube version that looks dead stock but weighs a lot more. The stock shroud is in place and the six blade non clutch 18" fan is flush with the shroud. The result is cruising down the highway at 70 mph without a thermostat the engine stays slightly below operating temperature and surface street cruising brings the temp up to mid operating range. Although there hasn't been any high temperature weather here in the Northwest, I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect anything better than the current cooling performance for a 22" radiator but maybe this will help others looking for a stock appearing very efficient cooling system.
Arland
First the causes for overheating were two fold 1) Even though there was no visible leaking or dripping, I found a pinhole leak buried deep in the four row core when I was thinking of mounting an electric pusher fan. 2) Even though I flushed the newly rebuilt engine and radiator, there was mucho crap in the engine block that could only be removed with a power flush by taking the car to the radiator shop. There was a lot of nasty looking crap that didn't flush out with multiple attempts at home. The radiator shop reverse flushed the block and radiator with hot water and air pressure.
Second the fix - The radiator shop had recently installed radiators for some parade float vehicles that used 440's but overheated during the parades and the results were excellent. My intent was to keep a stock appearance for the radiator but I appreciate all the pictures that were provided in the original posting thread by all you guys that use the new square aluminum radiators. The original four row core was replaced with a high efficiency three row, large dimpled tube version that looks dead stock but weighs a lot more. The stock shroud is in place and the six blade non clutch 18" fan is flush with the shroud. The result is cruising down the highway at 70 mph without a thermostat the engine stays slightly below operating temperature and surface street cruising brings the temp up to mid operating range. Although there hasn't been any high temperature weather here in the Northwest, I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect anything better than the current cooling performance for a 22" radiator but maybe this will help others looking for a stock appearing very efficient cooling system.
Arland
Are you going to try it with a thermostat?
