Hi guys! Joined the board yesterday (posted on the New Members Forum). I bought a -72 Comet GT yesterday, and drove it home (180km ride). It was a pleasant experience indeed, and I felt pretty confident in the car despite it being a stranger to me. At the bottom of this long post I have a couple of questions about the radiator and running temperature, please bear with me. The car has a 302 V8, and the radiator is a 2-row. I haven´t yet checked if it was manufactured with a V8 or a six, but think it was a V8 car from the very start. The question of what engine the car came with is of secondary importance to me, so I haven´t done any research into it yet. To me a 2-row radiator seems a bit weak for a v8 car (I´ve had several V8 powered Mustangs, a couple of sixcylinder Mustangs and a few other vintage US cars), but the radiator may have been replaced. During the ride home, the tempgauge very slowly crept up from around 180F to 200F, and stabilised there for a LOOONG time, during this time I was doing a steady 100km/h (60mph). The last 30km I stepped up the pace, probably doing about 115-120km/h (70-75mph) and the temp finally hit 210 degrees when I hit the outskirts of my hometown. It stayed there as I cruised home through the city streets. At no time did the car show any signs of overheating. There was not a sign of burps or other sounds indicating any heat related problems when I parked the car and got out. The oilpressure dropped somewhat at idle (from "40" to "30"), but stayed at "40" at all times during freeway speeds (I kept the gauges under close surveillance). Now, had this been at broad daylight, the temp might have been at least 10-20F higher, which is what worries me. I haven´t had opportunity to do any freeway driving during daylight conditions today, just a few hops across town and a nice 25 minute cruise at 40mph with no signs of trouble, but might get a chance to test the temperature under freeway conditions tomorrow. Sorry for the long prelude, but I thought it maight be of relevance for someone trying to answer my questions. By the way, here they are: 1. What range would you consider "normal" for running temp on a hot (68F)humid summer night on the freeway? 2. Did any V8 Comets or Mavericks come with a 2-row radiator? 3. Would just swapping to a 3-row radiator in itself lead to a significant decrease in running temp? 4. If the answer to #3 is "yes", then what Ford/Mercury vehicle would be a suitable donor (preferrably "bolt-on") for a radiator for my Comet GT (there are very few Mavericks and Comets in Sweden, so finding a radiator from one would be hard). 5. Are there any other "tricks" I could do to keep the temp slightly lower? Any thing else you can think of would be very welcome! Anders O
Anders, welcome to the board. Congrats on your purchase. It is possible that you have a 2 row and that it is a factory 302 car with the original radiator. The ones that I have seen with smaller radiators tend to be non-power steering & non-A/C cars. As with your formerly owned Mustangs, there are other things that could cause this problem. Since these cars never came with temp gauges, unless yours is a special edition that we do not know about, I assume that you have aftermarket gauges. Is it possible that the gauge is not accurate? Assuming the gauge is correct, the radiator could be in need of cleaning. The thermostat could be bad. There could be sediment restricting flow in the radiator and the block. Do you have a fan shroud? They do help pull air through the radiator quite a bit. Signs of a 6cyl. to V8 swap-aside from decoding the data plate: 4lug axles-all 6 bangers had these '70-'72. The were all 5 lug from '73 on. Does it have a crossmember connecting the bottom of the shock towers? Do you have pics that you can post? What is your color combo? You wouldn't by chance be the guy who visits the BOSS302.com site from Sweden would you? Seth
Temp Hey Swede I drive my car a lot during the summer and my temp generally run from 185 to 200 all the time without any problems. I dont know if this is the normal range or not.I did install a overflow tank to stop the drips. Cant wait to see the pics of your GT. Later Tim
Thanks guys! Seth, the tempgauge is an aftermarket item, as is the oilpressure gauge and the tachometer (that is what you call the thingy measuring the revs, right?). Regarding the tempgauge being faulty, it´s possible, but the previous owner told me that he had just changed a frostplug, and that the tempertaure had risen since that. So rustflakes in the system is one possibility for sure. I´ll look into it. There´s no fanshroud, and the distance between the fan and the radiator seems such that any shruod would have to be unbelievably "deep" to fit. I´ll post pics ASAP. And no, I´m not the guy from the BOSS302.com site. I have been (well formally I still am I´d guess) a member on the VMF (Vintage Mustang Forum) under the same name as here (Swede). Tim, that is reassuring to hear. Maybe there isn´t any real problem. I´d still be happier to have the temp hovering around 185-195F than 195-210F, but perhaps it´s as easy as finding a suitable fanshroud (one that is "deep" enough). I know from experience that a shroud can do a LOT for the runningtemp. And I´ll post pics here and on my other post soon. Probably tonite (it´s midday here now). Anders O
Fan shrouds are only helpful at idle or low speeds. At 60 mph, they wont make any difference. I'd bet you need to flush the block and get the radiator rodded out. Theoretically, it should run right around the thermostat temp.
True-they help at idle or low speeds. I'd check the T-stat before sending off the radiator and flushing the block. Good luck- Seth
Mavoholic and Seth, thanks. I´ll try with the thermostat first, that´s easy enough. A buddy of mine also suggested getting a new lid for the radiator, to make sure that it seals as it should. I have posted pictures of my Comet in the "General Maverick/Comet" forum. For those interested in seeing my new car, have a look there. Also, please feel free to give comments (ANY kind, I´m trying to learn here) about what you see. Anders O
i have the same condition with my 71 mav. the factory did indeed have a 2 row radiator with power steering and with air. i live in florida and i was having around 210 on the freeway. i just switched to a 3 row radiator with 40 below coolant and it dropped the temp to 180-200. mine was getting up to 235 and never showing signs of overheating. just to hot for my peace of mind. i found a new 3 row radiator on the internet for $221 including shipping from auto radiator outlet (1-800-252-0333).all are brand new ready to bolt in without modifying. i also saw a fan shroud on ebay for $100 ( at that time). i am also running aftermarket guages and have a 160 degree thermastat. prior to this i tried everything mentioned above to lower the temp and nothing worked. i might try a trans cooler and electric fans next to try to get it down further. good luck
Thanks Jason! It´s reassuring that you exerienced similar temperatures as I do, without signs of overheating. Another thing that eases my mind regarding this is that the cars temp stays a LOT lower (185-190F) when I cruise around doing 20-40Mph, it doesn´t rise above 200 until I hit 55Mph, and only then if I keep that speed up for a longer distance (several miles). I´m buying a new thermostat and a radiator-cap tomorrow. Next step might be a stock fa or an electric fan to replace the flex-fan as suggested by people here. These are simple and cheap mods, so it wouldn´t matter much if it didn´t do anything spectacular to lower my temp. If that doesn´t lower the temperature, I think I will let it be for this summer, and get a three-row radiator for next spring. After all, the car is running great, and even though I would feel a bit "safer" with the temp a bit lower, everything seems just fine as it is from what I can tell. Anders O
Hi guys! Today I managed to get the following things done: -Bought a new radiatorcap, and "installed" it -Bought a 71C thermostat (160F) and installed it. -Tried several times to install the thermostat and housing, but had a very hard time doing so because one of the nuts kept falling off before I could thread it onto the bolt! -Finally managed to reattach the housing, after having performed a pagan ritual, involving the blood sacrifice of cute kittens, and skin off my knuckles! -Found out that the aftermarket thermostathousing that was in the car was junk. It was made out of some very soft chromed metal, so it deformed while we took it off, and wouldn´t seal properly when we put it back together. -Went back to the store and bought a new aftermarket thermostathousing, also made out of soft chromed metal, but much more of it+it had a rubber O-ring for sealing. -Reinstalled the new thermostat in its brand new housing. -Ohh..., I also got in a lot of fun-filled testing. This car is great fun to drive around, and the looks and thumbs-up one gets from people doesn´t exactly hurt either! The result you may ask? Well, the operation must be deemed succesfull. The car now runs 5-10F lower under highwayspeed, and around 5F lower during citystreet cruising. The real test of the cars ability to stay cool during lowspeed cruising will come this saturday, when I´m going to a dragrace/meet in a neighboring town. I´m not worried! Anders O
i'd look for a 3 row radiator if it were me. may not be cheap to get it there to sweden but a lot cheaper than a rebuild. even my 72 with a 250 inline has a 3 row. and like everybody here said... a major flushing will help a lot. best of luck! of course all that hot engine stuff could be a big help in those cold winter nights.
Sorry I'm late guys! Did you get it fixed yet? Excellent way to join the board, Anders O! Setting up your situation with all the relevant stuff (they taught you well over there at VMF) and then following up the thread with the result of your efforts. Maybe your posts will start a trend with all noobies (j/k guys)! As usual, the good guys here helped out too. Good stuff and welcome to the board. Rick
Scott, Finding a 3-row radiator should be no problem whatsoever, and prices are pretty humane for the main US manufacturers (Ford/GM/Chrysler Corp.). Vintage US cars is a huge hobby here, and even though Mavericks and Comets are rare, Ford vehicles (in particular Mustangs) are "everywhere" and spareparts are easy to come by. I guess a radiator for a Mustang should fit pretty well, the only problem would be finding the mounts for it if they are specific for the Maverick/Comet. Worst case scenario is I´ll have to get some mounts custom-made for the car, but that doesn´t worry me one bit, and it wouldn´t surprise me if I could order them off the shelf from one of our domestic suppliers. As it is now however, I don´t even think I NEED a 3-row radiator. The thermostat-swap and the new radiator-cap seems to be working just fine. The real test will be this saturday, as I posted earlier, but I have done a great deal of driving both on citystreets and the freeway. I haven´t started my SAAB since I picked up the Comet, I would estimate that I´ve put over 400km on it total, and 200km or 125 miles after the thermostat-swap yesterday, so I´m not worried at all. Remember that the car never actually OVERheated, it just ran a tad too hot for my ease of mind. This seems to be no problem now with the new thermostat. I might still opt for a 3-row radiator next spring, but unless the problem reoccurs I doubt it. Rick, thanks for the thumbsup! And yes, it seems as if the "problem" with the engine running a bit hot is fixed by now. I have a couple of other issues that needs tending to, but nothing serious or hard to fix, and definitely nothing to keep me from using/enjoying the car. And as you said, the guys and gals here have helped me out tremendously, THANKS!!! Anders O
