am having trouble understanding this forum -like replying - anyway number 11 reply has the rite idea - more horseee with heater core radiator - i have always said that mustangs and all 60s fords have two heater cores - one under the dash and one in front of the engine - number one - you have to have a proper size radiator - there are formulas for this - than you have to have a complete shroud - than you have to have a real fan - not that junk that the aftermarket people are pedalling - use a taurus fan with the very short motor -about an 88 -from a v6 3.8 engine - i have a 72 ford truck with a 427 - it has a stock 92 ford truck radiator - a full shroud and a taurus fan - i can idle all day in heavy traffic on the freeway with the temp at 107 and it will never get over 185 - those fans are two speed and i run mine on low at all times -it never goes on high - it also pumps about 160 lbs of compression - that's about 11.22 cr - that's another thing - cr means nothing - pumping compression with a guage is what you need to know - if you want to know the cr just divide the pumping compression by 14.7 - and allow for altitude compensation - if anyone want's pics of my fan shroud or more info - just ask - i worked on indy cars for 20 years and you think you got heating problems - oldfordnutt
also i forgot about your pulleys - the water pump pulley should be smaller than the water pump by about an inch -oldfordnutt - that's what i do - make water pumps - pulleys - brackets - for fords only - seen a lot of heating problems -
Rich, You sound knowledgable, and you commented on my post (#11) so I respect (and thank) you. I have removed my steel fan and replaced with an electric. The fan pulley is still on there, since it runs the power steering and the water pump. You brought up that we need smaller pulleys on there to speed up the fan. Would speeding up my water pump with a smaller pulley increase flow, or just cavitate and make my flow less effective?
I have a question about what Rich said about the comoression ratio. The 351W in my 71 F100 has C9OE heads and a very small recess in the tops of the pistons. I always thought I had around 9.5 or 10.1 to 1 C/R but if I check my cranking compression I am getting about 175 lbs plus or minus 3-4 lbs on all cylinders. According to Rich that means I have a pretty dang high C/R. If his engine has 160 lbs and is 11.2 then mine at 175lbs must be over 12.5-1. I always thought that you had to take into consideration the cam overlap. I have asked about this on other sites and was always told there is no calculation to get a true compression ratio from cranking pressures because of this. I aint saying Rich is wrong because I really don't know and I am sure you have alot more experience and knowledge than I do Rich. Also with 5 posts here I'd like to say welcome to the best forum on the internet Rich. My 351w runs all day at 185 degress, 190 in in traffic. It has the stock sized 302 radiator in it with a shroud and standard fan. Can,t say about the Maverick yet as I don't have a radiator for it yet but I am hoping the 2.3 L Turbo Coupe engine will be easy to cool. clint
I too have heard that a water pump can run coolant through the radiator too quickly for it to cool off. I do agree with Ken about the airlock under the hood. How about header insulation tape? Seth
I have heard that header wrap will cool the engine compartment down quite a bit, by forcing that hot air down to exit below the car, not in the bay. I would guess that any reduction in engine bay temperatures would be beneficial, but I am not sure by how much. I will be using header wrap just to keep my spark plugs and boots from getting too hot, and most importantly, to minimize burns to my hands and arms should I ever get too close to them (like when checking spark plugs). I love the sound of a car with headers. How much of that high-pitched "pingy" sound will I lose from the header wrap? (oops, I got, and stayed, off topic Sorry)
Only thing I ever used header wrap for was to wrap the starter. Because when you wrap the headers, it does take away some of the noise that the headers make.
Ha! Are you ready guys? Word in the drag-racing circle that Im in says that header wraps speed up the corrosion of the tubes. Just passing along info that I heard.
Reply to cdeal; Your thinking about CR is correct. Your 351w engine has a spec 9.5 cr. What is not being said here is how static ratio is derived. The total cylinder and head volume at piston bottom center to the total at top center is the given ratio of the engine and includes all surface volumes within the area, however small. This is only a ratio. The dynamic or operating compression pressure at cranking with the throttle wide open is determined by the cam action on the valve opening and closing points and to some extent on the cranking speed. The cam is the item we change to alter the power output of the running engine at the usual expense of pumping more air and higher rpm to cause that effect. The running cylinder pressure changes as the rpm is increased, heat produced and total throttle opening changes. This make the engine a variable efficiency machine. We alter the final results with improved airflow, longer valve events, exhaust tuning and fuel BTU content. Last, allow in a small amount of fuel and spark it at the right time and we enjoy the added pressure of expansion power converted to crank rotation.
Hi Rick. Yes, hedder mfgers will void a warrenty if wrap is used especially on a street car. It's not that wrap dosn't work, it does (keeps gas speed higher for better cylinder scavenging) but only to be used on a competition car where winning at 'all cost' is the usual position (and practical) and heat may be causing some other problem..
I didn't read down the whole thread, so forgive me if I repeat things already discussed. I have found down south here that a few things make a big difference... Fan shroud (gotta have one) Spark plug heat range (run as hot as you can, but higher heat range will cause your engine to run hot) Make sure your lower hose has a spring in it. (without, it can get hot and suck part/or all the way closed, causing hot condition) Make sure you are running a stat (coolant must run through the rad slow to release heat) Check to see if your pump has an "anti-cavitation" impeller (they make an anti-cav additive for diesels, should work for us too, the fluid is the same) If your engine has been rebuilt, did the builder check the steam holes line up with the holes in the gasket? These are some prime things to check as well as some of the more obvious stuff. I caught a glimpse of "header wrap" being discussed... Headers are awesome for keeping a cool engine, but when you wrap them or coat them, they lose their ability to release heat from themselves, and therefore the engine. You should not wrap/coat if cooling is your goal. Remember, even though they make the engine compartment hot, that is because they are radiating heat that would otherwise be in your engine. This is a good thing, not bad. Headers are the best for helping an engine cool, making power, and increasing fuel economy. Also, believe it or not, but chrome tends to keep heat in your engine. Black painted parts and bare aluminum are the way to go to expell heat. Chrome reflects it back into the engine, even chrome valve covers. An engine oil cooler helps too. It can lower your coolant temp some, but it also allows you to tolerate higher coolant temps without risking your oil's integrity. Auto trans cooler can help by reducing the temp of fluid going through the coolant, taking load off the radiator. Dave
WOW, really good thread with lots of good responses, many are very appropriate to a couple of projects i have going on right now!
i had thought about wrapping my headers.....but i see soo many people without doing it and no problems...
