So its seems the problems continue.

What are you guys using for radiators? Mine is leaking again nd I'm looking for an alternative and not wanting to spend $300 for one.

I am now leaking more oil, possibly from the intake.in the rear and the front a little by the Dist Cap gear.

The plan is to take the motor out an reDO the seals since the truck sat in the desert most of its life.

The Brake Booster is going out as well.. Suggestions

 

I got mine from (don't laugh), Auto Zone. Turned out to be brass and
heavy. Got a veterans discount too. If i remember it was around $175.00.
after 2 years, no problems.

 

I got mine from baxters auto parts. It is a plastic tank alumni core. I know that a lot of guys don't like those but it cools my healthy 390. With no problems never over 190 even on hot days and heavy loads

 

I soldered my original radiator until there was more lead than brass. I bought a generic one online made of aluminum for a couple hundred bucks. It has been 7 months and has been absolutely great. ZERO complaints and looks good. No leaks and keeps my 360 cool. I do need a fan shroud though.

 

I just picked up an aluminum radiator, have a slow leak in the original,didn't think I could sodder, ,glad to hear you pleased with the new one,can't wait to install mine

 

I first got a "3 core extra cooling" replacement from AZ ('78 w. 400). It was brass but boy those cores were thin. On a hard sustained pull it would heat up rolling in summer. Not overheat but getting too close for my comfort.

I replaced it with a 4 core Champion. Much better. The 4 core was maybe overkill but that's OK. It bolted up and the stock shroud fit fine. Rolling it pretty much runs right on the stat temperature.

I would suggest the 3 core Champion.

 

The solder didn't last long. My lower tank was almost completely separated from the cores. I was real tight on money and it was my only running ride, so I had to re-solder it every week or so, otherwise the leak just got too bad. It's hard to get one perfect without being a pro.

 

That's great !! As I've already purchased the same,Champion all aircraft aluminum 4 core, running a 460 with a mild cam, the old one does not leak to bad, but it leaks....this truck was a bolt off in 08,.... 95% complete, the 5 % that needs to be done is all under the hood

 

just used the original ones, never bought an aftermarket one, haven't had any problems...

 

I have purchased 3) Champion radiators over the last year. One for my '76 F100 302,one for a friends '76 Corvette 454 and one about 2 weeks ago for another friends 73 Duster 318. All from different vendors on Ebay. All $200 approx. and under. Great quality and fit for these 3 applications.

 

I had the super cooling 4 core rad. From advance auto originally, brass and copper and heavy. I accidentally destroyed it installing the fan afer I rebuilt my engine 4 years ago, the bucket I was standing on tipped over and I ripped open a bunch of tubes. I went to advance and bought another for $300, copper/brass, it leaked like crazy from the bottom tank seam, they warrantied it the new one seeped on the side of the top tank under the side strap where I couldn't solder it. I ran it with some stop leak for six months til it got worse. The next replacement leaked from bottom tank again (same one?).

So I went to Napa. Got their copper brass 4 core, it started leaking same place on top as the second advance one after 6months. I warrantied it but the new replacement is aluminum with plastic tanks. I've now had it on the truck for 3 years with no problems.

All that said I just got a 3core champion radiator online for my 67 Fairlane, it's aluminum, fits like factory and was only $250. I'd recommend that.

 

You can get your radiator re-cored as well. It will probably still cost $250 or so for a basic re-core of a standard radiator, but you'll know what you're getting and know where to take it if there is a problem later. I just got mine re-cored, but it was the 4 inch thick tank radiator that I think they called the Desert Cooling or Super Cooling package; something like that anyways. It apparently had an "industrial" core, according to the radiator shop, and it was a pretty thick core despite only having 3 rows of pipes (2 row with 3rd row staggered between rows in the middle is the best way to describe). The industrial core was a little more expensive as was the size of the 4" radiator, so I ended up with a $600 bill! A friend took a standard sized 2 row truck radiator in with the standard passenger car style core and it was only around $250 for the same job, so just depends on size and quality of the core.

Here's a shot of what an industrial core looks like. Instead of the fins zig zagging between tubes, which are then soldered together, an industrial core appears to have holes in the fins that the tubes run through, making the fins run continuously across the radiator. They are also closer together than passenger car fins, most likely since they aren't crimped into a zig zag they are able to be spaced tighter. I haven't run the truck yet since getting the radiator back, so can't say how much improvement there is over the 45 years of grit that were on the original, but I can say that even the original ran a stable 195 degrees or so just as the 195 degree thermostat would produced ideally.




I also took the opportunity to regasket my entire engine (FE 390). I didn't remove the engine however, and the only gaskets I did not replace were the rear main and the oil pan; neither of which are leaking anyways. I did replace the timing gaskets (including to the oil pan), front seal, water pump gasket, fuel pump gasket, oil pump gasket, cylinder head gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, thermostat housing gasket (with new thermostat), and valve cover gaskets. With the radiator and fan removed, it's pretty comfortable working on the engine in-situ; not a lot more trouble than working on it on an engine stand. In fact, it is at the perfect working height for a guy 5'8"-6'2" or so. You said the brake booster is bad, and that is the only thing that is even remotely difficult to work around if you leave the engine in the truck. Even then, it only make a minor difference on maybe 2 bolts where you need a shorter extension than you probably would like to use. If you remove it completely, you'll have better access to the core plugs (I replaced only one that needed it and one to drain the opposite side of the block) as well as the oil pan gasket and rear main seal gasket. Both of those could be dealt with later without a huge amount of trouble while still in the truck, so I figured it wasn't worth the extra time of taking out the grill, radiator support, etc. to remove the engine completely. If you stick to the same list I did, it's just as easy in or out of the truck in my opinion unless you have a huge lift or tall boy.

Here's a few shots of my engine being reworked in the truck. I'm literally at the point of the last shot and still need to pick up a couple things to finish, so the job is very, very fresh in my mind!











A couple things to consider. If you don't have a 4 barrel, now may be the time to do it; especially if you have an FE engine. If you do the timing cover gaskets and front seal, and you also have an FE engine (not sure on others), you may find that the harmonic balancer spacer is no good. In fact, I would be surprised if it is. There are very few aftermarket parts to replace that spacer and the standard fix is to machine the spacer down and press on a sleeve. No matter what solution you go with, know that there is some lead time on it. Pretty much everything else I was able to go to Napa, Baxter or O'rielly's and buy off the shelf. I estimate that I spent around $100 on gaskets and gasket maker (I use Permatex Ultra Black). Finally, run lots of water through the block while the core plug is out, as well as through the heater core to get rid of as much gunk as possible. I then gently use compressed air to blow as much of the water from the heater core as possible so I have as little tap water in the system as possible.

Let me know if there is something specific you need to now. Like I said, it's all pretty fresh in my mind given that I'm still buttoning the same job up now. I'm only waiting on that crank spacer and a new fuel line that works with my Holley 600 (had a Holley 2 barrel before). I originally planned to do these things next summer, but when my radiator blew up, I didn't want to replace it only to run a bunch of gunk through it, so a thorough cleaning out of the engine made sense.

Copious amounts of Old Ford Blue engine spray paint is optional, but recommended.........