I was taught to set my timing by total timing, not initial.

I recently (a month ago) built a 331 stroker motor for a friend. I set his timing at a safe 34 degrees total. I hold the rpms above 3000 and shoot the light on it.

This approach has always worked well for me.

 

Hm...never set timing by full timing before...cept for on a Beetle. I suppose I could give that a whirl.

 

Get a shroud where you are pulling air across all the radiator and I bet you a cool drink that will fix your problem. You're not getting enough air flow across enough radiator. And, check your timing advance at speed and at idle.

 

That's sort of what I was thinking...by moving the radiator an inch or so forward I can add a second fan towards the bottom, thus increasing overall airflow. I bet that would cure most of my issue. Having the room to shroud them somewhat would help a lot too.

I am going to take a look at that tonight and see what I can work up for ideas. How would I go about shrouding electric fans? I dont think a flat piece of metal across the back with holes cut out for the fans would work...to me it would block air flow more than promote it. Any ideas?

Maybe a trip to the junk yard to find a set of dual fans with a shroud thats close to the size of the radiator?

 

This is your best bet.........take a look at import cars too, most have electric fans with shrouds.

 

Shrouding can help cooling at idle, but it can also cause overheating at speed. Best of both world would be a funnel shape shroud with the fan set inside the small end, but with lightly spring loaded flaps in the shroud that can open with high pressure.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by a "mild 289" but I am assuming that it means at least a 10.5:1 compression ratio versus the 6.8:1 on the original flathead V-8 (I assume that your effie had a V-8 not a 6 cyl?). If it is a V-8 the radiator should have enough cooling capacity even with 6 tubes blocked. The question is are those the only ones blocked? What can't you see on the inside. FYI LMC Truck has a radiator that will fit for $299 (part #43-2912) that works well. That was one of the first things that I bought for my '50 F-2 V-8.

The stock radiator cap should be 4 psi before it relieves vs 13-16 depending upon the MY 289. Adding an overflow bottle to the vent tube is simple enough and will keep the radiator full of coolant as long as the bottle is half full.

A 12" fan seems to me to be too small. Mine is 17" puller and I centered it in the middle of the engine side of the radiator. I'm not sure where your thermistor is located for the fan but mine is located in the upper radiator hose. That would mean, at least in my case, that it would make no sense to set the fan to come on at a lower temp than the thermostat as you see little heat until it (they in my case) opens at 180 deg F. You want the engine to come up to operating temperature as fast as possible.

All that said with the higher compression ratio I think Zoot and Lance are on the right track suggesting that you should consider the initial timing. I don't know how your mechanical advance was set up but with no advance kicking in most 289s are set at 6-8 deg BTC. Here is a good article on Ford engine timing (http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2000/03/timing/).

In summary based upon what you have told us I would look at fan size first. AX & GMW's suggestion of a funnel-shaped shroud might give you an idea as it would maximize the fan's efficiency. Even if you built it as a temporary one. Home Depot sells small rolls of thin aluminum and duct or gorilla tape. You can then move to some of the other suggestions offered on this thread.

Good luck and let us know how you make out

 

"mild 289"...flat top pistons, oversized valves, whole lotta head work, big lumpy cam...it's mild. I know...my description isn't exactly helpful. It's been a while since I built the engine. I forgot most of the specs.

I have a functioning overflow, and yeah the cap only holds a few pounds. Originally, I thought my issues was with lack of pressure, but that problem would show up all over, not just at idle. As soon as I pull away from an intersection the temp drops back to 195 fast. A visual inspection of the radiator...it looks good. When I was flushing it I really had no debris flow out, all the veins seemed to flow.

I am going to head out to LKQ this weekend to see what I can source for dual fans, look around on CL...stuff like that. The Imperial electric fan mounting kit has spring loaded mounts, so I can get those. I think this is my best option. In the mean time, I am going to look into mounting the radiator further forward to give me room for the fans.

 

I mentioned timming in my previous post. Give it a shot.

 

I'm going to check it, but so far as I can recall from last year and years past I don't really set timing out of spec. At least I don't make a habbit out of it. I am curious to see what my total advance is and where it all comes in at though, so figuring things out like that I am sure will help a little.

My thought is if my timing was off enough to cause overheating issues, it would likely run hot all the time, the plugs wouldn't read so well, and I would have performance issues. None of which I currently have. I will check it out and see where it is just the same though. I mean it only takes a few minutes with a strobe to see what is what.

 

Fordman,

Having been in the radiator business for over 45 years, I agree that air flow is your biggest problem. A 12-inch fan is nowhere near enough. The first generation Taurus/Sable with the 3.8L engine have a very good fan/shroud assembly, if junkyard is your choice for fans.

Flex-O-Lite has some good units, but they are a bit pricey.

Do NOT trust that J.B. Weld to permanently stop your radiator leaks. Even before getting in the radiator business, my dad and uncles (All mechanics) taught me to never scrimp on brakes and cooling systems.

The 289 engine is generally not a difficult engine to cool. The first Mustangs had a much smaller radiator than the one that's on your truck.

Feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.

 

When you go looking at LKQ don't disregard pusher fans as you can just reverse polarity to make them pullers. That is what I had to do that as one of my truck's POs, probably Dr. Frank N. Stein, had mounted the 17" pusher fan in on the engine side of the radiator. I'm sure he wondered why it wouldn't stay cool as I found the thermostats among other remains in the glove box.

 

LKQ is not my first choice...but it is what I can afford for now. Thanks for that info!

I am a novice when it comes to cooling systems, I won't lie. I have built up stock engines to put back into a car or truck that was designed for it many times, but never tried to retrofit existing cooling systems to work for different applications.

I really do appreciate all the insight and advice. I will report back after checking timing and searching the local yards for fans.

 

from your initial statement, i would start with a new radiator.

 

When you check your timing you may have to reduce your idle speed as I noticed that you said that it is set at 900 rpm. That probably means that you have some mechanical advance.