so god.boots, what's the verdict?

 

Here's my 2-cents worth-

Not long after I bought my '69, I had to pull one of the freeze plugs to install a block heater (2 hours to remove the plug--5 minutes to install the heater). When I got the plug out I saw that the bottom of my block was full of sludge. I couldn't believe just how much was in there. Probably hadn't been properly flushed in decades if at all. My guess is that the truck probably spent a good deal of time just sitting somewhere too. The goo wasn't causing any sort of overheat issues, but just something to think about. After 30+ years a lot of crud can get built up and eventually and up clogging coolant passages.

 

Early trucks had 2 row radiators, autos 3 rows with 160* thermostat, too cold as the wear factor is higher. Alot of posts about 195*, too hot for the FE and it will cause unneccessary detonation pulling power power when it's hot outside. Install a "quality" 180* stat with a radiator that's not plugged up. Coolers, AC in front of the radiator will hurt the motor radiator cooling efficency.
Carl....=o&o>....

 

Actually it will cause overheating if the shroud is missing. Fan efficiency drops very low when the shroud is missing. Most of the air moved by the fan curls back around and enters the fan again. With very little airflow thru the radiator the engine will overheat. The shroud is used to allow the fan to draw air from the entire radiator surface and prevent backflow. The fan is only required to pull air thru the radiator at low vehicle speeds. At higher vehicle speeds ~30+ MPH (varies with aerodynamics) the motion of the vehicle forces air thru the radiator. Without adequate airflow an engine will overheat rapidly. Some engines did not use shrouds and instead used oversize fans set near the radiator in order to minimize the backflow around the blades. It was found that this did not work very well and was extremely inefficient and noisy. It was also hard on radiators if the vehicle hit anything too hard...

A 180°F thermostat works well on an FE. The cooling system on an FE is not optimized well enough to use a 195°F stat. Advanced computer modeling has increased cooling system efficiency on newer engines allowing the use of higher temp thermostats. This also promotes engine longevity.

 

thanks for all the replys, sorry i havnt gotten to post latley, ive been out of town. i just got back and should be going out monday to pick up a new gauge.