My mistake on the two of Julies. One is tranny and the other is oil. I don't guess it would be feasable to drop the ac condenser down behind the bumper. How about a pusher fan in the front for idle use? I've seen condensers smaller than yours, not saying they will or won't work. The green painted support mount above the radiator upper tank front section is blocking heat disappation. You could put some holes in a line across, unless you think it might weaken the support. More rambling, chuck

 

sorry, no bumper, and no rear room behind the roll pan.

that upper valence piece is the same as it is for stock rad.. the top tank is just bigger on the stocker.

no room for a pusher.. now that I have spaced the condenser out that 1 inch, the center grill support now just touches the condenser fins..
I suppose I could put one/couple small ones off center (8 inchers maybe). I don't want to go there, it will clutter up the front view..

we'll see how this does.

temps seem to be holding at about 203.. no A/C on if course

Sam

 

I think this is fin and tube type. is very dense. denser than the rad itself.

I am not sealing around the condenser, as the idea was to improve the engine airflow
at the expense of the a/c some.

Sam

 

..And ,following Ross,..If you "were" to add some soft foam strips (say 1"by1")between the Radiator and condenser..would the temp go up at idle??

If it does..why not remove condenser completely...(I know that is alot of carefull work..but hey...the A/C is not charged yet either..)

I kinda get the idea Ross suspects the condenser is impeding airflow,and by adding the foam..with the exception of the condenser perimeter...the larger square ft of the condenser will be effectively isolated. So, if the temp goes up..the condenser may need another look.Re- moving the condenser after that little test (little??..yeah right!)and rechecking the temps may be something else to look at.If the temp goes "down" ,well...

Care to elaborate Ross?? I'm sure your a smarter guy than me. Maybe I just read that differently.

Sam, He did mention "pressure-drop"....uhh ohh! LoL! Just another test to keep you tinkering...you are keeping notes right??

 

without the condenser installed, from my prior post

with the radiator only, temps hold at 192ish at idle
driving with rad only, temps drop to 165ish. YEH!!

Sam

 

I guess my point is that that is a very large condenser (I assume for R-134a?). The fin-and-tube type needs a bunch of area with R-134 because it is not the "right" kind -- the "right" kind for 134 is much more expensive and generally an OEM type. Attached is a chart with the different types.

I would think a condenser that covered only the lower 2/3 of the rad would be completely adequate for the A/C needs of a small cab, IF it's one of the "right" types. That would let a lot more air thru.

On the bright side, condensers can be cheaper than radiators, especially if you can find one at the boneyard that fits.

 

It's been a air flow problem from the beginning. I think everyone has tried to come up with test, trials that are easy to try. Maybe leave the ac condenser off and drive it until next summer. Julie said her temps lowered after breakin. Someone said the radiator was to thick for good air flow. Now the ac condenser maybe restrictive. Maybe the radiator, condenser venders should come up with alternatives that may help Sam's problem. Maybe tell the venders to get their engineers involved. The truck is to good to not be able to drive. chuck

 

Sam..oops! missed that,with the condenser removed bit...sorry!

Ross..and there ya go!...Thanks!

So where do you go from here? Vintage air gets a call,armed with some facts I'm sure they have something pricey which will shake you-down,...or just casually ask for the dimensions of the component and ..using the Pic's and info Ross provided..custom build one from some late model.?

Ross, as a side note,...I am in the process of painting my cab..just did the interior and dash this past weekend..I swear the color is the same as your truck.

 

Don't tease, post pics! My blue is Dupont K9441A Bright Blue Alt. 1

 

Didn't go through all 10 pages of replies but, and maybe this was brought up in the unread replies......I had a 78 F250 with a 460 in it. Had it rebuilt and the machine shop/engine builder bore the block to like .040 over. It ran hot all the time in traffic and at high speeds on rather hot days. Went through everything that that has been mentioned here and still ran hot. Ended up the problem being the bore was too much for the block leaving the cylinder walls paper thin not being able to cool itself down. Just a thought on what kind of rebuild you had done to your engine and how much over the bore was. With that big huge thing stuffed in such a small spot in your 56' I would look into that.

 

thanks, this was a .030 over bore,. typical for this kind of engine.

what was your solution? new block?

the block i took to the machine shop had a 060 overbore, and never overheated, but had a score on 2 cylinders dropping the compression, so we had to switch blocks.

Sam

 

this was a custom build as well, but is a parallel multi flow type.
Sam

 

well, I have had an interesting couple of days..

I talked to the radiator guy who helped design and build both the radiator and the A/C condenser. he does all the radiators for the austin police, fire and ambulance services.

he went thru all I've done and consulted a couple buddies as well, and they all think not enough fan for this radiator.. So, he volunteered to go get the one he likes from our only perf shop (near hi, 40 miles from me).. AND COME TO MY HOUSE and help install and test it..(42 miles each way) now ain't that service?! he arrived at 9:15pm tonight and we had it in and running by 10. (he'd only seen small pics of the truck in early paint phases, so he was pretty speechless for a few minutes)..

anyhow, this Maradyne 16in fan is incredible!. prior with the 14&12 and the A/C condenser installed you could feel the air flow thru the condenser, but it wouldn't hold a rag up.. now it does.. one fan..

we think we need to go to a 195 tstat (from the 160), and will add another 10in fan to cover the remaining core space. He is picking that up tomorrow as well.

I have a car show early sat morning if we don't get rained out, so tomorrow night will be busy getting all this done, the grill back on and the truck loaded into the trailer for the 6am sat departure.. (but I need to pull the A/C condenser AGAIN to push the fan mount pins thru the radiator before I can install the grill.. I do NOT want to take it off again)..

Sam

 

Gota love a plan, esecially when progress is observed. A vender like that needs his Name and phone number available to everyone. People that provide such a service are rare. Give it up. chuck

 

Jay is the owner.
Mr Cool Radiator
Austin

phone number can be looked up..

I thanked him for the effort, and he said.. I told you it would work when we built it (3 yrs ago), and it will, we will make sure it does.

Sam