Sorry to bust in on this thread but seeing as I'll be needing to choose a radiator soon I was just curious. Are crossflow radiators more efficient than the downflow ones? and while I'm at it, can anyone give their opinions on aluminum vs brass radiators? I plan on driving my truck a LOT so I want to absolutely avoid any overheating problems (I'm already going with an electric fan setup for sure). THanks

Craig

 

Craig

Yes a cross flow radiator is a superior design. OTOH, Ford somehow managed to cool 460s with a vertical cores style.

A stock look radiator is available in large capacity if you got the $$$. I chose to pull one from a late 70s F150 with 400. Very minor mods required but it is about as easy as it gets. Big cap radiator for cheap.

 

Vern, if you need 'em, I have an early 80's parts truck in the pasture that had a 302 in it. I'm pretty sure the pads and brackets are still in it. We pulled the rad and front sheet metal to get the 302 out, but didn't use the rad/brackets for anything else. Just ask and they're yours.

 

Tim,

I appreciate the offer, but I have the pads. It's just a matter of making brackets to hold the pads. I'm working with an 86 Buick Century cross-flow radiator. It was a V6, but had A/C and the radiator is a three inch core.

Regarding Craig's question. It is my understanding also that cross-flow radiators offer superior cooling to downflow. Also, aluminum radiators are better than brass because they dissipate heat faster. Nascar uses them, so they have to be good. They used to be quite expensive, but it seems that the cost has come down some lately. Living here in the upper Northeast where the temperature hardly gets into the 80s most of the year, the radiator I choose is not very critical for cooling, but in the winter we have to run about 90% anti-freeze to get the radiator protected down to between minus 35 and minus 50 degrees. We've already seen minus 29 this winter.

 

Hopefully someone will chime in here with an easy way to tell them apart. I can just tell by looking but that doesn't help you. What year is the van? 351W were very popular in vans and look almost identical to a 302.

'fenders,

The van is an 85 E-350. Now he thinks it might be a Windsor engine...

 

351w has 6 bolts holding the valve cover on.

351m and 351c have 8 bolts holding valve cover on.

The difference between a 351m and 351c is a little tougher. The 351c thermostat, distributor, and front intake gasket surfaces will all be in the same plane. The 351m front intake gasket surface will have a "step up", or be higher than the thermostat and dist gasket surfaces.

If it's a 351m-forget it. It's not worth the trouble.

 

Franklin,

Thank you! I'll relay this and get down to the truth. Why would I not want a 351M? Are they not as reliable, don't perform as well, what?

 

Vern, I'm about 99.999% sure that you'll find out that it's a Windsor. Most vans with 351 cube motors had Windsors. I can't honestly say that I've ever seen one with an FE or 351M/400. But that's not to say that they didn't build some. For the most part, they were six-bangers, 302's, 351W's, and 460's. The Cleveland was only built for four years: '70-'74. Unless someone swapped it in, I wouldn't be wondering about it being that. (Who in their right mind would go to that much trouble to swap to a different engine in a van?!?)

The Windsor engine, IMHO, is one of the best engines ever built by any manufacturer. The oiling system is top-notch, the bottom end is extremely strong, they really respond well to performance modifications, they are compact, yada, yada, yada. If this is what it turns out to be, I don't think you can go wrong. The plus here is that it is backed by a C6. That combo would be A-1 in your truck. I'm in the process of installing a 351W and an AOD in my F-1 now. Oddly enough, it is kind of a tight fit if you don't want to cut the firewall. Not extremely tight, but there is a definite "sweet spot" that it wants to fit into. If you get it, I'd be more than happy to send some pics of my installation and help you out any way that I can. As a matter of fact, I'll do almost whatever it takes to keep the SBC far away from your truck!

As to your last question, the 351M runs OK, has decent torque for a light truck, and is easy to find in the boneyard for parts. That's about all I've got to say good about it. It costs a lot of money to make any performance modifications to and they aren't particularly well known for longevity. Add to that their girth and they quickly lose any appeal for an engine swap. Not neccessarily a BAD motor, but not the best choice either. If you can get a deal on one that runs good and you don't mind running it essentially stock, it would likely be just fine.

One last note: The radiator out of that van will be a downflow like your truck's original and might be a bit easier to fit in. Just something to think about!

 

Rage,

Thanks for the info. We've determined that it is a 351W as you said. It is a Fred Jones re-manfactured engine with about 40K miles on it. Assuming I won't have to do anything to the engine but install it, what do you suppose it and the C6 are worth? I like the idea of not having to rebuild the engine. The C6 has just been rebuilt.

 

Well, we could not come to an understanding on the 351W, so I'm back to using a Chebby. This was strictly a financial decision, and not because I'm partial to that brand. I simply cannot afford to spend the money for a second donor car for an engine and transmission after buying the first one for it's suspension and rear end. I'll try not to mention the engine make in the future and will not be asking you guys anything about the installation in respect to the site. I purchased a TH350 transmission earlier this week and found a new torque converter on Ebay. I just want you to know that my truck is still a Ford regardless of what moves it down the road and nothing else on the truck will be GM (unless I can't get this Mopar steering column to work out). Thanks and I hope we can still be friends.