Overheating question

[lalessi1]

I am running a stock 390 FE with a toploader 4 Spd and a 3.89 rearend. I have a new 3 row standard V8 radiator, 4 blade fan, 180 deg thermostat. My car turns 3500 rpm at 70 mph with the tires I am using. My issue is that the car starts to overheat during highway driving, when I get off the interstate the temp will come down. Any thoughts?

[JimNolan]

Lalessi1,
   Ole Buddy, you haven't got overheating problems, you've got rpm problems. That stock 390 is within 1000 rpm of being maxed out in rpm. With 70 mph of wind blowing thru your radiator you realize you don't need a fan. So belt slippage, fan blade distance from the radiator, all that stuff is eliminated. Sustained engine speeds of 3500 rpm has got to produce a lot of heat and it would take more than a new 3 row radiator to fix that in my opinion.
My car had a stock 390 FE and I couldn't get it to cool at 500 rpm using six blade fans and heat shrouds. I had to go to a Griffin Aluminum radiator and that fixed my problems. My suggestion would be to go to a rear gear that'd get rid of 1000 rpm during cruise or a Tremec 5 speed that'd give you both worlds you want to be in. A lot of people say stock radiators in a 57 will cool a 390, I just couldn't get a stock radiator to cool mine.
  I ended up with a car that cruises 65-70mph at less than 2000 rpm and I run a 160 degree thermostat and a Griffin two row radiator. I'm just going to a clutch fan to turn loose of 7-10 hp on top end of the quarter. Jim

[LAUDY57]

There is 2 threads going here about cooling which is great for me because I've been struggling with trying to figure out  if I can get a Matson rad and shroud in the space I have, they want dimensions from me.
I've had the problem of heating going slow in rod runs in second gear, not enough air flow -no shroud.

Laless, you have a 390 with a V8 rad? What is the distance from your water pump pulley fan mount face to the rad core? I have 2 13/16 with mine and I can't move the rad forward because of the support frame when my front end (tilt) is closed, what is the thickness of the V8 core?
The pic shows my pully 3/16 away from the elect fan cage that is there. It also shows a pusher fan that I had to put on in a hurry at a run in the summer, it helps but not for any length of time.

[John Palmer]

Lalessi1,
   Ole Buddy, you haven't got overheating problems, you've got rpm problems. That stock 390 is within 1000 rpm of being maxed out in rpm. With 70 mph of wind blowing thru your radiator you realize you don't need a fan. So belt slippage, fan blade distance from the radiator, all that stuff is eliminated. Sustained engine speeds of 3500 rpm has got to produce a lot of heat and it would take more than a new 3 row radiator to fix that in my opinion.
My car had a stock 390 FE and I couldn't get it to cool at 500 rpm using six blade fans and heat shrouds. I had to go to a Griffin Aluminum radiator and that fixed my problems. My suggestion would be to go to a rear gear that'd get rid of 1000 rpm during cruise or a Tremec 5 speed that'd give you both worlds you want to be in. A lot of people say stock radiators in a 57 will cool a 390, I just couldn't get a stock radiator to cool mine.
  I ended up with a car that cruises 65-70mph at less than 2000 rpm and I run a 160 degree thermostat and a Griffin two row radiator. I'm just going to a clutch fan to turn loose of 7-10 hp on top end of the quarter. Jim

X2 Dead on correct information!

I had a 1956 Ford, with a "stock radiator", bored 390, 3x2's, Top Loader, and Low Gears back in the 1960's.  It would run hot at freeway speeds due to high RPM.  If anything, it might help to slow the coolant flow down to allow more time to exchange heat inside the radiator. 

[57 imposter]

One other easy thing to try when a car overheats at highway speeds but not at low speed. When it is getting hot, turn your heater on, if it helps, you probably have a coolant flow problem and a draw down test on our radiator would be a good idea. I have also seen water pump impellers slipping on the shaft under high load.

[lalessi1]

I make the core thickness at 2". My engine/radiator distance is about what you have, close to 3" rough guess. My fan is 1 1/4" away from the radiator.

There is 2 threads going here about cooling which is great for me because I've been struggling with trying to figure out  if I can get a Matson rad and shroud in the space I have, they want dimensions from me.
I've had the problem of heating going slow in rod runs in second gear, not enough air flow -no shroud.

Laless, you have a 390 with a V8 rad? What is the distance from your water pump pulley fan mount face to the rad core? I have 2 13/16 with mine and I can't move the rad forward because of the support frame when my front end (tilt) is closed, what is the thickness of the V8 core?
The pic shows my pully 3/16 away from the elect fan cage that is there. It also shows a pusher fan that I had to put on in a hurry at a run in the summer, it helps but not for any length of time.

I had a 428 with (3)2's, solid lifter cam,T-10, 3.89 rearend in a 57 Fairlane in 1965. Stock radiator, no overheating issues  then. I am open to all ideas that said. Also if rpm is the problem that says to me "not enough cooling" ...... no car should overheat at a constant speed. In 1957 Ford set a record averaging 107 mph for 51,403 miles... stock cars. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.342698412494792.76264.297078180390149&type=1

Lalessi1,
   Ole Buddy, you haven't got overheating problems, you've got rpm problems. That stock 390 is within 1000 rpm of being maxed out in rpm. With 70 mph of wind blowing thru your radiator you realize you don't need a fan. So belt slippage, fan blade distance from the radiator, all that stuff is eliminated. Sustained engine speeds of 3500 rpm has got to produce a lot of heat and it would take more than a new 3 row radiator to fix that in my opinion.
My car had a stock 390 FE and I couldn't get it to cool at 500 rpm using six blade fans and heat shrouds. I had to go to a Griffin Aluminum radiator and that fixed my problems. My suggestion would be to go to a rear gear that'd get rid of 1000 rpm during cruise or a Tremec 5 speed that'd give you both worlds you want to be in. A lot of people say stock radiators in a 57 will cool a 390, I just couldn't get a stock radiator to cool mine.
  I ended up with a car that cruises 65-70mph at less than 2000 rpm and I run a 160 degree thermostat and a Griffin two row radiator. I'm just going to a clutch fan to turn loose of 7-10 hp on top end of the quarter. Jim

[JimNolan]

I make the core thickness at 2". My engine/radiator distance is about what you have, close to 3" rough guess. My fan is 1 1/4" away from the radiator.

Laslessi1, When I was having heating problems with a brand new Opti flow radiator (copper) I researched every article I could about fan blade spacing from the radiator. I got a lot of advice but the most seemingly researched advice I got was from Flex-O-Lite Fan Blades. They found that if they kept their fans within 3/4" of an inch from the radiator that it produced more cooling. After that I always kept my blades within a 1/2" of the radiator. It seems to do good. But, at 70 mph a fan blade is of no concern. Jim

[LAUDY57]

Thanks for the pic, I spent the day going thru the Griffin catalogs, now I need to check with Matson -they don't have one but I like their polished aluminum and maybe cheaper price?

[hiball3985]

I don't feel running at 3500 rpm is a problem. I have a mildly built 390 in my 66 F250 with a 4.10 rear gears and I run at that rpm for hours on end pulling a 2 axle camping trailer through the California deserts. The truck radiator has more capacity of course.

There are endless reason for heating problems some minor, like timing, some major. A freind and his brother put together a 410 for their truck and could find the heating problem, I spent three days fooling with it until I found the left head gasket was backwards 

[JimNolan]

I don't feel running at 3500 rpm is a problem. I have a mildly built 390 in my 66 F250 with a 4.10 rear gears and I run at that rpm for hours on end pulling a 2 axle camping trailer through the California deserts. The truck radiator has more capacity of course.

There are endless reason for heating problems some minor, like timing, some major. A freind and his brother put together a 410 for their truck and could find the heating problem, I spent three days fooling with it until I found the left head gasket was backwards 

Good Post

[Jeff Norwell]

I feel the whole problem can be solved with a Tremec OD 5 gear.

[BBoswell]

I'm running a pumped up 390 in my Ranchero with a larger wider radiator, a C6, 180 degree thermostat and 3:25 gears in the rear. The stock mechanical fan or flex fans would not cool the engine at all. Through experimentation I found that running two 17" high CFM fans will keep the engine at 180 degrees on the road or in traffic all day long. In normal temp weather I don't need to run them on the freeway but I absolutely have to run them in town.

I remember in High School in the early 60's that my stock '57 always ran hot. I personally think that some of the problems may be a combination of a tight engine compartment and the way the opening is down low on the '57 body. We were working on a '57 Chevy in the shop last week and the space in the engine compartment was like the grand canyon compared to my '57s. That's just my two cents on the subject . . .

[rmk57]

At 70mph you shouldn't even need a fan. I think you need a higher capacity radiator.

I have 29" by 19" aluminum cross flow with a 7 blade fan from a F-250 and with a 3.70 geared 460 it never ever gets above 190 no matter how hard I run it.

[BBoswell]

That is about the same set-up I have in my Custom 300 except my gears are 3.00 and the 460 runs 180 degrees all day long. The pumped up 390 in my Ranchero is a completely different beast.

[hiball3985]

I do believe capacity has a lot to do with it. It would be interesting to compare capacity of a 58 with a 332 FE  vs a 64 Galaxie with a 390..