57 ford alum radiator install and saga

[bogey]

 installed the radiator and hooked up new hoses top and bottom new 180 oriellys racing ? theromstat.idling the car gets up to 220 after running in place for 15minutes maybe more.flex fan is 1/4inch from rad and pulling air no shroud though it got broke,have since ordered new shroud, drove it 5miles on the hwy and temp got to 190.that means its cooling.but tooling home thru the hood it got to 220 when i hit the carport with it.james says shroud will drop it 15degrees,if i want it cooler got to pull the thermostat,thermostat is  for bringing engine up to most effiecent temp to operate, me 220 on a cool tx nite is at the least 20 too much really 40 too much on the temp.goona pull the thermostat tommorrow maybe then install shroud this weekend.motor is 351 cleveland mild cam alum intake new holley carb.distributor seems stuck in place got to liqiud wrench it and see if i can break it loose or break it trying to break it loose,and get the timing checked out.looks to have had the water pump replaced not too long ago and the buffer plate is in place,new radiator cap,am i asking too much to get the temp down like i want it to be ?? i have fans to install outside the radiator came off turbo t bird.goona put a sniffer on the radiator and double check for exhaust gasses,i fought this fight on a chev pu with a olds motor and a chev diesel radiator ran 230 all the time when i put a dime and glued it in the thermostat overflow hole the temp dropped 50degreesssssssss thanks hot rod magazine.all this to say this any suggestions that im overlooking,here it is small fan to fit the new shroud so it pulls the air even though its 2inch smaller it will fit the shroud correctly then because of engine being set to the right to clear the steering box ,pull the thermostat,check for emission gasses in water what else ? am i forgetting or overlooking the obvious thanks see u at yellow rose maybe  thanks in advance   

[FORDNUT]

I would not pull the thermostat. You have to remember that a thermostat only guarantees the minimum temperature; does not control the maximum except by restricting water flow. It sounds like you have proven that it is an airflow issue. I do not run flex fans anymore. I would get a fixed 6 blade fan and shroud.

[JimNolan]

Bogey,
    No one, NOOOO one, could be more versed on engine overheating than me. Fordnut is absolutely correct about the thermostat. It's there to heat your engine to 180 degrees, not keep it cool. You need it.
    The fan shroud.  It apparently doesn't do any good unless you have the fan half way in and half way out the opening. Seems it disturbes the air flow if it's inside too deep.
    I have found that the correct distance the fan blade is from the radiator is the amount of space you feel comforable with when you slam on the brakes. In other words, as close as possible and knuckle scraping getting the bolts tight. Install the fan assembley, spacer, fan and bolts as a unit. That's the only way you can get the blade that close to the radiator.
    The best fan I've found is a factory Ford fixed six blade airconditioning fan. Works better than the other five I had on it. Blade spacing seems funny but I figure they had a reason for it and it works on mine.
    Install a closed coolant system. When the water is cooler you have about two quarts more water and when it hot you have a completely filled coolant system with no air pockets.
    Play with your engine ignition timing, the books say that if the ignition timing can cause heat problems. This is something I tried, didn't see much change and left my 390 at six degrees BTC. Factory spec.
Gooooood Luck,  Jim
   
   

[Zapato]

had same problem on my 51 ford, fix came way of a jeep 7 blade clutch fan. Never had any luck with flex fans , look great work lousy. just my 2 cents. Curious how straightforward was that T-Bird radator install?

[Ford Blue blood]

The shroud will not work unless the fan is properly positioned.  The face of the fan (not the blades, the hub) should be in a line with the shroud opening.  Check and make sure you have the proper t-stat, the 351C is different then the 289/302/351W.  And last but not least...if it ain't lossing water it ain't overheating!

[Zapato]

Got me thinking did the radiator come off the T-bird or just the fan? If it came off a turbo bird [4 banger] it may not have enough capacity for your 351. just a thought.......