The 300

[Jeff Norwell]

I'm surprised that the stock radiator keeps your 460 cool.  My early 460 had the stock rad to but driving in 70-80 degree weather it would slowly and surely start creeping up to 210-220 and then decide to shut it down for a while. I never did get the rad checked out, just put a big aluminum aftermarket one in. Now it never gets above 185...ever.

My rad has no issues keeping the engine cool... runs solid at 190 all the time..... its the sheetmetal surrounding the engine that gave me the issue..... boiling the fuel..... the fuel lines were a mickey mouse set up.. with a combo of steel lines running parallel across the intake....very close.
Never seen fuel boil... strange sight.
....at any rate..I picked up a cool carb plate and gaskets..re-routed the fuel lines away from the engine and along the underside of the firewall seam.... straight down by the master.Went to a larger fuel line as well,... up to 3/8
Drained the carb.. checked the float levels ...Set the fuel air mixture screw....
Today was hotter than the weekend.. so I let the car run for 35 minutes and drove through city traffic. and the bowls were easy to touch to the hand(as before they were scalding.)

All has seemed to work.Better acceleration...zero stumble on a launch or just leaving a gentle stop.

[57AGIN]

Jeff:

Sounds like a very good work around.

Bob
57 AGIN

[Jeff Norwell]

Thanks Bob. the only unfortunate issue is that the carb spacer,cool plate and gaskets raised the carb about an inch and the 59 Air Cleaner will not fit.... the hood will not shut.I used a ugly after market air clear in the mean time.

[billd5string]

Looks like a great solution, Jeff. You mention switching to an ugly air cleaner - how big of a filter element are you able to fit? I am wondering roughly how much room I will have for mine.

Bill

[rmk57]

A drop base air cleaner would cure the clearance problem. I run a Weiand stealth intake which is slightly taller than your eddy rpm with a 1/2"wood spacer. My filter is a k&n 3 1/2" x 14 with a regular Ford lid. There's around 3/4" clearance on it. I'm not even sure on the amount of drop on the base, maybe 1 1/2"? I picked it up for $5 at a swap meet.

[Jeff Norwell]

Bill.. the element is only 2-3 inches tall and the present air cleaner is just a 15-16 inch aftermarket round style... loads of room.But the old 59 Air cleaner was like 5-7 inches in height...and would not work with the plates....I will have too mess with the old air cleaner to get it to work Bill

[Jeff Norwell]

A drop base air cleaner would cure the clearance problem. I run a Weiand stealth intake which is slightly taller than your eddy rpm with a 1/2"wood spacer. My filter is a k&n 3 1/2" x 14 with a regular Ford lid. There's around 3/4" clearance on it. I'm not even sure on the amount of drop on the base, maybe 1 1/2"? I picked it up for $5 at a swap meet.

Awesome Idea Randy!!!.thank you!

[Jeff Norwell]

and BTW. that UGLY Davis United is gonna go to.. want a stock OEM unit with pertronix.....  That DU is so ugly ... you can't drink it pretty.

[lalessi1]

My rad has no issues keeping the engine cool... runs solid at 190 all the time..... its the sheetmetal surrounding the engine that gave me the issue..... boiling the fuel..... the fuel lines were a mickey mouse set up.. with a combo of steel lines running parallel across the intake....very close.
Never seen fuel boil... strange sight.
....at any rate..I picked up a cool carb plate and gaskets..re-routed the fuel lines away from the engine and along the underside of the firewall seam.... straight down by the master.Went to a larger fuel line as well,... up to 3/8
Drained the carb.. checked the float levels ...Set the fuel air mixture screw....
Today was hotter than the weekend.. so I let the car run for 35 minutes and drove through city traffic. and the bowls were easy to touch to the hand(as before they were scalding.)

All has seemed to work.Better acceleration...zero stumble on a launch or just leaving a gentle stop.

Jeff, what are you using for a radiator fan?

[Jeff Norwell]

Lynn, Not knowing any history on this car... the fan looks to be a older flex unit.It's really quite large..... The bottom pulley and top pulley are very large.bottom bigger.. they nearly touch.Again.. not super familiar with these engines, but learning.
The rad is new and fan sits 1 inch away.

[gasman826]

The fan appears to have aluminum blades riveted to a steel center.  Those started coming out in the early '70s and continued into the '80s.  The blades temperature and RPM sensitive to increase air movement at lower speed/RPM and decrease drag on the engine at higher RPMs much like a clutch fan without the weight.  There was a scare with some blade failures and Ford recalled tons of these fan blades.  I took all the replaced blades home.  I had a huge stack.  Ford and Chevy fan bolt patterns were the same.  A little rattle can and Chevy guys bought these fans like crazy.  These fans do a good job, are light, and rob little horse power.  There might be an engineering number on it somewhere.  A little too close to the radiator for my comfort.

The larger the pulley, the newer.  Again there is often engineering numbers.

[lalessi1]

I have an early Ford flex fan in the attic, I was aware they were recalled. I am running a Flex-a- Lite fan of similar design (no shroud) but my car will overheat a little in traffic. I have a 3" core aluminum Griffin radiator and I am installing A/C and power steering now. I am "Frankensteining" my setup now and I moved the radiator 2" forward so I have room for an electric fan (or a clutch fan I have too)... just curious.... I like mechanical fans for simplicity, BUT...

[Jeff Norwell]

My system works...and thats good enough for now.... as for comparing daily drivers to the cars we use for a hobby....apples and oranges.. just my thoughts.
I am very happy how how all is working on this rolling test lab.

[Ford Blue blood]

My system works...and thats good enough for now.... as for comparing daily drivers to the cars we use for a hobby....apples and oranges.. just my thoughts.
I am very happy how how all is working on this rolling test lab.

I agree Jeff.  Our daily drivers have the advantage of controlling every bit of air to make sure it moves through the radiator.  Add to that the computer controls timing, mixture, and RPM to keep temps down. 

The hot rods/customs/original "toys" we play with just need two things, lots of air and lots of water!  All three 62 - 65 Birds  (390 + .030 over) I have built had shrouds and clutch fans.  All of them ran spot on in parades with the air turned on.  My 36 hot rod will heat up just a touch with a single Spal 16" electric, but it does cycle on and off with a 200* switch.  Its radiator is three row copper 16" X 25".

[Jeff Norwell]

Yes Bill.
I fully agree.Both my 32's are in the complete traditional fashion... bias plys,etc,etc... one is a fire breathing 600+hp,thats chopped and channelled.The other is a supercharged unit.I call these "Bar Hoppers"... if anyone here has a Hard tail Motorcycle.. that is what they are like..... fun to drive.. but on a very limited leash.
My 300 we are talking about here can really stretch her legs due to the sheer simplicity.... and so will my Texas 57(only I am aiming for a finished paint and interior.)...I prefer these days to stay with performance items that came from factory.I have done the speed parts and all that.... fun.very fun.. but i am past that at this point.
I just want,  in the end....... to have 2 good drivers..and the Texas 57 to be a cream puff nice old car.