Posted by Greg Coffin [67.176.56.44] on Friday, October 16, 2015 at 09:54:23 :
In Reply to: 360 swap posted by drew [107.77.83.62] on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 04:45:01 :
Drew, I've read all the posts below and it seems that the cause of your overheating is the combination of an electric fan and no shroud. The prior owner didn't do you any favors by flipping the radiator and installing the electric fan.
A shroud will force the fan to pull air through the radiator, otherwise the fan simply grabs the air from the side of the blades, regardless of how close it is to the radiator. It can't pull enough air THROUGH the radiator to cool it. Even a 6 blade mechanical fan run without a shroud will pull a minimal amount of air through the radiator. And installing a 360 will only make the overheating problem worse. If your current radiator is in good condition have a radiator shop install the mounts correctly (if you still have them), and find or make a shroud to fit.
This photo is of my 318 after I installed a shroud on my flex fan. Before the shroud was installed the engine would overheat in about 15 minutes at low-medium idle. After the shroud was installed it runs at 5 deg above thermostat temp.
Good luck!
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