Thread: Meller's "Last" Hoorah - '62 Fairlane

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Originally Posted by MelloYello

Don't know if that radiator will stand too much retained pressure but I'll sure consider all of this information when the time comes.

thanks Jerry, have a good'un,
Em

Em,
The key is that you're removing air from the system, and if you keep the same pressure range on the cap you'll still help yourself. Running an air cushion on top doesn't change the system pressure - it's just a matter of whether it's pressurizing a big air bubble or a full charge of coolant which gives you more volume for heat transfer and less corrosion.

can't believe that 2 el cheapo looms are holding me up

Thought I'd ask another "Gomer" while waiting for my looms to get here:

First of all this little Fairlane 289 has an auxillary tranny cooler attached to the front of the radiator instead of running the tranny fluid thru the connections in the bottom tank of the rad. It's pretty obvious from what I can see that the tranny lines are needing re-doing because it appears that they have been "barrioed" from some copper tubing and rubber hoses - - - that's just a guess from what I've found so far in this Car and from what little I can see but it shouldn't be long before I/WE can get'er on a rack and take a look (shutter: I'm not looking forward to that realization).

ANYHOW - now the question: "is the added tranny cooler better than the one in the radiator?"

Originally Posted by MelloYello

....ANYHOW - now the question: "is the added tranny cooler better than the one in the radiator?"

Em, if it were mine I'd buy a new radiator and if necessary, replace the lines or cut back the old ones to a point that they can be re-flared, then extend them to the cooler in the radiator. It sounds like the PO had a leak in the radiator cooler or at the fittings, and elected to swap to external. Mounted to the front of the radiator it 1) reduces air flow through the radiator and 2) pre-heats the air going through the radiator. A supplemental tranny cooler (to cool more than the internal unit in the radiator), is generally mounted in a spot where it can get free air flow, but not in front of the radiator in my experience.

thanks Roger, the more I get into this and get to totaling up the cost of shrouds, flex fans and etc AND then still have it not work properly, the more I'm starting to lean towards a new rad with an electric fan and shroud that comes as a unit together - - - - still have to put the pencil to the pocket book so I'm gathering all the info I can get first

l8tr,
Em

P.S. this would also allow me to consider Vintage AC but then I'd have to take the Wife with me everytime hahahahaha JUST KIDDING Y'ALL

Em,
Unless you have a space constraint your mechanical fan is a much better choice than going aftermarket electric IMO. It's more reliable and with a clutch doesn't have much drag. With your situation I wouldn't even think about an electric fan, but that's just me.

point taken - - for some reason I'm having problems finding a 4 row rad - - - - could be having a BF like the other day too

Why do you want a 4 row? With your engine a nice fresh OEM radiator should do just fine, IMO.

EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You pretty much have ignored my posts---

SO I'm going to give you a final list of questions----------and some suggestions---------first off, this is a street driven small block car and a description of your end desires for the vehicle---do you want a daily driver? or a car that is driven to cruise nites? or ???????????

I want you to think OEM solutions to your problems---------forget the radiator shroud-Ford didn't use them back then---------however your fan and spacer aren't getting the job done because they are inferior to what was used back then--if you mount a fan clutch, proper sized spacer and 7 blade fan that gets up to about aprox an inch from the fans your cooling issues will only lie with the fact that you have a partially blocked radiator from the trans cooler mounted in front of it-why isn't the lines hooked to the radiator???does it not have a internal trans cooler????If not, then I recommend getting one that does because the most reasonable cooling package for a street car has the coolant fluid doing the heat transfer---------

You should locate a radiator shop that does work on radiators--trucks, farm equip,industrial,etc and get your rad evaluated, rodded boiled out and a cooler put in bottom tank if there isn't one already(aux tranny coolers are for heavy trailer towing)

If you want to go electric fan go the Tauras or Mk8---they do have a higher amp load, but the amps rating of an electric fan is probaly the most accurate and exact number available for the actual amount of air that they move. Use good heavy wires and ampere relays and don't ever put undersized pulleies on the engine for underdrive---in fact , I would suggest getting a high amp one wire alternator while you are at this project.

Now, altho I said one final list---I didn't mean it---I will help you thru this but I am sincerely asking you for a little more consideration(or reply) about my posts as I had some of those cars back in those days and probably have been more deeply involved with some of this auto stuff then most of the crowd-----

Happy Forth of July!!!!!!!!!!!well actually, we can call it Independance Day, but seems like those days are in question????????????(went to basic training graduation at Great Lakes Naval base for nephews daughter yesterday----drill team dropping their M1 Garands(chrome plated) weren't in step,etc but the recruits did pretty good at marching in, standing straight(only a few passed out)pretty lame talk from command officer--
I bought 5 boxes ammo at Cabellas on way home!!!!!




I noticed in the pic that you have a hoes off the water pump hooked bad to the manifold---that is a heater by pass setup and should be blocked on your setup---you are just recycling water around that isn't going thru the radiator-------

Jerry, seems like I'm getting this from more than one side lately and ?IF? I have ignored your posts then it was not intentional and I'm sorry that it seems that way. I try and read and understand (if possible) everything that everyone posts but sometimes, due to eyes, age and ????, I miss some things. This project is a hobby and an outlet for me at 71 and 11/12ths years of age and I do not have the ability or intention of letting it be more than that.

PLEASE KNOW that I appreciate any and all comments and that's all I can do.

If you expect more than that then I suggest that you just don't post on my threads.

Em

I'll toss in my point oh two.. If it were mine, I'd have a local radiator shop give it the once over, verify the internal cooler is sound / pull one of the tanks and inspect the core for blockage / and develop a cost for repair or replacement. A re-core is usually cheaper and faster around my area.

And I was just thinking that the Barrio Bros. may have bypassed the internal cooler thinking they were doing a good thing, assuming and not checking that the oem cooler was working at all.

I'd prefer to use the OEM part with the internal cooler.

If you can't find a fan spacer (which I find very hard to believe!) to work with, you can always shim the radiator closer to the fan with some flat material and longer fasteners.

thanks Mike

Em, I'd take Mike's advice and have your radiator flushed and cleaned by a reputable shop. I personally don't think you need a shroud as my Mustang has never had one and I've never had an overheating problem and I'm also running a flex fan and a 6 banger radiator at the present. Unless you plan on running the car in Dallas at high noon in the traffic you'll be ok IMHO.

First, I agree with Mike that dealing with a good radiator shop is a good idea unless your radiator is one of the new plastic tank models that crimp on top of the core. From what I've been told those are one time use, and not meant to be disassembled/re-assembled.

Regarding the need for a shroud, there's an excellent Tech article on cooling in the June 2013 issue of Street Rodder magazine. Don Armstrong of U.S. Radiator provided input for the article, and says,

Airflow management is crucial to low speed or idle temperature drop. The most important aspect of airflow management is a shroud and well-placed fan in order to utilize the full area of the radiator core. Fans are circular in design and radiators are rectangular so in order to utilize every square inch of the radiator a shroud is paramount whether the fan is mechanical or electric..... Without a shroud the fan is only pulling air through an area equal to the circumference of the fan, utilizing only 60% of the radiator's cooling capacity.

Get a shroud, Emmett.

Thanks Gents - - - - jury's still out but a verdict should be given PDQ !

It's obvious that I probably need to get a life but "for the moment" - - - this is it.
So I will continue to bore Y'all with my Barrio Brothers (henchforth to be known simply as BB) discoveries as I see them. More especially if I find them as funny as my new discovery.

The weather has dried up (meaning little humidity) so I decided to mess with the Fairlane
and clean some stuff up. First on the menu was to remove the manual choke cable since
I now have a nice and fully operational electric choke thanks to many, whose name shall
remain unanimous (lol).

Oop, I digress, I clipped off the cable from the firewall side and then
climbed in the cab and under (well not exact under - - more like lying down in the seat) the
dash and removed the choke handle. I dropped the nut in the floorboard and when I reached
to pick it up, I saw a bolt lying at the foot of the accelerator pedal, so, (like a dumbazz) I picked
it up - - - - only to find out that it was the "only" thing holding the bottom of the pedal to the
floorboard. SEE PIC So I managed to poke it back in the hole so at least the pedal will work for
the moment or maybe forever, if I use the BB theory. "Ai Yi Yi - - we don't need no stinkin' nut
on that bolt"