It’s an age-old problem, keeping hot rods cool. Of course we all know hot rods are cool, but often not in the most literal sense of the word. The usual formula goes something like this: build an engine with increased horsepower and then hope the original radiator will handle the load. Or even more common, add A/C to your car for inside comfort but you now have a problem cooling the car in traffic with the addition of a front-mounted condenser.
Well, horsepower generally means more heat and that means increased cooling capacity is in order. Happily today we have all the right equipment available to keep engine temperatures under control. Cooling an engine takes two things, a radiator that will efficiently absorb heat from the water and transfer that heat to outside air. That can only occur if there is sufficient airflow through the radiator fins. For that task we turn to a modern, high-volume electric fan. It’s the killer combo for heat exchange.
Our cooling project revolves around our 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon. Under the hood the original special-order 312 is still in service. Last year we added Vintage Air to the car and noticed about a 5- to 10-degree temperature bump in traffic. We were still running the original radiator and a flex fan without a shroud. The AOD transmission is cooled by an external cooler that is not in front of the radiator.
The temperature rise didn’t cause boil-over but the temperature was high enough to inspire us to bring it back down. Our first thought was possibly adding a shroud, simple enough and it may have worked. But then fate jumped in last year at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals when the original radiator sprung the second leak in a year (jeez), only 57 years old and it’s leaking again. We realized it was time to tackle the cooling system head on.
Our Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts water pump is only a year old so that part was working well and we installed a new engine thermostat at the same time. Since the engine bay has a real original ’50s vibe we decided to go with an original-style radiator. After doing some research we came up with the U.S. Radiator replacement unit. This radiator has stock-style (as in exact duplicate ) upper and lower tanks and is the old-school copper and brass construction, which makes for very efficient cooling. Fitting the radiator to our original core support was a simple bolt-in as the side flanges are exact duplicates of the original. But here’s the cool part (pun intended), there is another full row of core built into the radiator providing the extra cooling for our 312. It is simply the best of both worlds, stock-style, modern cooling.
Cooling an engine is a simple exercise in heat exchange. You need sufficient volume of coolant circulating through the engine to absorb the heat. Then the coolant circulates through the radiator, which transfers that heat to the fins, which provide the required surface area to transfer the heat to the outside air. Now that fin to air transfer can only occur if there is an ample supply of cool air traveling over, under, and around those fins. That’s where a high-volume electric fan comes into play. In traffic the electric fan moves enough air to keep things cool, while on the highway the electric fan is generally not running, allowing the forward motion of the car to provide the cooling airflow. Beyond cooling your car you will also notice a marked improvement in engine noise. Without those big manual fan blades spinning the engine is much quieter.
To provide a good supply of airflow we opted for the Vintage Air LoPro electric fan and shroud combination. The shroud ensures all the air is being drawn through the fins and the powerful fan moves 2,700 cfm so it is very effective.
The final piece of the puzzle is a quality radiator cap. Our U.S. Radiator did not come with a cap so we went to the local parts house and grabbed one off the shelf. It was a cheap import and when we first ran the engine up to temperature and shut it off the radiator “burped” coolant. Well, that new cap didn’t really have a quality feel to it and was even a bit too easy to tighten. We ordered a quality Stant cap from Summit Racing and the problem was solved. Lesson learned, you get what you pay for and it pays to use quality components from start to finish.
Our project involved relocating the A/C condenser forward to make room for the thicker core and also making some nifty brackets to hold the Vintage Air electric fan on the radiator. We used a piece of Steele Rubber universal weatherstripping that we had on the shelf to provide a gasket between the shroud and the radiator core. Our homebrewed brackets hold it all in place. We also installed the optional adjustable temperature fan controller. This allows us to adjust the on/off point for the electric fan.
After that it was a simple bolt-in operation for the hardware. The wiring kit included with the Vintage Air fan included a relay and clear wiring instructions, so that went smoothly. We also added an optional manual switch inside the car so we can turn the fan on manually if required. Finally we recycled the old coolant and filled the system with fresh coolant.
By the time we did all the work we had consumed the better part of a weekend (no one ever accused us of being fast) but in the end we couldn’t be happier with the results. The installation is neat and clean and more importantly the system works perfectly with our temperature gauge running right on the thermostat temperature. You can’t ask for more than that, so follow along to find out how you too can drive a really cool car.
The post Maintaining your car’s cool all the time appeared first on Hot Rod Network.