engine temps slowly climb and climb and climb

Plug that hole on the sides of the rad. Air will take the path of least resistance.

Cool thats what I was brainstorming an idea for. Gotta force air through the thing! It has large gaps on both ends that I can close off. What did you use around the sides of yours? I thought about using aluminum but not going straight across like yours but instead coming out toward the front corners of the car to actually help guide the air towards the radiator better but also closing the gaps at the same time.
 
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well closing the gaps should help while driving, hopefully a better fan will help while driving in town or stopped.

chris
 
Closing the sides could also help keep engine heat out while sitting still. Basically not recycling the heat you pulled out of it already.
 
Having the transmission cooler in there doesn't help any either. I suggest eliminating fog lights if you have them and using that opening on the driver side for the trans cooler and the one on the right for air intake.

Forget about "directing" air anywhere. The main thing that matters really is pressure differential from one side of the radiator to the other. Aerodynamics isn't the easiest to figure out because while air does follow logic, it's not usually human logic. Sealing the rad is critical, then creating a low pressure area inside the engine bay is next. The fan itself probably isn't much of a concern. If you do replace it, be sure about which version you are getting. Just because it's a SPAL fan doesnt' mean it's a high cfm version. Their low profile fans aren't exactly high volume. Also, don't assume just based on numbers posted in vendor advertising. Look at the manufacturer's specs and part #'s before choosing a fan.

Another thing, I would experiment with disconnecting or shutting off the IC fan. That may be interfering with natural airflow into the radiator.
 
David N has a post about air dams that led to him installing a modified mustang shelby air extractor in the hood on one of his cars. That looks like it should make a huge diff in pulling out hot air from the engine comp, and also pulling more air thru rad by using the areo to create low press behind top of rad.
Do a search on air dam and check it out
Adam
 
Another thing, I would experiment with disconnecting or shutting off the IC fan. That may be interfering with natural airflow into the radiator.

I notice when the intercooler fan runs it blows a substantial amount of air underneath the car and actually in front of it, so point taken on that.

David N has a post about air dams that led to him installing a modified mustang shelby air extractor in the hood on one of his cars. That looks like it should make a huge diff in pulling out hot air from the engine comp, and also pulling more air thru rad by using the areo to create low press behind top of rad.
Do a search on air dam and check it out
Adam

Interesting. The only thing I have done is replace the factory air dam which was completely wore down. I found a nice air dam off a 2000 style chrsyler sebring and modified it to work to the car as you see in the picture. I like it.

chris
 
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Wow! Think I figured out a big part of the problem guys. I started looking for part numbers on the main cooling fan that's on the the engine side of the radiator. Turns out, it is a pusher fan! Cannot figure out the brand but it's pushing against the wind when your driving. Duh. I have put my hand behind it and felt air but it didn't pull with much velocity. Now I know why. I'll update Wednesday evening.

Chris
 
Wow! Think I figured out a big part of the problem guys. I started looking for part numbers on the main cooling fan that's on the the engine side of the radiator. Turns out, it is a pusher fan! Cannot figure out the brand but it's pushing against the wind when your driving. Duh. I have put my hand behind it and felt air but it didn't pull with much velocity. Now I know why. I'll update Wednesday evening.

Chris
You can't reverse the wires to make it a puller?
 
While reversing the polarity will change the direction of the spin, the pitch of the blades will not make it efficient at all.
 
If it is reversible, you will need to change the polarity and the fan blade direction. Just one or the other won't change the fan type to/from pusher or puller.

Even after the fan is working as intended, the radiator gaps need closed up as has been mentioned. With those two things, I bet you have a much cooler running car. :D
 
Chris,

When I was having overheating issues, I switched to this Spal 16" Extreme Duty fan than moves about 30% more air than the MP FMIC supplied Spal 16" fan. It doesn't have a sealed weatherproof motor, but it sure moves a lot of air.

http://www.spalusa.com/store/main.aspx?p=itemdetail&item=30102113

David

PS: My cooling problems ended up being a damaged radiator core, but I kept the extreme duty fan on the car.

"When reaching the finish line is more important than driving to grandmas house, the Extreme Performance 16-inch fan is what you
need." -Quote

Hey, My grandma's still kicking so I gotta be able to visit! What led you to check your radiator core and what kind of rad. did you have at the time? I bought a 16" puller spal today that moves 2360cfm or air, we'll know later tonight how my heating situation is doing.

chris
 
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"When reaching the finish line is more important than driving to grandmas house, the Extreme Performance 16-inch fan is what you
need." -Quote

Hey, My grandma's still kicking so I gotta be able to visit! What led you to check your radiator core and what kind of rad. did you have at the time? I bought a 16" puller spal today that moves 2360cfm or air, we'll know later tonight how my heating situation is doing.

chris

Chris,

It was a Griffin that I had on the car since about 2005 and I never could figure out why it was running hot after installing the new motor early in 2010. Finally gave up and trailered the car up to Dave's house and when he had it off the car looking at some shroud revisions, he noticed there was no light coming through the core.

Apparently I pooched the core when the old 3.8 motor went lean while using nitrous and torched/lifted the heads, and busted all the porcelin out of the spark plugs, ruined some valves ect..ect..doing some test runs just prior to the 2009 shootout. I never thought to check the core because the top tank looked fine.

David
 
That's crazy never seen that but I know what to look for I guess.

Well I got the right fan on it. It's 80 degrees out tonight. I can pin the pedal to the floor however long I want till its topped out and I can't get this car to get past the o now. Not that i did that but..... First 90 or 100 degree day will be another test day but as soon as the temp goes to O, the fan kicks on and the temperature never goes higher than that point. On the highway it stays well below the N so that means no fans on the highway which was my main goal. Thanks a lot for the help and it sucks the answer was in front of me the whole time and I never figured it out till now. I will do those other modifications next to the radiator if I ever take the bumper off but I'm happy with everything for now.

Chris
 
That's crazy never seen that but I know what to look for I guess.

Well I got the right fan on it. It's 80 degrees out tonight. I can pin the pedal to the floor however long I want till its topped out and I can't get this car to get past the o now. Not that i did that but..... First 90 or 100 degree day will be another test day but as soon as the temp goes to O, the fan kicks on and the temperature never goes higher than that point. On the highway it stays well below the N so that means no fans on the highway which was my main goal. Thanks a lot for the help and it sucks the answer was in front of me the whole time and I never figured it out till now. I will do those other modifications next to the radiator if I ever take the bumper off but I'm happy with everything for now.

Chris

If the fan is shutting off, it sounds like it's working correctly now.

David
 
my 90 tbird automatic the radiator has been bad for about 2 years now its clogged up ive been running without the thermosat and added an extra tranny cooler and added a tranny cooler to the one heater hose it runs cool in the winter and about a quarter on the guage in the summer when i go up pennview mountain it goes up to half on the guage which is fine by me

ralph
 
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