will 4 row radiator fit in 289 66 mustang?

Hello,
I have a 66 convertible stang (with AC although it is not hooked up or working)....I currently have a 3 row radiator in there (purchased and installed maybe 15 years ago..seals broke once and I had it re-welded years ago. Drove okay (has always overheated on hot summer days after lots of stop and go traffic) but now the car overheats worse then ever. I'm guessing that it is plugged more than usual. I was thinking of having it flushed; but think it might be time for a whole new radiator.

The 3 row has always eventually overheated as mentioned and was considering getting a 4 row. When I bough the first one; I did some research on this and forgot what I had found. If I remembered, the 4 row would fit but barely....maybe they have gotten slimmer...any advice on this?

I'm pretty sure it's not the thermostat either. I think we have checked it (maybe even taken it out).  

lets look at the rest of the cooling system...

how many blade does your fan have????  got pictures???   there are multiple options.. in both used OEM ford and aftermarket..   when the engine is revved up slightly.. will the air flow through the radiator.. hold a shop rag to the front of the radiator or in your case.. to the front of the ac condenser..

how much percentage of coolant are you running???  50% or 70/30 coolant to water..

is the water rusty???  if so .. you might have sediment in your block... a lot of cars do.. prevents the bottom of the cylinders from being properly cooled..

does your radiator cap actually hold pressure????

and..

what temp thermostat do you have...   160, 180, 192?

there is also a rubber seal across the top of the radiator core support that seals to the hood.. causing more ram air through the grill  to flow through the radiator instead of over the top of the core support..


one thing.. way out in left field....   have you had any vapor lock problems with your fuel system... as a restricted fuel flow will have serious issues in leaning out the motor and causing vapor lock and overheating issues..    can you do a cold engine . full flow fuel system test..


do you have a brand of 4 core and a part number that you were looking at.. you might post it.. some of the members might have some advice on will it fit..  as radiators vary slightly from brand to brand..  

Hi there...thanks so much for the time to help on this!!

So I will try to answer in order..

There are 7 blades on the fan...I will try to work on getting you a photo..
I'd love to try the air flow test, but at the moment the car is not running. It has been sitting for the past 7 months (I have been overseas) and I just returned to continue on some electrical problems that I was working on before I left.
The car was running though when I left. Before I put all of the fluids back in, I was considering keeping it dry and installing a new radiator while it was dry. I think I could get it running just fine though if I were to fill everything back up (but then would have to dump all new fluids when changing). It leaks oil btw and replacing the radiator might take a few weeks (just a time factor).

I have tried a lot of different cooling options. I was running pretty much okay on just water for a long while. I never drive it that far, usually only around town and it would do fine. On the freeway at normal driving speeds, I would feel safe driving maybe up to 30 miles. It would be maybe 3/4 to the Hot side of the dial..I'd let it sit while I did what I needed to do and drive off again. I usually only drove it about 15-20 miles at a time though. It's tempermental. I always kept extra water in the trunk as when the engine would get to 3/4's hot it would blow off a bit of steam and i usually tried to top-up before further drives. So since I was constantly loosing a little fluid and topping up, I usually just used normal water. I have used radiator fluids in the past and it was the same result...just a lot of wasted radiator fluid.

When it started getting really bad, I used strictly radiator fluids (mixed around 50/50 and tried a few other combinations); but still the car was overheating.

I want to say the water from radiator was rusty, because my engine is stock I think and pretty dirty (but runs) and I see pieces of rust stuck in some of the cores, but I honestly think the water coming out was usually fairly clear or green if I put radiator fluid in there. I have a Gano filter in there when I got a new rad, and I'd pull small bits of rust buildup from the trap every now again but years ago, the filter wires inside broke and now it is just free-flow (thought it might also help water flow).

A long time ago, I replaced the radiator cap and it had a very good effect of stopping overflow...I've replaced a few times since to try to solve this and still I get overfow...usually small amounts until the more recent overheatings. I replaced the cap again anyways and still the same.

The thermometer, I actually think we may have taken it out. I need to check on that. I know we talked about it because I think maybe we did not need one out here in california where it is never really that cold...rather we deal with too hot conditions. But we have checked the flow of the thermo as well and if it was in there, it seemed to be working fine. I forgot what the test was though that we did with the thermo...as you can guess I have some other friends who are great with cars that help out a lot..but I'm always trying to do as much as possible before calling on them. At the very least, we did put in a new thermo maybe 15 years ago and again, I think we may have taken it out a number of years ago. The car has always run pretty hot.

In terms of vapor lock, I have heard that a lot over the years...the car is very temperamental...sometimes just won't start, sometimes electronic starts won't engage...sometimes it's just flooding. I've taken it to many mechanics and friends; but of course, it always works fine there. But in general I don't have many driving problems with it....it just happens out of the blue here and there...I will mess with the battery connections and solonoid wires for a while or just let the car sit for a while or overnight and usually it gets going. I think there is some sort of battery drain somewhere but nobody has been able to find it.
So for vapor lock...that might be an issue, but we have never completely found it to be there; and this vapor lock talk has always been a topic...but the car has been pretty consistent through the years..only recently has it started to overheat so much.

I see some small rust pieces at the top of the core here and there (not sure if it's enough to make a huge difference) and there is a small amount of rust in the radiator...so I'm just thinking that it may be time.
I'd like to do a full engine rebuild and brought it in for one; but it was suggested to me that as long as it runs, I might as well just drive it till it dies and rebuild then. I agree, but it just gets pretty poor gas mileage (10-12MPG) which I hear is common, but not that bad for a stock 289 2 barrel engine. I have some money saved up for it, but I really shouldn't be putting it into the car engine unless totally necessary especially these days. Wish I had the knowledge, time and space to do it myself but don't. I have another car for my main driver anyways.

I have not looked at radiators yet...gonna do that now...just vaguely remember the options from years ago....You have one you recommend?

thanks for the help again!!!  

i have been doing professional auto repairs for 30 years... after a year of trade school.

first...  invest the 22/24 bucks in 2 gallons of full concentration coolant..  conventional green coolant..   NOT the 50/50 preblended..

invest in a new 180F thermostat... 8 or 9 bucks..

invest in a new thermostat gasket...  2 bucks..

a new bypass hose... 4 to 9 bucks..

you might want to really plan ahead and pick up a new thermostat housing..

get the engine running without the thermostat..    get the coolant circulating.. so it stirs it up.. please.. attempt to catch all the old rusty water that you flush out with a garden hose.  a few big clean drain pans .  you can pour the water into a few buckets and let the sediment settle out and pour off the clear water in a few days..

i worry that your freeze plugs may be damaged from the back side from running just straight water.. so be sure that you have AAA..     bag kits of steel SBF freeze plugs are about 5 bucks at oreillys..

without a working thermostat.. as the temp builds up.. the coolant is circulating through the radiator so fast that the air flow through the radiator cannot cool it.. so it becomes a run away cooling system...

if ford or any manufacturer did not have to put a thermostat in a cooling system.. they would save the bucks.. it just won't work properly without it..  sorry.. laws of thermodynamics cannot be broken..  they are kinda like gravity.. HEAVY.. try to break them .. not..  

thanks for the response....I understand what you are saying on the thermostat...slowing down the flow to allow time to cool....so rather than get a new radiator, I'll work on getting that thermo replaced.

So when you talk about flushing the system, how do I go about this?

I'm guessing that I remove the thermostat and then replace the hoses, and then fill the system with water....
Then get the car going....do I leave the radiator cap off and let the engine heat up (or will that just start spewing water everywhere)....do I leave the drain *** open to drain it and leave a hose pouring water into the system on the top while it runs?

Or just fill system with water, close system, run system till hot, turn off, and then drain? If so, how many times do you do this?

Thanks,
m  

i used to leave the drain valve open..    with the thermostat out..housing reinstalled   the upper hose unhooked  at the radiator. the radiator opening where the upper hose usually plugged with a shop towel.. . i would fill the system with the garden hose..  with the engine idling.. when water filled the engine.. i would REV the engine for a few seconds till it stopped shooting out of the top hose.. letting the engine and radiator fill again and again while the engine idled..  the water pump pulling the water from the radiator and forcing it through the block, heads and out the intake really got the system clean..  but it made a HUGE mess...   if you have an extra 50 gallon blue barrel.. to catch the many gallons of water... for proper disposal..  that would be a better idea..

allow you to pour the water down the toilet.. instead of running down the street or into the soil.. where you can get a serious ticket..  like 10 grand here in cal..   there is lead in the radiator water .. leached from the solder in the radiator and heater core..  chemicals from the antifreeze that settled in the block..  

I have a 4 row brass radiator, bought online, that was a bolt-in, factory shroud even mounted right up and I didn't have to remove the fan spacer. But, something else is wrong because a 3 row brass rad should thoroughly cool a non-modified small block Ford that has no other cooling issues. You have work to do, finding them. Also, a catch can for the overflow with the double sealed rad.cap is handy for returning lost coolant.

I live in Wichita Falls, Tx.,summers are 100°-110°, storing my stock '66 original engine and running a '68 302 stroked 347(375-400hp) with A/C, now an all aluminum radiator/electric fan/shrouded and I still cannot use the A/C in stop and go traffic in over 100° temps. Everything is clean, new and runs great except using A/C over 100°. The condensor preheats the air going to the radiator so it will burn your hand and then tries to cool engine water with that. Very frustrating. I've toyed with the idea of removing the fuel tank, putting a fuel cell in the trunk and remote mounting the condensor in the old fuel tank area in a box with a remote fan, moving all the heat off the radiator and to the rear under the car.  

Your 302 sounds amazing! I'd love to get the AC going on mine; but just sounded way too expensive to get it running and keep the freon coming. Maybe someday.

I ended up taking out the thermometer. It says 160 on it, so I'm guessing that's what temp it is rated for.
I put it in boiling water and sure enough at 160 it started opening and at 180 it was wide open.
So that is not the issue..gonna get a new one nonetheless. Should I stick with 160 or go with a 180?

What would you suggest next? There was a fair bit of little rust pieces sitting in the waterpump behind the thermo...I'm sure it has rust in the system but not sure a simple flush would solve it. I was more thinking along the lines of a filter that would catch as much as possible and keep it from a new radiator?

So if it's not he thermo; what would you suggest next? A new radiator as the current one may be plugged? Would a plugged up rad be the most likely cause...enough rust particles over the years have maybe built up in the rods?

I will look over the flush again...it was a bit of a pain to get to the thermo, so not sure about putting it all together again to get it running and then having to take it all apart again. If I did that without the thermo for a flush, I'm guessing I still need to put on a new gasket when flushing and then maybe another gasket when putting the thermo back in after flushing?  

with a 160 thermostat. and water.. it will overheat.. put a 180 to increase the temp differential... and 50 to 70 percent coolant...

the boiling point of water is 212.. the boiling point of coolant with 13 or 16 pounds of pressure is  over 250..