I was under the impression that the radiator fit center in the vehicle with equal distance on both side of the core support. with all fins exposed. I got beat up trying to make that work and couldn't figure out how other got the battery tray in there.
It does not sit center in the vehicle its about .5 to .75" to the DS and not all fins on the DS are exposed. 

Got it done to the point where its totally derivable. Might tweak a few things here and there but its pretty much set.

I was running a 195F T stat that worked well but now that I have a ton of cooling capacity I switched back to the 180 I might even try a 175 or 170 if I can find one but Ill test it with the 180 for a while. It idles at about 177F dont have any freeway time on the 180 yet.

The fan controller works just fine but tends to have a slightly harder time maintaining a set rpm under no change conditions but holds a perfect average. I may ask about the updated sensor for it and see if they can send me one to try out as the one I have now isnt actually correct for the PID loop its programmed with.

at some point I want to check difference between upper and lower hose temp but it needs to be hotter out like 80F would be a good base point to check temp diff. 

yeah I totally get it. Maybe its a 105 out and ill be thankful that I dont have salt and snow to deal with in the winter.

The fan is from a 1999 ford contour it comes in 3 flavors the Dorman, the four seasons and the spectra premium. This one is the dorman its on summit PN. RNB-620-104. I would have got the spectra premium but too long of a wait time. this is already dragging longer than expected but its going well. just slow. 

The pig tails are from the autozoo "Duralast Radiator Fan Motor Connector 631"

The PWM drive from Derale is https://www.summitracing.com/parts/der-16795. Now be warned. I have not yet fully tested this drive with these fans and radiator. It has a 65 amp rating which should drive the two fans fine (They provide no amp draw for those fans but im pretty sure it wont be over 65...thats quite a bit.. just over 1Hp)  The PWM drive in the link I gave has a new updated sensor that I have not used. Originally they came with a probe style sensor that did not function. I found a slightly different probe with a different resistance that has worked very well. Also when running at less and 75% performance the modulation of the drive induces a whine to the fans that I dont find terrible but it does sound quite different and some people may not find it acceptable but when the car is running you cant hear it...in my case.  Now on the plus side. The fans start up slow and smooth and do not induce a shock draw common with on/off systems that snap to 100% power in a few miliseconds and demand huge startup currents. Even better then dont cycle on/off in a binary fashion. Instead they operate with a PID loop style of operation. As temp crosses the setpoint the fan will slow ramp up if temp continues to climb the fan will ramp up gradually after it  once temps start to drop the fan will roll back slow until set point is reached again and the fan will attempt to maintain a constant RPM equal to that required to maintain setpoint. Now of course the engine Tstat can mess with that a bit but I have found it to work quite well and reliably. Not sure how tough its going to be

I got everything in and tested the fan in emergency override and the pwm drive seems to run the two fans well. Next test will be in auto mode and see if it ramps up to full power as override is only like 50%

As far as reliability goes there are ways to help beat the odds. Use fine stand silicone wire that is heat proof and extremely flexible with coated strands I used a combo of 12 and 10awg (like Acer Racing superworm). No crimps no wire nutz solder everything with lead solder...we aren't doing potable water pipes. Use suitable flux in addition to rosin core. ziptie and secure wire so it wont chafe. Use gold plated connectors when possible. Wash all solder joints with electronic cleaner and cover with shrink tube. 

yep will be ready for Bash...should be ready tuesday 

Okay lets see if this works 



Cool..only two hoops to jump through but they are both burning  

when I measure between the white cut lines I get 22.75" is that about where I should be?
Thanks guys!
 

With the 70s battery tray installed and the 66 mounting bracket welded per the Mustang Steve write up here is where im at. 


The drivers side has much more overhang than the PS. Im not sure yet why this looks so much worse than all the other installs ive read up on before.

Overall dimensions 19 7/8 x 25 1/2 x 3 1/8

I went with the Norther 24" radiator. It looks well built. It also does not look like its going to fit reasonably  (this would be true for any brand not an issue with northern)

I was under the impression that it would mount to the area of the core support that was left after trimming. I see this is not the case. It looks like there is perhaps .75" of fins on each side that wont be utilized. 

Now I understand better why the 70's style bracket mounts are used.

When installed it appears that when moved as far forward as possible the fins will first contact the core support that was trimmed. What are you guys placing between the radiator and the core support to fill the gap as im sure you'll want to leave about 1/8" to prevent the rad from touching any metal.

Thanks

Good to know!

I ran a Norther brand radiator daily for just about 10 years until it started to accumulate buildup in the cores and cooling performance started to drop off. I never had any issues with that radiator. I then switched to US radiator that leaked about 10 months after installing it and by the time I got around to dealing with it it was out of warranty...Ive just been adding water to it for the past few years. Its a very slow leak but a leak none the less (about equivalent to steam vapor from a pin hole right under the upper hose)

I know the Griffen radiator is recommended but its going to cost well over 800. The Norther radiator is about 350 less than half the cost. Im suspicious that the Griffin is actually a bit more than twice as good. I know in many cases with much of the stuff I deal with that it makes the most sense to buy one notch down from the "best" in many cases you'll ply 45 to 60% more for a 8 to 15% increase in performance and quality. Sometimes this makes sense but it may not in this case since I dont plan to push that radiator to 95% of its performance....in most cases I suspect it will barley have to work compared to what I have now to keep the car cool going from point A to point B...yes it may see some track time but not often. 

Is the Norther as good as it was 15 years ago? Is there a 2nd best radiator that kind of meets my above example if the norther is crap now?

Thanks
-Gun

Im pretty sure I want to go  back to using the PS lower hose. I bet the difference isnt worth the trouble especially since I should have plenty of spare cooling capacity.

Ill also check for internal baffles as well. 

Thanks for all the useful Input. Ill keep you guys posted with how it goes.

Hello
Im looking to do the 1969 radiator swap into my 66 as described on the mustang steve article.

It says that if you have a passenger side lower hose to use the radiator for a 1969. Im running a 289 with normal water pump and belts it does have the lower hose on PS side.

When I look at radiators like Griffen the part number is the same for both the 69 and 70. What exactly am I looking for in the 69 24" radiator? Not Cross flow? one with both upper and lower hose on the PS side?

I run a cross flow radiator now and had to build a hose using 2 different hoses with a coupler in the middle. Im assuming this is what we are trying to avoid with the 69 radiator.

Is there really no hose solutions for a 289 and a cross flow setup?

Thanks