Does your lower rad hose have a spring installed?

What electric fan do you have?

My post as of 4 / 9 / 19
Little help .. Overheating ? running too high
My 66 " 289 Aluminum 2 Core 1 .25 inch radiator Electric fan with shroud aluminum heads slightly built roller Cam high rise 4 barrel carburetor ..
Will idle all day long and stay cool at about 160 -150ﾟ
But when I open it up on the highway the radiator seems to gain a lot of heat about 200ﾟ+ Not what I want for my cushion before overheating the engine
Radiator circulates Fine no collapsed hoses under Hi rpm
180ﾟThermostat ... I think .. problem could be it's A 160° thermostat ... Any other suggestions ... Want to start running the AC

PS I look at a lot of old posts before asking ... THANKS GUYS

Before swapping out radiators you may want to look at your tune.  Running an engine with too little advance can cause it to run hot.  It might have proper full mechanical advance but if you have a lazy curve, at cruise rpms you may end up heating up the motor.  Without going too crazy, increase the initial timing by 2 to 4 degrees and go out and repeat your tests.  If the temps stay the same, it's probably not your timing.  But, try advancing it to the point where it wants to kick back during start.  Back it off a degree or two so it will start and try your test again.  Don't floor-board it - just test it under normal driving and see if it still runs hot.  If it cools down a little then look at your distributor - are you running vac. advance?  Is it working?  Did you re-curve the distributor?  You didn't mention which dist. you running.  Stock MSD's out of the box, for example, are a little lazy and may not provide the advance you need for a cool cruise.  Some engines will run a little cooler when you get off the highway by using manifold vacuum versus the "timed" port on the carb.  If you are running a mechanical with no vac. advance, then it may run hot at idle - especially after coming off the highway.  That extra vac. advance will help it run cooler.

Next, sometimes when people are disappointed with their economy (I am guilty of this myself) they drop the primary jets sizes down a step or two.  This may put them too lean under normal driving conditions and the result is heat.

So, if you play with jets and timing and see no improvement then maybe you just need more cooling capacity.  But greater cooling capacity will not compensate for an engine that is not running optimally.

So what have I don't in anticipation of finishing my car in the next decade?  I put the biggest stinkin radiator I could shove in there.  But, I'm also going to go to a dyno when I get it running to get an optimal tune.  

Sounds like you DO have a timing tape on your balancer hence the 46* total advance. 36-32* should be the max total timing. Too much can be dangerous because at higher RPM...and you have 46* you will never hear IF its pinging and rattleing to death!
I made a bushing for mine to limit it to 36* total. Mine goes to 36* @2000rpm or a little less.(that's another story).
Plenty of how to pics and instruction on line about lighter springs/bushings/total advance/initial advance/vacuum advance.
Since you found "chunks in your coolant" sounds like you need a good flush'in! Flush with the heater going too. Refill with DISTILLED water and try some wetter water. (anti freeze is good for lubricant of water pump.)
Maybe richen up a couple of steps on the carb.
You sure there is no head gasket issues/ cracked block?
IF all the above does not help may need to just cram a bigger radiator in it.
6sally6

 " SAL " 
yes did look over post on distributor timing curve ..thats what i'm going to do ! ..

also Talked to a local Rad shop his comment Iv'e never heard 
"  289 blocks are known for having rust pockets that ruin the block  " 
could be the issue i'm facing  ???  

 : moose " 
I did make sure TDC was at top of # 1 piston ...

 is 8 * vacume about right or dose it also gain with rpm ??

Last edited by Vkt-66 (7/23/2019 7:13 PM)

351MooseStang wrote:

I drew the 8 degrees from the numbers you provided but I was thinking that is if you were connecting it to manifold vacuum (you would see the total advance all in at idle) as some people do. If you're connected to the ported vacuum at the carb and getting any advance at idle then your primary throttle plates are open too far and the carb is out of whack.

Which way do you have it hooked up?

connected to the ported vacuum at the carb metering block port not plate 

excuse the ciol temp intall  ( old one over heated  )



  HAY I KNOW HOW POST  Pictures  !!!  without tintpic 

351MooseStang wrote:

If you're running your vacuum advance off of the ported connection on the carb and have vacuum at idle, your carburetor is out of adjustment. You should have no vacuum at that port when idling and the throttle plates are properly set. Reading vacuum there at idle means that your throttle plates are open too far, exposing the primary transfer slots and initiating ported vacuum. My numbers I posted on your timing may be wrong if there wasn't enough vacuum at the port to pull the unit into full advance. Leave that for later...

What I would do now is disconnect the vacuum advance and check your total timing at 3500 RPM. If the mech. advance is 26 degrees then you should see 38 total (with 12 initial). If so then your options are as I detailed above; shrink-wrap mech. advance post or narrow mech. advance slot, or retard your initial timing to 10 degrees (for 36 total) or 8 degrees (for 34 total). I really prefer increasing the initial and limiting the mech. advance as it allows the engine to run cooler (retarded timing makes for more heat) and makes for smoother cold starts if you have a lumpy cam.

After this your carb needs attention as setting idle speed while into your vacuum advance makes for a hard to set, unstable idle. Your throttle plates are too far open and you need to find out why.

ETA: One other point to note is that reducing the mech. advance and adding to the initial will allow you to close your throttle plates a bit as the idle will go up with the additional initial timing. That will help you in solving the throttle plates being open too far and the vacuum port/transfer ports being exposed.

GREAT ADVICE THANKS  !!   
​hopefully i'll get to that in this week 
 

I could write something on dialing in a mechanical advance curve but unlike explaining the setting of timing ranges, the curve is a bit more complicated to dial in due to the uniqueness of an engine and the components in it.

On my 10.5-1 351W, I have my initial at 16, mechanical at 20 for 36 total and all in at 2500 RPM. My vacuum adds another 10, for 46 total at engine speeds above 2500 RPM while under light throttle conditions. One other thing I have done is install a ported vacuum switch so that when the coolant is below 115 degrees, the vacuum advance is supplied manifold vacuum to assist with smoother cold running. Once the coolant temp rises above 115, it switches back to ported vacuum operation.

You want to choose advance springs that will hold your timing at initial until it rises about 200-300 RPM above your idle speed. This is so you don't get 'flutter' when adjusting your idle and the mech. advance is varying because it's coming in at idle. That's the minimum tension you need to have on the weights. The maximum tension is set by where it's all in at, which I recommend at 2500RPM. On some performance marine engines I may bring that up to 2800 RPM and have gone as high as 3200 RPM for full mech advance, but this was for some real torque monsters that loved timing but needed it spread out a bit more while under full load for long duration. Hot rods don't have that problem, we get right up and are gone!

One good thing to do to get started everything is to plug the vacuum advance, set initial and take it for a run. No romping on it until you know that you are fully into the mechanical advance, then jump on it and check for spark knock. Try this in different gears to put varying loads and rate of RPM increase to make sure you are not getting any spark knock. Keep doing this until you get knock, then back the timing off 3 degrees and note the full in timing (initial + mech). This number is the range you have to 'play' in.

Set everything from that point. For example, if it ended up with your numbers above then I would aim to reduce the mechanical from 26 to 20 and increase the initial to 16. Then go to work on getting the mechanical rate and all-in RPM point set. One nice thing about Ford distributors is that you can bend the spring mounts and leave slack in a spring so that one spring takes the initial load as engine speed increases and then the second spring makes contact with its post and changes the rate of increase.

It allows you to dial in a rate of increase within your curve, if necessary. Cheap gas is one reason to have a slower rate of increase. Options like that are handy if needed!

Last edited by 351MooseStang (7/24/2019 4:02 PM)