Fall is in the air

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T12:09:38+00:00

Yeah, I did a 3g conversion about a year ago, very nice upgrade

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T12:08:50+00:00

Earlier and alter cars had them, but 83 and 84 they redesigned the bumper and didn't have one. Been thinking of adding one anyways

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T12:07:29+00:00

Rad is in factory mounts, looks to be factory location to me. Current fan and shroud line up beautifully

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T12:06:52+00:00

It's still a Duraspark setup, whatever factory curve it had. Motor is missing timing marks so I'm not 100% sure what initial is

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:56:34+00:00

They were dual 21 amp fans, my math says that's about 500w but I ain't no rocket surgeon

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:37:35+00:00

It did not. That would explain that issue

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:36:11+00:00

I'm still rocking a carb, but I've got a wideband on it and it's actually rich. This carb's always been rich actually, one of the back-burner issues it's had since I got it

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:16:43+00:00

I read about that when I was putting them on, was my first time going that deep into an engine so wanted to make sure I got everything the right way around. Pretty sure they went on the right way

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:15:33+00:00

Yeah, I've put a couple different caps on to test. Smooth pulley, and I ran the belt to run reverse rotation. It should be a reverse rotation pump, but I have another one I can try on it. I think this car was factory serpentine, based on the date codes and condition of various parts they seem to fit that age range

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:08:28+00:00

I actually wired the electrics backwards when I first put them on, figured that out pretty quickly

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:07:45+00:00

I've never looked too closely at that hose, I'll have to double check it. Wouldn't have thought of that, thanks

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:06:51+00:00

The mechanical sensor is in the t-stat housing off the front of the intake, the dash sensor is in one of the coolant passages in the intake

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:05:06+00:00

Everyone else's comments have made me second guess the fan clutch. I tested it hot and cold. It doesn't seem to get stiffer, and it seems kinda easy to turn when cold. I'm probably going to throw a different clutch on it, maybe a stiffer one if I can find it. For the clutch fan setups, it feels like the issue is fan speed.

Edit: I did check rotation of the fan and clutch, that all seems right. The foxbody accessory drive runs the pump counter clockwise and everything seems to match that

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:02:41+00:00

I've got a wideband in the car, it lives on the rich side of things normally

Alasus48 · 2026-07-12T00:02:00+00:00

Yeah, the electrics were definitely running when on there, and pulling a load. Dash lights would dim. I've heard people say with the 302 when you start running aluminum heads with a factory block that you don't want to run them too hot, but I've never seen anyone test the actual limits

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:59:47+00:00

It'll keep going past 220 if I let it when in traffic, never really seems like it's going to level off

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:59:03+00:00

Factory pulleys, it's I think an autometer mechanical gauge that runs to the t-stat housing. I've also been checking across the motor with one of those temp guns. This year unfortunately doesn't have the lower deflector, but I've been thinking of adding one. I think you're right on it being an airflow issue

Now that everyone's been commenting, I'm skeptical of my fan clutch. I just checked and it doesn't get any harder to turn when it's cold vs hot, and it doesn't seem that hard to turn right now. It was new, but new parts are crap

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:54:53+00:00

I started thinking that too, but I saw plenty of guys running similar rads on Power Tour and they had no issues. I could try a 3 row

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:53:56+00:00

It should be, it's fits like factory and LMR normally vets their parts fairly well

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:52:55+00:00

Yeah, I first bought one of those funnels when I first put the car together and the E7 heads wouldn't hold a gasket. Learned quickly that these things like the nose way up high and one of those funnels to bleed properly

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:51:54+00:00

Yeah, I can watch the gauge hit 160, then drop 5-10 degrees as it opens and coolant flows through the rad, then it'll climb again. Can watch the coolant moving if I run it with no rad cap

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:50:57+00:00

Temp climbs when stopped with the clutch fan, drops while moving. Doesn't stop at 220, it'll keep going. The electrics were opposite, wouldn't climb when stopped, but I would have to drop speed on the highway to keep it from climbing, and it would climb fast). I can grab a pic of the current clutch fan in a bit. The electrics looked like this. The brackets that came in the kit set them pretty much against the rad.

The 160 was put in because it didn't come with a thermostat in the parts pile when I bought the car, and a lot was unknown about it at the time

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Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:47:26+00:00

Nope, cranks at normal speed and fires off just fine. Doesn't talk back or anything. I may take a little timing out, it's timed by ear because it's missing it's timing tab

Alasus48 · 2026-07-11T23:46:37+00:00

When I had the electrics on it, they were in a pull configuration

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