My cooling system sucks for Phoenix!!! What should I use?

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I just have no room.

I was told my Spal fan wouldn't really work too well down here.

It worked fine in Utah.

It was ONLY in the low 90s today. I don't even want to drive my Mustang around. I can only bet how bad it will be in the summer.

So, what do you guys suggest?

I am not going to be able to put anything but an electric fan. No room.
 
The Sacramento valley in CA is not as hot as AZ, but it does stay around 95-110 in the summe. I have just a 4 core radiator and stock water pump and I don't have problems except in heavy traffic. Is your car in proper tune and I know my roomate was having problems with his 383 chevy when he used smaller pullies, do you have any mod like that what would speed up or slow down the flow of coolant thru the block?
 
I am getting rid of my pullies and putting on the serpentine pulleys.

65 - 66 guys.....

Do any of you have a large radiator, larger than stock.

I am thinking about gettting a large radiator and cutting out my radiator support a little larger. I have PLENTY of room to to this as I have no battery up front.
 
I live in Chandler. I have a 2 row Griffin radiator and a direct drive fan. I drove to work today and it was 91 degrees. My car was running 2 dergees less than normal operating temperature. A pusher fan will partially block some of the air flow to the radiator.Hot Rod air has a 2700 cfm fan that bolts up w/o any modifivations and is made for the 65-66 mustang. I checked all of the other brands and the majority do not flow that much air. I will be putting it on my car in about 3 weeks since I will be adding A/C. I thought (And asked this question on this forum) IF the clearance is not enough for the pusher fan I would take a cutting wheel and cut maybe 1/4 " off of the Water pump shaft. Everyone agreed that It should not affect the pump operation. In your case I would check a few things. First pull the rad cap and look at the inside if it is clean. Is the water pump really old? I have actually seen the vanes wear and reduce coolant flow. What is the condition of your thermostant ,antifreeze and cap? MOST important,ENSURE that your water temp gauge is accurate! I new a mechanic who replaced everything and rebuilt his engine only to find out it was a bad gauge!!
 
I am sure that the pump, thermostat, etc. are fine.

What is the best ratio of coolant to water down here?

How much is that fan?

Street or track is telling me I should use a Spal for 145 bucks.

Fastdave - I went to Dyno and Chip in Chandler today.
 
I run a 50-50 mix. The Hot Rod fan is $249.00 complete. You can have my old direct drive fan for free after I get my electric one on. This brings to mind,how many blades are on your fan? I have 6. You need @ least 5. The Spal is a very good fan but it gets really hot here. Even If the Spal was free but didn't cool what good would it be. Go on the internet,look up the Spal fan you have and check the deminisionsand CFM,then go to Hot Rod Air and check the deminisions on their fan. Or you can wait about 3 weeks when I install mine and I will let you know how it works,Hell I will even let you help me install it!! At the same time of the fan install I will also be putting in an A/C system, 1 wire polished 180 amp alternator,Billet pulleys and brackets, an Edlebrock Victor series Endurashine high volume water pump and a new blower motor for my heater. AHH just look at the experience you will get PLUS--I have FREE BEER!!
 
Yeah, it is not a clutch drive or electric. It is bolted directly to the W/P shaft and pulley. I figure it will take me @ least 3 or 4 days to do everything. I will probably start on it Friday April 29. I'm not sure if I have my e-mail on my profile, If I do e-mail me And I will call you so we can get together.
 
Like the others suggested, I would make sure your antifreeze/water, and thermostat are ok. If those are all in good shape, maybe you add some red line water wetter. If that doesn't do the job, if you've got the Griffin with the 1 inch tubes, maybe you should upgrade to the next size up, the 1.25 inch tubes. If you are still running hot, maybe you can think about ab electric water pump. Meziere's 100 series flows at 35 gpm all the time. An Edelbrock Victor water pump will outflow it after 4500 rpm but I suspect your problem is at idle or low RPMs. The Victor pump flows only 16 gpm at 2000 rpms.
 
let me throw this out there, an even better fan is the perma cool hp 16" electric fan that flows 2950 cfm, and fits perfectly on our radiators without a schroud. not to mention its only 99 dollars at www.jegs.com if you already have an aluminum radiator, then wow, i dont get what the problem is... try a mix of more water, about 15% coolant, 85% water with royal purple cooler or water wetter, these have both worked well for me. and i didnt see it, but do u currently have underdrive pulleys, i did and it made my car overheat real fast, changed that and it all went away. also try a balanced hp thermostat, they are alot better than the parts store p.o.s. It hasnt been that hot here. but it was 85 the other day and i was really getting on it, and i never ever broke 180' on the gauge, and thats what my thermostat is rated at.
 
I had similar problems, especially on the famed 91 freeway. I ended up putting a pusher up front and a mechanical puller on the back. On the route 66 cruise in San Bernardino durring the cruise I rarely got over 220, and the majority of the time you are just sitting there reving your engine. However I am considering installing A/C so let us know how you solve yoru problem, because I am sure I will be experiencing it soon.
 
65racecoupe said:
65 - 66 guys.....

Do any of you have a large radiator, larger than stock.

I am thinking about gettting a large radiator and cutting out my radiator support a little larger. I have PLENTY of room to to this as I have no battery up front.

Before I totalled the first incarnation of my '65 in an accident, it had an F-150 side tank radiator in it with internal trans cooler. The rad support was cut larger to allow for max airflow. Never overheated once.