Try hitting your favorite junk yard a get a pusher fan. See if they will let you look around for the correct one, you'll know when you see it. I put one from a late model Honda on my 55 Fairlane for $25, it bolted right up to the outside frame work of the radiator support, there is a lot of room for one. I ran a wire to a remote switch under the dash to a hot wire and fused it with a 7 amp fuse. Works super and a lot less expensive than a aftermarket one, and will keep it cool, cause they push a lot of air!!!

Old Yblock

Kerrville, Texas

You won't find anything seriously different between the rigid bladed fans - steel or aluminum either one. GM provided them for years on quite a number of their vehicles and they worked fine - can't remember them being used on Fords - but it's not really an issue.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I just ordered what I thought was the six blade metal cooling fan, then after my order went thru,ooooops!! It was the aluminum one! It's a non-flex design, since I didn't want a flex fan. Is there an advantage to either metal or aluminum blades?? Don't see how I missed that!

I'm running  Napa #6 in my 272, under normal application, city or highway it maintains pretty good, but if I get into a long line, with very little movement it'll run up into the 220s. I'm running a 4 blade fan, maybe a 6 will help out in those isolated instances, Gary

       

Gary, 55 Vicky, St. Germain, Wisconsin

 

You might try hunting around for one of these - they are cheap and chrome plated..... "Mota" isn't the best brand in the world - but probably the cheapest (short of a friend in the salvage business).

http://www.amazon.com/Mota-Performance-A72001-Groove-Chrome/dp/B002ZMR7KC/ref=sr_1_10?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1296400547&sr=1-10

I can't speak about the problem you found with your thermostat - I've bought four from Mr Gasket now (for different vehicles) - they all worked. Milodon packages and sells the same "Robertshaw" style of thermostats as their brand. Haven't heard about any problems with theirs. NAPA sells a 170° (2 inch diameter) with a 1.50 poppet opening as part number "6" or "7"? Can't remember (oldtimers disease). The NAPA part is pretty popular I think, they handed it over the counter pretty quick when my buddy asked for one.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Greenbird56;

I did try a high flow, Mr. Gasket (Mopar) T-stat and as my luck would have it, it stuck closed on a short local cruise and did boil over. I let her cool down at a closed gas station, added some water and nursed her home. Luckily, no damage done. I pulled that t-stat out and tested it in a pan of boiling water on the stove. It didn't budge and stayed closed. I then tried the stock 160 degree t-stat and all went fine until that hot day when I got stuck on the entry line to the car show.

I haven't heard of turning down the two groove water pump pulley, so thanks for that tip! It may be something to try. What concerns me about the electric fans is the clearance between the end of the water pump and the radiator core. That distance is right at 3" so if you want to center an electric fan opposit the water pump, it has to be a low profile fan. Most of the electric, low profile fans under 3" deep are 14" diameter or less and may not cover enough of the core...I don't know. I guess I could also try placing the electric fan just above the water pump shaft, but that would offset the fan on the radiator core. I don't have any experience with electric fans so this would be a new experience for me.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Did it actually boil over and puke water - or did it just read hot on the dash? Once the water reaches 160° - the thermostat should have been wide open anyway. A high flow thermostat is a good investment if you don't have one.

There are six inch diameter pulleys around - guys make them out of the two groove 289/302 waterpump pulley (cutting off the back groove). Cranks up the fan  - and the pump. Cheap entertainment if you care to try.... 

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I've got a Ron Davis aluminum radiator with a 160 degree thermostat and a 6 blade steel fan  and last summer while waiting in a line of cars for 1/2 hour to get into the Bangor Car show, I burried the needle on my temperature guage. Temperature is normal when I'm just Cruising the highway or in normal stop and go traffic, so I'm not sure what is going on. This spring I will try removing the air dam on the upper radiator support and try some "wetter water". Some people swear by that stuff although I've never used it. If that doesn't work, I'm scraping the mechanical fan and going with an elecric puller fan..

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Gal:

A couple of thoughts I had.  Does the Merc still have the original distributor with the dual diaphragm vacuum advance, does it have the original teapot?  If either has been changed, the ignition advance probably isn't working as designed.  This is more critical if the carburetor only has been changed.  Also, if the engine has ever had the heads off, one or both head gaskets could be installed backward.  This causes water flow problems.  A Y head gasket has three rounded and one square external corners.  The square corners should be visible at the upper front of the head on both sides, indicating correct installation.  Did you have this heating problem before the radiator change?

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Hoosier's asking the right question - how hot does it run? - the stock sedan / station wagon cooling system usually seems to run quite nicely. Guys with the T-birds have a few issues but they have some specific problems to address too. The dash gauges are notorious for being inaccurate but can be recalibrated.  

If you can find someone with an Infrared type temperature probe (that you just point closely at a specific spot to check temp) - you can tell what the temp is at the thermostat housing where water is exiting the block. For example - my bird runs just about exactly 100°F over the ambient outside air temerature. That won't boil over (takes 220°+) a radiator with a pressure cap - even the low pressure variety.

The aluminum fan blades - I finally put a rigid aluminum bladed fan on my outfit to replace the steel one - because I liked the looks of it. The steel ones worked fine. Pontiac and other GM divisions used the aluminum blades in the sixties (as a seven blade variety) - and I saw one on a GTO at a show here last summer than gave me the "bug" to try one. The owner had removed the paint from the blades (not the center) and polished the blades. Very nice.

Have you read elsewhere on here to get a high volume thermostat? That is a good investment - passes several more gallons per minute than the el cheapo's.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona