1968 Barracuda Cooling System Upgrade Questions

[Chained_360]

Hi all,

I've recently moved my car with me from AK to Indiana (you may have seen the road trip thread around) and it's becoming clear that either something isn't right or something is too small in my cooling system. The car has never lived in weather this hot (80-90 deg. F) and I can't cruise it more than 20 or 30 minutes on the highway at 65 MPH without it overheating. The current setup is an extremely mild 360, 904 with the stock 22" brass radiator and a flex-a-lite mechanical fan with no fan shroud and the car is missing the hood-to-radiator seal. The water pump is relatively new, it has been on the car about 6 years with no problems. I have a 185 or 195 degree (can't quite remember) thermostat in the car currently. When I was driving it through Utah I pulled the thermostat out completely and it still boiled over three times.

I would really like to upgrade the car to a Champion 26" aluminum radiator (part #CC374) as I have heard good things about them and would also like to eventually put the Ford Contour fan setup on it. The car will eventually be making more horsepower and will have AC so while it may be overkill now, it'll eventually get used.

My questions are,
- Does the CC374 fit in an A-body? I've heard things about them changing the radiator cap height a couple times and would like to be sure.
- How much will the hood-to-radiator seal help? Is it a significant difference or no?
- Will a cooler thermostat really help all that much? I can't imagine it would make a significant difference.

I really am not looking forward to pulling the trigger on $4-500 worth of parts, but I would also like my car to stay cool all the time. Any advice/tips are appreciated!

 

[my68barracuda]

Hi all,

I've recently moved my car with me from AK to Indiana (you may have seen the road trip thread around) and it's becoming clear that either something isn't right or something is too small in my cooling system. The car has never lived in weather this hot (80-90 deg. F) and I can't cruise it more than 20 or 30 minutes on the highway at 65 MPH without it overheating. The current setup is an extremely mild 360, 904 with the stock 22" brass radiator and a flex-a-lite mechanical fan with no fan shroud and the car is missing the hood-to-radiator seal. The water pump is relatively new, it has been on the car about 6 years with no problems. I have a 185 or 195 degree (can't quite remember) thermostat in the car currently. When I was driving it through Utah I pulled the thermostat out completely and it still boiled over three times.

I would really like to upgrade the car to a Champion 26" aluminum radiator (part #CC374) as I have heard good things about them and would also like to eventually put the Ford Contour fan setup on it. The car will eventually be making more horsepower and will have AC so while it may be overkill now, it'll eventually get used.

My questions are,
- Does the CC374 fit in an A-body? I've heard things about them changing the radiator cap height a couple times and would like to be sure.
- How much will the hood-to-radiator seal help? Is it a significant difference or no?
- Will a cooler thermostat really help all that much? I can't imagine it would make a significant difference.

I really am not looking forward to pulling the trigger on $4-500 worth of parts, but I would also like my car to stay cool all the time. Any advice/tips are appreciated!

I have a Champion radiator in my 68 Barracuda, I will have to dig the invoice out to get the radiator model number.
I also have the Contour fan installed. That is a sweet unit. Fits fine.
I am running a built slant in my car so the cooling demands are different from a 360, but I have extensively closed off the front air flow and ducted the radiator. My motor runs on the hot side but does not over heat. I am going to try a high flow thermostat to see if that makes a difference.
You may want to check the ignition timing, and or investigate that the lower radiator hose is collapsing.

 

[autoxcuda]

• OE mechanical fan setup. Something with a wide 5-7 blade setup
• With Hayden 2947 low profile viscous fan clutch
• Buy a factory shroud for for factory radiator
• Or build one to fit a Champion radiator

Building a Custom Fan Shroud: Pic by Pic

Kendog170 made a great one out of fiberglass fairly simply:
What Radiator, Shroud and electric fan should I use for my 360?

Powerful high amp electric ones introduce a new set a failure modes. For instance your electrical wiring must really be up to snuff.

The mechanical stuff is reliable. You need to work on the reliability of your car. And keeping things simple

 

[66fyssh]

Like @autoxcuda said, best to go with the factory stuff.

Before buying a fan and fan clutch, pull the radiator and have an old school radiator shop flow test it and pressure test it. If it doesn't flow well, they may be able to Rod it out.

If that's good, source the parts in the last post. A shroud is almost a necessity. The hood to core support seal will help keep air flow through the radiator.