87 single cab SAS build

Wow yeah that's a bit much I'll try a few tests an other things with my set up I have now and if it comes down to I I guess I'll have to find a way to stuff a bigger rad if I have to

pressure test first.

Josh40601 said:

Bobby, is 210 operating temp for a 302? The 4.0 is between 190 and 210, but not familiar enough with the 5L.

Josh, throw a new lower hose on it, do the pressure test, see if you have leaks. Forgive me, but are you running a new clutch fan?

Click to expand...

that is subjective and not subjective....


in the general, a 190 or 195 t stat is preferred(195 really but theres variance). its design spec from carb to the last efi production. depending on what temp sender is used and its placement, this equals 200-215 running temperature. tuning to that temperature is what i do for a daily driver....


a hot rod is a totally different story...but the higher the temps the better for efficiency and engine life...

but a cooler engine can make...or rather...potentially make more power.

this has context and i dont have time for that shit.













not sure a expo radiator will work real well in a gen 1 scenario and couldnt use it without a b/l on a 2wd swap in the past....

i usually notch the upper frame rails to cram a 25x 19 in there(25x17 without b/l) and the expo radiator needs the same treatment because the gen 1 rails were too narrow......theres some jeep v8 radiators that can work pretty good. but you have to put a channel spreader in to use the 28 in wide units....thats right at the line. but they have an extended fill neck which made full under heder tuck a cake walk. but i dont remember what model jeep it came from....it was a later ohc engine though.


i would not think twice about the explorer fead if you want a mechanical fan.

theres many around here and the last few sets i pulled went under a 100 bux as a package deal....they dont like me taking the timing cover and balancer but just keep haggling. i have gotten em for under 60 before for all usable parts at that.

i have a setup, but i cant give it away or sell it.. its for a planned project.

Bobby a few questions concerning the expo fead

-what all do I need to grab from the exploder, alternator,timing cover etc

-what years do you recommend to rob from

-also if I'm getting the balancer won't the balance weight needed to be taken into consideration as well.

Other questions concerning my situation.

-does engine tuning effect engine temp enough to worry bout it

-does igntion timing need to be considered

Mightyfordranger said:

Bobby a few questions concerning the expo fead

-what all do I need to grab from the exploder, alternator,timing cover etc

-what years do you recommend to rob from

-also if I'm getting the balancer won't the balance weight needed to be taken into consideration as well.

Other questions concerning my situation.

-does engine tuning effect engine temp enough to worry bout it

-does igntion timing need to be considered

Click to expand...

consider a 98 down...cant remember the changes...but there are or was a difference in something...maybe it was the alternator or pulley diameters or pump style ...something...i have had a head scratcher with it....but it may have been because we did not want to use the ps pump etc...just the alt. all of the shit runs together sometimes. regardless...if you take it all off one setup...no problems. just note the year for parts sourcing later.


yes, you will have to know what balance you have.....if your engine is a 70's it is 28 oz....so you will have to have the dampner matched.....we had a guy here in detroit....i think performance crankshaft?? not sure if he is still around......he was off of east grand...would do them for a pretty fair price...like 50- 80 bux. dayco makes(or maybe made) a high performance balancer and you could buy that and drop it off for match and still be under 200 bux 5-6 years ago..or maybe it was 7 or 8..of course you could just do a oem for your goals...they go 50-80 bux for a good one like a dayco. you get what you pay for with those. unfortunately most engines only have crappy ones from dorman or pioneer available...the 302 has a wide variety.

you will want to use the timing cover and explorer water pump for sure. especially if you end up going efi.













temperature and engine tuning/timing go hand in hand.

tuning relates to many things, and running temp of the trans/rear end, exhaust, underhood ambient etc... all can affect overall efficiency and performance in some wild ways you would not expect.


under load, temperature can be controlled by adding or removing timing and fuel....some situations you would want to dump fuel to keep things from melting....others you would want to pull timing. theres a shit ton of books written on it. and most of the sbf build books go after the uccessful know models in explanatory. these form a good baseline for understanding what is happening.

but....you are firmly in normal territory. and it is perfect for you to learn cheaply. so dont panic, the criticals are not in application here.....yet. buy some carb tuning books and hotrod ford books and read....

Ok thanks I have a few books on rebuilding sbf and doing head work but none on carbs I'll go up to summit here and pick one up

So I did the cooling system pressure test turns out it didn't rip or blow the lower rad hose when I did the test it got up to about 8 lbs and started leaking around the top part of the lower hose where it goes into the water pump I'll readjust it move the clamp and try it again so that why nothing made it into the overflow because it blew the hose way before 13 lbs also here's a pic of the fan style I'm running oh and the pressure guage that was on the testing kit was messes up and wouldn't sit at zero so I counted the marks as I pressurized the system up to 13lbs

I finally got it to hold 13lbs of pressure and just to see what would happen i fired it up let it run with my trusty garden hose close by to spray the rad when it got too hot
It will now hold 180* for about 5 min then start climbing again :\ so I'll go grab the expo fead next get that setup and grab another fan or look into better options once I gain the room and I have no idea how every one on here makes building trucks look so easy its like tear one down and rebuild it in a weekend.....I must learn this

Where is it climbing to? 210? Or 230?

It was on its way up to 210 when I shut it down and my trans is makin weird noises in reverse too which really sucks because there's less than 50 miles on it (brand new) I'll have to poke around in that now too

210 isn't overheating bud. 250-260 is overheating

Alright I'll give it another shot at least this time nothing g shot out of it for once. Also if the thermostat is open all the time once it gets that hot your basicly relying on the rad and fan to regulate temp right or maybe I'm looking at how the system works wrong ???? Because the temp of the thermostat should be where the engine sits all the time is how I'm lookin at it and if it made it up to 210 ish what's to keep it from goin hotter???

all the thermostat does is allow for the engine to warm up. once it reaches a certain temp, it opens up allowing the coolant, radiator, fan, and water pump to keep the engine cool.

Putting a 180 degree thermostat only allows for the engine to warm up more before being rushed with colder water/coolant. With you being in northern Ohio, this is a good thing due to the colder weather

Ahhh so it doesn't actually fully regulate the temp ok makes more sense now and I really appreciate you and Bobby taking your time to help me out this is the first truck i am actually trying to take my time and build right

hmmm i posted an answer a few days back that seems to have not posted.


i was wondering still if you had the right pump and fan rotation......and that fan is a pos by the way.