dry lakes has good info,but trying to pump more water threw a inefficient rad has marginal effect. new rad good them, sound engine original shrouding no over heating. to many short cuts does not do much but run up the bill. those who are getting big power from there ys of coarse need more cooling. my 47pickup has a alumn rad good for 350 hp, so they say.

I cured my over heating problem with a smaller pulley. 5-1/2" from a 60's Mustang, chromed ones are on line along with a spacer kit. I just painted it black. The original one on my 56 was over 7".

There is a supplier in Texas that makes a "plastic" 2 piece fan shroud. I bought one and spent some time taking all the flashing and sanding smooth with filler primer. The top fit fine but the bottom hit my power steering pulley. Apparently I have an incorrect power steering pump. It's now a wall hanger. I will say it is a nice piece if you don't mind playing with it. I found out about the smaller pulley at the same time I was working on the shroud. I also have the upper radiator seal and the 2 panels under the radiator to the engine.

My engine takes about 3-4 miles to get up to operating tempature.,Good Luck.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

if the rad has not bean roded (top tank removed and small flat rodes pushed down the tubes) it is not clean.you would be better off to replace the rad with the aluminum replacements,they are reasonably  priced. most rad shops in bc, only  use sonic cleaning which to me is a wast of money. If the rad is not clean inside,and out side you are wasting  your time doing any other hoped for a cure.
 and yes ford picked a poor  placement for the temp sender,as charley stated,as well only showing temp on 1/2 of the engine.
 so be consistent in curing your issue. good luck

Well that's an interesting point..

I'll see if I can find myself a good timing light. When I did it with a buddy of mine awhile back it was with a crappy dim Harbor Freight light.

Insufficient timing advance at part throttle cruise (40-60mph) will cause overheating. I'm guessing you may have an original full vacuum operated advance distributor. If so the carburetor is an integral part of the advance system in addition to the vacuum vacuum diaphragm and breaker plate in the distributor so keep this in mind if you do any trouble shooting in this area. At part throttle cruise the total advance is around 30 deg,
Too lean a carburetor mixture can also lead to overheating. You can look at the coloring of your spark plugs to get an idea if your running lean if the electrode insulator is white.
The fact that your engine is slow to warm up makes me think your radiator is this least likely cause in this case although a clogged radiator will cause overheating.

Rev the engine and watch the hose to see if it collapses.  You need to trim the hose to get it to fit correctly.

For a stock or mild engine, about a 5.5" pulley should work great.  There are no pulleys made for a Y-Block but the bolt pattern and shaft diameter is very common.  Spend a day in a junk yard and pick a couple to try, or contact pulley manufacturers, March, Billet Specialties, CVF Racing, etc., tell them what you need and see what they have.  You can work with a pulley that is a little deeper than required because you can space it out to tine up the groove but it cannot be shallower.

There are also options for a custom pulley which will fit perfectly but that is expensive.


Lawrenceville, GA

Actually the 54,55 and 56 Fords did come with shrouds, but they were disguised. There was an air dam on top of the front radiator support with a rubber strip on top to seal it against the hood, and on the bottom were the splash pans. However I believe your problem will not be solved by just adding a shroud of any type. 

No the radiator hasn't been cleaned, professionally at least. I've done flushes myself at home for whatever that's worth. The fan is stock, and the cars didn't come with shrouds so, I kinda figured that I should be getting at least cooling as designed. Though I know, I've read, that because of age and possible build-up the cooling system might not work as good as it should. Does anyone know any good shrouds for 55s? Hopefully one that doesn't look too ugly? I'm trying to stay as stock as possible.
That's actually news to me, should I be shifting out of gear at traffic lights? o.o
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Really now? 15 degrees huh? That's pretty crazy and inaccurate design!
So for the lower radiator hose. It's got an internal wire skeleton or whatever it's called to keep it from collapsing, I guess a test would be to increase engine speed there at the engine and watch the hose to see if it sucks into itself? The lower hose that's in there kinda kinks at the bend, but it's a new hose and the original hose looked like that too. Maybe when I take the radiator to get cleaned I should get a new hose huh? Here's a picture of it. 
Nah no plastic bags or obstructions at the radiator, sure of that!
The thermostat is new, it's the second one I've put in when I was dealing with the overheating stuff. I believe you told me about that boiling water test back then too and I did that to the stat before I put it in the engine.
I came SO close to getting my radiator cleaned out, it was out of the car and everything just sitting there in the basement.. I really should have cleaned it then. : /

What size waterpump pulley would you recommend anyone with a stock engine to upgrade to then?

As for the change in RPM when shifting between gears, check your kick- down linkage.see if it's rubbing or binding etc.

The actual temperature will be about 15 degrees higher than indicated by the gauge, since the coolant still has to pass over 3 combustion chambers.

That it does not stay cool at high speed indicates that you have a coolant flow or air flow problem.  At those speeds, air flow should not be a problem, unless something is in front of the radiator, blocking flow.  Make sure nothing is blocking the radiator, like a plastic bag that somehow worked its way through the grill and onto the core.
Make sure the supply hose (lower) is not collapsing at higher rpm.
The next easiest thing to check that will cause this is the thermostat.  They can go bad and either not open or open only slightly.  This restricts coolant flow, causing the engine to overheat at higher rpm.  An easy way to check this is to use a heat gun or put it into boiling water and observe how far it opens.  Also observe the temperature at which it begins to open and then is fully open to make sure that it is inline with the thermostat's rating.  If you're not sure how much the thermostat should open, use a known good one in this test for comparison.
Next would be to have the radiator evaluated.

Once the cause of that problem may is solved, reevaluate your idle temperatures.  If you still have a problem, it is very likely the water pump pulley size.  They are generally far too big for extended idle time.  The bigger the water pump pulley, the slower the water pump.  That means less coolant flow, and less airflow since the fan also turns more slowly.  I don't know why Ford decided on such a huge pulley for cars but it contributes to overheating in modern traffic.


Lawrenceville, GA