Hey there guys! Getting to be spring again, time to get the old Fairline out of hibernation and ready for shows.

I was curious about two little things:

-I've had issues with temperature on my Fairlane for awhile now, those here who remember me probably know. Most of the issue seems to have been tied to a bad spring on the exhaust valve. So needless to say I've been keeping an eye on my temperature out of habit at this point. I've noticed this though lately. It takes my 272 almost 30 minutes to reach around 190o (operating temperature), granted I drive my 55' very gently, treat her like the respectable old dame she is, but I'm just wondering if this is normal even for gentle driving. It seems like a long time, but then again I've heard cast iron blocks take longer to heat up then modern aluminum blocks

Kind of funny, an engine that has had issues with running too hot, ironically takes so long to get up to temperature initially. She still does run hot eventually. Hovers around 180 for awhile, raising and falling between 180 and 190 or even 200. Then at some point the cooling system just starts to say "screw it" and it'll start slowly raising up to around 220 or more and I'll have to stop. Luckily though again out of habit I don't take her on very long drives so it rarely ever runs that long to get that high.

-The other question. When cold my car will idle the same speed no matter what gear it's in (Fordomatic). But when my Fairlane us up to operating temperature if you shift out into Park or Neutral, the idle will go from normal up to an elevated idle almost like you have your foot on the gas a bit.Kinda makes me want to shot her off while in gear just to avoid it doing that as it just.. doesn't feel right. Is this some sort of timing advance or carburetor issue maybe or is it even an issue? Just seems weird that it'd jump up to a way faster idle when out of gear. 

How are you determining the temperature?
Does the temperature climb only at idle or very low speed?
Or does it climb at cruise?

The rpm should change a little between drive and neutral / park.  A big change or none at all does indicate some issue with the tune.  It could be carburetor and/or, ignition.


Lawrenceville, GA

I've got an aftermarket temperature gauge, the sender is installed in the same spot as the factory gauge.

I'd say a little of all. It'll climb very slowly when cold idling, slowly when cold and just driving stop and go gently (30/35MPH), it'll raise pretty quick when stopped and idling when hot, and it'll raise the fastest when cruising, when its at high speed like (40-60MPH).

Well maybe I'll have to record the jump in idle and post it here, hard to know what is normal without any frame of reference. I DO think that I may have to re-do my timing. When I had my carburetor rebuilt by CarburetorsANDmore they for some reason, aside from having me get a fuel pressure regulator, had me set the timing to some universal setting that they said all cars with their rebuilt carbs should have. But now I'm thinking I should try going back to the factory timing, because it never did quite make sense to me that a carburetor should determine the engine timing. Maybe I'm wrong?


I did take these readings with a vacuum gauge awhile back. Maybe it'd be helpful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keEh5naZZ-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv-cHtj9LEM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp61E5BfG84

some checks that you should state to get proper help
has the rad bin cleaned (by a credible rad shop)
do you have the correct fan and shroud
is the therm new.
as a55 ford auto trans the torque is air cooled, at long stops like traffic lights, i would shift to n not park .
after this info you will get credible feed back

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

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

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?

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. 

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

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.