This is yet another reminder of why I told myself I would never buy someone elses project. Serves me right.

The Basics:
83 CJ-7
Chevy 350
TH350

The Problem:
Constantly overheats, even in (Florida) winters

It has a radiator of unknown origin (steel/brass/copper/?) in it right now. It's a 3-core with the inlet and outlet on the pass side and the filler neck is in the top center. The cores run up and down vs horizontal. It has a regular SS flexfan on it with no clutch or shroud. Water pump is stock cast iron with a 180* t-stat.

There are some obvious deficiencies with this setup that I need to fix. I finally sold the Viper 6 speed that had been sitting on my workbench and so now I'm ready to throw money at the problem. The stumbling block is the motor to radiator clearance (about 1 3/8" between the water pump and rad surface).

Some owner previous to me installed the 350 3-4" farther forward than they needed to and now space is tight. While moving the engine back would be the best idea, I'd like to work around that if possible. I plan on swapping in an aluminum conversion radiator (with integrated tranny cooler) and would like to go with an electric fan as well (I've built shrouds before, it's a pain in my ass). It is my understanding that pusher fans don't work nearly as well as a puller, but given the clearance I have, I may not have a choice in the matter. I had also considered installing as many 9" electric pullers as I could, so that the water pump could sit in between them. Obviously, I'd prefer one bigger fan.

I also plan to swap water pumps while I've got the cooling tore apart. Currently, I don't think that it's a lack of flow that is causing the cooling issue, but I figure a high flow won't hurt anything and that the t-stat can always limit it to what is needed. I plan on going with one of the many aluminum units on the market.

So it all boils down to these questions:
1) Are the standard aluminum conversion radiators from Griffon/BeCool all the same? Any recomendations of one over the other? Fabrication of mounts/flanges is not a possibility at this time so a drop in is required, not a Summit universal.

2) Can I get some input on the use of an electric pusher fan in this application?

3) Any comments on the water pump?

Keep in mind that I lean towards overkill. Thanks for the help!

Don't mean this to sound stupid-but I don't understand why this set-up isn't working.When you say it constantly overheats-I'm wondering,does it overheat if you just let it sit there running,or do you have to be out driving it,or is this in driving it off road(low speed high load).You need to have the engine driven fan close to the radiator to work without a shroud so that isn't the problem.Is the radiator clogged?Maybe it's just something like a bad cap-have you taken a pressure tester and looked for pressure loss?Not trying to state the obvious but alot of people overlook the basics.You would hate to throw money at something only to find out that the fix was a lot simpler.

By all means, ask the obvious questions. You already pointed out something that I forgot about: radiator cap.

To clarify, the jeep overheats sitting in the driveway. The jeep overheats in traffic. The jeep overheats doing 55 down the highway. I'm sure it overheats in 4L going down the trail but since the cooling system has proven to be completely unreliable, I have not taken it to the trails.

I don't have a pressure tester, but I do have a few caps laying around that I know are good. It doesn't appear to be puking into the tank prematurely though and it definately does use the overflow when it gets warm. It may not be working at the right pressure, but it appears to be working right. I'll swap it anyways to double check.

As far as a clogged radiator, it's tough to know for sure since the inlet/outlet are on the same side, but from the appearance of the coolant and flow, I have no reason to suspect that's where the problem is. Of course, I haven't fully investigated it as a culprit either.

I had a V8 Ranger several years ago (in Arizona) and nothing I could do could keep it cool short of a huge radiator and even then, it always ran at 210-220. I suppose my experiences with it are clouding my thoughts now. Instead of checking everything out, I'm automatically assuming the system is vastly undersized. I'll double check those things, but based upon my history, I'm still betting on a new cooling system.

My V8 conversion CJ would NOT cool until I put a shroud on it...no problem now.

Edit: I just read this again...the inlet and outlet are both on the same side of the radiator? Doesn't seem like it would cool well that way. I would be real interested to know the difference in temp from one side of the radiator (left vs. right). I wouldn't be surprised if you were getting very little actual flow through the passive half of the radiator.

Well if it's not puking constantly then I'm guessing it's not a blown headgasket or other malady.But still could be a pressure leak if it's overheating sitting in the driveway.And I'm thinking that if it's overheating going 55 down the hiway then a fan shroud may not be the answer either.But from what I've been told-even a simple sheetmetal hoop will increase air flow through the radiator,and wouldn't be that hard to make.As far as checking the radiator, a radiator shop will be able to analyze that,but it will probably cost you the same as a recore,still cheaper than a new one.An obvious bad blockage would show up by pulling the hoses and running a garden hose in the top and looking at how it comes out the bottom.I'm assuming you are using the stock belt drives,I was just reading about the reverse rotation waterpumps needed w/the serpentine drive belt systems.Maybe Autozone loans out pressure testers-they loan out everything ellse.

Resame's got the answer. You've got to get the H2O to flow in front of the cool air, so in to engine on passenger side down on the bottom, back to radiator on upper left, (driver's side). As for fan to radiator clearance, what you've got sounds fine to me.

Resame's got the answer. You've got to get the H2O to flow in front of the cool air, so in to engine on passenger side down on the bottom, back to radiator on upper left, (driver's side). As for fan to radiator clearance, what you've got sounds fine to me.

And that was one of the reasons with going to a neew Al radiator; getting a crossflow design.

As far as the fan issue, everyone seems to think a lack of shroud is fine so long as the fan sits as close as it does? I'm still wary, so if I were to install an electric pusher on there in tandem, odds are I'd have plenty of air flow?

Thanks for the help guys.

Flex fan will pull plenty of air-if you get in some high water though it'll pull right into the radiator.Of course the electric will not-depends on if you are doing water obstacles.If you are overheating running in the driveway you've got other problems other than radiator design and at 55 mph you've got plenty of airflow so it's not for lack of fan..But if money is no object-buy a new pressure tester first,something else is wrong.Diagnose the problem before you fix it.

#1 You need to verify and check your timing-if its advanced too fay bya fe wdegrees-it can overheat up to +40 degrees easily. Mine started overheating duringa s pring break trip from NY to FL and I just bumpe dit back 5 degrees and was fine the rest of the trip

350/sm465/np205 taurus fan with shroud cut down to fit-griffin aluminum radiator.

*You would be surprised how much the advanced timing will overheat your stuff.

I would start with a shroud and work back from there. I run a warmed up 360 in a 76CJ7 and I was amazed at how much of a difference a shroud made. I installed an aux. electric fan and it helped a little but after I fabbed and installed a shroud, I rarely turn the fan on. I wouldn't mess with alot of different things until you install a shroud.

I have a CJ7 with a 350 th350 set up, if you end up getting a new set up mine seems to work well. It is a Wizard Cooling Aluminum radiator with a flexilite 16" puller electric fan. Mine has the stock air conditioning condenser in front of the radiator and an internal transmission cooler. Mine too is very close to the radiator because I have the long style water pump for serpentine, but this fan fits. Wizard Cooling can build a custom radiator for you, like they did for me, but I think after building mine they now make one for a CJ with SBC. It bolts right in place of the stock radiator and is good quality, fully tig welded. It looks very similar to the Be Cool. Here is a link to their website if you want more information, but I would recommend calling and talking to them, http://www.wizardcooling.com/ Even if you do end up getting a new fan and or radiator I would try to stay away from moving the motor because then you will have to resize drivelines as well as all the work to move the motor.

Just my two cents

Hope this helps ya.
:jeep:

Even if you do end up getting a new fan and or radiator I would try to stay away from moving the motor because then you will have to resize drivelines as well as all the work to move the motor.

Which is why I am currently trying to avoid that option. Later, when I swap axles, new drivelines will be on the menu, but not now.