hi i have comet 4 door 1973 250 CID i want to chenge it to 302 engine but i dont know if my radiator is enough .
only thing i'd suggest is make sure the bottom hose has a spring in it. i had a stang that was 302 converted,sucked it flat on acceleration every time! just my .02
mustang have a different between 6 and 8 cil radiator the comet radiator is bigger then the 6 cil radiator in mustang I upload pic soon
Go ahead and spend the $200 for a new aluminum radiator. Especially if you live in the south, or somewhere warm. Many of us with 302s, stock or just mildly modified, have fought the overheating issue (not overheating, just running hot). I messed with all kinds of things trying to keep running cool, new external trans cooler, various more expensive thermostats, acid washing the radiator, having the cores reamed out, richen the carb, back off the timing, etc. etc. etc. for years. Finally, just bought the $200 Summit Circle track aluminum radiator (really a Griffin) and now I have to undo some of those other things to get it to run warmer (new thermostat, mainly). Biggest hassle was each time I made an improvement to the stock motor, it would run 5-10 degrees hotter until I messed with things to cool it back down. I spent well over $500 on messing with the stock radiator trying to make it cool before just replacing it. BUT...if you are running a completely stock 302 just on the road, normal driving, cooler climates, without an A/C, the stock radiator should be fine.
Also, I think, but am not sure, that the radiators might be different on 302 cars with/without A/C or Auto Trans. I have seen some that look thinner in some cars. I know that mine with Auto has a separate set of "coils" in it for the transmission lines to hook into, so maybe that is what makes some different
The one I am using is Summit Part # GRI-1-26182-X at $199. This is a little bigger than the stock one, about 2" wider, but still fits. I have an electric fan, so I cut some apron out to move the radiator forward a couple inches so my fan clears the water pump pulley, but with a stock fan, you should have no problems. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=GRI-1-26182-X&N=700+0&autoview=sku
Mine is off an old Taurus, I think...junk yard find. wagesofsin found a decent thin one on ebay for really cheap. I thought I had it saved in my ebay "watching" but don't. A search should pull up a cheap $40-ish pancake fan around 2" thick with all kinds of flow...
just bought an electric fan off of ebay for $36 15 inch pusher or puller 2000CFM hey scott hows that rad doing for you
The radiator is working GREAT! In fact, since I had a 160 Hi-Flo Be Cool thermostat in it to help the stock radiator work, it now runs too cool. I will need to either put in a hotter thermostat or more likely, a thermostatic switch that turns the fan off until it gets to 190. Right now, the fan lights up with the starter, and runs all the time (just the way I have it wired up) and it takes forever to warm up to running temp. That $36 fan sounds like the one I looked at last week. Mine is a little too thick, but works for now...
I cannot tell for sure from the pictures, but that one looks like the thinner model of the two I have seen on the Mavs. The thicker one is about 1/2" thinner than the aluminum one in my pic. Regardless, Aluminum will cool more efficiently than the copper/brass ones. Even if you swap it with a same sized one (I think it is 19X19 or 19X20).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HIGH-PERFORMANCE-16-INCH-COOLING-FAN-CURVED-BLADE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33600QQihZ016QQitemZ260070052975 this fan is bada**. with this and my electric water pump, my car barely hits 140 after idling for a half hour.
