#61687

Best to check a few basic things first before spending too many bucks on cooling upgrades.

Check that the temp gauge and transmitter are accurate. To check, remove the sender, reconnect to gauge/earth and put in a pot of boiling water.

Check/replace thermostat and make sure it is fitted the right way round (long part in the manifold) ❗

Also, on early Ford V8 (Windsor) engines, there is a backing plate in the water pump which sometimes gets left out and will cause problems ❗

Head gaskets can be put on back-to-front, and will cause overheating, especially localised, and will wreck pistons. ❗

Radiators can get clogged with sediment. The new Alu ones are even more clog prone and use of a filter is recommeneded to prevent this.

My car is stock everything, with an old rad, and is generally OK. Earlier this year, in 80C weather I was stuck in a jam for nearly 2 hours, and she never boiled, though the gauge was near maxed out. BUT, strangely enough, if I do a high speed run, pushing her to 90 plus on a warm day, the gauge will quite quickly creep up to near max. Maybe I have some timing/mixture issues (weak, retarded etc) that are not apparent at idle. I must get that checked out.