FJ40 w/302 overheating up grades - any experience with high output water pumps?

[Splash]

1973 JF40 with 302, new aluminum radiator, 3200 cfm electric fan, C-4 auto, 477 gears, 35" tires.

Motor is set to run slightly lean at sea level but therefore runs excellent at altitude off road.

Runs 180 in town all day.
Runs 180 off road all day.
Runs 210 at freeway speeds.
On steep grades heats up to 250 and then cools quickly on down grades.

Any experience with high volume water pumps in similar situations appreciated.

A six pack of these if you provide useful info.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

 

[Bret]

Provided your current H2O pump/therm/radiator is in good shape...

Generally if you have heating trouble at highway speed it is a radiator surface area problem. FWIW my SBC/hi-flow thermostat/hi-flo H2O pump/26X19 Al radiator seems to work in the Florida heat. You could try a large mech fan with a shroud, but from what I've read at highway speed it's moot.

So my vote is for a larger radiator, preferably aluminum.

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! I have switched from OEM to a FlowCooler water pump over 5 years ago, and I think it has made a lot of difference. They say 30% more flow up to 3000 rpm. I used to run a 160 thermostat, but with the FlowCooler, it just never warms up all the way, so I went to a 180, and that seems to work just fine. I play in the desert at 110-120 degrees, and it never over heats. I did another trick on my 350 that you can probably do on a Ford. Medium sized trucks with the same engine run a bigger crank pulley and smaller water pump pulley. For me, this overdrives my water pump and alternator. My lights don't dim at even 500 rpm. This setup cools well enough that I do not even use a fan shroud. You can buy direct from FlowCooler, which makes them about 1/2the price of the fancy name brands. HTH John