Radiator cowl effectiveness?

[Stoney]

79 J-10 with AMC 360 V8
I'm having some overheating issues lately and I finally got myself a radiator cowl/ fan shroud one dude I showed my talk to kept mentioning that I didn't have a shroud and it was really going to affect my overheating. I'm about to put it on now at an AutoZone because I'm trying to get an hour down the road and I made it not far at all before I had to stop. I'm just wondering how effective that fan shroud is going to be. Will it really help that much keeping it cool? Is there anything else I can do to help because I am full on coolant and it doesn't look like it's in bad condition.

[Yeller]

They are effective but if on the highway and overheating, the radiator is probably plugged and not cooling sufficiently to cover the load on the engine. Shrouds are an important part of the cooling system as a whole, just like a radiator cap and thermostat. Is it actually boiling? Or just the garage saying it’s hot? I get asked all the time I’m at 220 and it’s too hot, not necessarily, it’s not over heating if it never boils over or doesn’t exceed 240 degrees.

Part of what I’m saying is we need more information. Is the timing set correctly, does the distributor advance correctly with rpm, how old is the radiator, what temperature thermostat, what PSI is the radiator cap and does it hold that, ect that we need to know to truly be helpful. Cooling issues are a package, usually not a one and done.

[Stuka]

Shrouds can make a huge difference at lower speeds, but as noted above, they have a smaller benefit when at HWY speeds.

However, I do not think the lack of a shroud is your issue in this particular case.

As Yeller notes, it could be anything cooling related, but quite likely a few things. Plugged radiator, bad water pump, thermostat that is stuck in the closed position, bad radiator cap, an engine block that was 40 years of sediment in it.

[devildog80]

And if you NEED to get where you're going, start out cool then drive until engine starts getting too warm, then pull over and shut it down. Let it cool, then do it again. As long as you do not push the engine in a hot condition, you will not cause overheating damage, and can then work on it when you get time. Might only get 20 miles each time you drive until getting warm, but you WILL get there, and not damage anything. Just be aware, drive easy, and you will be ok.

[Srdayflyer]

hey, i did a WHOLE lot of posts back in august regarding ,with pictures everything i did to solve high temp issues in my 360 for a brief REFRESHER to what i did 1. installed new water pump,2. replaced fan clutch with std.clutch they have 60%
efficiency, ,swithced to severe duty clutch 85-90% efficient,3. verified lower hose had internal anti -collapse spring 4.
installed 3 core aluminum 35% more cooling area with electric 2 fan radiator shroud (removed due to the noise of fans running out of sync.) tried every stat from 160-195 (no help) 195 stat was the proper stat as it begins to open at 195 open .003 and fully opens at 218 , the thermostat acts as a flow restrictor to control coolant flow to allow the radiator to work properly,.4.re-installed factory shroud,5. flushed radiator with prestone flush (worthless) 6.re flush with evapo-rust thermo cure the amount of rust ,scale and chunks .(rust and scale act as an insulator) see the pictures posted here. after the evap flush all cooling issues went away running 3core,195 stat, severe duty fan clutch ,standard shroud, temps verified with my sniper F.I. against the cluster temp guage , thats my take on my trials with failures and the ultimate fix

[Yeller]

I remember all of that now, thanks for the reminder. Next would be ignition timing and timing curves. Need to know initial timing, then what it is at 1500, 2500 and 3500rpm. Timing a few degrees retarded will make incredible amounts of heat. If you haven’t done so I would confirm temps with a second gauge.