Radiator

[greydog]

Putting together a MkII kit, is there any reason not to use a OE stock radiator replacement type?

[Someday I Suppose]

Dog, I guess that depends on what motor you are using in it. A lot of guys go with the FFR Aluminum radiator, for the money it is pretty hard to beat and will offer an improvement in cooling over the stock Mustang units. If your running a straight up 5.0 though, no reason I can think of that a stock radiator won't be fine.

-Scott

[cwhoofgator]

I used a Griffin Mustang direct replacement, 3 rows and fits perfect.

[Bob Cowan]

Depends on what you're building, and what you're going to do with it. For a stock negine in a street cruiser, there's lots of good reasons to use the stock radiater, and not many good reasons to use aftermarket. A high powered track monster needs a little better than stock, but not much. High speeds will keep it cool enough, even on hot days.

But, if you're going to build a high powered monster engine and drive it on the streets, it's going to need all the cooling it can get. City traffic will contain heat at an amzing rate.

[greydog]

Thanks for the realistic input, I am installing just a nice 302 with cam, intake, carb, nothing radical. Building it to cruise in nice weather, I have a track car that I race so I don't need a monster, but we all know what happens aver time.

[289FIA_Cobra]

I would say to look at the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog and get their alum. radiator. Anything for the Mustang Cobra series of cars ought to be enough for any 302/5.0L performance engine. Hit up a few vendors like Mark Reynolds (Breeze Automotive) or Mike Forte (Fortes Parts Connection). I don't know the number to Max Z. at the former 5-Star Ford (you'd have to go to www.ffcars.com and look up the thread on the change) and contact him. I believe he can still support the FFR community but call him first (really a nice guy to talk with.)

[Pierre B]

I have something similar to your setup in my MKII, in which I used a mildly rebuilt 5.0 302 EFI from a 1989 donor. The only mistake I made was to reuse the donor radiator, even though it too was rebuilt. The replacement stock radiator I chose was, if anything, smaller than the original one. Several reasons for this: first, the FFR is much lighter than the Mustang was; second, I did not equip my FFR with any power accessories that place a drag on the engine (AC, PS, PB); third, for this setup, the FFR engine bay is well ventilated. I have never haad a problem with this since I made the change. My electric cooling fan is operated via manual override, and I like that too (I have a tell-tale light on that switch, so I won't forget it in the 'on' position).

[rich grsc]

There is no reason to spend $200-300 on a fancy aluminum radiator for a 302. The stock one is perfect for the job.

[WAYNES WORLD]

One thing I do like about the FFR unit is a better location for the upper hose so you don't have to run the hose through the F panel.
Wayne