Ford Thunderbird aluminum radiators

[Tom Alpers]

Great info TJ! While I’m disassembled, I’m going to look into some of these components. I live in Georgia so the heat can be a bear! Not Las Vegas hot, but hot enough to want extra cooling capability. Before my radiator blew, the gauge would deflect to about 2/3 the gauge range in normal conditions and to about 3/4 if hot. I would like to get it straight up in the middle for quick reference. I’m also going to figure out a way to keep the original gauge and have a 3 gauge cluster to give me actual oil pressure, water temp, and voltage.
Thanks again!

When the original gauge is straight up in the middle it's around 160 degrees, barely adequate, it's much better to be at 180 for minimizing engine wear. 180 on the original gauge is at 7/8's of the arc. Just off the arc is 190. That's how it was set up from the factory in 1957. The HOT DOT is 212. If your car, before it blew the radiator, ran at 3/4 of the ARC that's right where it should be, give or take, with a 180 degree thermostat.

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[Jim B.]

When the original gauge is straight up in the middle it's around 160 degrees, barely adequate, it's much better to be at 180 for minimizing engine wear. 180 on the original gauge is at 7/8's of the arc. Just off the arc is 190. That's how it was set up from the factory in 1957. The HOT DOT is 212. If your car, before it blew the radiator, ran at 3/4 of the ARC that's right where it should be, give or take, with a 180 degree thermostat.

I agree. I don’t think there was an issue with the temp just the 71 year old radiator! I guess I really don’t want to run it cooler as much as I want the proper temp to deflect the gauge to 50% so it is easier to know when it is getting too hot. When it deflects to 80-90% deflection it is hard to note when it is getting hot.