[jeremyfallah]

i just recently purchased a 1969 mustang with a 289v8. it came stock with a 302 but car runs basically great with 289 in it. every since ive had the car its been heating up something fierce. ive replaced the head gaskets, both heads, radiator, upper and lower hoses(lower hose has an anti collapse spring in it) new thermostat( ran hot with it so i cored it and it runs alittle better)16lb rad cap, new thermostat housing, new rockers valves and springs, timing is dead on. previous owner had replaced the water pump......during normal driving it heats up to half but on interstate she heats up to the line.....everything was installed correctly with the help of a highly reputable engine mech. i dont have a fan shroud and the thermostat is cored. also had some carb troubles......when i start my car in the morning the engine idles extremely high and hangs, i put it in drive and she dies. when i accellerate from a stop she'll lag a bit but then once she gets going shes fine.


i need all the help i can get, i love this car more than i love my own girlfriend!

please help!

[302THEBOSS]

Sounds like the carb problem could be a vacuum leak and/or lack of an antistall dashpot. Theres a ton of threads about overheating 289s right now in the classic tech section lol. I think its heating up due to a higher RPM problem since its on the highway though, most people dont have that problem because thats when you get good airflow into the radiator. I think this could also be carb related, maybe your running too lean. If you know how to reinstall a spark plug, pull one and see if it looks white. If it is, youre too lean. Your carb also could be ketted poorly. What type of carb is it?

[jeremyfallah]

its an autolite 2100, remanufacture carb, thats about all i know and listen to this....today i took it for a test drive on the interstate and after 20 minutes of driving she overheated, i let her sit for about an hour and decided to check the radiator for water, i bet you can guess what happened next....im sitting here typing with one hand cause the other is holding a towel with ice in it on my face. yup, she blew up and shot all over me and got a good portion of my face. well see if there is blistering tomorrow....anyways, im going to back flush the block and radiator this weekend, install a better thermostat, change the oil and get a fan shroud. hopefully that will help, and about the carb, i dont have any white deposits on the plugs but i know the carb is bad, im thinking i might have a pressure problem(too high) could that cause overheating ? i appreciate you sending me your imput. oh, i fixed the high idel in the morining problem, she starts up fine now.

[302THEBOSS]

You may also be missing an antistall dashpot on the carb. A buddy of mine has a '66 he had the Autolite 2100 on it. He got the car back from the body shop and it wouldnt run right. I came over and got it to run, we took it down the street and it stalled twice. From there is ran progressively worse until it needed to be warmed up for about 15 minutes, and then you had to two foot it to go anywhere. The accelerator pumps were shot, the spring that actuated them was shot, and it didnt have a dashpot. It was idleing at about 1300 rpm and it took about three tries to get it into gear for it to work without stalling. We swaped the intake to a Weiand Action Plus and put a Holley 600 on it (as he planned to anyway) and now it idles all day at 700 rpms.

I know its a long story, but the moral of the story is that a bad carb can cause alot of troubles.

Oh yeah and sorry about your hand, hopefully you dont get any blisters. Im always very cautious about that, even when its ice cold I use a huge, thick rag (like a towel) for anything like that so that if it did blow out everyplace the rag would catch enough of it for me to run for cover without getting hit by much.

[302THEBOSS]

And by pressure problem, do you mean fuel pressure?

[Dart's5.0LX]

I see you said previous owner put in a new water pump...just double check is not one for use on a serpintine system as they will run back ward when put in with regular belts. This will cause you to over heat.. I am not sure if there are any numbers or marks to tell which is which..any way you may have to go to the parts store and compare...just another thought

Dart

[302THEBOSS]

Originally Posted by Dart's5.0LX

I see you said previous owner put in a new water pump...just double check is not one for use on a serpintine system as they will run back ward when put in with regular belts. This will cause you to over heat.. I am not sure if there are any numbers or marks to tell which is which..any way you may have to go to the parts store and compare...just another thought

Dart

Actually that is a VERY good point.

[jeremyfallah]

well i checked the pump, its the right one for my car, i back flushed the the engine and the radiatior, installed a 195 degree thermostat, changed the oil again, made a make shift fan shroud till i get the the proper one for the car and she usually stays at about half now...still to to replace the carb and found a new suspension problem i need to fix(leaf springs) so far shes running pretty good but i still dont know if she'll do good going up the mountain. thanks for all the help guys and those burns wernt too bad, just alittle flesh wound.