Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

cj-5 350 tbi swap

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  GTNMUDY 
#1 ·
Am in the process of putting a 350 tbi in a 1960 cj-5. Have the motor in and running the problem is trying to get in a radiator big enough to cool the motor and keep a fan. Bought a radiator and front clip from a v-8 cj-5 and am giong to retofit it, not sure if it will fit with a normal fan? have the "stubby" water pump to save some room. I know i could put an aux fan outside to push air through the radiator but we wheel at high altitude so would like the opyin of using it and a stock fan if needed. I have seen many 350 jeeps with internal fans so know it can be done. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
#4 ·
When I put my 350 SBC into my 84 CJ-7 I went 5 yrs trying to get the engine temps below 200 deg. I had headers on the 350 and the additional heat was being captured under the hood and I just could not move enough air through the engine compartment.

I tried the stock 2 core radiator, clutch fan, electric fan and still would run 220 to 240 degrees.

I went to a 3 core radiator and it did help some. My biggest change was when I installed a flex fan that I bought from Summit racing. I needed to add longer spacers to get the fan up to the fan shroud.

My temps reduced to 200 on a hot day in slow traffic to 180 deg when moving.

The problem was not moving air through the radiator (although it does matter) but how to get the hot air out of the engine compartment.

The flex fan will move more air at low speeds that your stock fan. I tried one elect fan, 2 electric fans and they would run all the time and didnt move air through the engine compartment.

If you have the means to louver the hood that would help allot to get the hot air out.

Back in 1992 when I did the conversion aluminum radiators were around $700 and now I see them for under $200.00.

If you run high temps look at a flex fan.

Another mod I did which was to keep water and mud from getting into the engine compartment was block off the bottom of the engine compartment with a heavy plastic sheet (3/16 thick). I went from the sway bar, frame to frame and just behind the fan blade. What I found was that this also helped move hot air out of the engine compartment as it forced air across my headers and then out under the frame.

Hope this helps

Larry
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Wow! larry, that was a lot to go through! I just did a tbi 350 swap into my 86 CJ7 with the stock 2 core radiator, stock clutch fan and rams horn manifolds. On my stock CJ guage it's only about 1/4 of the way from the cold mark and have not had any overheating issues at all.

Dave in Muskegon
 
#6 ·
I didnt trust the stock temp guage. I installed a Stewart Warner mechanical guage.

Also I built a brush guard for the front of the Jeep and mounted 2, 6" 100W lights in the middle of the brush guard.

One time I removed the lights to see if it improved the air flow through the radiator. It dropped my temps maybe 5-10 degrees but I still was running around 220 deg.

The headers were a thin wall metal type and they radiated allot of heat under the hood. I modified them so the collectors were inside the frame (not going out the fender wells). My goal was to keep the exhaust tucked up inside the frame rails for better ground clearance.

By tucking them inside the rails it may have blocked some of the air flow out, beside and underneath the motor.


It's a happy motor now:2thumbsup:

Larry
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top