351C Cleveland overheating troubles and issues, The solution?

 Did you know that the 351c have a special thermostat? Many dont.
This is possibly the most common problem with many 351c overheating issues.
Over the years this knowledge has been forgotten and people replaced the thermostat with a standard ford thermostat.

Originaly the 351c had a Robert Shaw thermostat which is very hard to come by today.
If you find one its very expensive. But there is other thermostats with similar construction.

So whats the difference then.
The 351c have or should have a restrictor plate below the thermostat and together with the special 351c thermostat nearly closes the water passage through to the water pump witch forces the coolant to run through the radiator. When using a standard ford thermostat to much of the coolant runs directly to the water pump instead of go through the radiator. This causes the temperture to rise.
Some have blocked this passage off completley.



Here is a link to T Meyer homepage:

Restrictor plate

http://www.tmeyerinc.com/category-s/1898.htm
He stores both the correct thermostat and the restrictor plate.

The Correct 351C thermostat

This picture was uploaded by Todd Fuchs at  Clevelands Forever-351c.net facebook page.
Its a copy from an article by Ford Motorsport.

Part nuber for the Robert Shaw thermostat:   180 333-180


If your restrictor plate is missing or you have trouble finding a correct thermostat,
WCCC (west coast classic cougars) have a replacement/modification restrictor plate which allow you to run the standard ford thermostat.

One other factor that can cause overheating is the pre-heating system.
Speciallly if you still running the stock intake manifold. If you running an aftermarket aluminum intake its less likely that this is the problem. One solution for that is to block the exhaust ports between cyl. heads and intake for the pre-heating system (EGR)

Other common overheating reasons.

The unleaded fuel we use today causing engines running hotter then the old type of fuel.
Clogged radiator
Timing is off
Bad thermostat
Bad radiator cap, must hold pressure, preassure rises the boiling point.
No coolant, only water. Coolant rises the boling point
Crack in the cylinder head or cylinder wall
Shot head gasket
Missing fan shroud
Bad water pump
Wrong spark plugs
Air trapped in the coolant system.
Hot air using open air filter assy causing motor sucking hot air from engine bay.
Headers causing hot air under the hood.
To much o.d. bore maximum 0.030 recommended. More and the cylinder walls will be to thin and causing over heating.