Hey there gear heads...

I have a MEL 430 in my daddy's 57 Tbird (photos to follow) and this was recently rebuilt by the local hot rod shop.
I am pulling my hair out as this baby has a problem that restricts me from driving her further than a few miles from my house. The oil temp creeps up fairly quickly and this scares me real bad.
Here is some info to go on:
diving water temp: 180
oil temp: 250 to 270 ( )
oil pressure: 50 psi
good fuel pressure

I live in San Diego so it the weather is pretty perfect year round. I have a thought that the problem could be the intake manifold gaskets restricting the cooling water flow. When I look at the heads, I think that the IM gaskets need to be modified to allow more water flow thru them.

In talking to the rebuilder, they are somewhat stumped but are happy to pull the engine (again) to further troubleshoot. As the MEL has some special characteristics, i am hoping that this community can steer me in the right direction and save me some $$ at the same time.


As for the photos, i have a ton but am not sure how best to get them to this board for your enjoyment. Any guidence would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance,

Pinermel (yes, my name is Mel, as was my fathers, a fun coincidence)

Mel, my last MEL rebuild is a looong time ago, so out of my memory I can't really be of great help.
A few generally known reasons for a hot engine can be:
Radiator too small (quite a problem in lille bird)
No extra oil cooler section in the radiator or no extra oil cooler.
Fresh rebuild engine. (Usually temporarily runs hotter during the first couple hundred miles during break in)
Carburator running too lean.
Electric radiator fan with too low pulling capacity.
Too small mech. fan.

These are a few simple thoughts that you should double check.

Also, did you read this? Just klick the photos for a more conveient reading.
http://www.ford-mel-engine.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=169

Thanks for your input, here are a few things...
* The new radiator core that i installed is extra capacity and high performance.
* The electric fan i have installed is also a high capacity model
* I will be picking up a oil cooler tomorrow and have her installed as soon as i get home from work, i will share the results.

I am really interested in the way the intake manifold gaskets are installed and if the stock ones require modification in any way to allow proper water flow. Can you expand on this or maybe i should post up a new topic question.

Thanks again...

Pinermel

I'm assuming you've double checked the gauge for temperature accuracy? I've already run across two oil pressure gauges this year that were reading abnormally high.
Ted Eaton

I did install an external oil cooler (from NAPA) and installed it in front of the radiator. This lowered my oil temp quite a bit, she now runs around 230 degrees which make me a lot less nervous.
Along the lines of "if one is good, two must be better" i am thinking of installing another oil cooler right next to the one i just installed. There is room on the radiator to install this and i am hoping on reducing the oil temp just a bit more.

Any advise on what oil temp i should be seeing?

Thanks guys...

Mel