CJ 5 Radiator Question

What was the amount of rows on a stock radiator from a 79 CJ 5 with the 258?

 

Probably 2 rows. My 80 came with standard cooling with a 2 row radiator. I have a Jeep Service Specifications book for that year and the six cylinder Jeeps never came from the factory with a 3 row radiator. Only 2 row ones. The difference between the standard and heavy duty six cylinder radiators was fin count. The heavy duty radiators had more fins per inch than the standard duty one. The heavy duty cooling system included a shroud and 7 blade non-clutch fan.

 

More rows will (probably) fit if you can find an old-time radiator shop that will recore your radiator. My truck radiator had 3 rows, and the only new replacements I could find had 2. I had it recored with 4 rows.

 

My '74 had a 3 row without a fan shroud with a 4 blade non-clutch fan. It was an old unit, still had the glass witness hole in the top tank. The old one weeped at the waterline. I got a new 4 row from radiators.com. It had 37 rows in the old one and about 50 or so in the new one.

 

I run a Modine V-8 radiator in mine even though it's a 258. It's 3 rows and I have the shroud and 7 blade fan. Runs at just above half way mark on the stock temp gage even lugging in beach sand on a hot summer day.

 

With 4 rows you really have a lot of cooling capacity for the 258. When mine gives up, I think I'll have it recored to 4 rows and high fin count.

 

Does any one run a clutch fan on an 80 or earlier CJ? If so, where did the clutch and fan come from? The stock HD 6 cylinder 7 blade fan is ok but it's noisy.

 

Another option is to have a good radiator shop switch the inlet/outlet's on a larger radiator, in your case a 3 or 4 core V-8 radiator. I had this done on my '80 when the 4 cylinder was in it, had a 3 row HD 6 cylinder radiator redone to fit the inlet/outlet of the 4 cylinder,,ran nice and cool, never overheated no matter how bad the summer or severe the wheeling.
Look around e-bay and you will probably find plenty of new 3-row 6 cyl rads.

 

Yeah, the fixed blade fan is noisy and doesn't move a lot of air at idle. I'd go electric - check out the article on Pirate about using the Taurus fan.

Electric fan - another project I haven't gotten around to.

 

Is the 3 or 4 row going to be wider? I don't have much separation between my fan and radiator as it is.

 

Do you mean wider or thicker[/I?
The size of the opening in the grill shell mandated a max size limit in width, however in thickness even a 4 row will only be as thick as the tanks. There are new cores out there that are only 3 row, but the rows are much larger and there are more fins per square inch, making them more efficient than the 4 row. \As for fan to rad clearance, 3/4 if an inch of so is good, in fact the closer the fan is to the radiator the better it will pull air.If your motor mounts are firm enough to not allow much movement/flex of the engine you should have no problems.

 

I have the 258 and run an electric fan. Runs great.....90 degrees out yesterday and has never overheated! (knocking on wood now that I've jinxed myself).

BTW, the electric fan is a "pusher" and NOT a "puller" and is in front of my radiator and right behind my grill. I keep my grill shield on with no problems (knocking on wood AGAIN)!

Look REALLY close and you can see the fan behind the grill shield:



R)

 

Starting to gather parts for a Buick 350 swap into an early model. I'm interested in swapping out the stock V6 grille and radiator for a later V8 radiator. I found a grille and radiator for sale in the local jeep club, but the radiator is out of a 258 model. What specific models am I looking for that would have the big radiator? Were all 304 models the 3 core? Was there ever a stock 4 core?

 

I would look for an aftermarket Chevy V8 conversion style radiator to use with your late CJ grill support. The Buick radiator hoses come out in similar position to the chevy. There are numerous vendors and manufacturers for these radiators. They can be picked up for fairly reasonable prices, even the aluminum ones.
Greg

 

My 1975 CJ5 has a stock clutch fan on my 304 V8

 

There was a standard and a heavy-duty cooling option. Not sure about how many rows, but I think the standard radiator for the 258 has 2 rows. There's also a fan shroud that may be connected to the HD cooling.

When I had my radiator recored, they used a core that was labeled for a Utility Truck.