My 302S/GT500 grille

[cloud9]

OK so we know I've been battling cooling issues, but may have a breakthrough. I had an extra 302S grille that wasn't quite right so I decided to experiment a bit with it. A couple weeks ago a buddy of mine used his Dremel to hack out the center bars. I'm convinced it's the thick plastic bars that are inhibiting airflow to the radiator since the oil is running plenty cool and the oil cooler sits in front of everything. The other reason we know it's the grille is that we can lower coolant temps by 15-20 degrees simply by removing it. ;D I ran it for one session before my strut broke, but I did notice that coolant temps were running about 10 degrees cooler than they normally did at that outside ambient of 80 degrees.

Mike (06mach1) was so cool to offer shipping me a piece of the mesh used in his lower grille inserts. (which I love mine) My buddy has a tool for tying safety wire so he sprayed it flat black and just finished it. I think it looks great for a track day grille. My car is loaded on the trailer for the Mustang Roundup this weekend so I won't install it until Friday afternoon. I want to run one session with the 302S grille, then pop this one in and run a session to compare.



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[VoodooBoss]

Looking good. So your Boss runs 15-20 degrees cooler when removing the 302S grille? Wow.

 

[cloud9]

Looking good. So your Boss runs 15-20 degrees cooler when removing the 302S grille? Wow.

Yep.

 

[cloud9]

Here's a better pic of the full grille. I'll try to remember to take one at the track this weekend.



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[drano38]

The CO sorta clashes with the blue and white stripes :

Will be keeping track of your cooling efforts this weekend.

 

[cloud9]

The CO sorta clashes with the blue and white stripes :

Will be keeping track of your cooling efforts this weekend.

With a perfect forecast in the 70s, it's not the best test for cooling, but I'll still be able to tell.....I typically still push into the low 240s coolant temps in 75 degree ambient with the regular grille in the car.