Inline 6 to 460 Radiator Swap

[OmriWithHis81]

Hey all! I'm in the process of acquiring a 400 to put in place of my 300 inline 6. I need a new radiator, 1 to be able to cool the 400, and 2 because the original one has a leak.

How hard of a swap would it be to put a 460 radiator in place of the 300 radiator and what would it require? And would a stock 460 radiator be good for 400? I'm not gonna tow much of anything or be pushing it to its limits constantly.

Any input helps, much appreciated.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm no 300 expert, but I'm certain the mounting holes in the support are the same.
You'll need the fan shroud from the V-8 as well.

Radiator hoses 400-460 will be different, so don't expect to get them from your 460 donor.
Gates has a nice look-up online, and even if you don't buy Gates hose it's best to be armed with a part number that can be easily cross referenced when you get to the parts store.💡

[Gary Lewis]

Jim is right that the mounting holes are the same.  But, the mounting for all radiators changed in '85.  So unless you want to modify your radiator support, which is explained on our page at Documentation/Cooling Systems/Radiator Support, you'll want to get a radiator for a 1980 - 84 truck.

As for the radiator, several of us have had problems with brand new Champions.  Mine leaked pretty quickly and was replaced under warranty.  Larry/ratdude747's Champion leaked but the supplier, Summit if I remember correctly, couldn't find a replacement in a reasonable time and he bought something else.

So I'm not recommending Champion.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm under the impression that the 460 only replaced the 400 for '83/
So, 83 or 84, otherwise the lower cradles and nut clips up top to fit a more 'modern' radiator will be needed.
Not that either of those are any great challenge.

[Gary Lewis]

Yep.

And as you've pointed out many times, the radiators for the gas-engined V8 trucks were pretty much the same.  For instance E0TZ 8005-Z was used for the 302, 351W, 351M, 400, & the 460.  Yes, there were differences with manual transmission vs automatic and A/C vs non-A/C from the factory as Ford was using the minimum radiator possible, but the E0TZ-Z would fit everything.

[ArdWrknTrk]

100%, the radiators are all the same, but the fans are not...
The 400 and 460 share the same distributor but I've never looked at water pump pulleys, clutches or fans.

I was only trying to point out the futility of trying to find a 80, 81, 82 460 for parts.

An AC automatic would be the one to look for.

[ratdude747]

The "frustrating" supplier was Jegs. I played the "ship back the old one and wait for another to come in stock" game with them once... only for the belated replacement to fail the same way. I since bought an aluminum radiator off eBay which is working great so far (but, the included "CNC" rad cap was way too high of a rated pressure, I didn't use it). I also had a liland global aluminum radiator from RockAuto that leaked a month after the warranty expired .

Summit is cool... nothing bad to say about them!

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V8 radiators are a lot easier to find than 300's (mirror images of each other, literally)... and usually a bit cheaper too. All new ones have automatic transmission coolers included from what I've seen. Just make sure you get the correct A/C/non-A/C that matches the shroud you pick out (the A/C version is more expensive but definitely the way to go, even if you're not running A/C). Speaking of which, the fan shroud will be the bigger deal to get right, but I'm not the first to say that.