I had a 302 which was overheating and on the verge of throwing a rod. I replaced it with a new 289 that I purchased at Napa.

The Napa crew placed a new water pump, thermostat in conjunction with the new radiator I had when the 302 was overheating. The radiator had only been used 4 times or so when it overheated.

The Napa service techs say that I need a shroud and/or a new fan. I bought a 6 blade flex fan. Is that enough, or do I need a shroud?

 

That depends. How big is the radiator and when does it overheat? Is it just when sitting in traffic or all the time? You have to be able to pull air through the radiator so, the fan needs to be close enough to it or in a shroud. If you run a shroud (and you probably should) the fan needs to be in it correctly. Little more to it than just thowing on a shroud.


I run a 351 with no shroud. I also have the bigger radiator and don't really have issues. It runs at perfect temp unless the outside temp gets a bit over 100....then, it like to heat up a bit sitting in traffic. Doesn't overheat though.

 

Yup i would strongly suggest a shroud. A fan alone will draw through the radiator directly infront of the fan and not draw much air across the sides of the radiator. sometimes this is enough, sometimes not. The shroud will funnel the air so the fan will draw across the entire radiator giving you maximum cooling.