cooling system, 72 d100

I'm wanting to replace the cooling system in my truck to prepare it to have a 512 stroker motor putnin in the near future. Im wondering if anybody has used a champion raditor and notnsurenon then inlet and outlet for the radiator. Also which water pump and housing should I use for this project? Also should I ditch the mechanical fan and go to electric fans for reliability?

The water outlet setup on the engine will determine inlet/outlet requirements. The common aftermarket setup is driver's side lower WP outlet.

Mancini has a nice high volume water pump+housing package. That would be my suggestion. Or re-use the iron housing with a Mancini high volume pump.

As far as fan either will work. If you go electric you need something much better than common aftermarket units. A big OE fan is best. The Lincoln Mark III or IV fan is supposed to be good or Feet's Mercedes setup. With an electric fan, you need a big alternator, temp senders and heavy relays to set it up. Personally I like the simplicity of a thermal clutch mechanical setup. Basically OE.

With a really good fan, the Champion 4 core is a candidate - may work - but need to check inlet/outlet and fan shroud fit. A made to order Mancini muscle car radiator or similar from Griffin would offer better cooling capacity but spendy. A high end OE replacement for a 440 truck would be an option also. Same comment, need to check inlet/outlet locations.

I'm not to concerned about having to switch inlet outlet sides just wanting to make sure everything matches when I order. I'm thinking the electric fan because it can be controlled by a aftermarket efi setup

I'd stick with a mechanical set up fan and eliminate possible problems. Electrical fans are open to more glitchs.

Would this be a good start for my parts list?
radiator
water pump
Also I'm going to replace all my gauges so are they're any I should avoid?

The water pump looks good.

The particular radiator you linked has a 22" wide core. A warm BB really needs a 26" wide core for best cooling... which should hopefully fit in your PU. Suggest you measure and make sure a 26" can fit... or be prepared to modify the core support so it can. Based on a glance at the Champion website, it sounds like the Champion will work and maybe need some extra mount holes drilled. No biggie.

As far as the fan, a mechanical fan works fine with EFI. That's what I run on my EFI 496.

Do you have the original fan from the core engine? A few pics would be nice also!

The truck has a 22"core now so thats what I linked, im guessing its the wrong radiator plusnits missing the shroud, illnpost pics as soon as I figure out how to do it from my phone. I also seen holley has a budget radiiator now too. Frostbite I think was the name

Here's a few pics

If your rad opening in the rad surround is only 22", I think I would open it up to 26" or at least something bigger then 22". A 22" wide rad is probably borderline for a 512 if you get in slow or not moving traffic on a hot day. Being borderline when the fix is simple and cheap doesn't make much sense to me.

The rad surround can be opened up with sheet metal cutting tools, you don't have to replace it unless its rotted out. You are modifying the truck, modifying the rad surround is not a big deal. Open that surround up and allow some air to flow through a wider hole and a wider rad. Gene

My 11/71 build date 1972 d100 came with a 26" opening. Weird.

I used an aluminum radiator from a place called "the radiator lady" who is in lake Elsinore out here by me. I think she deals with champion.

When I ordered the radiator for my 74 440 w200, they showed a 22". But it's a 26" truck. I ended up having them weld on a U channel on a 26" core. Works great, and has threaded holes to accept electric fans front and rear.

I did have to trim 1/8" off the passenger side core support/radiator opening.

I've got 2000 miles on the setup so far. About 500 miles of granny low/4low hill climbing. She never gets above 185* even if left idling for an hour.

Looks like it was born there.

I definitely have no issues cutting on the truck lol. Welding stuff up may be another issue though

I forgot to ask should I run a aftermarket trans cooler with a champion radiator

The Champion radiator should have a built in trans cooler like a stock radiator. Also, like stock, the cooling capacity is limited. A cooler added in series with the radiator cooler and mounted in front of the radiator will help the transmission live in a high HP setup... a really good idea.

I'd add the extra trans cooler. If your going to skip one, skip yhe one inside the rad. Gene