Big block cooling for first gens

[OldTimer]

I recently had a couple of "puking" experiences and upon inspection, it looks like my #15 radiator cap could use replacing. Because of the info on the cap, I think it was intended for a recovery bottle type system since it says to "check coolant level in bottle" right on the cap. That being said... I hadn't had any abnormal high temp experiences in the past couple of years other than when getting stuck in heavy traffic on a hot summer day where you move 25 feet a minute LOL. Then temps would climb to 220 or a little higher. Moving along at 65-70... temp drops to 180-195 tops, and at night she stays pretty much at 170-180 at highway speeds.

i have a 4-core copper BBC-spec radiator, 7-blade fan (no clutch), and stock water pump, and the thermostat is a 180. I'm adding Vintage Air this spring, and I'm thinking maybe I should look into an eFan that will pull more air thru the radiator than the OEM belt-driven fan. Some people have said the best bang for the buck is a Lincoln Mark III fan, as it outpulls most aftermarket fans. I had one of them in my SVT Lightning... never had an issue with a blown motor running 16# boost.



Another suggestion was to consider a water pump upgrade, supposedly Edelbrock makes some higher volume pumps for the BBCs but nobody's been specific about which model. I know many solutions and threads here deal with Ls swaps in 1st gens, so I hope a few of the BBC folks will offer some opinions, maybe links to relative threads that I haven't seen yet. Thanks in advance for the help.-Mike