My new stock stroke 400 build

[qkcuda]

Improving slowly Don, too slowly for me. It still swells up if I try and use it too much. I'm told that is normal. I did have an ultrasound on Saturday, but I haven't received the results. Hopefully I will hear something before we leave on Friday.

 

[qkcuda]

I got the results of the ultrasound today. They found nothing other than scar tissue, good news. I guess I just have to be patient. Thinking about it today and it has come a long way in the last few weeks.

 

[HawkRod]

I got the results of the ultrasound today. They found nothing other than scar tissue, good news. I guess I just have to be patient. Thinking about it today and it has come a long way in the last few weeks.

Glad things went well. Take time to heal and hope you are 100% very soon!

 

[qkcuda]

It's alive again. We just got back from three weeks vacation, and my hand is coming along. My buddy came over tonight and installed the new adjuster and levelled the front end of the car. It hadn't been started in over a month. Once we got gas up to the carb it fired right away. We are good to go for Moparfest this weekend. It is a little over an hour drive each way, so it will be a good opportunity to shake it down.

 

[Don Frelier]

Nice.

I would suggest checking it after driving it a few times.

 

[qkcuda]

These two lightweights bounced on the front end several times before we checked it, but I will double check after putting some miles on it.

 

[71Beeper]

Sounds like it will be ready to rock for Moparfest....

 

[qkcuda]

Bad news today. I headed off to meet my friends to drive to Moparfest but the car started overheating. I had to pull over and let it cool and add water to replace the coolant that puked out. I made it about 10 miles and had to stop again and repeat. I made it home and cooled it down. I thought maybe it was running lean after my last jet change, so I pulled the plugs. They looked okay to me except number 8 was a bit wet. I ended up rejetting it back to stock. No obvious leaks anywhere, so I need to do some thinking.

 

[qkcuda]

My current thinking is leaning towards the Mancini high volume water pump I installed. It is the only thing different in the cooling system and the 361 always ran cool. I know I need to recore the rad over the winter, but I think I am going to pull the stock pump off the 361 and try that first to see if my theory is correct. The wet plug on number 8 concerns me a bit as it appears to be oil. I am going to clean them up and keep an eye on that one.

 

[Don Frelier]

Well at least it's not the intake.
That sure looks great!

#8 does concern me, maybe rings have not seated on that one?

My charger 383 would smoke every time I started it the first summer. Then one day it stopped and never did it again

 

[qkcuda]

Yes the intake is great Don. I haven't noticed any smoke on start up, but I am going to keep an eye on things. So far I have less than 100 street miles on the engine since it was dynoed last summer.

 

[oldkimmer]

Sounds like a great build. Hopefully u find the heating problem soon. Kim

 

[qkcuda]

Thanks Kim. I switched out the Mancini high performance water pump for the factory 6 vane pump off the 361. I am going to call it a win for now. I took the car for two short drives and it acted much better. It still creeps up a bit the longer you drive, but it didn't overheat like last week. I think I have a few things going on. First it is a fresh engine, second it is a higher stall converter, both of which will add heat. I am still running the stock 26 inch rad. My plans include having the rad recored and maybe adding a transmission cooler.

 

[Geoff 2]

The pump with the metal plate will be a BIG help keeping it cool. Been doing that for decades...

What you should do now is measure & see if there is a big gap between the back of the blades &....the housing. If more than 3/16", put a plate on the back of the impeller. Idea is to ensure all the water is captured, not allowed to escape through gaps.

 

[qkcuda]

That's what I thought too, except in my case the car seriously overheated with the new pump in less than 10 miles. I put the old pump back in and things seem to be back to normal. As near as I could measure the impellers are at the same height in both pumps. The cavity behind the impellers is totally different. The stock pump is smooth and concave and the high performance pump has support ribs. I don't have a good explanation for why it didn't work, just actual results.

 

[qkcuda]

I drove the Charger to a local cruise tonight. The temperature stayed rock steady at around 180 (factory gauge). The more I drive it the more impressed I am with how responsive it is. My carb tweaking paid off. I still haven't done any serious full throttle blasts, but that will be next on the agenda.

 

[BSB67]

Keep us posted!

 

[eldubb440]

good to see you out enjoying it Dave.....

 

[Don Frelier]

Are you putting an angle grinder on your Christmas List?
They make a great gift.

 

[qkcuda]

Trust you to bust my balls Don! I had to replace the old group 24 battery which had no reserve. My buddy with the parts store sold me this battery which he said was the one with the most CCA. I think the original application is some kind of Ford product. It is quite a bit longer and a bit wider than the old battery, but actually about an inch shorter. I had to rebend the retaining ears on the hold down and yes I will have to shorten the J bolts.