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Hot natured 440?

miller

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Have to admit, this is my first 440. All BBs I've done before were 383s, never a cooling problem.

69 model 440, in my 64 SF. Engine is only .020 oversize. The block was completely cleaned, of course, as much in the water jacket as possible, and flushed out a handful of times.
Radiator is a Mopar 22" 3-core out of a 67 Coronet RT 440 w/ac car. It has the mounts for the two piece (upper/lower) fan shroud, that's mounted up. Fan is a stock 7-blade steel, no spacer, and sits halfway into the shroud. 16 lb. Stant cap. Stock water pump.

I had the radiator boiled out. Out of six listed radiator shops in the area, every one had shut down, years ago, except one...he charged me $300. Don't know what the going rate is, these days.

Thermostats (lol), tried three different ones, all 180, last one a Stant. All acted the same. Once up to temp, it would keep going up, especially if outside temp is hot. Getting around 95 here now, and summer is just starting! Not driving more than 45 minutes, sometimes I get back to the shop, and coolant can be heard boiling in the upper hose.
Yes, have a spring in lower hose. 50/50 mix of anti-freeze, and distilled water.

Yesterday, I took a spare thermostat, knocked the guts out, and made a restrictor plate out of it. Full time circulation, with that, went for a drive. Stayed alot cooler, but still getting too hot, when 95 comes around.

Any thoughts, good or bad.
 
Which cam are you using? I've heard the summit 6401 will make an engine run warmer than usual.
 
I put a Crower in it, a little more lift than a stock Magnum cam. Engine runs real good, no problems shown up there. Have a crossram on it, with a pair of 600 cfm Eddys.
I can dig out the cam numbers, if needed.

Right now, don't think it's running lean. Just have basic settings on the carbs. 300 miles on the engine. Was going to 500, before reading any plugs...maybe I'll pull one, or two, for a look.
 
My brother fought this problem. Had the original 1968 radiator recored. Problem gone
 
One man radiator shop, guy doing it for 30+ years, is who cleaned out the radiator. Told me one of the cores had been replaced, even knew the cores maker, said it was a good one.
 
I tested the stock gauge myself, sending unit new. Sure don't need either, to tell when it's hot.

After warmed up, if I re-start the engine, temp gauge goes all the way over, slowly going back to temp. At 95 outside, when warmed up, and driving time, the gauge sits halfway through the wide white range. Just seems too much. That's why I'm asking.
 
All cars swing hot when shut off.

You probably dont have a problem if the needle is in the middle.
 
Couple things... I went through this with my GTX last year, problem was all in my head. If your using the dash guage to measure temp then your fighting a problem you may not have. Mine did the exact same thing your talking about in regards to the gauge.

You need to get a temp gun and shoot inlet and outlet of the engine hoses. You should also install a real gauge if your concerned. You should see ~200* or less to the radiator and ~130* or less back to the engine.

Is the system building pressure? Make sure all the air is bled out too.

Only thing I can't answer is the 'boiling' sound.

Also, I'm fairly certain all 67 R/Ts had 26" radiators. Even autos.
 
I had an epic (and well documented on here) battle trying to keep my 440 cool as well. I learned a lot about the subject in the process,
thanks to all the helpful folks on here.
My setup that I wound up with is very similar to yours with one exception - a 26" Griffin "exact fit" aluminum radiator.

I wound up consulting Rick Ehrenberg himself on the subject and his advice was simple - "get the Griffin and be done with it".
It's a 3" thick jobber and has two rows of 1.25" (!) diameter tubes in the core, but beyond that, I think the "magic" of this
radiator is just how dense the thing is - the Griffin has that over any other radiator, because what ultimately determines the cooling
efficiency of a radiator is surface area of the fins/rows per given area.
The more surface area you can get air to pass through, the more cooling is performed.

Professor Ehrenberg told me to get a factory shroud for it (which bolts right up like stock) and to get a factory fan halfway into the
opening, which I've done. A Stant Superstat finishes things out and I run 50/50 mix in it with Water Wetter.
I wanted cooling overkill; I got it, to an extent anyways.

Of course, there's other ways to skin this cat, but I've tried most of them. Lots of knowledgeable people will advise you on this subject
as well on here, too and everybodys' situation is different, so my opinion is but one.
YMMV. Member FDIC. Void where prohibited. :)
 
Only thing I can't answer is the 'boiling' sound.
That's the main thing that bothers me. Definately hot.

Also, I'm fairly certain all 67 R/Ts had 26" radiators. Even autos.
I looked up the radiator #, it was listed for C bodys, some Bs, for 67. All I know is, it fits.
Yes, seems to be building pressure. Suppose I need to get one of those temp guns.
 
Yeah, heard about those, and most find them at Walmart. Hate it, but went into it, yesterday. They carry NO thermostats.
There's actually two "grades" of Stant stuff; one el cheapo line for discount stores and such and another, with identical part numbers but better quality components, for "real" parts stores and such.
This was told to me by a Stant rep last year. Given my experience with them, I believe it.
BTW, NAPA also re-boxes the SuperStat in their line as well; a knowledgeable counterman will be able to tell you which one.
 
That's the main thing that bothers me. Definately hot.
I looked up the radiator #, it was listed for C bodys, some Bs, for 67. All I know is, it fits.
Yes, seems to be building pressure. Suppose I need to get one of those temp guns.
I'll ask the obvious question on that part:
Have you put a pressure tester on the system? Any chance you have a leaking head gasket?
 
Have you put a pressure tester on the system? Any chance you have a leaking head gasket?
Yep, bought a new good tester, and checked the entire system, up to 18 lbs...held for five minutes.
If I had a leak at the head gasket, there would be water in the oil, or oil in the water. Neither one, their good.
 
just because i am old and learning alot here. have you turned on the heater when it gets to that temp. it should cool down some which may lead you to a bigger rad. with your temp gun what is the inlet temp and outlet temp at the pump. also the temp at the top and bottom of the rad
 
Don’t take this personally

But $300 to boil or clean out a radiator

Yikes Yikes Yikes

And yes , a lot of radiator shops stopped doing this all together because of the chemicals used to clean or boil it out , I wonder how he boiled it out ? Or what was supposedly used

Anyways I can get radiators re cored around here for that price , a little more

Re core it new or start shopping for aftermarket options

Just my opinion
 
You Need to see actual temp, that C-H gauge doesn't cut it ... once you know actual temp you can compare that to the factory gauge and know whee you're at .... I found when my gauge is at the half way point between C-H my actual temp is 190 ....... so unless it pegs the gauge I'm comfortable with a little rise above the middle ...
You may need a better water pump and radiator than the factory stuff, and give your engine time to break in as it will naturally run a bit hotter until then ....
 
Get the temp gun.

I'm running the two 600 Eddies. I tried progressive linkage running on the back and the front cylinders were lean. Exhaust temp was 700*. Changed to 1.1 linkage and the front cylinders are back down to normal temp.

It wasn't really running hot but was experiencing a lean flutter around 2000 rpm. I'm running a Speed Cooling radiator with seven blade and shroud. Also running antifreeze at 0* mixture and e-free fuel.
https://www.speedcooling.com/mopar-radiators/
 
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