cooling?

[dave16131]

Hello, I have just recently purchased a 77' clipper with the 440 in it. I had to do a valae job to the heads( which are still at the shop). But when he tested them for cracks there were some small ones found on both heads, center cylinders, around the spark plug holes. Maybe could run them, but I chose not to. Also noticed the heat sheild material on the inside of the dog house was very chared and crispy, especialy on th passenger side. And the pass. valve cover had got so hot that the paint had all burned off and had turned to rust. And so it really seems to me that Dodge may not have engineered this very well. This is a big engine in a very confined space with really restricted air flow.Things could easily catch on fire! Not safe!

Has anyone come up with any clever ideas to remedy some of the heat. Putting up heat sheilds and other forms of blockage only masks the problem from the inside of the rig. What about aluminum radiators? Electric fans? Maybe even couling to the exhaust mani's?

[Horst]

Spend some time looking at historical posts on this site (use the search tool)
There are several heat beating solutions, ranging from heavy duty radiators and/or water pumps, to electric fans, ram air scoops, the front hood latch trick (mine - borrowed from an old-timer), wrapping manifolds/headers, and others.

Yes - the 440s are tight - the air flow ain't the greatest - but if you have all systems working properly, and you're not doing 75mph through the Mojave in July at high noon, towing a 4000lb trailer - you should be OK.

If you run hot under "normal" conditions, then most likely some part(s) of your cooling system needs tweaking/fixing. Radiator, fan clutch, water pump, thermostat, belt tension - those are the first culprits typically...........

[John Eversoll]

Hey there Horst, John here...

Not sure if you saw my post about the "No spark"

I was just wondering if you had an idea... I am looking for bad grounds

right now.  anything else I should look for.??

John

[John Eversoll]

Hello newbe,  You have to understand that with the 440
she is a hot motor and has always been that way.  As far as cooling goes
If you read the older postings you will see ways of cooling down the dog house.
I myself have thought that my shoe had a fresh cooked bacon and egg sandwich
in it.
But with ingenuity and the dream of cooling off the poor girl --  with dryer exhaust
tubing and and a few screws you your self can infact keep the dog house cooler.
Even think of other ways of cooling down the doog house,  electric fans....ect ect ect

Just read the earlier posts and you might find ways of fixing your ride in ways you never thougt of.
We are all here to help each other, we have all had our own experiences in troubles
and have had to fix them right there or just suffer through till we get home.
Horst, Jerry, PD2, Clock, are all here for each other.
If I can help you with advice I will..   

Take care,   John

[JerryT]

Hi Dave

To recap, my cooling mods are,
1 a 160 degree thermostat
2 a 3 core radiator
3 a new fan clutch from a 86 W350 Dodge truck
4 a fresh air hose to the air cleaner from the cowl
5 a 3" exhaust pipe starting at the crossover Y with a low back pressure muffler
6 a double power steering pulley/ fan belt to drive the Heavy Duty clutch fan
7 a double air duct from under the front bumper to blow fresh air into the doghouse
8 a set of Magnecore high temp plug wires with DEI heat boots/sleeves
9 a set Mr Gasket copper exhaust manifold gaskets
10 a deep tranny pan
11 I extended the doghouse insulation, skirt style below the floor and added an extra hold down on the pass side and reshaped the floor with a 2x4 and floor jack to insure a tight floor seal.
12 and of course the Clipper factory aux tranny cooler

This is what has worked for me, 440's make a lot of heat and to mitigate that heat from such a small cramped area was important to me. I feel that heat kills with time and it was a choice to do the work now at my leisure or forced repairs latter at who knows where and at what cost.
Any way you can get rid of heat is a good thing on these rigs!

Dave, I was taught that you need to thermally connect the exhaust manifold with the head for longevity. That is why I used the copper exhaust gaskets. The factory used steel, most aftermarket are composite and tend to separate the two and the transferring of heat.

I drive mine barefoot all summer, do the work and enjoy the results!

JerryT

[dave16131]

Thanks to you all for the replies. Jerry, everything you listed was very helpful, and  I especially found the exhaust gasket very interesting. Make sense though. Looks like I'll be taking back those Felpros. What started out as a head job has turned into a full on rebuild. I'll keep you all posted on the progress. Dave.

[JerryT]

Good luck Dave!
Post what you learn and some pics of your project if you can.

JerryT