440 Overheating Solved! parts used

[armor64]

Hi All, Longer post here, hope it can help: i want to preface and say there are probably better ways to do this, but i was attempting to fix my overheating issue on the charger as cheap as i could without hurting anything in the process: here is the journey Ive had over the last years:

Started out with:
-freshened 30-over 440
-Factory 68 heads with hardened seats
-Factory HP exhaust manifolds.
-160 thermostat
-ColdCase 26in Alum Rad
-ColdCase 10in fans
-Baking sheet turned into "shroud"
-TLDR - (Final Fan is Ford Contour 95-00 electric duals)
car would heat up too much, and reach 215+ before i would panic shutdown sitting still or moving. The little fans and bad baking sheet attempt was not good.

With Advice from here, i got the, still made, mopar fan shroud, a 19in Derale 6 blade Clutch fan, and the shortened Hayden 2947 clutch. Spacing was good as i could get, (roughly 1/2 in and out for blades) and it was OK on temps while moving, car would run at 190ish while above 50km/h, but heat up 5deg a minute at lights or parked.

With the threat of overheating while in traffic still on my mind, i was waiting to get into the St Thomas Fathers Day mopar event last year, and the car hit 230+ while waiting to get in, luckily it didn't boil over but felt close (some tiny spurts came out the overflow hose)

after that, i kept the car to known clear roads and small trips as i worked on other stuff for the year.

This Jan, i swapped to Edelbrock Alum Heads, Dougs Headers, and Hyperspark Ignition (for sniper control) and tried again, hoping it would help. Even changing the timing manually to try to limit heat, it still climbed as before.

next, Changed the thermostat to a 180, as a buddy said its possible it could help keep water in the rad longer or help with a temp differential. so i swapped it while also swapping to a Direct drive 19in fan, but it still heated up, just slightly slower to get over the 215 (that i chose to stop at as it would always keep climbing)

feeling like giving up, i did more research again on Electric Fans, having kept my wiring in place from the start (dakota Digital fan controller still in place from before the FItech to sniper swap) and found out that the 95-00 Ford Contour electric fans are almost perfectly sized for a 26in rad, with Great CFM raitings, and i was able to get one for cheap from the wreckers, as the coil resistor on it was bad (fans were perfect)

taking off my stock shroud, the contour dual fans slid in (i opted to use a dremel to cut out some waterpump pulley clearance, but kept all the structure). The pass side mounting hook aligned with the rivnut i added for the shroud, and the drivers side bolted up with a short 4in strap.

Fans set to come on at 185/195 (thermostat keeps it at 185 full open) i can now drive around and idle with 0 temp issues. The fans keep the car at 185 after an initial heat up to 195 (for both fans to activate).
I initially had speed override on, so it stopped the fans above 50kmh, but it would heat up to 200 doing that, so re-enabled the fans to run all the time at temp, and it stays at 185.

the best part? 185 at all times, and with Vintage Air AC set to MAX, it stays rock solid at 188 (on the sniper screen) moving or stopped. did a full test last weekend going to a Mason's BBQ fundraiser, after road testing at speed for a 2h drive. left it running in the driveway, AC blasting, for 15mins, and it stayed 188. Turned off the AC, and it dropped to 185 within a minute.

Words cant express how much of a load off my mind it is. I know southern Ontario doesn't hold a candle in heat compared to most of the US, but with 40c weather and 90% humidity lately, im happy ill only have to look at the temp gauge occasionally, instead of every 30s LOL

Hopefully it could possibly help anyone who has a similar problem!

[armor64]

OH Side note- I did also attempt to fit the Derale electric fan/shroud systems, but they were too thick to fit between the engine and Rad, as the rad i have appears slightly thicker than stock. i ddint want to cut the shroud thinner, and  That was also the time i decided not to spend $500+ on an attempt (no issues returning the fan setup)

[metallicareload99]

Exact same fan setup I use. They work pretty good 

[John_Kunkel]

To help even more, why not route the overflow hose into a reservoir and use a recycling radiator cap? This allows you to fill the radiator to the top and gain more coolant capacity.

[armor64]

To help even more, why not route the overflow hose into a reservoir and use a recycling radiator cap? This allows you to fill the radiator to the top and gain more coolant capacity.

Oh that's an interesting idea, i know the fluid is up above the tubes in the top tank, but haven't looked into anything like that instead of the included standard rad cap, will keep that in mind when on the lookout for parts too.