Running hot

[chalpntmn]

A friend recommended I try this out for my problem. First time post!  I have a 1970 Challenger R/T.  New 440 w/ 4 speed.  Engine has 250 miles and was built by a great shop (long block).  1969 cast date to match car.  It was installed by a shop with a life long Mopar nut.  A new, quality copper radiator was installed with correct shroud.  A Summit super heavy duty clutch fan with the proper fan used as well. The engine has a purple cam in that is one notch from stock up.  Installed a new radiator cap, moved timing around, put a 160 Mr.Gasket high flow and a standard 180 thermostat.  Both, same results.  The gauges goes past halfway and comes with a 1/8 inch of the end of the hot side of the band. Does not matter if you are standing still (worse), running 60+mph (3:54), it goes up. Turning the heat on does not seem to have much of an effect either, but will help after awhile.  Ran worse with the Mr.gasket thermostat as far as heat goes.  It seems to be a flow problem.  I want to keep the car original.  Adding fans or other things seems to not address the real problem.  I do not know Mopar engines or cooling systems.  Came over from another brand...

[solarguy]

I just replaced a bad Mr gasket hi=flow thermo yesterday, 2 years old, stuck shut.  You said you tried 2 different thermos so I doubt that's the problem.  Is there a spring in the lower rad hose?  make sure it's not collapsing and restricting flow. 

[Moparal]

Makes me wonder about the head gaskets. Some have little slits in them instead of holes. Or maybe your running really lean

[Moparal]

One other thing, I heard that some of the aluminum wp housings are restrictive and cause over heat issues. Or maybe the water pump propeller is loose on the shaft

[Changin Gears]

Do you know the gauge is correct?  You could try a aftermarket mechanical gauge or measure the temp of the upper radiator hose/ upper radiator tank with an infared thermometer.

[Strawdawg]

X2....First thing I would do is to verify that it is actually running hot with a decent gauge

[ghjedi]

X2....First thing I would do is to verify that it is actually running hot with a decent gauge

I unfortunately spent too much time and money on an old Cadillac 429 engine chasing what I thought was a cooling problem.  My temp gauge started showing an alarming rise to 3/4 and I replaced the water pump, fan clutch, thermostat, before it dawned on me to cross-check the temp gauge. I bought a simple infra red temp measuring device for less $20 on ebay and found that the original temp gauge was not working correctly.  I sure wish I'd done that first!

[BIGSHCLUNK]

See if the lower rad hose is collapseing under load. There was a reason they used to have springs in them..... 

[FJ5_440]

See if the lower rad hose is collapseing under load. There was a reason they used to have springs in them..... 

I had to bend a Stainless welding rod into a spring because nobody had a lower hose with the spring already in it.

[Chryco Psycho]

is the vacuum advance connected to manifold vacuum if it is disconnect it or hook it to ported vacuum , where is the timing set , you want 12* at idle & 36* total