Cooling for 67 Charger 383

[Dave383]

Hi,

I am Mopar newbie with service manual in hand and have 67 Charger with 383 4B/HP, auto trans and no AC.
Current cooling setup that overheats (230F!) in traffic is 22" Champion radiator, 7 blade fan, no shroud, factory under-driven water pump pulley and no fan clutch. In the trunk I have leaking but repairable 3 row copper radiator that has no markings on it but looks like 22" Mopar replica of some sort. Temps here go up to 95F. 85F normal summer weather.

Plan is to put on Vintage Air or Classic Air A/C with Sanden compressor and solve the cooling for ever... somehow. I read trough the service manual and 67 parts calatog and my idea is to convert the cooling to AC setup with 1.4 overdriven pulley, 8 blade pump, thermal fan clutch, 7 blade fan and shroud.

Do you think it would work with either the 22" Champion or the 22" 3-row copper rad I already have? Would it be bullet proof with something like 4-for copper rad for 426 like this one https://usradiator.com/product/dodge-charger-1966-69-383-426-hemi-radiator or do I really have to cut the radiator support and go to 26" ? I cannot use electric setup because of the rules on classic cars here.

Thx from Prague. I have no feel for what the 383 needs to cool and to be honest the 22" Champion looks ... tiny for the big-block.

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

I have the same motor with a stock cooling system (22'' radiator / 7 blade no clutch fan / no shroud ) and I live in north Florida where it can get well over 100 and I can sit and idle for 30 minutes or more with no overheating problem.
I don't know what a champion radiator is but I would look to get a stock one. Also check thermostat or maybe radiator hoses to make sure they are not collapsing and maybe water pump impeller.
Also on a side note you say the rules in Prague say you cannot have electric cooling fans. Why is that if you don't mind me asking ?

 

[Dave383]

Thanks for the tips. That looks like I should be able to figure out something that works well with 22" rad and avoid cutting the support. Great news.

About the electric fans. I have the car as historic vehicle because it does not have homologation here (different lights, bumpers ... ) and as historic vehicle it does not need homologation but should be period correct. It is a bit funny because guys in Poland just 100 miles north can quite easily register almost anything if it passes engineering inspection and has right lights. Same distance to west and you have yet another rules about historic or normal cars in Germany with the infamous TUV. It's pain

 

[Nate S]

Are you using vacuum advance? That can be a factor. Efficiency goes down notably without it and where does the extra energy go? Heat.

 

[Dave383]

I sure see fresh looking distributor with vacuum advance but I still need to measure timing.