Hi guys all good things to consider when installing a set of headers.
I feel that getting the cast iron manifolds off the engine and installing the headers have made for better heat disapation rather than creating more heat. in the case of the 440 instalation and the configuration of the tri y headers I did nothing for extra heat sheilds starter or other wise and so far things are working fine. I tried the ducting work and had 2 fans to try and pull the hot air from the dog house but didn't see any real difference?? I my have given up to soon and could have tried some other locations for the duct work but there just isn't room to do much modifications. what I do if when I stop after a long haul is simply open the hood to let the heat escape.
I do think an electric fan in front of the radiator may be a good idea after the rig is stopped to push the hot air from the dog house area but from my personal experence the electric fan didn't keep the engine cool enough and a good clutch fan and the fan shroud works best. the big problem with the electric fan is again not much room to install it and I don't like to use the zip ties which go thru the radiator as they will in time work loose and damage the radiator core.
I would use a good muffler designed for a motor home or truck to handle the extreme back pressure. a muffler made of light steel will not last and will colapse in a short time.
A person could have the headers ceramic coated or you could wrap them with a heat tape called cool it but the tape I have found will cause the headers to rust and rot faster than with out them being wraped.
after I rebuild the engine in my home I left the A/C and all the components off of the engine and left the condenser off as well for better air flow I feel this both has helped keep my Clipper running cool. keep us posted on your progress.
Rodney
