Does A Big CI Stroked SB get to a point where It is hard to keep cool?

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harrisonm

harrisonm

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This may sound like a dumb question. I have seen stroker small blocks up to 440 CI. Are they hard to keep cool on the street? Here is my thinking. A 440 big block has more internal coolant capacity (bigger block, more space inside for coolant passage), so a 500 HP 440 would have more coolant flowing through it. But, if you stroked a SB to 440, would that small block have the capacity to allow enough coolant to flow through it to actually cool it? I assume it is partly a function of radiator size/capacity, but you can only put so big of a radiator on a 69 A body.
 
There could be something to it.


But the radiator, fins per inch, tube size, tube count, tube spacing.

Water pump vanes, pulley ratios.

All have to work together.



A poorly designed system won't cool a 273, and a propperly designed one will cool a 440 in an A body


I have heard of 40 or 60 oversized blocks being particularly hard to cool, theory is the cyl walls are too thin and there is an excess amount of heat generated in that location that can't be carried away efficiently.
 
There was a Gentleman who had a 472 Small Block Demon
ten years ago, that drove it everywhere and street raced
it several nights a week all over So Cal.

I saw him drive it up to Mopars at the Strip race and his first
pass was in the 9's and he was thrown out for no full cage.
My boys 416 stroker runs 10's in street trim and he can drive it anywhere!
 
Problems with keeping engines cool come from people using a myriad of totally mismatched and WRONG parts to try to do the job. ........and normally they know it all and to hell and be damned if you can tell them a damn thing, so I just don't try.
 
Last edited:
GTX JOHN said:
There was a Gentleman who had a 472 Small Block Demon
ten years ago, that drove it everywhere and street raced
it several nights a week all over So Cal.

I saw him drive it up to Mopars at the Strip race and his first
pass was in the 9's and he was thrown out for no full cage.
My boys 416 stroker runs 10's in street trim and he can drive it anywhere!
Click to expand...

Ron Silva with his Demon.
 
I have no problems with cooling my .040 over 418. If you would like my set up, pm me.
 
harrisonm said:
This may sound like a dumb question. I have seen stroker small blocks up to 440 CI. Are they hard to keep cool on the street? Here is my thinking. A 440 big block has more internal coolant capacity (bigger block, more space inside for coolant passage), so a 500 HP 440 would have more coolant flowing through it. But, if you stroked a SB to 440, would that small block have the capacity to allow enough coolant to flow through it to actually cool it? I assume it is partly a function of radiator size/capacity, but you can only put so big of a radiator on a 69 A body.
Click to expand...
No
 
Murray said:
If you have the money to build a stroker small block, then you have the money to buy a bigger radiator.
Click to expand...
Why a bigger radiator? My car has a generic 22" aluminum radiator from a local roundy round shop. It would be fine with a 22" copper radiator too.
 
justinp61 said:
Why a bigger radiator? My car has a generic 22" aluminum radiator from a local roundy round shop. It would be fine with a 22" copper radiator too.
Click to expand...
Agreed....I run a 2 core 22" in my Barracuda and just bought a 22" 2 core Griffin for my Demon build.
 
harrisonm said:
This may sound like a dumb question. I have seen stroker small blocks up to 440 CI. Are they hard to keep cool on the street? Here is my thinking. A 440 big block has more internal coolant capacity (bigger block, more space inside for coolant passage), so a 500 HP 440 would have more coolant flowing through it. But, if you stroked a SB to 440, would that small block have the capacity to allow enough coolant to flow through it to actually cool it? I assume it is partly a function of radiator size/capacity, but you can only put so big of a radiator on a 69 A body.
Click to expand...
Power is heat so in essence cubic inches alone isn't the determining factor of what is needed for a cooling system
 
575/ 580 HP/TQ with my blown 408 in a 1 ton truck, stock radiator with a mechanical clutch fan, properly shrouded. Runs at 190 constant. Truck moves pretty good, would love to see how this would react in a car.

D3167717-26EE-4433-ACEE-7C22417BC757.jpeg
 
I don't think the cubes are hard to keep cool. I ran a 344" small block (.030 over 340) in my car and now I have a 436" aftermarket block motor in my car and it runs hot. I was able to solve it with a dual pass aluminum radiator. I notice the Ritter block has very small coolant passages for the water pump. I think this makes my stroker harder to cool.
 
mopardude318 said:
575/ 580 HP/TQ with my blown 408 in a 1 ton truck, stock radiator with a mechanical clutch fan, properly shrouded. Runs at 190 constant. Truck moves pretty good, would love to see how this would react in a car.

View attachment 1716005388
Click to expand...
By the way I totally approve of this! What a great set up!! Here is a picture of my junk.

269CFD34-7836-4AD3-BCD5-863DF7A1E0D3_1_201_a.jpeg
 
They just need more cooling system the bigger and hotter they get. That's all there is to it.
 
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