HOT motor

[vwsteve]

I have a stock 1500 that I stripped the tin work off of and cleaned up and reasembled with a cheap chrome 36hp style non-doghouse fan assembly. The motor never ran hot before. Now it is. Does these cheap 36hp style shrouds make that much difference? Oh yea, I also went from a stock exhaust to a header. The carb is a 28PICT. Don't know the main jet size, but I did not change it. How can I tell if it is running too lean with the new header system? Don't say change the carb because the old "round bowl" carbs are my favorite by far.

[mharney]

You betcha. They suck.

[nsracing]

Upgrade to the doghouse type fan housing. Much better.

All you need is the seal adaptors to mount the late oil cooler.

It will be nice if the motor can get a nice engine cleaning and wash.

If it is covered in mud/oil I will not expect it to stay cool running.

[KTPhil]

Did you keep the heat exchangers or go to J-tubes when you added the header? Leaving them on but without heater tube airflow can overhead your heads.

Internal airflow is probably different between the 36HP and later motors--you probably have hot spots as well as overall overheating.

[Vayabroder]

As nsracing said, if you can go with the doghouse system ('71 and later) or if you don't have the funds stay with the stock. Even the non-doghouse stock units work very very well as compared to the aftermarket units. Also try to keep all the factory tin and make sure all rubber seals in the engine compartment are in good shape. The factory design engineers designed the system like that for a reason.