Need Recommendation for Good Custom Truck Shop in Vegas Area

[Dockmaster]

Hey guys, I'm trying to help out my father-in-law by finding a shop that can fix the overheating issue he is having in his custom 64 Power Wagon. His truck was built by several shops in So Cal over a 25+ year period. He finally gets it done, takes it to Vegas where he lives and the damn thing overheats as soon as he tries to pull any type of a hill. It has a 440 wedge engine (Chrysler B) that is basically stock other than a Holley sniper efi and headers. It has a/c and he says the problem is he can't get a big enough radiator in it. He's got a good quality 26" aluminum radiator with 3200 cfm fans (total). He thinks this set up isn't enough but it sounds to me like that should do the job. One of the shops went BK and the truck sat for a number of years after the engine was rebuilt and unknown if it was preserved or what was left in it. One of the shops discovered it had a water pump with reverse flow in it. Fixed that but still overheats. He said he put a screen in the coolant flow and it gets crap in it after driving it for awhile. I told him first thing to get done is flush the heck out of that motor and then do a flow test. He's talking about moving the a/c condenser to under the bed or adding another radiator there with fans. I'm trying to convince him something else is wrong as that shouldn't be necessary. 

Anyhow, does anyone know of a shop in the Vegas area that can work this problem for him? He is not budget constrained but wants somebody that can actually solve this issue before he gets too old to be able to drive the truck. It was already at a shop in Vegas called 5 star radiator or something like that and they didn't do much to resolve the issue. Thanks in advance for recommendation. 

 

[Kraut_n_Rice]

I'd add a large oil cooler first.

 

[Dockmaster]

I'd add a large oil cooler first.

Yes, an oil cooler is a good idea. But it overheats too easily and this is not going to solve the issue by itself. There is something else causing the issue. I suspect the engine needs to be thoroughly flushed as it likely corroded and grew crap in there sitting for so long. So hoping somebody can recommend someone that can work on this thing. 

 

[Agricon]

I had a 440 that always ran great never got hot. The ignition module burnt out and I went to a local parts shop and bought a new. Every little hill after that it would get hot, took the module back but no waranty's on electronics. Bought another one same thing. Talked to a Chrysler friend and he asked if I used a aftermarket module and I told him yes. He told me the ignition curve isn't right. Called the dealer with the Vin and picked up a factory one, never had a problem again. I could tow anything never budged the needle.

 

[Dockmaster]

I had a 440 that always ran great never got hot. The ignition module burnt out and I went to a local parts shop and bought a new. Every little hill after that it would get hot, took the module back but no waranty's on electronics. Bought another one same thing. Talked to a Chrysler friend and he asked if I used a aftermarket module and I told him yes. He told me the ignition curve isn't right. Called the dealer with the Vin and picked up a factory one, never had a problem again. I could tow anything never budged the needle.

Well that is certainly not something I would have thought to check. I appreciate the info. 

 

[tjZ06]

Any pics of the rig, especially the cooling setup?

I'm fighting heat issues with my WJ and really think it's an aero thing.  It runs super cool on the trail, and cools back down super quickly if I slow down, which makes me think the radiator/fans are sufficient.  Everything is fresh, literally everything (rebuilt motor, all new cooling parts, all-AL rad, dual e-fans w/ shroud, etc. etc.).  I recently picked up a junkyard hood and did some cooling vents.  I repeated a drive that had the Jeep hitting 220+ and climbing with cruise control at 77 MPH (in ~97 ambient temps) and saw about 10 degrees lower temps now, and they seemed to be holding, not climbing.  I need to put my little overland trailer behind it again and hit a hill and see if there's any change there.  Just something to think about.  FWIW you want the vents/louvers towards the front of the hood, just after of the cooling stack, where there's a natural low pressure zone (on most vehicles) so that it wants to pull air up and out from behind the cooling stack.  Most people put them much further back, kind of over the engine or near the cowl where they can actually have a negative effect by wanting to back-feed the cooling stack.  I tried driving this WJ with no hood at all, and saw no positive change, yet the hood vents seem to help.  Now that I have a proof of concept I'll probably do it "right" with the good hood.  Just something to think about...

Before:



(again, I didn't cut this hood up)

After:





-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

FWIW the goal was to get the vents right above this gap behind the cooling stack, in front of the engine:



-TJ

 

[Dockmaster]

These are all good things to look at.  I still need to find him a shop that can troubleshoot and repair. Any suggestions? He does not have capability to do anything and I'm 1,000 miles away. I tried doing some searching but hard to search for this kind of a shop as most of the websites and ads are geared more to the general masses and volume repair type work. 

 

[tjZ06]

These are all good things to look at.  I still need to find him a shop that can troubleshoot and repair. Any suggestions? He does not have capability to do anything and I'm 1,000 miles away. I tried doing some searching but hard to search for this kind of a shop as most of the websites and ads are geared more to the general masses and volume repair type work. 

I just moved to Vegas, so unfortunately I don't have any good suggestions, but will be interested in what you find. 

-TJ

 

[GmFamBam]

My Cousin works at the Muffler shop in Henderson.  Family owned shop he works out of and hes our family mechanic.  Give them a call and see if they can help you out https://themufflershop.com/ 

 

[Dockmaster]

My Cousin works at the Muffler shop in Henderson.  Family owned shop he works out of and hes our family mechanic.  Give them a call and see if they can help you out https://themufflershop.com/ 

Thanks for recommendation. Although I must admit, hard to get excited about a muffler shop for this kind of work.