CoolingDiscuss all of the aspects of cooling that you can think of! Radiators, transmissions, electric fans, etc.
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First of all, beware of a good portion of the remarks on this thread as there is alot of misinformation being put on here. If you want to go back and read some of my posts and some of the replys in between you will see this. As for a 4 row (not 4 core) core radiator, keep in mind that in aluminum, each row of tubes will typically be 1" thick so 4 rows including the air space in between rows will be approx 4 1/2" thick at the core and approx 5 1/4" thick at the header plates attach to the end tanks. I'm not sure you will have room for this unless you have a tube chassis car. If you can make the room, I can build what ever you want but fair warning, they are expensive. At my cost, a core like this with freight in, aluminum to make tanks, tubing for connections, billet fill neck, petcock, welding/cutting materials, aluminum for upper & lower core supports & labor would run a strong $680.00 with all parts at cost, labor @$55.00/hr. My advice would be to run a 2 or 3 row radiator, make it a 2 or 3 pass baffled radiator so it goes through the core in sections & install more fan cfm & a good shroud. I have made many 3 & 4 row aluminum radiators for alot of blown & blown/innercooled applications for race & street and if you can clear the room, it can be done. Check out U-tube for a datsun 240Z w/blown BB Chevy, red car, called "ratsun". I built that one. I have alot of pics and experience in doing what you are looking for but you have to be commited to spending what it takes if you are making extreme horse power. If you are only making around 5-600 real horsepower, you do not need anything that extreme as long as fueling and timing are correct and the engine is sound. Maybe just need a 2 pass, 2 row core aluminum with a pair of 3000cmf plus fans with a well built shroud. My 2 cents anyway. Here you go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9vxPQH4NTA check this and other ratsun516 videos...Thanks for looking, Scott....................
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Last edited by topradman; 12-29-2008 at 12:11 AM.
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I had one of those 2 core copper radiators in my 92 TBI and it would over heat on and off. I did all the basic crap water pump, thermostat, fan switch, and cleaned out the radiator, but no luck and it still gave me trouble even after a leak down test and checking the timing and it was all good. I was going to just throw money at it because I start at the cheapest solution and work my way up if I can't figure it out. I was looking into aftermarket radiators with multiple cores till I was given a LS1 radiator from a 2001 camaro and I cutom fit it and now it won't warm up and I have to undo everything I did before because I am lucky if it hits 150 on a warm day.
Its in the head but I sorta modified a 160 thermostat with a pair of holes and I have been manually controlling the fan till my adjustable fan controller gets here. In FL you either have a super cool running car or your changing thermostats with the season and lately the weather has been freezing one day and like 80 the next, so I wait about 20-30 min for my car to break 100 on those 30-40 degree days. Since I have the LS1 radiator I will be getting the LS1 dual fans because I left the mounting tabs to make it easier. In the summer I have gone over board keeping cars cool because getting stuck in traffic on those hot days sucks for any car. I have gone as far as to notch my Monza's frame to fit a larger radiator (camaro radiator) and pulled the thermostat with a high flow pump and a 17" flex fan with custom shroud. I know where I messed up I have been to lazy to fix it because of my work scheduel and I get paid to customize other peoples cars on my days off so there is little to no time for my car.
Last year i bought a nice aftermarket aluminum to
replace the undersized LG4 radiator-looks like it will
fit with no mods to my fan shroud if i move the A/C
condenser ahead just a bit-only problem is when i
looked over the radiator i noticed the tranny cooler
(which i don't need)was right smack in the way of
the water outlet with only about 1/8" clearance!
-major restriction,had to cut out part of the tank,
remove cooler and tig weld back together-will install
next time i have that area of car apart.
anyone have any pictures, or know where to get a custom mount for the top of the radiator? I've been thinking of making one, but time wise I would rather buy one.
anyone have any pictures, or know where to get a custom mount for the top of the radiator? I've been thinking of making one, but time wise I would rather buy one.
I bought the piece from southwest speed and now have it installed. Although I had some difficulty getting it to sit where I want it, it now sits nicely and looks like it belongs there. Also, I was able to reuse the stock top radiator mount. In order to do this, I made four 1" extension tabs which allowed me to move the top radiator mount toward the engine approx 5/8". Now, everything is snug. This also made it easy for me to easily mount the stock dual fans, though I did make some stand-offs out of stainless tubing in order to get the fans aligned properly. Not rocket science. I can provide pics if needed.
On a side note, with respect to the southwest speed piece... It is a nice piece and I chose it because it has no wasted space for trans cooler and it was quite inexpensive. However, I didn't realize that it didn't have provisions for a petcock nor a heater hose return. I took it to a radiator shop and had them added for approx $45.
In short, it was a tight fit and required some cutting/massaging of the bottom tray (for me at least) but nothing too extreme. If you have a manual transmission, I'd recommend going this route.
The attached pics show the tabs I made in order to use the top radiator mount. Also note the stand-offs at the bottom to allow for proper spacing of the stock fans.
By gear box do you mean the transmission? or the steering box?
If you mean transmission then the answer depends on if your car is a manual or automatic. Manual transmission cars do not have to worry about the trans fluid cooler so radiator replacement is a no brainer. Cars with an automatic transmission have a fluid cooler built into the radiator. An aftermarket radiator will need to have a provision for the cooler, or you will need to install a separate cooler for the transmission, which may not be suffiecient depending on your driving and/or environment
On the off chance you mean steering box, no there is no interferance.
By gear box do you mean the transmission? or the steering box?
If you mean transmission then the answer depends on if your car is a manual or automatic. Manual transmission cars do not have to worry about the trans fluid cooler so radiator replacement is a no brainer. Cars with an automatic transmission have a fluid cooler built into the radiator. An aftermarket radiator will need to have a provision for the cooler, or you will need to install a separate cooler for the transmission, which may not be suffiecient depending on your driving and/or environment
On the off chance you mean steering box, no there is no interferance.
yay i was referring to the steering gear box. i bought a cheap replacement since my rad had busted the tank. i installed a set of lt1 fans that fit tight against there.
__________________ YOU MUST ALWAYS PUSH THE LIMITS-IF YOU NEVER FAIL YOU WILL NEVER SUCCEED--NO FEAR!
You would think by now someone would have made a direct fit radiator.....maybe even with new brackets. I just thought it was an easy job....why not make them for their radiators.
Well I need to buy one and new fans also....so what KIT should I buy or look at.
I dont want anything with a tranny cooler built in. I have an external one I will use. Thanks much
Here's what I used, fits and works very well. Only modification I had to do was to the rubber mounts, thinned them down a little. Even used the factory top bracket. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT
Here's what I used, fits and works very well. Only modification I had to do was to the rubber mounts, thinned them down a little. Even used the factory top bracket. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT
These are clickable pictures..
Here are some pics to show how well it fits, and to show off a little . Dean!!!
yay i was referring to the steering gear box. i bought a cheap replacement since my rad had busted the tank. i installed a set of lt1 fans that fit tight against there.
This past winter I installed the Summit 'direct fit' radiator in my 91 z28. When I first opened the box an instruction note fell out that said, and I'm not quoting here, If you are uneasy about making small mod's to your car, you should consider having the radiator proffessionally installed. Well, I did install the radiator myself. I am happy with the results. It did involve a little trimming here and there (upper mounting bracket) but it looks pretty nice, like Dean J's pictures above. I did not replace it because of heat, but because the plastic end tank was leaking. I am very pleased with cooling ability, almost too cool. It wasn't that hard, and with a little patience it will work. We went on a 1200 mile trip in June, no problems, maybe too cool, but I had a 160* t-stat in at the time, 180* now, much better. Randy
I have the summit "direct-fit" and it does not clear the frame rails on my 86 IROC. (Too wide) Now in my 85 T/A I have the jegs "direct-fit" and it does fit almost perfectly. The only real drawback is that the top mount will not fit. If I could find some place that makes an aftermarket top mount I would be perfectly happy.
I live about 10 miles from Ron Davis radiators, and their quality is good. Maybe I'll check them out.
Cooling problems are a common issue with our cars here in the Phoenix area.
I had to trim the lower rubber mounting pads, not too hard, but I like the idea of bike tire innertubes mentioned above. I also trimmed the upper mounting bracket to clear the side tanks, doesn't look too bad, hard too tell the difference unless you "know" what it's supposed to look like. And I had to make lower fan brackets, not too hard. Would I do it again? Probably not. Even If it is a lower cost alternative, it was offered as a direct fit replacement. Maybe if we stopped accepting products that are not as advertised the sellers would improve the specs and quality. I am not condemning the seller, this is the only complaint that I have ever had against them, and will do business with them in the future. This project can be done, I made it work, maybe you wouldn't have the same challenges I had. Hope this helps. Randy
As I have been looking at Summit, Jegs & Universal on Ebay I see that the diminsions of this radiator are slightly different. But all are supposed to be made by Northern, correct? And drknow says that between his T/A and IROC that the one from Summit fit different than the one from Jegs. Can anyone shed some light on why they would be different if it's the same radiator?
Also how expensive are the Ron Davis radiators? I've requested a price but have not got any info back yet since I just emailed them earlier this evening?
. Dean!!!
