Hey Im on the stretch to finish my turd. I should have the engine bay painted soon but Im thinkin I need to get the radiator adn test fit it before I paint..might have to "fab" somethin up. I have a 500 horse small block, electric water pump..what is a good raditor and fan set up for what Im doing?

 

a nice be cool setup would work they have different rad& fan setups for diff. power ratings

 

If you go to advanced auto parts and order a radiator for a 1985 Z28 carb with auto trans 2 choices will pop up a cheap O aluminium/plastic that you wont want and a brass one they have to speical order.
$170 will get you a 26'' wide, 19'' or 20'' tall, 2'' thick, 3 row Copper/brass radiator. You can spend a lot more but I cant see how it will get you much more cooling capacity.
That is the biggest radiator that will fit, if that wont cool it nothing will. The only reason I got it for my mostly stock Z28 is because I plan to pull a trailer with it at some point or else I would have gone with the aluminium one.

 

Im going to drive me on the weekends and to car shows..Im trying not to spend a lot of $$ cus I still have to finish other things..I like the Griffens..and the BeCool but they are around $500. I dont need a tranny cooler built in..Ill see if I can get some more info on the 3 row one..

 

That 3 row has a built in trans cooler and a place for a heater line return for people like me who have electric coolant pumps.
I also added a little 4 pass trans cooler. Because of the future trailer pulling.

 

what part number is this? The one I found is copper/brass but only 1" thick part number CU965 try the link...

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductL...ype=31&PTSet=A

 

I know I need at least a 3 core..if not a 4 but I cant find a 4. Should I bite the bullet and pay $500 for a radiator? Im in a hurry to get my engine bay painted...dont really want to get it done and then have to go and cut it up to make a radiator fit..and whats a good fan set up..Factory fans or get a new ones?

 

The one I got was just a GM 31x19 that fit easily other than the hold down at the top that was easy to just make a new holder for that. The one I got was the griffin 2 row aluminum with 1 1/4" rows now at $270 http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku The other option would be the same radiator with 1" rows for $196 http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku Both of these would require an external cooler for the transmission, and I got the B&M supercooler for 25,000gvw that works quite well.

 

well if the engine makes 500 hp, i would get a bigger tranny cooler.

the one i got is like 20" x 17.5" and has 8 cooling rows.
its the biggest one flex-a-lite makes.

the reason i got it was because i had no cooling lines in the radiator.
it works pretty well

 

I run the factory radiator with factory dual fans. No problems.

-Schultzy

 

Tranny cooler is taking care of..I dont want a rad. for an auto car..never made since to me how hot antifreeze can help cool your trannny fluid lol..Im doing the same size that RED DRAGON is using.

 

well hot antifreeze cools tranny fluid because the antifreeze is 190* F and the tranny fluid is 270* F or hotter.

also, the cooling coefficient between water and aluminum is like 14 times that of air to aluminum. this means that a 1 sq in heat exchanger in 70* water would be the same cooling effect as a 14 sq in heat exchanger in 70* air.

thats a big difference.

if you are REPLACING your radiator transmission cooler with an external one, get the BIGGEST ONE YOU CAN GET.

my suggestion would be to run them in series if possible.

out of the transmission into the radiator.
out of the radiator into the cooler.
out of the cooler into the tranny.

i just got a new radiator and will be doing this setup with it.
i just need to fab up some kind of bracket to mount the tranny cooler on.
the zip tie method wore a hole in the radiator.



as for the radiator, if you get a bigger radiator, you need a higher CFM fan to pull air through it. you also need a higher flow water pump.

you cannot simply upgrade one component and expect great things to happen.
you can get away with a bigger fan and stock radiator and pump, but thats about it.
personally, i have no thermostat, a high flow water pump, a bigger radiator and i am currently working on the fans...
fans are expensive little buggers though...


sorry about my rambling.

 

Well for my parts list that Im wanting to order..just not wanting spend the money..
I have the BeCool Rad. $500
BeCool Fans $250
And then I have my electric water pump

Just wanting to get more thoughts before I go and spend the $$$$

 

$750 plus the electric water pump. May I ask if you ran this engine with the factory set up and had problems?

-Schultzy

 

No..I sold a lot of my stuff. Thats how I paid for the engine parts and work. So I have a nice motor on a stand and cant even run the car. Everything else is pretty much new other than the body and Dash..so why not. The only thing I have is the factory radiator. Its just time and money and after the first of the year Im goign to get a loan to finish it..Im just geting a parts list together so I can finish it by next summer!

 

This is the car last weekend. It should be in primer this weekend and the roof, engine bay and quarters painted by next. Doors, fenders ect later..

 

get the griffin and a Ford Taurus fan.

 

If you are going to be drag racing it you dont need a huge radiator when you have an electric coolant pump.
If I want my car to cool off I turn the engine off and turn the coolant pump, the fan plus the heater fan all on and watch the temp gauge drop.

 

Im going to race the car at the track some..most of the time its for street use. I think Im goign to order the summit one that fits our cars. A buddy just installed one in a camaro with a healthy 358 and it keeps it cool. They are under $300 and look awsome and seem to work great..