It's that time of year again sports fans; who can get their car the hottest without blowing their lid. But in all seriousness, this problem has been haunting my dreams ever since I moved from Chicago to Southern California, and yesterday in the 109 degree desert day, I had a nightmare. While cruising down the freeway, I glanced at my gauge to see it was near in the red. I was half a mile from home, so I swore I was going to make it, "MY BABY WILL MAKE IT HOME!"

Stupidity over took me, none the less I made it home, boggy sounding engine, boiling over coolant, and smoke poring from the hood. Quickly opened the hood, thew a few box fans over it, ran the radiator fan, and awaited my fate. I made it home, but to what cost?



That remains to be unseen. No leaks from the engine, no weird sounds, or weird feelings. Everything seems fine. I may have lucked out this one time.

The raging heat is something we all seem to combat, and that is why I decided to write up an instal article (That may be over done, and over killed) yet year after year we all disregard what we saw and run into problem after problem. Here is my step by step guide to upgrading the coolant system to suit southern most desert region life!

THE CAR, WHATS INSTALLED, WHATS IT RUNNING, WHAT IS IT?!

First off, my setup is quite simple, and similar to most of us who have had their thridgen for 5+ years.

1. I'm running a V8 350 4 bolt TBI
2. Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifold
3. Comp Cam
4. Stock Exhaust Man. to CAT
5. Stock intake
6. Harris Performance TBI Chip [HOT CHIP Copcar] (TBIChips.com)
7. Flowmaster 80 Series cat back.
8. Aluminum Driveshaft (Thirdgen Ranch, Crete, IL)
9. Rear disc brake 3.23 posi. (Thirdgen Ranch, Crete, IL)
10. My trans has a shift kit in it. Specs unknown, original owner installed.

My engine was a crate motor from Fivestar Engines in AZ. Solid motor, solid company. More information specs on my swap can be seen http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVY-350-310-HP-HIGH-PERFORMANCE-TBI-BALANCED-CRATE-ENGINE-/200922887635?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2ec7eff5d3
WHAT AM I BUYING, WHATS MY GOAL, GETTING TO THE POINT!

First stop on my venture, I looked here on the forums for advice. Knowing I needed to bump up my radiator, my first thought was aluminum. There is a FANTASTIC article in this section written by Justin89Formy that can be viewed HERE! I went ahead and purchased the same radiator. His links are a little broken, so let me up date them here:

STORE

ITEM

I had the pleasure of calling these guys up first thing in the morning (9:00am PST) and paying for my ebay purchase by credit card over the phone with them. They're based up in Oregon, so shipping to me in SoCal would be 48 hours which is great for my time crunch.


Second, I knew I needed the coolant to pump a lot sooner than the stock Thermostat would provide. Its open wide at 195 degrees from my understanding, but I knew a 'popular' 160 degree termostat wouldn't allow for proper cooling. After doing some research into the cooling system in various post here, I decided to go with a 180 degree thermostat to suit my needs.




I don't think I need to show pictures of taking the 2 bolts out, and pulling the unit. Its self explanatory and something I'm sure we've all done.

For those who haven't, remove those 2 bolts on a cold engine. BE WARNED, I always have coolant over flow from the top of the engine. I don't know if that can be avoided, but make sure you throw down a drip pan or something. I got lucky this time and had my system drained in preparation for the new radiator. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS FAILSAFE!!!!


Third the fans kick on stock at around 220 degrees. I don't know what kind of engineering feat or drugs were being taken at the time, but that's a little crazy. Hypertech has the solution. They sell a little sensor that will trigger the fans on at around 200 degree's and off again at 185 degrees. A little high for my liking, but it makes sense I guess. I had a phone transaction and the guy convinced me for my setup its what I needed.

Again, I called to place my order through them, but Summit also has the part on their site link:

PART'S

They also carry a 175 on, and 165 off, but in my climate, I'll never see those temperatures.

 

What do you mean 160 degree therm won't allow proper cooling?

 

It stands to reason that by opening your coolant flow at 160 degrees it won't allow the coolant enough time to sit in the radiator to properly cool down. As a result hot coolant goes in, really warm coolant goes out. By restricting the coolant flow a bit longer, ie 180 degrees, hot coolant goes in, cooler coolant goes out.

 

Huh, I have never really thought of it that way. I would think if the thermostat opens when it reaches 160 degrees than the coolant going through is 20 degrees less than 180 degrees. I don't really understand your logic.If the coolant starts flowing through the engine 20 degrees cooler than I would think it would stay cooler for the duration.

 

Moved to post #1.

 

When I had a 160° thermostat, the car ran at 175° (Canadian summer, think 75°, no traffic, and low humidity)

With a 180° thermostat, the car runs at 180° for most of the year (Texas) except for summer, when it runs 190'ish. As a benefit (aside from slightly better gas mileage), I get heat in the wintertime. Something I never got with the 160° thermostat.

You will really like the combination of 200/185 fan switch, 180° thermostat, and the 3 core radiator. I have the same setup. It's a tight fit. But it will fit. You should lift up the condenser a bit so that you can get the rubber isolators out from underneath it. You will need to trim these so that they just barely cover the raised metal bits underneath. Other people simply replace them with pieces of bicycle inner tube.

You will need somebody to help you bolt the upper radiator cover back in. One person to hold it back and down. The other to screw the bolts back in.

 

SO LETS TALK ABOUT RADIATOR INSTALLATION

The radiator I ordered only shipped a half hour away from me, so it arrived quite early. Here's a picture of it after I unboxed it!



I was, naturally, quite excited to receive this. One thing I want to note is the fact that the drain nut looks like this...



... just a little different, as it doesn't come out all the way, and I'm not sure yet if its reverse threading. Unlike the sticky post about the Aluminum radiator, mine did not come with a sensor built it. Anyways on with the install.

Most people on here talk and talk and talk about the rubber, and trimming it down and cutting it, but I've never seen any pictures about it. This is what it looks like before...



but you need to cut it down to fit the size of the radiator so its snug. Here's a before and after shot of the lower rubber holders...
(PRO TIP: Use wire cutters (side cutters) easier than the knife, scissors, and electric multi-tool I tired to use.)



Don't forget to trim the upper rubber holders! I did, and the top plastic did not fit properly...







... the last picture is the proper cutting to get this to fit nice and tight.

Once all was on and down, the fit was perfect with plenty of room to spare in front of the fan.





I want to clear something up. I've seen a lot of talk about how the threading on the Champion radiators are all wrong, and people have to tap them out to fit, and what not, but in my case (89 RS) The line all fit in perfectly, no fixing needed.



So the radiator install went smooth. Real smooth. And it even came with a plug for the AC line for those of us with an AC delete. I still have mine, and use it. But the cores are nice and big, and it is bolt in directly (As long as you cut the rubber as needed.



Tomorrow night I'll tackle the task of getting the sensor out. I was just super excited about the radiator and installing it. I know its going to be the highlight of this post.

 

I'm super excited to get the combo up and running and check the numbers. I'm glad to hear that from Texas it ran great! This SoCal heat is taking a toll on the stock system bad.

I was able to get the radiator installed alone honestly. A little man-handling, but skinny arms alone I got it!

 

I feel bad for dropping the ball on getting back to you with how it works.

LIKE A DREAM.

I run normally about 190-210 on a typical 90+ degree day in SoCal. Even with the AC on the car sits at 220-240 degrees standing still. The temp rises a little hotter if it sits with the AC on for to long, but idling with the AC off at a standstill for more than 30mins the car sits at 220 AT MOST.

So all in all the upgrade was worth it 10 fold. No more freaking out or smoking radiator bottles or nightmares about being stranded.

 

I'm amazed you could get it to fit. Mine didn't fit with the upper shroud -at all-.

 

Where did u order your radiator from? Do you have a part number? Nice write up