I bought a cheap, 3 row, aluminum radiator from ebay. Listing wouldn't give a brand name. Lister's name is street_performance. Figured for the $145.00 price tag it is worth the gamble. I'm going to test fit and function this weekend then will report back if it's good or bad.

 

I'm curious how this turns out for you. One tip, and just my opinion, but a lot of the no-name aluminum radiators that seem to leak have photos or text that would indicate the radiator was mounted rigidly with bolts or with thin or no rubber insulators in place. Our factory radiators were originally mounted loosely, by setting in thick rubber insulators on bottom and held in place with a slightly loose upper radiator shroud that also has similar, thick, rubber insulators. I think many of those failures happen because the car flexes, and since the radiator is rigidly attached to the car instead of floating between thick rubber insulators, it forces the radiator to flex and crack, causing leaks. So when you mount it up, I'd suggest you not mount it rigidly. Just my opinion, though.

 

hey, thanks for the interest! I truly appreciate the advice and will let you know. I didn't even think that far ahead. I was hoping it doesn't leak out of the box.

 

Stock 1 row is hard to beat.
GLWT.

 

The stock one will be stored in the garage rafters...you know, just in case

 

kewl, looks pretty

 

Seems like a super deal on a three row all aluminum radiator. I suspect that will cool some better than the stocker. Keep us posted. Be hard to get a good test up there this time of the year though.

 

Curious how this turns out, I just sank some big money on a new 'Be Cool' radiator for my IROC; just couldn't bring myself to skimp on the cooling system with my new 383 swap.

 

I did a poll a while back...

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cool...as-broken.html

Seems about 50/50, some had problems (immediately or shortly after) and others not yet...

But the stock 91 is still in my firebird, I couldn't bring myself to do a cheap upgrade and risk breaking a system that is still working flawlessly... when I do some engine work, I'll go BeCool as noted above, just insurance towards investment...

I do wish you the best of luck with it... Let us know how it goes...

Rafael

 

old radiator removed





trim the rubber mounts in the corners





outlet for heater hose was shorter than OE radiator. had to scoot the hose clamp to the end of the hose.





Fits really well. The bigger core pushed the fan motor to the p.s. pressure hose. Had to bend the hose slightly to get clearance.

 

looking to hear the results soon

 

yea its pretty cold here still and the roads still have ice/snow in areas. let it run to operating temp till the fans kicked on. no leaks. at this point i'm very happy.

 

Wait a minute so the radiator doesn't fit in the hole in the front it sits in front of it ? I only ask because I bought a radiator for my 87 a $200 northern one but it looks like its too tall for it. About maybe and inch or so over the upper support. I wish I had snapped a pic when I was where my car was.

 

this is the same size as the stock radiator. fits perfectly. the core is thicker due to most rows but still fits.

 

ok, it's been close to 70F in Denver here lately. I took a drive and really got on the car to try and heat it up. Never went past 195F. Then did it again with a/c on. All was well. No leaks. Guess we'll find out more when the 90's weather arrives...

 

Temps will still climb while sitting in high temps as usual, unless your fans come on earlier than stock..

 

You have a link to your Rad

 

yes the fans are set to come on at 190F.

the ebay item number is: 181981656181 for the radiator

 

I need to invest in 1 of these i'm wondering how many mods needed to make it fit w the shroud etc.

 

The only thing i needed to do was cut the corners out of the upper and lower rubber mounts. I have 4th gen dual fans.

 

Did this have the right threads for the trans cooler lines. And being a 3 core did it push out any further into the engine bay than a stock radiator like any closer to the serpentine belt?

 

You know i'm not positive on the cooler threads because I have a T5. It did come with 1 3/4" screw in outlets to screw clamp on a trans hose. It sat in the stock position when installed. I was 90% happy with the install. I had to trim the upper and lower mounts so the radiator sat correctly.

 

When you cut the corners for your install, did you cut the inside or the outside, and was that on both the upper and lower mounts?

 

check out post #10 in this thread for a visual but yea, inner and outer, top and bottom

 

Yeah, I saw that but I figured that pre trimming, to me they didn't look like they'd been cut yet. I guess just a little trimming around the inner and outer radius to take up the larger area to fit in the saddle.

 

Do you think you would have clearance for an 8 rib supercharger belt or would it be too close with the 3 core?