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Cooling 505 stroker

gpwood

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Hi all,
Just wondering what type of radiator would work best to cool my 505 cubes in a Plymouth Belvedere. Oddly enough I have the stock 26" rad but remember back in the day my 68 charger 383, modified, would run rather hot on 80 degree days. There are so many choices and cheap ones out there. Seems as though a 2 row aluminum would work, but they vary widely in price, thinking is cheaper price, cheaper quality!
Any help and or suggestions would be great!
Thanks
 
Take the original, send it to Glen-ray Radiators. Have Bob S do a H.D. re-core, and you should be all set, along with keeping the original look...
 
I have a aluminum 3 core 26" champion radiator in my 68 coronet that has a 505. I have a 160 degree thermostat and depending on the day it struggles to get up to temp. I've actually had to cover half of it at times so my efi kicks into learning mode. I bought it from leadfoot racing.
 
I also have a champion radiator, along with an electric fan and FlowKooler water pump. No more cooling problems, even in 100 degree Carolina summer days.
 
I also have a champion radiator, along with an electric fan and FlowKooler water pump. No more cooling problems, even in 100 degree Carolina summer days.
Yep, I've got dual electric fans also stock style water pump
 
I had cooling issues and got a Champion rad also. Actually both my cuda and cordoba have champion rads. No cooling issues anymore. Price varies out there for them so search (Jegs is pretty cheap). Most of them get them factory drop ship. The finish is much nicer than 6 years ago when I got the first Champion. They come polished already.
 
I have a Northern Cooling Systems aluminum radiator. 2 core cross flow 2" 26x20. With my 500" EDE head 10.5 CR motor it barely got to 205* after stop & crawl for 2+ hours. Less than 3 minutes at 50 MPH brought it back to 160*. At the drag strip it is hard to get to 160 before the starting line. My 512" 12.4 CR also works to get to 160* at the starting line. Sure am satisfied.
 
I'm running a Glen Ray 26" HD rad on my 500+ ci engine with a 180 tstat and the motor runs 180 all day.
 
For the 505 in the Coronet
First, I ran the Glen-Ray 26" with the factory pulleys and Mopar viscous fan package and had no problems.
Second, Changed pulleys to Tru-Track setup, Ran a Champion 4-Core radiator (did not want to put electric fans in the Glen-Ray radiator), with the Ford Contour Electric fan setup. It cooled fine before I added the A/C. With the A/C it still cooled when the A/C was off, but would start getting hot with the A/C on in hot weather. I think air flow through the 4-core and the Ford Contour fans just did not get the airflow it needed. I think a thinner 3-core Champion radiator may have cooled better?
Third, Current setup. Changed the Champion Radiator to a Griffin Exact fit radiator, and dual 13" Be-Cool cooling fans. I haven't driven the car with this combo yet. I think the thinner radiator with the larger core tubes has about the same capacity as the 4-core but with the thickness/air flow of the 3-core. Plus, the 13" fans should move a lot more air than the Ford Contour fan setup?
 
The most important thing about your radiator isn't the radiator - it's your fan shroud. Make sure you have one that fits properly, and that fan spacing is OK as well. Oh, and Glen-Ray Radiators is AWESOME with radiators. It will cost a lot, but well worth it.

My 70 Road Runner has a 26" original radiator (and fan shroud) re-cored by Glen-Ray. I also have A/C. I have many times sat in stop and go traffic on a 95 degree day, with A/C blasting, and temps barely crawl above mid 180s (I run a 180 degree thermostat).
 
Although I think a shroud is a good idea. I don't have a shroud on my Satellite, the alum radiator, alum heads, & stock clutch fan, it still works great. Just say'in.
 
Although I think a shroud is a good idea. I don't have a shroud on my Satellite, the alum radiator, alum heads, & stock clutch fan, it still works great. Just say'in.
This simply means the demand for heat transfer isn't more than your unshrouded radiator can handle. You are still running with a compromised system that would work much more efficiently with a shroud. Many folks who do have heating problems and no shroud mistakenly try radiator fixes when a good shroud might often fix their problem.
 
This simply means the demand for heat transfer isn't more than your unshrouded radiator can handle. You are still running with a compromised system that would work much more efficiently with a shroud. Many folks who do have heating problems and no shroud mistakenly try radiator fixes when a good shroud might often fix their problem.

OK, I agree.
 
Here is what I learned. My stock 383 22" radiator always would creep up when sitting at a light, maybe 200 or so, stock came with no shroud. It would always come back down when moving but it took a few miles to get back close to the 180 stat setting. I put a shroud and a 7 blade clutch fan, and it didn't heat up so much, but still wasn't happy with it getting to 190ish, I did not want any detonation.
I went to an ECP 2 rows with 1.25 tubes, did the same exact thing. no difference.
I just put a 4 core Champion in a couple weeks ago, fixed it right up, does not get above 175. It actually takes a really long time to get there if the car is moving with no lights.
So in summary, a 4 row is better than a 2 row, in my experience. Hope this helps someone else, in my case I drank the Kool-Aid and it cost me a few hundred bucks to learn.
 
I went to an ECP 2 rows with 1.25 tubes, did the same exact thing. no difference.
So in summary, a 4 row is better than a 2 row, in my experience. Hope this helps someone else, in my case I drank the Kool-Aid and it cost me a few hundred bucks to learn.
Real world tests are as good as it gets. If is very interesting that the ECP 2 row did not outperform the Champion 4 row. this is rare.

Just for the record, ECP makes dual 1" cores, not dual 1 1/4". So it's quite possible the Champion had more volume of fluid in it than the ECP. At CC, we did a volume test on our dual 1 1/4" tube unit vs the Champion 4 row vs dual 1" and our's held about a quart more fluid.
 
Hi all,
Just wondering what type of radiator would work best to cool my 505 cubes in a Plymouth Belvedere. Oddly enough I have the stock 26" rad but remember back in the day my 68 charger 383, modified, would run rather hot on 80 degree days. There are so many choices and cheap ones out there. Seems as though a 2 row aluminum would work, but they vary widely in price, thinking is cheaper price, cheaper quality!
Any help and or suggestions would be great!
Thanks

That factory 26 inch radiator will work just fine as long as it is in good shape. You'll need the matching shroud and a big clutch fan. Should be a 7 blade fan with the HD clutch setup. I'd suggest adding a late model coolant recovery tank rather than the factory setup. You should also make sure that your water pump is driven at engine speed rather than using a small crank pulley.
 
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