Aluminum Radiator upgrade / Change? Read this

[bigmanjbmopar]

I bought one of Engineered cooling products 26" 2 row of 1" tubes. bare minimum I could get for use with the Evan's waterless coolant system and it works would have prefered 1.5: tubes in the config I needed. They have a good write up on the why's and how's.

http://www.speedcooling.com/coretypes/info_6.html


Another good explanation from Dave Fuller on all cylinders (aka Summit Racing) Tech Blog

http://www.onallcylinders.com/2012/12/13/how-to-choose-an-aftermarket-radiator/


If you are using the factory 26" HD radiator and not having any issues then why switch? Copper /Brass / Antifreeze with inhibitors will work great until the inhibitors break down and your block begins to rust out. ever wonder why a typical rebuild was around 100k miles?

Just some reading for those on the fence and needing some advice.

- - - Updated - - -

Can this be a sticky? since the information is a basis for everyone's research on making this type of decision for their system.



Some general info -

http://www.griffinrad.com/material.php

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/images/d/d7/Engine-cooling-system.jpg

http://jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_S10-V8-Radiator.html


http://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/cooling-radiators.html

http://www.alumrad.com/aboutus.htm

 

[Dennis H]

The 26" Copper was re-cored to 4 rows. Don't know the diameter of each tube, but it is wider than before over all.
Stays cool with green coolant under extreme conditions. Parade duty.

 

[MarPar]

I assume you have a shroud and maybe a little water whetter, D?

 

[Dennis H]

Shroud. Fresh coolant. Check balance too. No water wetter now, but I think it works to reduce surface tension.
Sure reduces stress when she stays cool in conditions you cannot control.

 

[MarPar]

Shroud. Fresh coolant. Check balance too. No water wetter now, but I think it works to reduce surface tension.

Sure reduces stress when she stays cool in conditions you cannot control.

Amen! and isnt that what it's all about?? :headbang:

Water whetter seems to be workin for me right now. cheap insurance anyways.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Good to go then D. I wanted to post info for those looking to reduce weight, improve on the factory setup and possibly solve some cooling issues they may be having. Specifically those looking for aluminum radiators and different fans set ups.

I had a replacement oem radiator in my RR when I got it with the 383 the guages didn't work at the time so I had no idea if it was getting too hot or not lol when I put a scope in it it I discovered it had 3 rows of 1/2" copper tubes the sad part was it was so corroded inside out of those 3 rows probably only a total of 1 was being used. who knows if the previous owners used the correct mix or inhibitors or not but it was pretty bad. New antifreeze products are much better now 50k miles or more for some others like be coolant 300k, distilled water with 80% water wetter works for some so they say.Unlike most I personally can't spend $1000 on a be cool and all that so have to make the most of it.

If you read the articles they both describe the clutch fan and flex fan (mechanical fans) I felt taking the load of the mech fan off the motor was more important to me than maintaining ma mopars set up since technology has evolved over the years why not take advantage of it if you need to?

 

[Canyon707]

has anyone put a fan on both sides of there radiator????? one to push and one to pull

 

[coloradodave]

has anyone put a fan on both sides of there radiator????? one to push and one to pull

Yep. I have an 18" 7 blade Mopar mechanical fan with a custom shroud on the engine side and two Spal electric fans on the grill side. There isn't enough room to even run the short Hayden clutch unit so the mechanical fan is mounted with a short spacer to get the fan about 1/3 of the way into the shroud. The electric fans (a 9" and a 10") are connected to a sender via a Cen-Tric box that allows me to set the 'on' temperature , currently at 200*. The mechanical fan does the job by itself, except when I get caught idling in traffic on 105* plus days in the Sacramento area. The electric fans will maintain that 200* pretty much forever and then drop out when the traffic starts to move. Works very well for me and gives me 'peace of mind' no matter the weather.

 

[Ghostrider 67]

Thanks for this sticky, I did not know all of this and would have gone the wrong direction. Good sticky!

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Won't let me edit so here are updated links

http://www.speedcooling.com/


http://www.evanscoolant.com/how-it-works/tech-tips/

 

[Darter6]

2 fans push and pull on my 88 D350 Ram.In the 100*+ weather we have I run the electric pusher fan in traffic.It helps with the A/C conversion from R12 to R134.Keeps more air flowing across the condenser at slow speeds.

 

[not so famous bob]

has anyone put a fan on both sides of there radiator????? one to push and one to pull

I have a 28x19 alum. GRIFFIN 1 1/4" tube, crossflow, a mech. fan in a shroud, w/ a 15" elec. fan in front, mounted 2 1/2" off the rad.so as not to restrict airflow. the elec. is set to come on at 200. hasn`t come on since I set it that way. Finishing a 7 yr build, no real time in summer heat yet. Don`t let anyone tell u that alum. griffins aren`t any good. I dropped the front end off the floor jack, and bowed the whole bottom of the rad up about 1 1/2" in the center. it doesn`t leak ! There is no glue or epoxy in it either. "On a 505" stroker."

 

[Rocketman]

I just had to order a Griffin custom build shroud and two spal 10.5 inch fans to see if I can reduce my temps in July and August as I can't cruise town those months due to the heat. I have 16" Hayden now pushing and it is not doing the job. Hopefully this fixes my problem

 

[Canyon707]

Try pulling the air through

 

[Rocketman]

Try pulling the air through

Did, wasn't effective without a shroud.

 

[bearman]

I bought one of Engineered cooling products 26" 2 row of 1" tubes. bare minimum I could get for use with the Evan's waterless coolant system and it works would have prefered 1.5: tubes in the config I needed. They have a good write up on the why's and how's.

http://www.speedcooling.com/coretypes/info_6.html


Another good explanation from Dave Fuller on all cylinders (aka Summit Racing) Tech Blog

http://www.onallcylinders.com/2012/12/13/how-to-choose-an-aftermarket-radiator/


If you are using the factory 26" HD radiator and not having any issues then why switch? Copper /Brass / Antifreeze with inhibitors will work great until the inhibitors break down and your block begins to rust out. ever wonder why a typical rebuild was around 100k miles?

Just some reading for those on the fence and needing some advice.

- - - Updated - - -

Can this be a sticky? since the information is a basis for everyone's research on making this type of decision for their system.



Some general info -

http://www.griffinrad.com/material.php

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/images/d/d7/Engine-cooling-system.jpg

http://jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_S10-V8-Radiator.html


http://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/cooling-radiators.html

http://www.alumrad.com/aboutus.htm

 

[bearman]

Does anybody run a coolant filter with inhibitors in it. To keep your coolant package where it should be. Does anyone have the coolant test strips

 

[Gary Lowry]

Yep. I have an 18" 7 blade Mopar mechanical fan with a custom shroud on the engine side and two Spal electric fans on the grill side. There isn't enough room to even run the short Hayden clutch unit so the mechanical fan is mounted with a short spacer to get the fan about 1/3 of the way into the shroud. The electric fans (a 9" and a 10") are connected to a sender via a Cen-Tric box that allows me to set the 'on' temperature , currently at 200*. The mechanical fan does the job by itself, except when I get caught idling in traffic on 105* plus days in the Sacramento area. The electric fans will maintain that 200* pretty much forever and then drop out when the traffic starts to move. Works very well for me and gives me 'peace of mind' no matter the weather.

View attachment 274200 View attachment 274201 View attachment 274202

NO A/C,

 

[coloradodave]

NO A/C,

Vintage Air: BTW, I changed my set-up. Here's what it is currently:I run close to 50/50 green coolant and distilled water with a bottle of Purple Ice. 180* Robertshaw thermostat, mechanical 17" 6 blade Mopar fan with Mopar shroud, Griffin 2 tube aluminum radiator. Lincoln, CA. Coldest winter temperature about 30*. Hottest summer temperature about 112*, with most summer days well over 90*. Daily driven built 440 with Vintage Air. No overheating problems...

 

[Gary Lowry]

Vintage Air: BTW, I changed my set-up. Here's what it is currently:I run close to 50/50 green coolant and distilled water with a bottle of Purple Ice. 180* Robertshaw thermostat, mechanical 17" 6 blade Mopar fan with Mopar shroud, Griffin 2 tube aluminum radiator. Lincoln, CA. Coldest winter temperature about 30*. Hottest summer temperature about 112*, with most summer days well over 90*. Daily driven built 440 with Vintage Air. No overheating problems...
View attachment 587695

Outstanding thanks