- especially the shroud 
Venting......@%!&ng Radiator
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
From: Bellport NY
Venting......@%!&ng Radiator
Last (ha ha) item to go on the car. Put the air dam on my 73 and secured the last bolt. Then, drip,drip on my head...anti-freeze. Started the car only to find that I had made a pinhole in the radiator.
Bummed.
I was toying with the idea of Stop-leak. I don't want that stuff inside my new engine. I really don't want to pull everything apart.
Very depressing.
I think I may go with a 3 row aluminum with electric fans. Any opinions?
-mike
Bummed.
I was toying with the idea of Stop-leak. I don't want that stuff inside my new engine. I really don't want to pull everything apart.
Very depressing.
I think I may go with a 3 row aluminum with electric fans. Any opinions?
-mike
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 1,047
Likes: 3
From: CA
Unsure if you have any mods, but a good aluminum radiator from DeWitts will do the trick without the fans. I put one in mine and it made a big difference in cooling over a rebuilt stock radiator. Putting on fans when you dont need it will only lead to more power from your alternator.
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From: Cape Cod, Mass.
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Unsure if you have any mods, but a good aluminum radiator from DeWitts will do the trick without the fans. I put one in mine and it made a big difference in cooling over a rebuilt stock radiator. Putting on fans when you dont need it will only lead to more power from your alternator.
A good aluminum Dewitt's radiator is the way to go. I never understood all the whiz bang electric fans on motors that should run cool if everything is set up properly. The extra fans are usually just masking an underlying, unresolved problem. I am running motors with over 400 hp with stock radiators and clutch fans and they run 180 all day long in the summer.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 255
Likes: 2
From: Michigan
Mike, Give this a try, It should do the trick!
http://www.dewitts.com/pages/product...asp?ProdID=281
John
http://www.dewitts.com/pages/product...asp?ProdID=281
John
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From: South of giving a damn
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A good aluminum Dewitt's radiator is the way to go. I never understood all the whiz bang electric fans on motors that should run cool if everything is set up properly. The extra fans are usually just masking an underlying, unresolved problem. I am running motors with over 400 hp with stock radiators and clutch fans and they run 180 all day long in the summer.
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Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Cape Cod, Mass.
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Never had a clutch fan do that in 38 years of driving old Corvettes. Guess I've been lucky. It is a different climate down there that will definitely test your cooling system but there are plenty of people running original setups as long as everything is set up properly.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Crossville TN
Geez... 
All of that for a pinhole leak??!!! 
Drain the radiator, wire brush the area of the leak to be clean of paint and corrosion, wipe some flux over the area, heat it up with your propane torch and add a 'dollop' of solder and let it flow smooth. Let it cool and touch up the paint; put in coolant and go.
Replacing the radiator to fix a pinhole leak is like getting a new paint job if you get a rock nick.....
All of that for a pinhole leak??!!! Drain the radiator, wire brush the area of the leak to be clean of paint and corrosion, wipe some flux over the area, heat it up with your propane torch and add a 'dollop' of solder and let it flow smooth. Let it cool and touch up the paint; put in coolant and go.Replacing the radiator to fix a pinhole leak is like getting a new paint job if you get a rock nick.....
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
From: Bellport NY
Geez... All of that for a pinhole leak??!!! Drain the radiator, wire brush the area of the leak to be clean of paint and corrosion, wipe some flux over the area, heat it up with your propane torch and add a 'dollop' of solder and let it flow smooth. Let it cool and touch up the paint; put in coolant and go.
Replacing the radiator to fix a pinhole leak is like getting a new paint job if you get a rock nick.....
All of that for a pinhole leak??!!! Drain the radiator, wire brush the area of the leak to be clean of paint and corrosion, wipe some flux over the area, heat it up with your propane torch and add a 'dollop' of solder and let it flow smooth. Let it cool and touch up the paint; put in coolant and go.Replacing the radiator to fix a pinhole leak is like getting a new paint job if you get a rock nick.....
When I got the 36 year old, original radiator fixed there were multiple leaks. I don't wnat to worry about yanking this thing apart again.
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Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Crossville TN
If the radiator is in "questionable" condition, I respect your hesitancy to keep the original radiator. A DeWitt's unit is certainly a good product to use as a replacement. I had the same decision to make and chose to have my original radiator hot-tanked, re-cored and the tanks/fittings repaired as necessary. It cost me about 1/2 the expense of a new DeWitt's unit and it dropped right back in where it set for the first 35 years of its life. I'm happy with my decision...but this decision is yours. 
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 12,399
Likes: 247
From: San Jose CA
A good aluminum Dewitt's radiator is the way to go. I never understood all the whiz bang electric fans on motors that should run cool if everything is set up properly. The extra fans are usually just masking an underlying, unresolved problem. I am running motors with over 400 hp with stock radiators and clutch fans and they run 180 all day long in the summer.Give me power, get rid of that stupid hoover noise every time I get on the gas pedal (yeah, it's a clutch fan, and the clutch works, but it still makes plenty of noise), and GIVE ME ROOM TO WORK IN FRONT OF THE MOTOR!
Oh my god, I hate pulling the clutch fan every time I swap belts.
