Hi guys,

I'm wondering if I should add seals to my radiator. I have a 350 and have installed a new aluminum radiator with dual fans. There are no seals currently so I want to know if it would be worthwhile to add seals and if so, should I get the seal kit or buy that pipe insulation from home depot that I have seen people using.

Thanks

 

I'm going to be facetious for a moment to make a point;

Sure! Chevy spent all that money to put them in, FOR NO REASON! lol

The C-3 MUST have seals to ASSURE that all the airflow flowing under the car and through the grills GO THOUGH THE RADIATOR...your fans are the MINOR part of the airflow. Put another way, you have NO RAM-AIR
You cannot be TOO **** sealing the radiator/hood/core support.

Ps The configuration of the fans leaves MUCH to be desired. There is no air plenum there, so the only airflow you have is the round circumference of the individual fans.
If you look at your radiator as square inches of cooling surface...then you subtract the two annulus' of the fans....perhaps 40% of the surface area is being covered.
Then there is the Tabs that mount the fans, they are blocking the cooling fins of the radiator.

Here in PHX that car would never get to where it's going!

Don't take this too personally....Electric cooling fan applications...90% of the ones I see are garbage. Nice big radiator and you negated it with poor airflow understanding.

PPS the Air Cleaner is a 'hot air induction device'....from an engineering standpoint...you went backwards.

Unkahal

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm not too familiar with the particulars of having an ideal cooling system. When I bought the car, it had an old black radiator with no seals of any kind. I had the radiator replaced when the motor was rebuilt a couple of years ago and at that time the shop added the 2 electric fans. Any input would be appreciated. Would you suggest I get the seals that go on top and on the sides? Remove the electric fans? I don't know what you meant by going backwards regarding the air cleaner. I live in BC and summer temps here at the most reach about 86 Fahrenheit.

 

Unkahal is right on. Air is like water - it'll find the easiest way around and, in this case, waaaay too much will go around your radiator. This link will take you to several options - it's the same stuff that you can pay for in a kit, and pay 4 times as much for one fourth the product in the kit. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seal it up so that the more of the air is 'forced' thru the radiator (a good fan does that), make sure your chin spoiler is in place. IMO, a good shroud and factory fan does a better job of pulling the air thru the radiator, but that's IMO - and maybe it won't fit with your new config. Best, Paul

 

Don't try to fix a problem that may not exist. Your out in Vancouver and I'm here in Halifax. Most of my seals are gone but I don't drive in +90*F because it rarely happens here. So I have no heating issues with my current setup. Why not wait for the summer and see how she cools? Go to Kelowna on a 100+ day and see how she cools. Then decide.

 

So the amazon sealing pieces, I would install those in the small gap between the radiator and the support? I've added some pics of the install showing the gap on the top and sides. Would it be enough to add the seals to eliminate the top and side gaps? I have the front extended lip as well. Just wondering what way I should proceed.

 

I would get rid of that fan setup and go back to a 7-blade, hd clutch fan with a proper shroud. Or at the least put those electric fans in a shroud. But again, if that setup cools, save your money.

 

Of course everybody has to find this out SOMETIME! lol

1. Sealing ALL THE WAY AROUND the periphery of the radiator WITHOUT blocking the coils. This is between the rad and the core support.
2. Sealing UNDER the rad where it sits on the 'shelf'...further, if this seal is not there you'll be buying a new radiator soon enough, because the shelf will wear a hole in the radiator! (alum=soft+ steel=hard + vibration.) Further, I do not see the rubber cushions under the upper rad retainers....soon radiator is BYE BYE!
3. Top of radiator core support to Hood seals, around the hinges too!
4. The fans have no plenum....they should be AT LEAST 'plenum'd out' 2" from the radiator so when the fans go on they pull air from the ENTIRE surface of the radiator. EVEN with a properly designed and implemented plenum, all RAM AIR is through the fans ONLY....Zora is spinning at 10,000RPM. The best plenums have FLAPPERS of rubber that open at speed (ram-air) and close on suction from the fans (idle).
5. All that hot air coming off the engine and radiator is going DIRECTLY into the air cleaner....there (AGAIN!) is a reason Chevy ducts the air into the air cleaner from IN FRONT of the radiator and or from the high pressure area at the base of the windshield. You are just a sucking in HOT THIN air into the intake!

One of my pet peaves is aftermarket parts that 'people' throw at cars....the Vendor probably didn't do any real world testing, or they tested it to the wrong criteria,

Search these forums for ELECTRIC FAN PLENUMS.....you'll see what I mean.

Heat Transfer is my business...this is why I can look at a picture and expound! AeroTHERMOdynamic Engineer.

Best of Luck..... ps even CAN-A-DiAN Corvettes overheat! lol.

Unkahal

 

I searched electric fan plenum and i found some install pics here in the forum, is this what you meant?


I see this install has some sort of rubber sealing or tubing pieces across the top, would something similar to this be sufficient for my setup?
Also for the two radiator support hooks on top, would it be okay to remove them, install some of this same sealing tube underneath it and then bolt it back up?
Lastly for the lower rad supports, Im assuming there are 2 similar hooks like this at the bottom that the rad rests on, would you suggest I install the sealing tube pieces on those just like how I asked to install them on top?

 

I don't know if I needed them or not but I filled the gap with foam.

 

I replaced my radiator with aluminum unit in October, wanted to go with electric fans but had great advice here about what works the best. Unkahal is right on with suggestions! I have seen the twin fan unit with shroud you just attached. It’s a Spal setup and runs about $500. It has flaps that open at speed and fans are running they stay closed. I cleaned my shroud, got a new clutch and painted original fan. Works great but it does make some noise at wide open throttle. Good luck and remember no question is a bad one, many friends are here to help you !

 

Thanks for all the responses, I do appreciate the help. I think I will buy some of that amazon sealing foam and at least start by covering the gaps on the top and sides with the foam. That snorkel going from the air cleaner to the rad is nice! I wonder if i could do something like that with my setup. I do have a L88 hood and I can clearly see the air cleaner from inside the car, does having a L88 hood force cool air from the rear into the engine bay?

 

I think if the hood is open to the cowl, and with an open element air cleaner, then what you are doing is allowing hot-air to move thru the engine complartment and out the cowl opening (not a bad thing), but NO cold from the cowl is ever going to overcome the force of the engine air escaping and feed the carb.

 

I see, well I guess at the minimum it will allow some hot air to escape the engine bay.

 

Are you having cooling issues?

 

I don't think seals are going to do you any good. You have bigger issues with your radiator setup. I would suggest the first thing you do is find out if you have cooling issues at all. The setup you have may work fine. If it does, you're done, unless perhaps you plan on driving to Phoenix in August.

If you have issues, your first step is to make sure all the air that the fan is drawing is being pulled through the radiator. If you look at your fans, at best they are only drawing air through an area equal to the area of the fans, which means about 2/3 of your radiator is pretty much useless. A fan shroud (or plenum as some here describe it) is necessary to force all the airflow through the rad. The purpose of the seals is to seal the shroud to the radiator to make sure no air drawn by the fan is leaking around the rad, and all is coming through it. A secondary purpose is to make sure the air being drawn into the rad is cool outside air, and not warm underhood air.

Start by seeing if you have a problem. I have a 427 small block behind a stock radiator and an engine driven fan with a lousy replacement fan clutch. The rad seals are long gone and I have never had a problem with cooling. Of course I can count the number of 100 degree days here in the last ten years on two hands.

 

Yep, you don't always need seals. I'm pushing about 450 hp at the flywheel and with my Cold Case rad and 160*F thermostat on an 80^F day, the gauge is reading a steady 160-ish*F. I doubt it would be much different with a/c. Those rads have a large capacity to cool.

 

I actually don’t know if I have a cooling problem. The gauge hasn’t been working since I bought it. I purchased a mechanical temp gauge which I plan to install. I tried measuring the temp with a gun once and I remember it being around 190. So at this point I’m not certain whether the car is overheating or not.

 

Ya, you might wanna deal with getting a functioning temp gauge before worrying about seals. Do you have a functioning oil pressure gauge? These are the two most critical gauges you need working.

 

Yeah you're a long way from worrying about rad seals. Start with the basics.