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Universal radiator installation.....tips

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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 08:16 AM
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Default Universal radiator installation.....tips

Can those of you that have installed either the Jegs, summit, BeCool etc "universal" style radiators chime in with installation tips.

I am gonna tackle this over the long New Year weekend.....any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Nick
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 08:36 AM
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I had to move the upper radiator clamps only to mount mine





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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 08:47 AM
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Thanx Mike.............I have another question for everyone.

I have a Be Cool universal 31" by 18" GM style radiator (factory fit doesn't help me because of the nature of the water neck of the Barry Grant six shooter and the fact that I am running a reverse rotation water pump for the serpentine kit.) Plus I like th ebillet tanks, no epoxy and it has a drain plug.

Now the be Cool radiator is a single core, 21" x 17" x 1-1/4" , 1" core tubes. Supposedly good for cooling 350 Hp on the Summit website (well the techs at Be Cool told me 400) will that be enuff?? I am running dual spals.

Nick

Last edited by lvrpool32; Dec 28, 2005 at 08:54 AM.
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 11:27 AM
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Smokedtires. What size is that flexilite fan? Also, how is it mounted (through the radiator?).
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 12:43 PM
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Ya Mike...I want to know too!!

Nick, New front spoiler eh.....How does it look from the side?? I was partial to your old one with the turnbuckles....What did you do with that one???

Last edited by Stewart's74; Dec 28, 2005 at 12:49 PM.
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 02:34 PM
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Originally Posted by lvrpool32
Can those of you that have installed either the Jegs, summit, BeCool etc "universal" style radiators chime in with installation tips.

I am gonna tackle this over the long New Year weekend.....any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Nick
To each their own of course.... I removed the whole radiator core support since it was looking ugly... Fortunately it was surface rust only. Cleaned up nicely...gentle sanding then por15

Summit universal aluminum radiator that is 28" wide I think. I made a braket that holds the top and switched the lower ruber pads out for the heavy duty radiator style that accomodate a thicker radiator. Mounted one summit branded electric fan on the backside pulling air through. Lower radiator hose is 89 (I think) ford bronco piece for the 8 cylinder engine. Top radiator hose is stock (for a 77' vette anyhow). B&M plate transmission cooler since I have a th350 auto in the car mounted in front of the radiator on metal brackets I fabbed up.

Right now I used pipe insulation to stop up the gaps around the radiator until I get a real solution in place. The sealing around the radiator is CRITICAL...without this I still run 220 degrees...with insulation it drops 30-40 degrees. Single summit fan can just barely keep up at idle if it's 90 degrees outside. I do not have air conditioning on the vehicle. It's cleveland...it doesn't get that much warmer so it's been fine.

The summit universal that says "Northern" on the side is a very nice radiator.

You could also pay 500 dollars for the correct fit DeWitt piece and save yourself a LOT of headache and trial and error fitting. Most of the time went into redoing the core support.

-Matt
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 05:54 PM
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It's the dual 12" fan kit and yes I did mount it through the radiator fins with the zip tabs that came with it
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 05:56 PM
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Here you go Bud http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/GriffinFans.doc

This should help out a ton.
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