I have a 4 core small block radiator. Will a high efficiency fan along w/ the 4 core radiator cool my big block?

 

Tom Dewitt would know the answer to this. Check out his site located in the vendor area to the right of the screen and you may find some useful info- Dewitt's Radiators.

 

All the Big Blocks on this site on NO ONE knows???
:confused: :confused: :confused:

 

#1 - Yes, Big Blocks use Big **** 4-core radiators !
#2 - When you say hi-efficiency fans - you mean electric ???
#3 - What's the width (not depth) of you radiator ? 24" or 26" or 28" ???
#4 - Big Blocks mostly used Alum. radiators....

IF your radiator is a 4-core with an elec. fan & it's properly 'flushed' - then overheating should not be an issue.... :yesnod:

 

I think you have enough rad. Just make such your sealed and I would use a mech fan rather than an elec.

Electric do not pull or push enough air in a marginal case.

All 73-76 Vettes used the same rad, BB or SB.

Terry

 

BB's 454 were 4 core all right. The stock cooling setup is margional. To make it work, I went with a Stewart pump stage 2, a modified t-stat (holes to let the steam and pressure pass) run 90/10 water with water wetter in the summer and it runs at 190 unless in traffic, then goes up as high at 215, but comes back down fast when you get moving.

Make sure the bottom deflector is in place, all seals for the radiator and hood are ok. Timing and mixture in tune and they cool.

 

My 68 was originally a 427/390 HP big block. The radiator is a 4-quart radiator. I owned 2 69' small block convertibles before and both only had 3-quart radiators.

:cheers:

Olivier

 

I was thinking about running a electric fan, but I'm just worried the Small block 4 core will not cool the BB effieciently. Hopefully it will be enough.
:cheers:

 

>>I was thinking about running a electric fan, but I'm just worried the Small
>>block 4 core will not cool the BB effieciently. Hopefully it will be enough.

I run triple fans. (dual electric flex-a-lite and belt driven fan). I don't like coolant temperatures above 200 degrees and South Florida gets pretty hot!

:cheers:

Olivier

 

[QUOTEI run triple fans. (dual electric flex-a-lite and belt driven fan). I don't like coolant temperatures above 200 degrees and South Florida gets pretty hot!

Olivier[/QUOTE]

What are the measurements of the fans?
:cheers:

 

The flex-a-lite are dual 12" and the belt driven fan is approx. 14 "

:cheers:

Olivier

 

BB radiators should be aluminum :lol: :yesnod: !

 

All to often you'll get information back that might not even apply to your application. Before anyone makes a suggestion to you they should know what year you have, engine size, the existing core support, and what it is you are trying to accomplish. I didn't see that in the original post. While there are a lot of intelligent people on the forum, there is also a few that don't really know what their talking about, so be very careful. Cookie cut answers cannot be given out on technical problems like engine cooling. Lets take the subject : Are all bb rads 4 core? The term "4 core" is something thats is often mistakenly used (outside the radiator industry) to reference the number of tubes in a radiator core. Most rad shops and manufactures use the term "4 row". The "core" is the whole replaceable section between the tanks. There really is no such thing as a 4 core, that would be four radiators. Someone on ebay now has a four flue, what ever that it. That said I think your question should have said "are all bb rads copper/brass 4 row" and the answer is yes. The biggest problem area is the 66-68 BB rads, also used on 68 sb. This radiator used a 22.5" wide core, 4 rows of tubes. The radiators were increased in 69 to 27.5" due to overheating problems. When changing to an aluminum radiator you increase the cooling by about 30%. Unfortunately, the dual 11" electric fans are 23.5" wide and don't fit this radiator. My suggestion is to invest in the aluminum rad and use the stock set up. That should be enough. If you still want fans, you could use the single 16".td

 

I don't have a big block. But, I can say one thing. Nothing ever kept me as cool as a mechanical fan. If you can ignore the noise, you can't beat the cooling - especially if (like me) you're missing the lower deflector.....