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Try it. It's worth trying. I've had an aluminum Summit Radiator in my car for like 15 years and it works like a dream. And this is better because it supposedly fits directly.
Last edited by carriljc; Oct 15, 2020 at 03:50 PM.
ok tremendously lame question: I can remove the regular fan since I’m going with a dual fan on the shroud? Won’t that cause issues?
What fan? If you have a dual-Spal fan or equivalent that pulls air through the radiator and includes its own shroud, you can remove the stock shroud and the stock clutch fan. No issues, as long as you leave your waterpump. I don't know how else you would get it all to fit anyway.
What fan? If you have a dual-Spal fan or equivalent that pulls air through the radiator and includes its own shroud, you can remove the stock shroud and the stock clutch fan. No issues, as long as you leave your waterpump. I don't know how else you would get it all to fit anyway.
you are correct here is the video of the old radiator
A 2-row 1" or 1-1/4" tubes aluminium rad is the norm these days. You don't need 3 or 4 rows unless you do have 750 HP.
my current radiator that's coming out and the hose measure about 1-1/4" and i'm looking at a 1" radiator outlet/inlet. how would i adapt it down to fit the hose? or would I replace that with a 1" to 1 1/4" hose?
A lot of people don’t know much about radiators or how they perform, most people still think you need to slow the fluid down in order for there to be time to cool it! Soooo much miss information out there about all these things. Fun fact- single 1” core will out cool a dual 1/2” core. Most radiators you see that are 3-4 core have tiny 1/2-5/8” cores and you can tell because it will say 4 cores but the core width is only 2.5”. Now when you have multiple cores you need gaps between cores so a 3 core has 2 gaps between the outer and inner core. Basically you lose cooling surface area and thus reduce cooling capacity. A dual 1” or 1.25” core is more than most will need for cooling. The larger tubes allow more surface area, less gaps means more cooling surface. A lot of people think they need lots of cores and they are wrong. You want a rad that has enough cooling while still allowing air to pull through easily. When you increase core thickness you add restriction which means air will have a harder time making its way through. This also means that your fans have to work harder to pull air through and guess what? Fans especially electric are mostly grossly over rated CFM wise and they operate just like a fuel pump. Restriction on the fan side to pull air through a thick core reduces the CFM of the fan and almost all manufactures besides Spal and derale test fan CFM open air (not against a rad and having to pull through a restriction) they call this static pressure. As the pressure increases fan CFM drops like a rock. A easy way to tell is how many amps the fan pulls, so every 10amps is worth about 1000cfm ish as a rule of thumb. Now people slap in 3” core radiators and there cooling is improved but they are hurting themselves more than helping. 3” core thickness needs some SERIOUS fans to work as intended. Also what are the limits of cores and HP? Well it’s not that easy, be cool will use a dual 1” core rad with a set of fans and rate it to 400hp, they sell another that’s good for 600hp... guess what the difference is? The fans!!! The radiator doesn’t change and they just put better fans that pull more air. There is a reason the OEMs use single core 1-1.25” thickness cores and they can cool 400-500hp motors with AC, the radiator is very efficient bc air can pass through it easily and OEM fans are some of the best you can buy. They spend millions designing and testing cooling system components... something that be cool and the other brands just can’t compete with. If you want to get the max cooling with the space available on these cars get a dual 1” core radiator and slap on a good single 2 speed OEM fan or high end SPAL or Derale or get a dual fan setup from both or OEM. Get a veritable speed controller with soft start or make your own dual speed GM controller with 3 relays. If you have good fans your looking at 20-30amps running and spike will
be higher like 30-50amps easily. With that being said a 2 row 1” core radiator and a good set of fans will
easily cool 600hp all day in 100*F heat. You also
want the coolant to flow as fast as possible through the rad and engine so a high flow waterpump is always a good idea.
my experience has been at least 5 different setups
and cars which all make 500-750hp and are only street driven in hot 80-100*F high humidity weather. I only run 2 row 1” cores and always get the best fans I can with integrated shroud of some kind covering 80% or more of the core. I’ve run be cool, Howe, afco racing, griffin, champion etc and they all
work well. Fans have been OEM Mark IIV, new 08+
charger, Chevy traverse (perfect fit for a 31x19 rad with 27” core) and then I’ve run spal, derale and some legit knock off spals. I always test my fans with a high accuracy DC meter which tells me amps, watt power and other info so I know what they pull at startup and running to size wiring and fuse correctly. My favorite was the mark VII and my turbo LS firebird that runs derale shroud with dual spal 13” high output on a soft start variable controller. With alot of hot turbo piping under the hood and a afco racing 2 row 1” core rad I can have my LS run 165-185 no mater the outside temp which it has a 160tstat that I tested opens at 173*F. So it basically Bounces around with the Tstat opening and closing. That car makes 750hp at 15psi and I street drive it at 13psi everytime it’s on the road and I drive it like I stole it.
sorry for the rant, if you were sub 450hp you could run a single 1” row core and probably be fine with some decent fans. Im referring to aluminum radiators and not copper.
Trust me there is alot I'm not even bringing up lol but it helps save you money if you know how things work and only buy once and what you actually need.
That radiator is fine (I have one on my 78 that I just put in but haven't finished the build) the shroud probably won't work and fans are junk. You have to look at the fan and radiator position in the car. Since this is a direct fit style (it does not just drop in trust me as I just put this one in my car) the core size is comparable to stock which should be 26.25" wide. What they don't tell you is that the upper Aarm bolts/bushings/mounts block 2.5" of the core on the driver side and limit height off the rad core on both sides but predominantly on the driver side. Your better off going with a smaller shroud that pushes the fans closer and all the way to the passenger side. Then you have to worry about fan depth and where the placement is relative to the suspension I just spoke about. Those fans on that shroud might fit but its because the fans are very slim and cheap (not powerful). Perfect example of cheap fans with exagerated CFM ratings, those do not pull 1400cfm.... your going to be lucky to get 500cfm maybe through the core probably. You can fit the radiator (that one will cool 600+hp) but the shroud and fan placement is the hard part. Good fans will have a min depth of 3.5-4.5" from the core to the motor which wont fit between the rad and Aarms. easiest is to get a single 16" fan shroud (centers the fan to clear the suspension) and then you have LOTS of depth to fit a big *** fan like a Mark VII. A good option is get that rad, get a single 16" shroud for $80 on ebay and then slap on the 17" derale 2 speed fan which should be more than fine for your setup. The fan alone is like $130-150 (if you can find it in stock) and the shroud is $80 which puts you at $210-230 for the fan/shroud combo. Then you need to control the 2 speed function which will require a controller or dual relay setup to trigger each speed so figure $30 in relay and wiring etc if you make it yourself. Otherwise purchasing will cost more but make sure its adequate wiring as the fans pull serious amps if they are good. So think 12-10 gauge wire and good relays with fuses/circuit breaker. Or you could go with a dual fan shroud that is 23.5-24" wide and if you push it all the way to the pass side it clears the Aarms on the driver side as well... negative is you leave 2.25" or core exposed with no fan/shroud so no air pulling through at low speed. THis is what I did as I got the fans/shroud for $120 which is cheaper than a single fan shroud and good single fan and they put out close if not slightly more than the single CFM. As you can see from the pics the exposed core on the driver side (you can make a shroud to pull air from that and modify the fan shroud to allow that if you really want to) but like I said as long as your 80% or better coverage on the core your fine. Also you can see how they BARELY clear the Aarms (stupid corvette) and how you are very limited with a dual setup. To fit the rad I had to trim the rad bushings as well as other small tweaks.
as far as the wiring is concerned, do you have a link perhaps as to a good one? I see quite a few and the one I linked earlier seems cheap. Lastly I’m reading about the alternator having to be replaced for the amperage. Was thinking 140amp proform chrome. What say you?
as far as the wiring is concerned, do you have a link perhaps as to a good one? I see quite a few and the one I linked earlier seems cheap. Lastly I’m reading about the alternator having to be replaced for the amperage. Was thinking 140amp proform chrome. What say you?
You could but you would be giving up even more than I did on the core. Get this shroud for $79, then get the fan and bolt it on. that way you have 100% core coverage and the good fan. You might have to open the hole a little but probably not. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ALUMINUM-RA....c100005.m1851
Depends what Alt you have, more than likely you will need over a 105 amp, a 140 should do it. I run the LS style motors and the stock truck large case alt is only $80 and its rated at 130amp but puts out more like 160-170amps. So as long as your 140 puts out more amps at idle you should be good, these vettes dont have alot of electronics so fans will be the biggest draw besides a decent sound system. Just be mindful that some alts claim high amps but they actually put out alot less at idle and low rpms than stock or better units. You want one that will provide good idle amps as thats where it really matters.
so with more and more research i found what i think may be a good deal. champion lifetime warranty 2 row 1" tubes with spal fan and shroud that covers it all and relay switch comes out to about 520. see pic. I like the fact it's one seller instead of piece mealing it up on ebay like i usually do. As far as clearance is concerned I did the math and since it's a one fan 2 row i SHOULD be ok. the only thing for me to recheck would be the middle where the fan sits (says I need at least 6.25") the overall dimensions are there. I don't want to be super tight on both ends like you showed me.
if this looks good then i'll tear the harmonic balancer off tomorrow, order that and this at the same time.
Looking at that setup it looks fine, I feel that the fan is slightly underpowered given the price and size. The spal 2049 fan is only rated to 2000cfm and that’s the high end fan that’s going to cost you an additional $100. I still feel that the derale two speed 17” is the best bang for your buck for flow and cost, two speeds are much better since you really will
never hit high speed very often and that lower speed makes the motors last longer. It’s up to you but $80 plus $130 is only $210 and the radiator is $180ish which puts you at $390. You can make a dual relay harness or buy one for less than $50.
i'll do the math. i spent most of the day taking everything apart and washing down the 40 year grime on the car so i can give it at least a coat of black 500 degree paint. give me a few to post i need a beer lol.
I bought a 3 row champion on ebay about 6-7 years ago.. Its been trouble free.
Found a shroud and fan but at the last second I decided not to install and just put the factory shroud and fan on since my uncle has had nothing but overheating issues with the dual electric fan setup he had on his 76...
EDIT* I did put a lower temp heavy duty fan clutch on the engine since the original seemed worn and weak.
Last edited by augiedoggy; Oct 20, 2020 at 08:19 AM.
Radiator swap
