Hey All, just thought I'd give some feedback on a thicker than stock aluminum rad that costs under $200.

Bought it through Amazon for $185 w/free shipping. Search for "Chevrolet Corvette Full Aluminum 3-Row Racing Radiator - C4 5.7L V8 L98/LT1 ZR1" sold by Auto Dynasty
Basically it costs $90 more than a generic replacement so I decided to give it a try. I'd say its a 4 out of 5 for quality. At this price point I'm sure its not made in the US. But.. it appears to have decent quality.

I've never done a C4 rad before so it was all new to me. Took me every bit of 5hrs to R&R, clean, cut, fill and burp the system. Definitely took me much longer than I thought it was going too!
btw, who ever designed the top rad support ought to be fired. That monkey has clearly never had their hands under a hood.

Install tips:
- Trimming the lower rad support w/a dremel tool #561 multipurpose bit made fitting the rad to the lower rad support a breeze.
- The top rubber cushions can be cut to fit w/a knife.
- You must have the tranny cooling pipe adapters (for auto equipped C4s)
- You can do this with the AC condenser in place.
- You need to jack up the passenger front of the car (for draining and to crawl under)

As for the radiator design I give them one ding. The upper coolant hose pipe is too close to the e-fan shroud. (you can see its closer to center of car in the pic below). It'll "fit" but I'd suggest keeping everything loose and putting that hose and clamp on. Then tightening everything else.

Here are the rads specs:
- Constructed of High Quality T-6061 Aluminum Construction.
- High Performance JDM Spec. 3-Row Racing Design
- Light Weight Direct Bolt-On OEM Fitment or Replacement.
- Stronger & Higher Capacity for Coolant than Stock Units
- Highly Increase Cooling Performance
- Overall Size: 27.5 x 18.00 x 2.50 Inch.
- Core Size: 23.50 x 18.00 x 2.13 Inch
- Inlet/Outlet Diameter: 1.50"/ 1.625"


My C4 is a completely stock 95 w/auto and only 32k miles. Last fall I took it on a 600+ mile trip and about a week after getting back I was smelling just a slight wiff of anti-freeze after getting out of the car. But it wasn't dripping, not steaming, and I couldn't nail down where it was coming from. But I knew that smell and I knew it was the vette. Well after parking it for a week I saw the drip point. Weird but the bottom of the rad on the passenger side was leaking and filling up the lower rad support (which doesn't have drain holes). So it had to leak maybe 6-8oz and fill up the support before it started to drip to the pavement.

So onto the results. It used to run a steady 193F. I put the new rad in, new hoses, a new 180 T-stat, and now its right at 186F. After a month or two I'll re-report.

 

Great Post Dude. Been wanting to do that on my 85 before something goes bad. Thanx's for all the Info

 

I'm getting ready to order a radiator for my '87. Where did you have to trim the lower support? Is there clearance to remove/reinstall the rad without removing the hood prop? I'm hoping not to have to remove the hood to do this.
Bob

 

The OP's post is only relevant to those that have '90+ C4's. '89 and earlier have a vertical radiator with completely different shrouds and fan arrangements.

OP - What was the "branding" of the radiator? It's difficult to compare based on only price and maybe there's actually no comparison what so ever to the others that have similar applications. You're happy with your results and your $$'s paid so that's certainly to be considered. It will take time to actually evaluate. Interesting post noting the installation challenges.

 

I was hoping the differences were more cosmetic than that between the '90+ cars and the earlier ones. Good to know. Thanks.

 

Auto Dynasty is the seller. (no branding on box or on the part)

Time will tell that's for sure. In the two days I've driven it (around town) it's noticeably cooler. Yesterday I drove it to a max speed of 27mph. Many stop lights in stop and go Sunday afternoon traffic running across town. Highest I saw was 190F.

I did the whole job with the hoods stock prop holding it open.

Oh an btw, they are not kidding about the weight. It's approx 2/3rds the weight of the stock unit. Definitely noticeable. Probably offset by the increased mass of the extra coolant though.

 

Update:
After day 1 I had a leak. It was the bott hose at the rad. Turns out the new hose (Gates) has a thinner wall thickness than the OEM and so the factory constant tension hose clamp wasn't clamping very hard. (I could move the hose by hand w/the clamp on)
So today I put a worm gear type of clamp on and topped off the fluid.

Decided it was a good time to put it to the test! I drove 20miles in mixed traffic. 6 of which was 20-25mph through town w/stop lights. Was running 188-190 the whole time. So it was good and warm then I pulled in the driveway & parked against the garage door so there was no air flow at all. Ambient temp was 77F and the hood was closed and I let it idle for 35 minutes.
In summary.. it went to 230 twice, the fans came on (low speed) and pulled it down to 193-194 both times. Interestingly after the 2nd high temp the fans stayed on and it was sitting at 194 for about the last 10 mins.

So all in all.. for a total of $198 this has turned out to be a good value and a solid decrease in coolant temps.

NOTE: I took a pic of the top rad hose connection point to show the too close condition. It's doable.. but they really ought to move it outward 1/8-1/4"

 

My 1988 radiator swap was simple. A direct fit replacement American Eagle $180 delivered to my door 2 row all aluminum. Over 2 years ago I did this swap. So far solid construction and has held up trouble free. Living in AZ it was the best modification I made to the car. 700R4 connection was not an issue.

 

Two month update: I've driven it on several 90 degree days and its doing just fine. Now that all the air is purged and its been driven about 500 miles the temps have settled right at 188-190 after about 10 miles on the hwy. When hot and cruising through stop and go through town I've seen it get up to 196 but not any higher.

So this radiator from Amazon has turned out to be a good value. Just be prepared to spend some time and you'll need to modify the rad isolators.

 

How did you ultimately resolve those ultra hot environmental issues of the Arizona climate? I remember your post on the subject back then.

 

I would slide a piece of rubber to insure the radiator hose over time would not touch the plastic shroud

 

Great Thread. Wish you would of weighted both first off, to see exactly how much more you were adding to the front nose. What ever it is, its well worth it.

 

my scale isn't very good for this kind of shape. In my estimation the weight when filled w/coolant would be about identical to each other.