Modding a DeWitt radiator
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 4
From: Shelby Township Michigan
Modding a DeWitt radiator
I have a DeWitt in my car now but I was thinking about having a radiator shop cut off the top 3 or 4 cooling rows and soldering them shut so I can get a straight shot into my F1a SC with the air intake. I see DeWitt sells a radiator like this now so I thought it would be a cheap mod to get a nice power increase with a tune in the spring. The Procharger air bridge is super restrictive so I think I should see some nice gains. Anyone else cut their Dewitt radiator or see an issue with this mod? The radiator they sell now looks just like what I'm planning to do so I don't think it should be an issue and the car runs pretty cool now. Thanks for any input.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,709
Likes: 16
From: pembroke pines (broward) florida
Modding a DeWitt radiator
They are aluminum so can't be soldered but alloy welded. Could be done but it won't be pretty finished. Pulling the rows off tubing and fins off is where it may get messy
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
Joined: Dec 2010
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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
I'm not sure if the c6's are capable of this but on the c5's some guys will cut the radiator mounts off the cradle and have them welded back on the in a lower position to give clearance for a 4" inlet... I would much rather do something like this rather than losing some of the radiators capacity, especially with the cooling issues these cars have
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 4
From: Shelby Township Michigan
I'm not sure if the c6's are capable of this but on the c5's some guys will cut the radiator mounts off the cradle and have them welded back on the in a lower position to give clearance for a 4" inlet... I would much rather do something like this rather than losing some of the radiators capacity, especially with the cooling issues these cars have
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,034
Likes: 111
this is exactly what I did but I just sent my radiator back to Dewitts and had them cut a big square chunk out right in front of the blower because i wanted to run a velocity stock intake directly on the front of the blower with no turn in piping at all. it wasn't expensive and john at dewitts is the man and very good to work with. They pressure tested it and even found a tiny leak I didn't know about from before, turnaround was fast and pricing was fair.
I got it back and looks beautiful and the fit is tighter than I thought but it worked great and the car coolls perfectly. plus radiator looks new now
We didn't dyno before and after but with my old setup at 760whp the stock procharger intake setup was causing all sorts of belt slip issues from intake restriction, and i've seen dynos show 20-40whp gains from moving to 4" dallas performance intake
I'm sure any local radiator shop could do this but I only trust Dewitts so it was worth the $50 to send it to them and get peace of mind.
I got it back and looks beautiful and the fit is tighter than I thought but it worked great and the car coolls perfectly. plus radiator looks new now
We didn't dyno before and after but with my old setup at 760whp the stock procharger intake setup was causing all sorts of belt slip issues from intake restriction, and i've seen dynos show 20-40whp gains from moving to 4" dallas performance intake
I'm sure any local radiator shop could do this but I only trust Dewitts so it was worth the $50 to send it to them and get peace of mind.
