After 20,000 miles, my radiator quit working. Running with the heater on full blast brings it under control at highway speed (thermostat regulates at proper point) which convinces me it's the radiator. I made the mistake of using "modern" antifreeze. My racing buddies say the old steel radiators with brass tubes don't get along well with modern antifreeze, and I should look for some "dumb" classic antifreeze at NAPA if I want to run an old radiator.

Bottom line here, is that I would like to replace it with a reasonably priced "modern" (read as aluminum) radiator that is close enough in size to be a darn near "drop in" fit. Anyone who has done such a thing, please chime in with recommendations and sources, please. I'd really like to use the stock shroud to keep the engine area looking reasonably stock, even if the radiator isn't black in color.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

 

Go to AutoZone and order a three row radiator, for you Classic then movr you fan back 1.5 inches back ., also get you some Redline Water Wetter put in your radiator it should be just fine , you also need to have a 5 - 7 blade fan also.

 

http://www.midnightdsigns.com/Mustan...r_install.html

 

An inch and a half is way too much spacing for a fan without a shroud. Ideally a 3-row brass radiator, clutch fan, and fan shroud will be fine. In that case, the fan should be 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the shroud. But without a shroud, the fan should be no more than an inch from the radiator, closer if possible. The farther away it is, the more air it will draw around the radiator instead of through it. None of this should affect freeway cooling, however.

I don't know what your buddies are talking about as far as the 'modern' antifreeze goes. I can only assume they're referring to orange dex-cool. Not sure why you'd use it on a non-GM vehicle, but there is no disadvantage aside from being completely incompatible with standard green coolant (mixing the two creates a sandy sludge that quickly clogs coolant passages). Other than that, standard green coolant works just as well most of the time.

Open your cap and see if there's any rust or sludge buildup in your coolant. If there is, your solution could be as simple as having a radiator shop backflush your cooling system.

 

Well guys, I found one hell of a deal at ALUMORAD. THey have a brand new TWO ROW ALL ALUMINUM replacement that will drop right in. Has front and back flanges to mount to radiator support and attach the fan shroud. Two rows of 15/16 tubes is only 1 1/2 inches thick ( 1/4 inch more than stock). Should cool about twice as good as the three row steel/brass original! Best part was the price - $239 and 25 for S&H. Based in Ohio, with distribution points around the country (6). Naturally, made in Taiwan, but pressure tested, and all beautifully TIG welded and pretty as hell... about 12 pounds. THe sales guy was very knowledgeable and gave me great tips - like flush the system first, and only use distilled water to mix with antifreeze. I plan on filling it with pure "ICE". This is the more eco friendly stuff and also kinder to the aluminum... Also transfers heat better. I use a 160 thermostat to make power. Higher temps are great for efficiency, but I want the HP...

 

A 160F t-stat is going to decrease power. The engine is not designed to run at that temp, and in fact it's not good for it at all. I don't know who told you that it's conducive to power production...

What happens is that the cooler combustion chamber surface temperatures cause more quench, meaning that all of the fuel in contact with those surfaces isn't going to completelyburn off- it's going to collect on those surfaces (which means, in addition to not producing power with that fuel, you get unwanted carbon buildup in the chambers). Ideally you'd run the engine ridiculously hot to reduce quench, burning more fuel to produce more power. Unfortunately you start to pre-ignite under those circumstances, which can lead to catastrophic engine failure. Therefore you run the engine as hot as you possibly can (design is about 205-215F) before you run into detonation. Under no circumstances will a cooler engine develop more power.

There are several companies experimenting with ceramic engines in the attempt to allow them to run much hotter than a cast iron or aluminum engine with this in mind. A hotter engine means less fuel wasted. Less fuel wasted means more burned to create power. More power from the same amount of fuel is efficient.

 

2 row radiaor? I think you need a 3 row at a minium.,, go with a shroud and spacing as described above...as said above check for "stuff.. like chucks of rust" around the opening of the radiator cap,,,if you see it there you need a new radiator and a filter till it clears up,,,good luck

 

+1 on James' post, aluminum radiators FTW!

 

you have to check out jegs - I got my Northern aluminum radiator, flexalite sycloneelectric fan with 2500 cfm, an absolutely sick looking billet overflow, wiring, support pieces for the radiator, temperature control unit, radiator cap for $514 (there are other cheaper bits but start adding all the stuff together, it came pretty cheap in my book). Attached are a pic from the Jegs site and mine installed (I am still in progress on assembly and the overflow tank is not on yet - just got the radiator and fan in). Definitely digging the aluminum radiator

[IMG]local://upfiles/34309/076AB975C06642C397D096170024EC5F.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/34309/1A1B7B8D7EED46B1A35DF05B44636194.jpg[/IMG]

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Alumi...spagenameZWDVW

We gotour radiator from this vendor... The radiator was marked "Northern" "Made in USA"....

The ad claims a different brand, but the photo looks like my radiator and the one BradleyB has above..

If you have a Manual trans they hace this same one for $30.00 less. Pay attention to the location of the bottom hose... they have one with the hose on the other side as well.

Ours keeps the 408 cool...