What brand are you guy's using and what size (manuel or auto) how's the fit and how much didi you pay. I want a new one, and I've been looking at Griffen's that are 19 x 27 but not sure how thick they are. I've had problem's with the blower pulley rubbing on the top hose

 

i used a stock one with a stock waterpump and a 180* thermostat with the fans coming on earlier and didn't have a problem with overheating around the street

on the highway i ran a little hot because the ATI intercooler was blocking a lot of the air dam

i also know of another car that was going 10.dohs with a stock radiator on a 400" motor with a vortech and no intercooler

 

stock pos seems to be working well for me so far - though it's running a bit hotter on the highway probrobly due to the intercooler and non lockup 3000 stall converter

 

Ok everyone that has helped so far. I'm haveing troble with mine getting warm though 220 degree's. I have a stock one with duel fan's that run all the time and a stock pump with a flow kooler back plate and a 160 stat. But I know someone out there is using a aftermarket one. I just want some help finding one that will fit good with out haveing to buy the $650 Be Cool one. Thanks for the help so far but keep the suggestions coming.

 

Your stock radiator should work fine. I too have run the stocker on my supercharged 350. Are you running an underdrive pulley on the water pump? You may want to check out Guido's web site, I believe he is running an aftermarket radiator.

 

When I was running the stock radiator I had no heating troubles, but after replacing the plastic tanks twice over the years I decided to go with an all aluminum one.

The system consisted of a stock type water pump that I smoothed and opened the outlet passages up some with a die grinder (and the inlet holes in the block to match). The bypass passage in the pump was tapped and pipe plugged, and with an impeller plate like a flowkooler but made by me. The thermostat is a 180° Robert Shaw high flow stat with two 1/8" bypass/airbleed holes drilled in it. The heater core inlet had a flow restrictor on its inlet side made from a small freeze plug/oil passage plug with a 1/4" hole drilled in it. The lower radiator hose has the usual spring inside to prevent colapsing.
I used stock pulleys. I installed soft foam weather stripping around the perimeter in between the radiator and AC condenser core so the air at interstate speeds had to pass through the radiator. It has the stock single fan system. The plastic air deflector that attaches to the bottom of the core support is still there and in perfect condition. A lot of people under estimate the importance of this part at highway speeds. I use Redline Water Wetter, not because of any noticed decrease in coolant temp (there was none but they claim a decrease of up to 70° in the cylinder head metal, which may/should actually increase coolant temp since that is where the heat passes to if it really works as claimed to increase thermal transfer from the metal to the coolant) but because it is the best cooling system anticorrosive I have seen.

I had originally installed a 160° stat but it ran colder than I wanted in the winter. Winter temps averaged 145° to 165°. Summer temps averaged 165° to 172°.
With a 180° stat summer temps are around 175° to 185°. Winter temps are between 170° and 180°.

I didn't actually see any temp decrease from installing the Be Cool radiator. I wasn't having a problem with temp in the first place though. The temps cycle quicker (on the cool down side) with the Be Cool though. When the stat opens in the winter the temp drops much faster than it did with the stock radiator. Also when sitting still in the summer or winter the temp drops quicker when the fan turns on. It still just cools to the same temp as it did with the stock radiator it just does it quicker now.


The Be Cool unit is expensive, I paid $475 for mine (direct fit, two row, with auto trans cooler) but it is really worth it if high quality means much to you (or if you have 500 Benjamins burning a hole in your wallet). It is a perfect fit in between the frame rails and core suport bracing. The tanks are cut to follow the shape of the frame rails. The outside of the tanks are about 1/8" away from the frame rails you couldn't fit a wider radiator in there without cutting or severely denting the frame rails.. It uses the stock mounting hardware and fits tight and perfect everywhere so it really looks like it belongs there, not like an after thought. The tight fit also keeps air from blowing around the radiator at speed, forcing it through the core. You would need to fabricate shrouding and/or weather stripping to get the same effect with a universal fit unit. It came with an aluminum extention for the upper radiator support but I didn't need it and it looks better without it and allows more clearance for blower pulleys/belts too.
The Core is 28" wide and 15¾" high. The total width including tanks is 31" and the height is 16". You could use a Howe or Griffin or universal fit Be Cool of around this same size and pay around $200-$400 for it (depending on size, single or double row and with or without integral trans cooler) and just have to do some frabricating to fit it up. Be Cool

 

I just used a stock alum radiator and shortened the top radiator inlet and the upper radiator hose where it attaches there. I also added a piece of protective chrome piping incase of belt failure to offer additional clearance and protection. there is enough room for a 12 rib ( coming soon ) and still have about a 1/2" gap.

 

here is a "before the chrome pipe" picture showing the clearance it is a better angle but still does not show the good amount of clearance available now:

 

If you must go with an aftermarket radiator then you could really relocate the oulet, and/or use a big AN fitting

 

Ok, since we're talking about aluminum radiators, I have a question. I too bought a becool directfit aluminum radiator, but for some reason, the shop that is doing my motor swap work wanted me to get a manual radiator with NO tranny cooling lines/hookups, and wants me to run a auxilary tranny cooler on this turbo 400 that I'm getting put in.

So, since I'll be taking out all my a/c stuff, the question is, isn't the a/c condenser mounted in front of the radiator? (I know, I need to get off my lazy butt and look at the car, but it's in the shop now...) And if condenser in front of radiator, couldn't I mount an aux tranny cooler there? And if so, what size will fit in there?

Thanks for all the replys!

 

Originally posted by Digitalman:
Yep, that's where it is on F bodies and abut 99.999999999999999999999% of all AC equipped cars.

Yep, that's where most people do, either in place of or in front of the AC condenser
Pretty much any that you will find. They are generally quite a bit smaller than the radiator or condeser. Average size is about 15" long or less and average height is around 8" or less.

 

I have a C & R racing radiator in mine. I have about $300 in it. Its a 16 x 28" core. (I think. I know the width is same but its shorter) and it is 3" thick. I dont have a condensor core so I was able to push it a little further up under the core support.


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