Radiators

[2wrench]

Been meaning to discuss this. My car would slowly
warm to concerning temps if at idle in traffic for
a somewhat extended period. Traffic lights were
generally not a problem, though.

Buy new/different radiator?
Go aluminum?
Boil and reinstall the old feller?
(New water pump coming with rebuild).

What's the best configuration, in your opinion.

It will get hot and dry in the San Joaquin Valley of
California I live in.

Whatdayathink?

 

[DrEntropy]

Rod/recore rad. Flush the blo...oh, wait! You'll have a NEW engine. Have the rad recored, you should be good-to-go!

 

[Tinster]

Doc,

I installed a new radiator and had the same overheating
problem here in the tropics. I removed the 180*F thermostat
and installed a 160*F thermostat. All the problems disappeared. I never overheat now.

Just an idea.

d

 

[Tinkerman]

2wrench, from a dollar point of view I would get it checked out at a radiator shop first. I ended having to get mine recored. I considered the al route but in a BCF consultation thread (some time back) I got my mind changed about that. To many potential problems.
The recoring was slightly more expensive, about $500 as I recall, but I felt that recoring was preferable to the new radiators with the cheaper tanks and core. I now have a heavy duty radiator that is identical to the one that came out.
You might want to consider an electric fan also.

Cheers, Tinkerman

 

[DrEntropy]

With a freshly boiled/rebuilt engine and a rercored rad, he should be fine. A 165* 'stat wouldn't hurt, but I would be running the "break-in" miles with the higher one first.

 

[NickMorgan]

I had hair-line crack in the top of my radiator on the filler neck. I also used to find that the car would get critically hot if stuck in traffic. Last winter I had the radiator repaired as the crack had enlarged slightly. Now I find that the temperature never rises above three quarters.
This is the car's original radiator that has not been re-cored, just flushed through every three years and always with the correct anti-freeze. When I rebuilt the engine about 15 years ago I did find a lot of rust particles around each liner, so the water-ways are now clear. However, having said all of this, we are talking about Scottish weather here!
The point being, though, is to check that the system is pressurising properly and that the radiator cap is sealing properly.

 

[2wrench]

2wrench, from a dollar point of view I would get it checked out at a radiator shop first. I ended having to get mine recored. I considered the al route but in a BCF consultation thread (some time back) I got my mind changed about that. To many potential problems.
The recoring was slightly more expensive, about $500 as I recall, but I felt that recoring was preferable to the new radiators with the cheaper tanks and core. I now have a heavy duty radiator that is identical to the one that came out.
You might want to consider an electric fan also.

Cheers, Tinkerman

Tinker: Recore $500??? To quote our good Dr.E from
another post: (Picture back of wrist to forhead)
Swoon...thud.

By the way, I'd like to learn how to quote just a single
line from another post. I highlight it, click "quote"
and bang....get the whole thing.

 

[DrEntropy]

You can copy/paste and use HTML... <span style="color: #FF0000">["quote"]</span> quoted paste here <span style="color: #FF0000">["/quote"]</span>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] By the way, I'd like to learn how to quote just a single
line from another post. [/QUOTE]

Just drop the quotatiom marks. You do kmow how to highlight, then "ctrl+c" don't ya? place cursor & "ctrl+v" for paste...


... just in case. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

 

[DrEntropy]

And a recore shouldn't be *that* expensive. Shop around, ask the hot-rodders (clubs) in the area... do some creative bush-beatin'!

 

[Brosky]

Any thoughts about the Aluminum versions sold by TRF and others?

 

[Tinster]

Hey 2!

The radiator on my car blew up 2 days after my wife
purchased the TR6 from you know who. Here's a photo
I took thru my windshield this morning at the start
of the Pepsi Challenge 100 mile bike race.

I have to wonder if this rider's bike has been maintained
well enough to go a 100 miles without a break down???

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonod.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonod.gif ha,ha,ha,ha

d- sorry guys, I just couldn't resist this one!!!

 

[TR3driver]

Any thoughts about the Aluminum versions sold by TRF and others?

I asked my radiator guy about it, and he felt they were generally a poor idea. If I remember correctly, he said they had to be larger to offer the same cooling (since aluminum doesn't conduct heat as well as copper/brass), which pretty much offset the weight advantage; plus they don't last as long and are harder to repair. But since he's been in the business for something like 35 years, he might be something of a traditionalist /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

For my TR3A, recoring proved to be the "magic bullet" that solved all my overheating problems. According to the same radiator guy (who I've been dealing with for over 20 years and he's never steered me wrong yet), my original radiator had lousy thermal efficiency even though it didn't leak (much) and flowed just fine. I also opted to leave out the crank hole, which he said was costing about 10% of the cooling. I remember the cost being closer to $200, but of course that was some years ago. Copper has gotten more expensive since then, I'm sure.

If I were doing it again today, I'd also opt to have him change the filler to accept a modern cap; and add braces to the expansion tank.

 

[Brosky]

All good points Randall. I will probably have mine recored and a petcock added for drainage when I swap the block next winter.

 

[Guest]

Any thoughts about the Aluminum versions sold by TRF and others?

I have an aluminum radiator (Ron Davis) and have no complaints. When I on occasion check my coolant, everything is nice and clean.

Plus ya'll know I have a Spal 16" electric puller fan and no crank fan.


Works for me.

 

[Brosky]

Ya'll got a wirin' diagram and link for that there high falutin' 16" puller fan yer so proud of?

 

[Guest]

https://www.spalusa.com

The fan uses their own wiring harness. I wired it directly to the battery. Everything you wanted to know about electric fans and an unbelievable selection. The fan and harness are the best quality. Period.

 

[tdskip]

I had my re-cored for $350 down here in SoCal- probably would be similar in Tracy.

 

[Brosky]

Okay Bill,.....so far, so good.

Do you have a straight, curved or paddle blade?

 

[BryanC]

I see the big three sell new radiators for around $220. What is the downside to using one of those vs. paying $300 to $500 to have mine re-cored? Do they look different? Are they somehow not as good?

Bryan

 

[Guest]

Okay Bill,.....so far, so good.

Do you have a straight, curved or paddle blade?

16", straight blade, high performance.

The beauty of Spal is their website has complete tech drawings of all their fans which allows for exact measurements before you select the one that fits your space. Since mine is installed as a puller (Ron Davis only uses Spal fans), I had to make sure there was room in front of the stock cross-brace tube on the frame. I have 1/2" clearance. I screwed up when I had my radiator built by not having the tank drilled for the Spal SS sensor, just a drain hole tapped with AN fitting. I had a bung welded into the SS down pipe off the water pump to accept the Spal sensor. Works well.