I recently destroyed my fan and in turn the radiator in my 68 Electra. Searching around I found an all aluminum direct replacement radiator. I'm also considering replacing my fan set (must be replaced) with a dual electric fan controlled by a temp sensor. I seek out some advise, is this a good move? I suspect my cooling performance may be better but could really use some input. Product info link: http://www.championradiators.com/search?searchwords=ec161-161-fs14&searchsmall_566018034= Thank Mike Jackson 734-626-6286
Thats a good price on an aluminum rad - $169 But Im not sure its big enough. it has 2-Row Core that are only 3/4" each. Seems small. I have a 2 row aluminum with 1" tubes and although it works well with no overheating issues I would not go smaller.
Great input, I'm taking your advise and upgrading to 1" re: http://www.championradiators.com/product/AE161 I just placed the order, Rad, Shroud, Daul fans, relay with wiring kit. Thanks Mike
$189 is still a great price. I paid $249 for mine. There's a couple pix of mine here. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?264331-Aluminum-Radiator-Feedback-Wanted&p=2173455#post2173455 Note that the trans lines in mine were not setup for a double flare like the car. I had to use some brass adapters (pictured in the link)
Something to keep in mind on the fans. When I went that route with the Riv the Alt would not keep up with the fans. Even after upgrading to 140 Amp alt I still had the issue. As the battery wore down the fans would slow. The car over heated and the engine would quit and not start due to a dead battery. This was within the time span of a 100 mile trip. Went back to the stock clutch fan with a HD clutch and have had 0 issues since.
The whole point of going aluminum is because it uses bigger tubes, 1" minimum. The best aluminum radiators use 2 rows, or even 1 row. If you see a 3 row aluminum radiator, pass it by. It will not cool as well as an equivalent brass/copper. I guess the Chinese think they can simply make a copy of a brass/copper radiator in aluminum. Don't waste your money.
Hey Briz, were you using relays to wire in the fans? What fans did you use? 140 Amp should be plenty to run fans, I would think. ????
Yard, yes I did. Had the relays directly wired into the battery for primary power. one wire fed into the A/C comp to bring both fans on when the A/C was on and the other switch was the temp probe. The fans were new and were supposed to go on a Monte Carlo V8. As long as the fans were spinning at full speed all was well. After a 40 mile trip they started to slow down and the car would get hot. I traded the complete set up for a foam filled fuel cell and a drive shaft loop which was on the Lark when I sold it to Black13.
I have a Ron Davis aluminum radiator in my car as well as a set of LS1 Trans Am dual fans that are hooked to relays. I use one with a temperature switch and the other is on as soon as it's fired. Last summer,I went on a 40 mile cruise with several hundred bikes and it was almost 100* out. I kept a cool 175 *temperature in the car all the time..
I have an Aluminum Rad with Dual 1" Tubes also. I have dual 11" fans that pull 22Amps. I have my fan controller set to come on at 210 and go off at 190. I have a 100 Amp (CHROME :Brow Alt and it finally burnt out a diode after Six Years. This was a One Wire set-up. PONCH
If you really want to run cool go with the Al radiator but stick with the mechanical fan. At idle the stock fan is probably impossible to beat.
