ALRADCO Aluminum radiator (AMERICAN MADE!!!) part 2 (added front mount, trans cooler)

Alright, most people have seen the thread I started about the ALRADCO radiators that Peter sells as a vendor on this board:

http://turbobuick.com/forums/threads/aluminum-radiator-american-made-by-alradco.341844/page-3

Well, I finally made time to do a few things I really needed to do. A few weeks ago I picked up a front mount intercooler. It is an old Eastern unit, and although works great (much better than the stock IC) it restricts just about all airflow to the rad. I will add pics this weekend if I can. The eastern is long enough, wide enough, and thick enough to cover the entire grille opening. Also, it is not all fins, a lot of the area covered is by the solid tanks. There is only about 6" tall of the finned area. So, in other words, the radiator has its work cut out!

As of the first few days of driving it, in the warm SoCal temps (~75 degrees), sitting in traffic, driving on the highway, and city driving, etc you can tell it blocks the air. I now use the fans instead of leaving them off all the time. But, the temps whether driving, city or highway, sitting, etc still stay low between 160-170. I thought it would go higher, but again this radiator really works its ass off!

This is with a 160 stat, stock water pump, radiator area not boxed in, and watching temps both with a gauge and scanmaster. I am using the internal oil cooler in the rad too, which has helps my oil temps and pressure a lot, and did not affect coolant temps!

In the next week or so, I will be running the trans fluid through the internal trans cooler in the radiator as well. I welded a bung on the pan during a trans service, and have mounted a trans temp gauge next to the console so I can record temps. There is a lot of talk lately about "do I need an oil cooler and trans cooler separate from the radiator???" and with summer coming up there will be lots of guys asking about heating issues, radiators, coolers, etc. Adding the trans cooler to the front mounted IC and oil cooler should about max out this rad, so stay tuned.

That FMIC sounds like a beast, post some pics.
I hope the radiator can live up to the Southern California heat with that FMIC and keep your GN nice and cool. I'm looking forward to your results. Thanks for putting in the time and effort.

Peter

Well James. You might be happy to hear. We've decided to go ahead with an Alradco Dual Fan set up.
Hope to have a prototype/test unit in the next 2-3 weeks.

Peter

That is awesome! A one-stop shop for the Turbo Buick guys! That should make life easier, just take the whole assembly out, put the whole new assembly in. No more worries about a used fan you just got from a salvage yard, and a China-made $100 radiator spitting its guts out on the highway. Let me know if there is any way I can help.

Alright, we had a great meet up in Temecula, which is about an hour and 15 minutes away. This morning I swapped the lines from the external trans cooler to the internal cooler in the ALRADCO radiator. This was going to be the perfect opportunity to test it out. Well, everything worked amazing!

I have the powder coated ALRADCO rad, which people commented would not cool as well as a "raw" rad due to the coating. Obviously not so.

I am using the internal oil cooler in the radiator, which raised my oil PSI keeping the oil temps lower than no cooler at all.

I installed a front mount IC that blocks 85%+ of the airflow coming through the grille.

I am now running the trans fluid through the radiator as well.

Coolant still stays at 165, and trans temp stays at 165.

The end.

I must be blind. I don't see a dual-fan setup on their site anywhere. The Florida temps are rising, and my new engine is going to need dual fans (i'm still running the stock fan for the moment).

Peters post that you quoted above says he hopes to have a prototype in 2-3 weeks. Hold out for one if possible, I am sure it will be bad ass!

Awesome! I can wait a couple of weeks. I can test one if need be and post the results. Florida can really be a good test since it's so hot here.

This will be my next purchase for sure. I will put it through its paces here in hot as piss Tucson! Will update on its performance. From what I read, should work flawlessly

Yeah, that would be a good test. I don't know how you folks do it out there. Each time I drive through there I try NOT to stop. On a trip in the GN from Florida to San Diego, I had no AC driving through AZ... I think I lost 10 lbs.

I'm happy to hear.

Thanks guys!

Guys, I started a thread for the dual fan kit in our supporting vendors section. You can go here http://turbobuick.com/forums/threads/alradco-dual-fan-kit.374354/

Sorry squid, didn't mean to muddy up your trans cooler / radiator testing thread.