New radiator set up. Any reason for 3" over the 2.5"

[Boston GN]

Besides the $20 difference over the 2.5" radiator, is there any real world benefit to the 3" that would be noticeable or should I just take that 20 and put it towards shipping on the 2.5"

http://www.gnsperformance.com/cooling-g-body

 

[mr84ss]

I guess a little better cooling

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

 

[earlbrown]

If you mean the thickness of the core... most of the time it's pure marketing. You can have a 1 foot thick radiator and by the time the air gets to the back of it, it's hot as hell. Once you go past the first flue the remaining flues get hotter and hotter. The rear flues just pass hotter water right on through... then it mixes with the actual cooler water in the end tank.

Oh yeah, it weighs more along with the extra water.. in front of the axle.

I haven't verified it personally, but my Fbody radiator is supposed to knock 26#'s off the nose. It's a 1 row that's about 1-1/4 thick. Has NO problem keeping my car cool in GA (with a stock fan).

 

[3.8L V-8 eater]

x2 on F-Body...Cheap and does a great job

 

[Ttype6]

As earlbrown pointed out,the thicker the core-the hotter the air gets after it passes through it. The most efficient radiator,that is reasonably priced,will have 2 rows of 1" wide cooling tubes. Never buy a radiator with 3 rows of cooling tubes. The tubes will be less than 1" wide,the spaces between the rows will cause air turbulence which will negatively effect airflow through the core,and the 2 spaces between the 3 rows of tubes will be areas where the cooling fins are touching nothing and doing no work. The core will be thicker than a core with 2 rows of 1" wide cooling tubes and less efficient.
I also am having the same experience as earlbrown with my f body radiator. It works quite well and has 1 row of 1" wide cooling tubes.

The evidence about 2 rows of 1" wide cooling tube has been known for quite a few years. A friend of mine has a full sized 93 Chevy pick up with a factory towing package. Along with a 4.10 differential gear ratio and various coolers,it came from GM with an aluminum radiator that has 2 rows of 1" wide cooling tubes.

 

[earlbrown]

Keep in mind, when you think 'cooling', you actually mean 'transfer of heat'...

heat always moves from hot to cold. and the way to move heat as fast as possible is by the greatest difference in temp. Preheating the air with the front flues then hitting the rear flues is the same as shooting yourself in the foot. It's taking engine heat away from coolant to keep from cooling the coolant!

also, this isn't a 1:1 thing. Water's mass is 62.4 pounds per cubic foot... 1 cubic foot of air is 8 one hundredths of a pound. It takes a LOT of air to cool water down, the last thing you want to do is preheat it.

With it comes to radiators (they really should be called 'convectors') it's about the square footage of frontal area. Adding thermal mass never helps on a taxed cooling system.

 

[Ttype6]

Keep in mind, when you think 'cooling', you actually mean 'transfer of heat'...

heat always moves from hot to cold. and the way to move heat as fast as possible is by the greatest difference in temp. Preheating the air with the front flues then hitting the rear flues is the same as shooting yourself in the foot. It's taking engine heat away from coolant to keep from cooling the coolant!

also, this isn't a 1:1 thing. Water's mass is 62.4 pounds per cubic foot... 1 cubic foot of air is 8 one hundredths of a pound. It takes a LOT of air to cool water down, the last thing you want to do is preheat it.

With it comes to radiators (they really should be called 'convectors') it's about the square footage of frontal area. Adding thermal mass never helps on a taxed cooling system.

Are you saying that a radiator with 2 rows of 1" wide cooling tubes will not cool better than a core with 1 row of 1" wide cooling tubes.

 

[earlbrown]

Nope. I didn't say that at all.


But without going to extremes I bet the 1 row in your example would do just as good (assUming the same height and width). The thermostat might be open a little more or a little less but I'll take the lower thermal mass and I like every flue having access to ambient air.

The only way I could see the duel 1" flues working 'better' is if one row of flues caused a flow restriction that was overwhelming. In that instance, it wouldn't be thermal efficiency of heat transfer that's the culprit, it'd be a flow problem.


Cooling GN's isn't the rocket science it's made out to be. We have blunt noses with a huge opening and very little restriction in the grill. There's plenty of flow area there compared to other cars on the road.

Doing better that the factory radiator that has the bottom 1/3 to 2/3s clogged up is EASY to beat. It doesn't take a radiator out of a semi or fancy 'turbulator's and gimmics like that.

I think it takes something like 23HP to hit the wind at 60MPH, you can damn near cool 23HP with the heater core if you stuck it out in the wind.

 

[Ttype6]

Nope. I didn't say that at all.

So,you're not saying that the 2 row wouldn't cool better than the 1 row.

I bet the 1 row in your example would do just as good (assUming the same height and width).

Here,you seem to be saying that the 2 row wouldn't cool better than the 1 row.

The only way I could see the duel 1" flues working 'better' is if one row of flues caused a flow restriction that was overwhelming.

Here you seem to be saying again that the 2 row,under normal circumstances,wouldn't cool any better than the 1 row unless there were some unusual anomaly and then you give an example of one.

Do you believe that the 2 row wouldn't have the ability to remove more heat at a greater rate from a liquid than the 1 row?

 

[earlbrown]

Since my reply got broke down into three parts, it's late, and I've been drinking....


Let me say this.... a radiator ONLY needs to reject the heat the engine makes. That's it, PERIOD.


Yes I realize that's simplistic as hell but a radiator ONLY needs to get rid of the heat the engine makes.

If it gets rid of 10X the amount the engine makes, you know what happens?... the $2 thermostat closes down and makes the radiator reject LESS heat. (and flow drops drastically causing MAJOR temps differences inside the engine.