Street guys: what rad are you running?

[karolko]

For you guys who have boxed in the sides around the Rad, what did you use? I remember the stock flaps, but i do not think that they will work when a large front mount intercooler is used.

Just looking for ideas.

 

[ttypewhite]

4 core aluminum Griffin rad, RJC front mount, and a stock fan. 190 tops in grid lock traffic on a 90+ degree day.

 

[haywire4130]

I used rubber mudflap material (we had rolls of it at work) and made templates of all the areas, cut all the pieces and stitched the seams together with cable ties. I secured them to the air dams and core support with those plastic push pins they use to hold atv plastic fenders on. I made a removeable panel between the air dams where the intercooler scoop was so i could access my oil and trans coolers. I suppose pics would be helpful but im not near my car at the moment

 

[9secWH1]

i wouldnt dicount the restrictor, think about it, the longer time the water spends in the radiator the more it cools. Its your cheapest and simplest fix. why reinvent the wheel....

 

[Chuck Leeper]

i wouldnt dicount the restrictor, think about it, the longer time the water spends in the radiator the more it cools. Its your cheapest and simplest fix. why reinvent the wheel....

B4 you get involved in this dog fight, I'd suggest you do some searching for the topic...

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

4 core aluminum Griffin rad, RJC front mount, and a stock fan. 190 tops in grid lock traffic on a 90+ degree day.

-I have the CAS (Tony DeQuick) radiator.
-No internal engine or tranny oil coolers. (I have externals for both).
-I don't have an AC.
-I have three 1/8" holes drilled around the flange of my 160* thermostat.
-I have a Mezzier electric water pump.
-I have the Ram-Chargers (I believe it's actually from an Dodge Intrepid, right?) double fan with no low speed.
-I have a monster custom built 4 inch core, bar and plate intercooler.
-I have the best and tightest baffled front grill area I have ever seen (thin aluminum sheet metal).
-I run a 50/50 mix (Prestone ethyl-glycol and distilled water)
-RMI 25
-XFI fan settings at 170* on, and 164* off.


My motor never, never, never, never, gets to 180*! NEVER!
Even on a 95 degree day. Even after a pass at the track. Even if sitting in traffic.

On days below 90, most always it never gets to 172. And on anything below an 80 degree day it sits at about 165 the fan doesn't even hardly ever come on. On a fall day, on the highway, it never makes it to 160. High 150's is about it.

Some may say this is too cold. Most wish they had this problem. I've been driving it this way for about 8 years. My motor is healthy and my oil is clean.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

-I have the CAS (Tony DeQuick) radiator.
-No internal engine or tranny oil coolers. (I have externals for both).
-I don't have an AC.
-I have three 1/8" holes drilled around the flange of my 160* thermostat.
-I have a Mezzier electric water pump.
-I have the Ram-Chargers (I believe it's actually from an Dodge Intrepid, right?) double fan with no low speed.
-I have a monster custom built 4 inch core, bar and plate intercooler.
-I have the best and tightest baffled front grill area I have ever seen (thin aluminum sheet metal).
-I run a 50/50 mix (Prestone ethyl-glycol and distilled water)
-RMI 25
-XFI fan settings at 170* on, and 164* off.


My motor never, never, never, never, gets to 180*! NEVER!
Even on a 95 degree day. Even after a pass at the track. Even if sitting in traffic.

On days below 90, most always it never gets to 172. And on anything below an 80 degree day it sits at about 165 the fan doesn't even hardly ever come on. On a fall day, on the highway, it never makes it to 160. High 150's is about it.

Some may say this is too cold. Most wish they had this problem. I've been driving it this way for about 8 years. My motor is healthy and my oil is clean.

Some pics of the boxing/baffles, if it helps.

 

[Bakn2Gns]

The first thing to do is put a 160 degree thermostat in the car. It's there to keep the car from over heating. If you run without one once the coolant gets saturated with heat it never slows down enough to transfer the heat out through the cooling system. Plus the ECU needs coolant as close to 160 to make peak power.


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[karolko]

Hey guys,

Well i put a 160" stat in it, with 4 1/8" holes in it and it would maintain 165* ish when idling, but on the road it would slowly creep up to 190 when driving it around on the roads/highway.

I did a street cruise and lots of slow speed stop and go and the thing climbed up to 230 on me at one time. It was brutal!

I even built side baffles all around the intercooler to force air through the radiator.

ttypewhite, it sounds like we have a similar setup minus the RMI25 ( which i am putting in next time) maybe i need more fan. right now i have a single 16" which pulls 2200 cfm. I might need to change it up to duals to pull over 3000cfm. I'm sure that will help somewhat, but will it keep me under 200*?

Adrian

 

[Boost231]

Alradco with dual ramcharger fans, no thermostat. Car never hits 175 in 100+ deg. Arizona heat

 

[chris kirk]

Hey guys,

Well i put a 160" stat in it, with 4 1/8" holes in it and it would maintain 165* ish when idling, but on the road it would slowly creep up to 190 when driving it around on the roads/highway.

I did a street cruise and lots of slow speed stop and go and the thing climbed up to 230 on me at one time. It was brutal!

I even built side baffles all around the intercooler to force air through the radiator.

ttypewhite, it sounds like we have a similar setup minus the RMI25 ( which i am putting in next time) maybe i need more fan. right now i have a single 16" which pulls 2200 cfm. I might need to change it up to duals to pull over 3000cfm. I'm sure that will help somewhat, but will it keep me under 200*?

Adrian

This is the radiator that I'm using. I have a TA stroker and I'm using an RJC 325 front mount. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how it works because my car is still in a thousand pieces..... I want something that can flow as much CFM's as possible, which is why I chose the Be Cool. Says it's rated for flowing 3,420 CFM. Griffin, also, makes a great radiator. Pretty close in price, too. NY Twin Turbo sent me the directions on boxing it in. They are very thorough directions and it should help a great deal over the factory box-in. If you could even call it that.....

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bci-83318/overview/year/1987/make/buick/model/regal

 

[rodruckus]

I'm running a 160° thermostat, stock 30yo rad/fan, and flow kooler hi flow water pump. I rarely see my temp on my scan master go above 167° under normal driving conditions. And the momentary spike I register is when my fan kicks on. After a few seconds the temp drops right back down to 162°. The highest I've ever had it register was 179°. And that was on a day in the mid to high 80s with several consecutive wot freeway passes at 100 plus. After I slowed it back down I was still only running at 172° and within 15 minutes of normal driving I was back at 162°-163°. Check out the Flow Kooler website, he has this whole science thing behind his water pump designs and claims because of it you can even gain hp. You gain hp, because you use less to turn it. And at the same time, improving your flow efficiency will conserve your hp. It didn't just live up to the hype, but went far beyond it. Next, I'll buy one of his thermostats, but with my numbers I don't see a need to yet. However, when the time comes or I'm in that area, I definitely will. They can even fab rads, fan shrouds, heater cores, and intercoolers as well. All made in the USA.

 

[Mike E]

I use a summit universal radiator (Northern) that I modified the tanks to fit the car. Probably similar in cooling capacity to yours. Maybe you have too much water speed through the radiator. Try adding a restrictor and see if it helps. Adding some timing to the cruising part of your map may help also.

I drove mine about 60 miles last weekend. It never got over 185 and the fan only came on twice. It wanted to stay around 170 on it's own, only rising when going up hills at slow speeds (40 or less).

I have this fan. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-398/overview/ I use a CSR sbc electric water pump (remote mounted for the belt drive). The above radiator. RJC 475 intercooler, and no a/c condensor. I don't have any boxing around the cooler or radiator. I use a -16 upper hose, no thermostat and no restrictor. The pump is fed by a 1 3/4" hose and has two -10's to the belt drive. I have the fan set to come on a 185 and go back off at 165. When the fan comes on, the temp lowers quick.

 

[rodruckus]

Probably the easiest, cheapest thing to do if you wanna upgrade your cooling system...Flow Kooler hi flow water pump. No mods, direct bolt-in replacement. Almost 90° in my area today, not getting too crazy, stayed in the 162°-165° range. Plus, if you're running a thinner core aluminum rad, they go hand and hand.

 

[karolko]

Rodruckus: i run a electric waterpump that i made to work for my Danny Bee Belt drive setup so a mechanical is out of the question.

Mike E, sound like you are doing less than me and getting better results. Huh. I wonder if it has something to do with the block, or and i just running too lean while cruising, thus causing too much heat. The fan you mentioned flows 2500 CFM, that's 300 CFM more than what mine is rated to. That said, i have a JEGS fan, so i should take that with a grain of salt. Maybe i'll try the flexa lite fan as an option. It's cheap enough to try it out.

Thanks for that.

Adrian

 

[Mike E]

Rodruckus: i run a electric waterpump that i made to work for my Danny Bee Belt drive setup so a mechanical is out of the question.

Mike E, sound like you are doing less than me and getting better results. Huh. I wonder if it has something to do with the block, or and i just running too lean while cruising, thus causing too much heat. The fan you mentioned flows 2500 CFM, that's 300 CFM more than what mine is rated to. That said, i have a JEGS fan, so i should take that with a grain of salt. Maybe i'll try the flexa lite fan as an option. It's cheap enough to try it out.

Thanks for that.

Adrian

I'm running 70/30 water/coolant mix also. My fan doesn't come on a lot, so I don't think that has as much to do with it. I think you are running an on center block like me. Mine has no fill and is at 4.030 bore. Chris also blocked off quite a few coolant holes in the deck on mine. I am running e85, but I was running gas the last two years and didn't have any problems either.

My guess is, it's something to do with the tune. Low timing can make a car overheat quick. Maybe there are some low numbers in the timing map to help the turbo spool at the track, but you are getting into that cruising. With my clutch, mine spends more time at lower rpm (1800 cruising) vs. a converter..

Think about it like this. If you light yoru fuel before TDC, it's already cooling off when the piston is moving down the bore. If you light it near tdc, your cylinder temps are still high when more of the cylinder wall is exposed.

 

[rodruckus]

I don't run an electric water pump. Just a 160° thermostat, 30yo stock rad/fan, and a flow kooler hi flow water pump(direct replacement). Also, they recommend their water pumps for stop and go, slow moving parades, and in line at a car show where air flow is almost nil. Just the pump itself will keep you running cool across a wide range of rpms. Go to their website, it's very educational in regards to the science of cooling and components. Good stuff, you'll learn quite a bit.

 

[bison]

If you are running a transmission or other oil cooler on the cold side of the radiator you may be putting extra heat into it prior to it entering the engine. We logged this on a couple engines with different converter designs. Some don't want the water temp over 170. I prefer it to be 170-175 during a pass. More airflow across the core is critical in keeping the temp down


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[karolko]

I'm running 70/30 water/coolant mix also. My fan doesn't come on a lot, so I don't think that has as much to do with it. I think you are running an on center block like me. Mine has no fill and is at 4.030 bore. Chris also blocked off quite a few coolant holes in the deck on mine. I am running e85, but I was running gas the last two years and didn't have any problems either.

My guess is, it's something to do with the tune. Low timing can make a car overheat quick. Maybe there are some low numbers in the timing map to help the turbo spool at the track, but you are getting into that cruising. With my clutch, mine spends more time at lower rpm (1800 cruising) vs. a converter..

Think about it like this. If you light yoru fuel before TDC, it's already cooling off when the piston is moving down the bore. If you light it near tdc, your cylinder temps are still high when more of the cylinder wall is exposed.

Hi Mike,

You mention a good point, tune timing. I brought this up on YB.com and i think i might infact be dealing with a part throttle timing issue as well.

I have an on center block, and some of the top head port holes on the block are blocked off. I have however ran vent lines from the back of the intake to allow for steam and hot pockets to escape.

That said, we have very similar setups: the big RJC intercooler, good rad, external trans cooler, no oil cooler, no AC and electric 55pgh waterpump.

I was looking at that exact fan that you mentioned to me. It was either that one ( which flows 2500 CFM) or the Spal one which flow 3000 CFM, but it is not labelled to be used for prolonged periods of time, so i am hesitant to buy it.

Did you turn your car into a stick vehicle?

Adrian

 

[Eticket]

running e85 will affect temps way more than other things mentioned...