Radiator question, usage.

I was wondering if anyone has tried this before. I posted onece before and it kinda got looked over. (at least I think I did.. but I cant find the post) I was looking at some alternative radiators. Reason being price.
Ok, I was browsing for parts for my supra. Found this and many like it. Some cheap some not.
Cheap:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/...s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=oil+cooler
Not cheap:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/...s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=oil+cooler

I know the earls is aluminum. But the other ones are copper based with aluminum or stainless fittings. I'm wondering if they would flow well for a wc system. If so it would be cool. They seal easy and the seals are easy to get. Plus they make all kinds of mounting systems for these things. I'd just have to browse around to find one that would fit my case. Mounting it on the back.
Someone please help and give me some advice. Got paid and this is one of the paychecks that I will have a little free money. So I would like to buy my rad first.

Just go for a heater core instead. I think they can be had for ~20.00, but you have to mod them to get the barbs on, which requires soldering. -OR- You can go to www.dangerden.com and get a double heater core with the barbs already on for 35.00.

http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=48&cat=14&page=1

And you can get a shroud made especially for it for 15.00 more.

Thanks for the reply. The only reason I'm looking at cores like this is becuase of flow. I'm looking for the highest amount of heat transfer I can get. If dd is the best bet.. then I'll do that.

86' Chevette heatercore is another option.

If price is the issue, definitely go with a copper heatcore like the chevette or the famous '77 bonneyville 302 heatercore with a homemade shroud. You would do best to not use an aluminum rad as it is just introducing unneccessary corrosion potential.

Ok. I have another question. Flow. I've read over and over about the bi rads. What is the difference between them? Is one type a high flow and the others arent? I cant get it through my head about the single pass and the x pass. Please can someone explain it to me so I have a better understanding on which would be better for my setup. This would also help (if I chose not to use a bi) me understand rad flow for other situations as well.

In a single pass rad, water enters at the inlet to one tank, travels through the tubes and fins to the other tank, and exits via the outlet. If the inlet and outlet are catercorner across the rad, this is called a cross flow (X flow) radiator. This is the least restrictive setup. The heatercore for the 1970 Chevy C10 with AC is a cross flow rad.
Part numbers: Transpro/GDI/Autozone: 399090 -- Fedco: 2-342
http://webbase.transpro.com/catalog.php?partnum=399090

In a double pass rad, the inlet and outlet are on the same side. The water goes through the inlet to the tank and through the fins to the second tank just like with a single pass, but instead of exiting from the far tank, it has to turn around and go back through another set of tubes to a third tank. This makes a somewhat more restrictive radiator and if the tanks aren't deep enough, can lead to problems with some of the tubes getting less flow than others. However, what goes on on the water side of the rad really doesn't matter very much except as it impacts the flow rate through the blocks. The most popular double pass heatercore fits the '77 Bonneville with AC:
http://webbase.transpro.com/catalog.php?partnum=399078

What you should look at very closely is the air side of the rad. In a typical watercooling setup with 120mm fans, the air moving through the radiator will be heated nearly to the temperature of the coolant. This means that you're getting all the cooling you can out of the air going through your rad, and if you want more cooling, you need more air. The problem is that the axial fans we use aren't very good at moving air through a restrictive radiator. Hence, you want a radiator that is thin and relatively open, but has as much frontal area per fan as possible. A thicker radiator with more fins per inch would have more surface area, but because even the less restrictive rad heats up the air almost as much as possible, the extra surface area doesn't do anything but restrict airflow.

Some people swear by oil coolers, but it doesn't seem to me that they are well suited for our purposes. They don't provide anywhere near as much surface area for the restriction they present, and they're made to cool oil rather than water. They're also meant to operate at a higher pressure, hence the metal has to be thicker. Better to stick with something that was designed to cool water in a low pressure system.

Thanks for explaining that Otter. Makes sense. Now to continue shopping for a rad after I pay for the ticket I got.. sigh

Just so you know, 1/2" tubing fits over the barbs of a Chevette heatercore if you saw them off. You really don't need barbs - I've never used barbs on mine, just hose clamps. That'll save you a little money.

johan851 said:

Just so you know, 1/2" tubing fits over the barbs of a Chevette heatercore if you saw them off. You really don't need barbs - I've never used barbs on mine, just hose clamps. That'll save you a little money.

Click to expand...

I just dremeled the tubes down on my heater core and fit some tygon over it with no barbs. No leaks yet.

I bought a heater core for a '76 corvette. It measures 6.25"x6.25"x2.5" It has a 3/4 and 5/8 barb on it for heater hose. I just bought a foot of each size heater hose, cut a few inches to put on the barbs, then put an inline reducer in to go to 3/8 tube. The inline reducer took a little more ingenuity than I anticipated since I had to piece it together from barbs, couplers, copper tube and such, but it worked. I didn't want to torch the radiator so I thought that was a better option. The only downside is that it adds a bunch of length to the heater core, but I have it on the floor behind my computer so it doesn't really matter.