FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => Non-FE Discussion Forum => Topic started by: fe66comet on June 29, 2014, 11:57:40 PM
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While sitting in the emergency room once again I got to thinking about radiators and was looking on summit at the different offerings. What is the consensus on the best brands? I would like to go with something American made if possible and definitely aluminum. I am buying it for a driver so I am more concerned about durability than weight, I was looking at Griffin as a prospect and Be Cool also, any input on these? Thanks guys.
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Can't promise you on the durability John, but I just did a big radiator shopping expedition and came up with a Howe. USA made, well constructed and seems to be the equal of the Be Cool and Griffin etc. Cost under $200 from Pitstop USA, a few bucks less than Summit and a few days quicker to boot.
https://www.howeracing.com/c-450-racing-custom-aluminum-radiators.aspx
Here's what I bought for the Galaxie. Bigger than stock but I'll be cutting the car slightly to fit.
http://pitstopusa.com/i-5060867-howe-aluminum-late-model-radiator-ford-19-x-28-x-3.html
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I tried the Griffin and the summit brand and like the summit. Made by Northern, fully welded with no epoxy. The triple pass summit also out cools the griffin even though the griffen has larger 2 1/4" tubes.
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I noticed the Griffin seems underrated for the size, I never even looked at the Howe or summit brand. The Howe looks a lot like the Be Cool with a smaller price tag . I just thought of the fact I have A/C also I guess I had better take that in account too.
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One issue with a couple of alum rads that I've had my paws on.
The bottom out put pipe is welded on at an angle. It does not fit well in FE land.
Must be some kind of Chev thing.
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I saw that on the Be Cool, it said something like that it helped direct the outlet toward the engine. I never experienced a radiator that had an outlet like that and it would seem to get in the way of things like the shroud to me. Another thing I noticed was they were talking about having a tapered tanks, I am not sure why you would want that, it would seem to reduce the capacity and make it harder to seal around the tanks being angled like that?
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Mine also has the angled outlet. I'd prefer a straight outlet but looking at things pretty carefully I don't think it's going to be a problem in my case. I'm going from a down flow to a cross flow style so the outlet is moving over probably 6-8 inches farther to the left and the power steering belt is pretty well out of the way. No telling how that might work out with the Comet, but I'm sure you could talk to Howe and get it with a straight outlet. They seem big on custom stuff.
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The one I am doing now is for the Ranger, I have 24\24 to work with so it is going to be tight. I am thinking a three pass would be my best route along with an oil cooler mounted behind the head lights with a fan and ducts. No room to spare with a big block under the hood for sure. I am going to trim as many obstructions out of the way as possible, the core support has the usual rust issues to deal with anyhow. The Comet I am building a new core support out of DOM so that will be wide open spaces. What I have in the Comet now is crunched and bondo so I am doing away with it all together.
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Both mine were angled up and in. We just cut them off then rewelded them straight. The griffen was a little scary due to the epoxy right there. Took a lot longer so it could cool.
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After giving it some thought the angle up and in may actually help me some. I could then extend the radiator lower in between the frame rails and gain another 4" of tank and core. Right now I have 19" tall I could go as tall as 24" then and still not have the hose rubbing on the frame rail. I also am considering mounting the radiator on the front of the core support but that would take a huge amount of work to accomplish.
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I bought a Howe from crites for my 66 comet good quality cools good and it fit .The mounting brackets from crites weren't exactly what I wanted but they worked alright .In my 67 comet drag car I went with an afco .I bought it from Barnett performance in Atl. it was a universal fit radiator but it fit pretty good .It did have the bottom radiator hose outlet at an angle as others have mentioned but I just cut it off and welded it on straight .Between the two the howe had a nicer radiator cap mount and looked to be better made .But the Howe was probably $50-$65 more and didn't need anything except installation .Doug
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I am leaning toward the Howe I,LL have to give them a call later today, I kids had a few bad days in a row this week.
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If you talk to them, I'd ask about the triple pass vs single pass deal. My understanding is that the triple pass rad wants a lot of flow and no restrictions. Fine for circle track racing but on the street I think you'll be better off with the single pass design.
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I am going to use a CVR 55GPH pump with the adaptors that Jay makes so I should have no problem pushing adequate flow. My main concern is the limited space I have to work with.
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I never heard of Howe. They seem like a good company. I bought one from Brice Thomas Radiator a couple years ago and really like it. They are located near me in Anniston, AL.
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I've got a Howe in my Galaxie, believe it to be a good piece. It kept the previous 390 cool without any shroud and also got the job done running in my new 445 for nearly 25 minutes with half the front end off the car to boot. Water inlet looks unmolested and is directed straight back. Don't see a part number anywhere or I'd publish. I do intend to shroud the fan if for nothing other than safety's sake and I'll also be replacing that nasty $1.32 puke tank at the same time. Just sayin', even like this the Howe worked well.
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Lol, I have that same tank and wanting to put in something nicer also.
If yours is doing well as is, I must be going for the super overkill on mine. Cutting the sheet metal around the core support to allow a larger rad, and also building a full shroud and dual electric fan setup. Being in Texas though, I've had problems in the past where I was sitting in stop and go traffic for half an hour when it was 108 out and couldn't run the AC. Hopefully with this setup I'll be able to do it with the AC on =)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/Wademeister/Galaxie/IMG_2435_zps9acb0e16.jpg)
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Wade,
Another option if you want to get fancy is to space the air conditioning condenser further forward and give it its own dedicated fans.
That's what I did on my Mustang to deal with the Vegas heat. I used an engine driven fan, and it can easily suck around the condenser rather than through. When I turn the a/c on, the wire that feeds the a/c clutch triggers a relay that turns on 2 fans mounted directly to the condenser. It solved any issues I had with idle airflow and gave me better a/c to boot.
Sorry no pictures, been that way since 2004 and I don't know if I took any pics back then
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That's a cool idea Ross, I like it.
I have thought before about doing the low mounted Sanden compressor on the passenger side of the car but am not planning to do that any time soon. I've only had have engine heat problems under the most extreme conditions and running the AC only aggravated the situation so I had to run it off. Otherwise the air has worked real well for the last few years. If I do end up having fits with the AC at some point, I'll see about moving the condenser and adding a dedicated AC fan or two as well as switching to the Sanden compressor, R134a and all that jazz.
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Lol, I have that same tank and wanting to put in something nicer also.
If yours is doing well as is, I must be going for the super overkill on mine. Cutting the sheet metal around the core support to allow a larger rad, and also building a full shroud and dual electric fan setup. Being in Texas though, I've had problems in the past where I was sitting in stop and go traffic for half an hour when it was 108 out and couldn't run the AC. Hopefully with this setup I'll be able to do it with the AC on =)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/Wademeister/Galaxie/IMG_2435_zps9acb0e16.jpg)
Think you're wise to do what you're doing, don't think you can overkill when it comes to making sure the job's done right 8). Adds some good looks to the deal too. I sure don't have to deal with Texas heat, A/C would have been nice once or twice last year but generally not needed up here by Lake Erie.
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I definitely agree you can never have too much cooling, the thermostat maintains the temp anyhow. I like the shroud it looks nice, I made the one on the truck I have now out of aluminum and riveted it together. A shroud is really a necessity to have the fan pull through the core, and having it an inch or two helps a lot also. I have seen many vehicles, even stock with electric fans mounted directly to the core with no shroud so that they pull only in the areas of the fan. I have also seen mechanical fans with no more than a upper fender kinda thing on top to hold the caution fan sticker. Either way without a shroud the fan will just pull from the sides and bypass the radiator as air takes the path of least resistance. My stock overflow tank is a monster ford truck one so I am OK there but a nice fan shroud would be better than making my own for sure.