Best Radiator

[cameron02]

For the DRB Cobra the build manual recommends a Commodore 1979 to 1983 radiator with 3 or 4 rows of tubes.

I went to a radiator place a while back and the guy there said, "yeah, the 4 core is best, the 5 core is no good as not enough air flow"

Yesterday I went to my local radiator bloke, he said "Why do you want 4 core? Not enough air flow. You should get a 3 core for street driving." he went on to say "4 core is OK for racing where you will get plenty of air flow but not for the street"

What do you guys think. Who's right?

I will also have a condenser (air conditioning) and have an auto trans so will be relying on the radiator for that too.

Also the local guy says a aluminium radiator will cool better. I'm sure I read some place that aluminium radiators are stronger but less efficient at cooling. Which is better at cooling aluminium or copper?

Cameron

[Aussie Mike]

Cameron,

Go and talk to Norm at Aussie Desert Cooler and he'll set you straight. He reckons a well built copper core radiator will work just as well as an aluminium one. His work is exceptional and his prices are good too. He does tons of Hot Rod and custom car stuff and has a lot of knowledge regarding what does and doesn't work in a custom car setup. He's a real enthusiast and he seems to be more interested in building a radiator that will work well for your application than separating your cash from you.

He built the Aluminium radiatior for my car and I'm very happy. My reason for chosing aluminium was more driven by weight and cosmetics. Mine has a 2 row core but the tubes are about 1" wide.

Here's a pic: Radiator

Cheers

[750hp]

Copper is the more efficient metal than aluminium, but all of the brass brazing in the copper radiators acts as a heat soak.
Until the new brazed copper radiators filter their way to the aftermarket, alloy radiators will GENERALLY cool better. The quality of the core is everything.

A mate of mine tried to save a few bucks by buying an alloy radiator from a guy that quoted him $200- less than another alloy radiator guy. His high-comp big block over heated in the mildest traffic with his new alloy radiator. He bit the bullet and bought the more expensive radiator, and his newfound over heating problems were solved. Both cores looked pretty similar, but the more expensive on was an aftermarket core, and the cheapo one was a new factory core with custom end tanks. Huge difference in cooling ability.

By the way, the alloy radiators are only 2 cores !!!

[slithering]

Cameron,

I'm using an "Evans Cooling System" in my cobra. This is a waterless, nonpressurized system. Very effective in controlling heat. Their website is, www.evanscooling.com. This is a great system, good luck.

slithering

[Tony Cram]

Cameron,

I am running a commodore (VB/VC V8) 3 core radiator on my cleveland and it works fine. The recent 40°C days I drive from the Picnic at Hanging Rock all the way through Melbourne in traffic with no issues.

Air flow is the key. Make sure your fan is large enough. I would suggest you install a by pass switch on your fan from the thermal switch for hot days and traffic, you then have full control on your heat.

Regards


Tony

[cameron02]

Thanks for the advice guys

Cameron