big block cooling

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dodge71demon

dodge71demon

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Suggestion needed for cooling a big block in an a body. I now have a 22" champion with shroud and dual electric fans and it's not doing the job I have already tried pump - housing - thermostat etc I can open up the support for a 26" radiator - what fan/fans to clear water pump on a big block (had to remove some of the fan guard on the setup I now have)
 
Have a 26 inch Griffin rad w/ 2 Permacool thin profile fans in a custom shroud in my BB Duster and still have some cooling issues sitting in traffic but no clearance problems....Planning to go w/ a Mancini high volume water pump; stock pump in it now. Look into the 10 blade higher CFM fans from Permacool not sold by Summit same thin profile - wish I had bought them.
 
dodge71demon said:
Suggestion needed for cooling a big block in an a body. I now have a 22" champion with shroud and dual electric fans and it's not doing the job I have already tried pump - housing - thermostat etc I can open up the support for a 26" radiator - what fan/fans to clear water pump on a big block (had to remove some of the fan guard on the setup I now have)
Click to expand...

Whats the CFM on your fan's ? you my need to get something in the 2800 CFM range... also Check out this radiator I'm thinking of running something like this one.

http://www.eastwood.com/maxx-power-tri-flow-22-aluminum-radiator.html

http://www.alamomotorsports.com/pmc/Cat_page16.html
 
Can you describe a bit better what you mean by 'not doing its job'? Under what conditions does it work OK and poorly?

How is the sealing between the core support and hood? Any sealing in the area of the valence and lower part of the core support?
 
nm9stheham said:
Can you describe a bit better what you mean by 'not doing its job'? Under what conditions does it work OK and poorly?

How is the sealing between the core support and hood? Any sealing in the area of the valence and lower part of the core support?
Click to expand...

200 going down the road - shroud encloses radiator core - no need for seals - tried making 6 -- 2 1/2 holes in the shroud to get more air at highway speed with no results need bigger and/or better radiator
 
Had a 22" copper 3 row, solid mechanical fan, shroud, 180* hi-flow stat that did the job. (Tried an electric fan, but didn't cut it).

On the blown motor I run a Summit 22" aluminum 2 row cross-flow with a single electric pusher in front (because of space) - not exactly ideal but it works well too - better than the other setup.

All this to say, I bet you can get your Champion to work. Make sure the radiator is somehow sealed to the core support in front. If not, air will blow around it and not through it. I added a Milodon water pump (with the anti-cavitation plate) to the mix too. There are a few things you can try yet before spending $$ on another rad.
 
I have a 4 core 26inch everything but the end tank is in the opening runs at 180 all day 200 if sitting at lights but straight back down once I start moving running fixed fan
 
I am using Champion CC375 with the Ford Contour fans. I only had 2 3/4" between radiator core and pulley. I used a grinder to get enough clearance between fans to clear the pulley bolts. There is a thread here detailing this setup and it works great, Joe
 
dodge71demon said:
Suggestion needed for cooling a big block in an a body. I now have a 22" champion with shroud and dual electric fans and it's not doing the job I have already tried pump - housing - thermostat etc I can open up the support for a 26" radiator - what fan/fans to clear water pump on a big block (had to remove some of the fan guard on the setup I now have)
Click to expand...

I have a buddy who had the same issue so I built some adapter blocks for him so he could run a remote water pump. Moving the water pump down to the frame rail opens up a bunch of room in front of the engine so he could use a pair of really large electric fans.
 

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The hood seal over the core, is still required.Think about it.The only time its not doing anything is when you are parked.
Without a hood seal, as soon as the vehicle is moving, air is being forced under the hood. The faster the vehicle moves, the more air gets rammed under the non-sealed hood, and quite possibly, the less is being forced through the rad.
This higher pressure under the hood, makes it harder for air to pass through the rad. Anything you can do to reduce the air pressure on the engine side of the rad, will make it easier for air to pass through the rad. The more air that passes through the rad, the more heat,hopefully, will be removed from the coolant.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^

Good advice.
 
I recently spoke to a guy from Evans Waterless Coolant at the York Street Rod show a few weeks ago. He said that your cooling system should be geared to your Horsrpower. Up to 300Hp Rad should have two 1" tubes and 300 to 700 HP should have 1 1/4" tubes. I'm going with the Evans that doesn't boil till 375 Deg's. Hope this helps Ron
 
ronw said:
I recently spoke to a guy from Evans Waterless Coolant at the York Street Rod show a few weeks ago. He said that your cooling system should be geared to your Horsrpower. Up to 300Hp Rad should have two 1" tubes and 300 to 700 HP should have 1 1/4" tubes. I'm going with the Evans that doesn't boil till 375 Deg's. Hope this helps Ron
Click to expand...

I put a 28x19 crossflow alum w/ two 1 1/4" tubes w/ fixed fan and alum shroud in my 68 505" fastback, so far no problems. in bodyshop now.
 
Checked with champion on the fan CFM and they don't know so I can possibly up that some and will probably do the seal but still leaning towards the 1 1/4" tubes as mentioned above
 
If someone mentioned a thermostat I missed it. What thermostat are you running. Mine likes a 195 with a small bypass hole. My radiator is the double pass cross flow aluminum style.
 
Started off with 440 source pump - housing which made noise - 185 stat went back to OEM housing with Tuff Stuff pump (suppose to have 30% more volume) 160 high flow stat little bit of improvement ordered a hood to radiator seal I don't think the fans have enough CFM so I'll see how the seal does on highway if it helps I may change the fans if not it will be new big tube radiator
 
I got and installed the hood to radiator seal last night and took a drive helped lowering highway heat now I'm going to upgrade my fans to 2 perma cool number 19120 rated at 2350 CFM each (real life probably lower) with each drawing 4.7 AMP I will be wiring one to a rocker switch to run all the time and the other to a keyed MFA 102 fan controller on at 185 off at 170 for additional CFM when needed hope this works I just wasn't getting enough air movement (I think)
 
My big block Demon had to have the 195 T-stat to keep the heads from making steam pockets.
 
dodge71demon said:
I got and installed the hood to radiator seal last night and took a drive helped lowering highway heat now I'm going to upgrade my fans to 2 perma cool number 19120 rated at 2350 CFM each (real life probably lower) with each drawing 4.7 AMP I will be wiring one to a rocker switch to run all the time and the other to a keyed MFA 102 fan controller on at 185 off at 170 for additional CFM when needed hope this works I just wasn't getting enough air movement (I think)
Click to expand...
Well there ya go... glad the seal helped. A lot cheaper. Keep looking at seals all around the rad.

For the poster who mentioned going to Evans coolant..... it will usually RAISE temps some few degrees. Evans coolant is just glycol.... same base as regular antifreeze. It has lower heat carrying capacity than water. It CAN help localized hot-spot temps in the heads in particular, by eliminating the water in the system and preventing localized boiling. But the lower specific heat means that average temps will go up; it just won't move the heat out as fast as an A/F+water mix.
 
I'm tired of messing with mine .I'm cutting up the core support .I have no room and am tired of screwing around.I have a 26 x19 X3 griffin and a 16 in fan.No shroud cause no room.im buying a bigger Radiator and have a nother fan the draws 3600 cfm and making a fan shroud.

See the difference in the fan I have now and the one I'm going to use

 
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