Big block cooling help
 

Well what I have is a 1963 c30 tow truck , with a 427 tall deck stuffed under the hood , I also have A/C ...I am running a NOS harrison 3 core radiator with 16 psi cap, new heavy duty clutch fan , with I think a 7 blade fan , on say an 85 degree day it will want to will run up in the 215-220 range without boiling over , if she is left PTO engaged , and A/C on for over 5 min , she starts puking , so my thought is not enough radiator , and I think I am right , I have thought of trying to find a 4 core as I know they used to make one for our trucks , but a friend brought up the aluminium radiator idea , does anyone have any advice here , I have never fooled with an aluminium radiator on anything this old , everything now days is , I have seen some good deals on them on ebay , any horror stories on the ebay rads ? I would think it would be hard for manufacturing quality processes to really effect cooling , fit , finish , and maybe a leak when you put it on the truck maybe , I am looking to cool this beast down , if it over cools at this point I would be happy , as this truck has the holmes 500 split boom bed on it , and I don't use it daily , but it really is useful when someone plants their car in a crazy place , and I want it to be able to fast idle for 20-30 min without my horn blowing (over heat/oil pressure warning modual) or antifreeze puking everywhere , as the cops seem to get pissed over that :sumo: any advice , links , radiator sources ect will be appreciated ...also I know for a fact it is not caused by the engine having a defect of any kind to rule that out , truck runs at 200 moving at any speed it also has dual 195 stats in it , and I just assume my gauge is off by 5 degrees as they almost all are a bit off I have found over the years ...ok I will shut up now :metal:

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Do you have a schroud?? If not that is your problem

Re: Big block cooling help
 

I've got an aluminum radiator from Champion in my 65 with a 454, no shroud (yet), with a clutch fan and in Las Vegas traffic on a 110 degree day, it crept up to 210 degrees. The radiator model I got is rated to disipate heat for up to 600 horsepower.

I'm in the process of installing air conditioning and will be adding a fan shroud. Hopefully that will be up and running this weekend and we'll see how well it does then.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Also, even though the temp has reached 117 here, my truck has yet to overheat or boil over.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

yes I have a shroud , with correct fan depth ...

Re: Big block cooling help
 

ok champion , what core configuration is yours 2 , 1 inch cores maybe ? there seems to be several options in the cores , what you have must be doing really well , at 110 with my air off , mine would be boiling in traffic along with myself :lol:

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Mine is the 3 core model, rated at 600 horsepower and my motor is mostly stock so I'm nowhere near that rating, but I went bigger because of where I live.

Here is where I got mine from: http://www.championradiators.com/Che...ator-1963-1966

When I ordered it, the first radiator that came wasn't the 3 core, and I called them back and they sent out the proper one right away, and I haven't had any other problems with it.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

In my big block cooling experience you have 2 options:

-A dual row 1" tube aluminum radiator. Be careful there is alot of junk out there. You are taking your chances with cheap chinese ones. Buy only from a reputable American manufacturer.

Definitely not this one: http://www.speedcooling.com/1963-196...r/prod_37.html

This may be a good option: http://rndfabrication.com/CrossflowRadiators.html

The other option is a 4 core factory type radiator. After learning from my mistakes on buying a cheap foriegn aluminum radiator I decided to go with the 4 core I already had. My local radiator guy cleaned and tested it for me. He says it's the best you can get.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

4 core aluminum and dual electric fans along with the 7 blade fan should do it. With the PTO and AC going that combo should keep it cool.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Regardless which radiator you use, a proper fan shroud will make a noticeable difference.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

I was also told by an expert that if you are going to hook anything to the bumper you need a mechanical fan preferably with a clutch. Is there a reason for the 195 degree thermostat? A 180 may help a little.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

well the 195 stats was all we could find a listing for , as the engine is a 427 tall deck running that huge cast manifold with dual stats , I have often wandered if the dual stats were letting the coolant pass way to fast to displace the heat , thought of spot welding one stat shut and try it idling and see what it does , worst case is it costs me time , and what $5 for a new thermostat I guess , any thoughts there ?? :smoke:

Re: Big block cooling help
 

liking the look of that 4 core just for the heck of it ;) I searched , and searched , and never came across these guys , thanks for the info , your a good man !!!:metal:

Re: Big block cooling help
 

I feel a horror story about to be told , why the definitely not radiator , I went and just looked cause I could , but have this lingering question as what must have caused you to dislike it ;)

Re: Big block cooling help
 

my shroud is homemade , but it is correct in function , yes they make a big difference , as when I stuffed the engine in the truck , it tried to over heat , because I just had to take a little drive with it and a few other things missing , I did at least put the hood back on before I drove it ...this time , you know how it is , you just can't wait , even though you know better lol us boys , and our toys ...

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Well, It looked like a good radiator. I did the work to modify the mounts and attached a shroud / dual electric fan setup only to find that the brand new radiator leaked when I used it for the first time. The outfit that sold it to me would not respond when I wanted it replaced under their "two year warranty"

Re: Big block cooling help
 

My '66 came with a brand new cheap aluminum radiator. It lasted about 100 miles before I came out of work and there was a big puddle under it. I put in a $200 PRC radiator for a stock car, mostly so I could fix it right away for cheap and also because I know it's a very good radiator. I have used at least twenty of them in hotrods with 100% success.

To keep heat down at idle (and get good mileage) you want to run a bunch of timing when there is no load on the engine. Assuming you are not running a computer controlled ignition, that means a vac advance distributor and properly leaned out mixture (>13:1) at low loads. There is a reason factory vehicles did come with vac advance and didn't overheat.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

my local radiartor shop made mine a 4 core.it has always run around 180.i made a half shroud mostly for safety.i run a clutch fan on my 454 in a 1963 gmc suburban and now it runs a little warmer in traffic

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Do you have a large enough puke tank?
Any radiator will puke when the coolant expands

Re: Big block cooling help
 

I'm pretty sure rndfabrication is a member on here. I believe we get a discount through him in addition to some serious looking radiators.
His username is SparkyRnD

Re: Big block cooling help
 

I was have cooling troubles with my bbc even with an aluminum radiator with 2 10" fans. I ended up going to pull a part and getting a fan of a lincoln and problem solved,I even had to put the thermostat back in to keep temp in engine.some time and about 20 bucks fixed my problem.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Yep, we are a vendor on here and we do offer discounts to members. For dual 10" fans, those are definitely too small for what you have. Dual 12's would be the minimum I would run for a big block, preferably a single 16 or 17, with dual speeds if possible.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Well...If it was me I would run a aluminum rad 2 or 3 core .....with a shroud and electic fan. I have several of these combo's with strocker engines making 650 HP and never have problems. The new style rads have less cores but are the same thickness and give more cooling....it used to be cores decided how thick the rad is now it's thickness with as few cores as possible. I am a big believer in shrouds and pulling eletric fans....

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Sparky...help educate me on the dual speed fans....I'm an old school mechanical fan guy and am interested in possibly going electric for my big block swap if I have any clearance issues.

Re: Big block cooling help
 

Me too. There are about 60 million cars built every year with the same setup. It must work well.