[ronstory]

After the adventure getting the new cat from southern Oregon to Portland, I wanted a new radiator. While I'm sure this will cause some purists to cringe, well it sure is shiny and not bad for $190 with shipping.

The new radiator fresh from the box and American Eagle AE284. I'm still waiting on electric fan shroud but though I would run it with good old original fan for the time being.



When I pulled the tired old radiator, I checked the dimensions and the tanks on the new radiator are about 1/4" deeper that the factory radiator.



Also, the saddles that support the old radiator are in a "channel" on the factory radiator. This makes the radiator mount about 3/8" high. Rather than bend the supports out, I removed the rubber inserts and replaces them with the thinner rubber like insert my neighbor had lying around. I actually had to bend the supports in a bit and with the thinner material (glued on the supports with permatex) it fits perfectly. The coolant overflow hose is in a tight spot but I can live with that.



The interesting thing is how much the technology changed with the new radiator. The original was a 3-core and had 3/8 brass tubes with copper fins. A shot down the filler neck.



If you look at the new radiator, it's a 2-core... but the tubes are *way* longer at 1". This made the 2-core about 1/2" thicker than the original.



Also there are about 50% more fins per inch on new radiator. With the larger tubes and more fins, it should give more contact surface area for coolant to cool.

Now to test it our finally warm Oregon weather.

[ycis]

seems like a smokin deal for 190$

[Engine-Ear]

Good info, Ron. Pics really tell the story. If you remove the radiator at some point, add pics of the lower bracket mods you made to this discussion thread.

[66bonne]

Nice job on a nice radiator.

Jim

[mcarb80682]

I need one did u get it thru a website company or eBay . I have 1964 catalina and it really needs one . I notice u have no fan shroud, mines is the same how is the cooling is it good wither the direct drive fan or u still need the electric, plus how will u be connecting the electric fan if u will use it

[ycis]

bumping this back up...woudl like more info on where you got the rad as well.

and did you mention to them to weld the overflow nipple on at a different angle for future ones?

[ronstory]

Sorry... I missed the updates to this thread. The item I purchased was:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2-ROW-AL...#ht_6674wt_783

I have not installed the 12" fans and shroud, but the reason I picked the two 12" fans versus one 16" fans was better coverage of fan-to-tube airflow. Also, having addition clearance where the water pump fan hub/pulley and the shroud meet is a good thing. I learned that on another project.

[Engine-Ear]

Originally Posted by ronstory

I have not installed the 12" fans and shroud, but the reason I picked the two 12" fans versus one 16" fans was better coverage of fan-to-tube airflow.

It would be an interesting experiment to compare measured operating temperatures between the single fan and the dual fans.

Originally Posted by ronstory

Also, having addition clearance where the water pump fan hub/pulley and the shroud meet is a good thing. I learned that on another project.

Can you clarify that? What I mean is, how does it relate to the fan shroud opening and the water pump shaft?

[ronstory]

Ahhh... the two fans versus a on big fan is more a 'design' issue. I've setup both on multiple vehicles, and prefer the two fan approach. I'm also partial to a oversized radiator, so the vehicle has a chance to get me home if the fans or controller die. In my experience, with an oversized modern radiator, you really only need one of two fans to get you home on all but the hottest days. I normally use the SPAL fan controller, but they discontinued it and closest replacement is the Dakota controller... but only the SPAL has the proportional speed control for the primary fan. I may need to just make my own. ;^)

Example: When I did the electric fan conversion on my IH Scout so I flip a switch and go through really deep water, I had problems with the clearance between the back of the single fan motor and front of the pulley (with the mechanical fan removed). With two fans, they are staggered in the shroud so their is more space between the pulley and the shroud/fans. Basically, with one fan... the depth of the fan stacks up right on top of the pulley system and can make for a tight fit when working on the front of the motor.

[ycis]

what made you switch to electric fans vs the stock one?

[ronstory]

Oh, that's easy. I've never had to replace a water pump of any of my older vehicles once I put an electric fan in.

Electric fans are more efficient at cooling (in this case max of 2800 CFM) based on temp not engine RPM, does not waste HP at freeway speeds (the reason engineers added the viscous fan clutch on engines in later years). Plus, you will be surprised how much easier it work on the front of the engine with that big fan out of the way.

Also, removing the should and fan assembly is now 4 easy to access bolts (side of the radiator frame) and an electrical clip.

YMMV

[AZ64GP]

Hi ronstory,

I don't intend to hijack your thread, but I was reading this thread and I have a few questions for you.

I have a '64 Pontiac Grand Prix I'm restoring and I'm in a similar situation. My stock radiator was damaged, and it will probably need to be replaced. I'm thinking of going the aluminum radiator replacement route too. Do you know if that radiator and the electric fans will work with an A/C car? My car has factory A/C and I would like to know if you know the radiator and the fans were designed to handle the additional load.

Also I have heard that if you are replacing a factory radiator with a replacement, that you should use a replacement with the same number of cores as the original radiator. Now I know that aluminum radiator vs. the original radiators in our cars are apples and oranges, but do you know if the two core design of the new aluminum radiator you purchased will be sufficient to replace the three core design our cars were originally equipped with?

Lastly, you said that the controller you were going to use for the electric fans is no longer made. What do you intend to use to control the fans and how easy is something like that to install?

Thank you for your help!


Chris

[ronstory]

I don't have AC and don't know how the AC condenser, dryer, etc mount on your car. That said, provided the condenser mounts in front of the radiator, it should be possible to make everything fit since the dimensions are new aluminum radiator are roughly the same. I would expect tweaks to the mounts and 'adjustments' to be needed.

The old radiator was 3 core, but the cores were only 3/8 tubes. The new radiator is only a two core but one of those 1" tubes probably has 80% the same surface connection to the cooling fins as all three 3/8" tubes on the old radiator. Factor in the 2nd tube and you probably have a total 50% surface area to the fins. Add in there are more tubes and higher density of fins between the tubes... it will cool better. The only negative is that the old radiator is copper which has a better heat transfer then aluminum. But copper need a bit of paint to protect it from oxidation, and that interfere with heat transfer a bit... which always causes me to scratch my head when I see folks giving their radiator multiple coats of satin on the fins.

Based on my testing, the new radiator cools the engine better than the 50 year old designed radiator... but not a true apples to apple comparison since the I'm sure some of the tubes in the old radiator were crustified.

As for the controller, today I would use the Dakota Digital since it a programmable... but I bought an extra SPAL controller before they discontinued them. If you decide to go for a single fan system, the bonehead simple thermal switch kits work fine.