Aluminum radiators? How do you feel about them?

I have two 32 Fords and both have a Walker br***/copper radiator.
The one in the Roadster is a 1988 built Walker ...



The one in the 32 3W is only a few years old ( about 3 thousand miles )



Never a problem with EITHER

Both the Deuces have 430 HP engines and the Walker keeps them COOL even here in the HOT, HUMID South. The Walker " Z " series is not inexpensive ... but they are a quality piece IMHO. Plus they LOOK right in a old car.

 

They are COOL!

 

I'd find an old 32 radiator, use the top and bottom tank and have it recored, around here in Burbank, costs about 400 bucks.
Aluminum seems to streetroddie to me, and I know you are not into that, from what I was told.

 

No an original Deuce radiator will work with the model A crossmember.

I don't like the looks of an aluminum radiator. They just look wrong on an old hotrod. Most won't care but to me it matters. If it's a g***er then it probably doesn't matter. It took a little time for me to find a usable original radiator for my 56 but to me it is worth it. Probably not a popular opinion here but it is mine. Details matter.

 

Radiators are strange, seems the older they are the longer they last. Still have a few with original cores in our late 50s trucks.

Any car that's trying to look old needs an old radiator, and it wont' be aluminum

 

Ill spend the extra loot and but a br*** copper. all of the cars I have built have br***/copper rads in them, I just wanted to hear other folks opinions, it's clear to me now, seems like a 50/50 split.

I also agree that a full hooded rod or custom can get away with an alum. jobbie but a hood-less hot rod really does need a br*** one.

pete-

 

I have aluminum in both cars right now, the '34 has about 50K on it and the '37 about 30K. No problems, I run 100% anti freeze and an anode. But, I went that way due to cost. I'd have liked br***/copper but there was a BIG difference in cost. So the '37 pickup I'm currently building will get an aluminum one. Cost, again.

 

My 2 cents - If I were putting forth the time, money, and effort to put a Cadi flathead in a traditionally styled 32 Ford, I wouldn't stick an aluminum radiator in front of it. Both radiators will work but the aluminum radiator just won't look right in that car.....in my opinion.

 

I've had 2 aluminum radiators on another car- both Griffins, both failures.
1st one failed after 4 years- leak at top tank to core. No one would fix it.
2nd one failed after a whopping year. Bottom tank this time. Again- no one would repair it. I called Griffin & they said for the handsome sum of $600 or so- I could have another one. **** them.
I run a Walker on this car- 12 years old. Never any issues.

 

I had 2 alum radiators in my 32. Both failed and were unrepairable. I bought a Walker which has a multi year warranty. The weight bothered me but I'm tired of broken radiators. Yes, it was expensive. Not as much as 2 alum ones though. I drive mine daily and don't baby it. Pot holes, railroad tracks, you name it.

 

Yep. Radiator in Nash hot rod is the original '29. Tin plated br***, cools the 292 Chivvy motor just fine. (after I spent a day combing the fins and a little solder to plug the leaks)

 

This post and WTFHemi's are probably the best on the thread. An aluminium radiator will ALWAYS be a compromise in a hot rod. I don't understand why all you guys want something that will just bolt in? You will custom build, or have everything custom built but you want a straight bolt in radiator?
The only reason aluminium is now used in modern cars is price, yeah they can be m*** produced cheaper and thats what you are all looking for.

Br*** and copper radiators are more effective when you have the right radiator and your cooling system set up right. Almost all aspects of these radiators are repairable and if you change the car you can modify the radiator to suit.
Go and find a real radiator shop and have it done right, don't just buy from a catalog, you can all tell me what hot rodders buy everything bolt in from a catalog cant you?
GOLD CHAINERS!

Doc.

 

I had an aluminum radiator in my '32 3 window highboy. Even tough the electric fan was on a sensor, it never came on. The motor ran at 185, no matter the weather or traffic conditions. Eventually, it sprung a leak so I tried a copper br*** radiator. The copper/br*** was good but I needed the electric fan in stop and go traffic or if the weather got into the 90's. My '51 Ford G***er has an aluminum radiator due to size constrictions. It works great even though it's painted black.

 

There is actually three ways to attach the tank and core, the usual way they are done in daily driver modern cars. O ring and a steel clamp, pain in the **** to work with too!

The br*** radiators are painted black as they dissipate heat faster. Modern aluminium radiators were painted black as it improves heat dissipation on them too, these days they are not. Manufacturers can save the money on paint and you still buy the radiator at the same price.


G***erGarrage, the reason you find a difference in the radiator types is not because one is aluminium and one is br***, its because the br*** core you bought is not suited to the application.

Go back and read WTFHemi's post, do some research as to what will work better.
People need to stop thinking that all radiators are the same, there are dozens of different cores in both aluminium and br*** that will cool differently when in the exact same radiator.
Like I said, do some research!

Doc.

 

I think the application is the important factor. An aluminum radiator is epoxied together, so the joints will be to brittle for a design that is also meant to serve as a structure on an old car, because they hold grilles and hoods and such. On a car that only uses a radiator to be itself and cool the engine would be just fine and actually do a better job.

 

Wrong! many aluminum rads have no epoxy and the headers are furnace brazed to the core. Get your facts straight

 

Not all aluminum rads are glued, afco doesnt and those can be repaired. Griffin is glued, and so are many others, and for whatever reason it seems its the high $$$ ones that are glued and cant be fixed.

A little black paint and some creativity and they dont look bad.

 

Was that a baking tray?

Doc.

 

close, stainless steamer tray from buffet table, 2 of em, cut into 6 pieces and re***embled, how to here>>>>> http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103404

Not my idea, but I stole it and ran with it LOL.

 

I like it, simple, effective and looks good!

Doc

 

Keep the hood shut.

 

im using a radiator i got out of a clark forklift i found in a junkyard. Its a 5 core br*** that they were gonna s****. All i had to do was solder a few leaks and it keeps my car nice and cold,

 

I have been using aluminum radiators on the last several cars for the simple fact that I can modify them easier than their br*** counterparts. I usually find suitable cores on the Summit Racing sratch and dent table or at the local swap meets and then modify it for my needs. I've split them down the middle, moved inlet/outlets and replaced entire tanks. I realize most people do not have a Tig welder at their disposal though. Everytime that I have attempted to repair a br*** radiator, it still ends up leaking. I use to take my br*** radiators to a local shop that always did an excellent job, but with the price of copper and br*** going out of sight, I need to find an alternative.

I have also used a Ford 8N radiator on a straight 6 application that works well. The 8N is a very attrative radiator.

 

No doubt..Im stealing that idea if i need a shroud

 

The biggest difference between aluminum radiators and copper/br*** is the tube width inside.
Most copper/br*** are usually 3/8" wide tubes inside the core. Aluminum radiators start at 1 row of 1" tube which is usually what's in most stock cars today. But the aftermarket rads for hot rods etc start at 2 rows of 1" tube and go bigger from there.
Yes, I know the copper br*** do dissipate heat better, but the downside to them is 1st: they are not all one metal. You have copper/br*** and then some metal type solder which holds the tanks on. That solder does hold heat longer than the rest of the raditator.
The aluminum radiators can and do flow more coolant due to bigger tube widths. They are also lighter and you can have a custom made one for most any application, which you can't do with copper/br***.
I won't dispute the qualities of both, they both have good and bad points. It's 6 of one and half dozen of the other.

 

Sunsetdard you are VERY wrong in some of your information. Please don't post such mis-information again.
In Br*** radiators there is NOT one set tube size, there are a great deal of different sizes and numbers of tube rows.
If you have a radiator that has enough solder in it to retain enough heat to affect cooling then you have a complete POS that you need to get rid off, I got a good giggle out of that being one of your issues with them!
Once again it depends on what you order as to how much the radiator can flow, therein being another issue. You can flow coolant too fast for the core to be efficient, just because it is flowing a large volume does not mean it will cool better.
Who ever told you that you cant have a br*** radiator made to spec is a fool, you can order a core in any configuration you need. I have even seen one with a step in it made to order.
To get a radiator to work you need to take into account flow rate (How much your water pump can flow).
limiting factors too that flow like hose width, length, tank sizes etc. Amount of air flow, just because you have a large radiator does not mean you are getting sufficient air flow, even with additional electrical thermo fans, then you have to take into account swept area, the amount that fan can flow (You may add a fan that actually reduces the air moved through the core if you add the wrong one).

There is so much more to efficient cooling than 90% of people understand, like I said; find a good shop, work with them!

My father has owned 3 radiator shops and I worked in several of them for 6 years and as an after school job for a number of years. He works in both br*** and aluminium radiators and taught that ****er at Aussy Desert Coolers how to build radiators (Though through his dodgy work ethic I wouldn't buy one!).
He builds a huge number of radiators for cars built in Victoria and is very good at what he does.

Please think a little more about cooling than, yeah that fits I'll use that!

 

I was wondering when DocWatson was going to give a serious and informed dissertation - he is absolutely right and knows his stuff, which is why I ignore the bulk of these 'it hasn't let me down in a billion years' posts about some POS product. There are some expensive to buy but cheaply made radiators out there - my experience and that of others here with Griffin is one. I am OCD about two issues - cooling and insulation - there is nothing more embarr***ing than sitting there with a car with steam pouring out of it and a lake of coolant spewing out. Top avoid this situation heed Docs Watson's advice. I for one will not run aluminum radiators for many reasons and DocWatson has stated several of them. Well said Doc and thank you for putting the record straight.

 

i was just reading thru this thread..i think i need a custom built radiator..and was not sure on weather to go with copper or aluminum or if i even have a choice..the problem i have is i have a turbo diesel in my caddy project and the radiators these engines use are to big for the space i have to work with and the original radiator from the flathead looks to be in good condition is large and fits the area real well but i am afraid it will not cool my engine..can anyone recommend a good shop to talk with about building a radiator for something like this..i;ll post a link to my project and you can see from the start-up video how large the diesel radiator is and the space i have to work with from the picture in the album

link... http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa84/rcplumley/46 caddy he**** project/

 

If you are running a four banger or even a V6, I found the Ford ****** core in aluminum, stood it up and it filled the stock '31 A rad shell nicely. The work was in carefully revamping the plastic tanks, preheat the weld region 1-2 inches at a time w/a hot air gun, then using a large/m*** soldering iron fuse the joint w/good nylon(?) tank material.
A new rad was $120 in 2009. It is a narrow core BTW, little weight and more "pump" clearance was realized.

 

Br*** radiators work good. Copper radiators work good. Aluminum radiators work good. Some radiators fail due to variety of reasons. Just because a radiator failed don't mean it was of substandard construction. Capacity is important. If the radiator size/configuration is the genesus of overheating, getting one of more capacity is the likely remedy. The idea that coolant can move too fast through a radiator resulting in diminished cooling is ********. The faster the coolant flows, the more heat it transfers. If the temperature of the coolant isn't lowered whilst in the radiator core that's a result of inadequate air flow or radiator capacity.