Aluminum radiator advice

Decurion

Member
Sep 28, 2006
353
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16
Livonia, MI
Ive been (lazily) looking for a direct fit aluminum radiator for my 65 for a while now, but havent really found what I was looking for. I got started a while ago, liked what I saw from Mustang Steve, but he stopped carrying radiators at the same time I tried to order one, so now that I forgot everything I was looking for Im back at square one. Ive used the search function here and came up with some good info, but many of the links I found are old and no longer work. What makes the difference between a $159 no-brand radiator and the $700 Griffins and Be-Cools? I dont want to get the absolute cheapest radiator I can get and wind up with a pile of crap, but Id like to keep prices under $300 if I can. Falconparts.com has direct fit radiators for $350, so I guess I could do that, I just seem to remember MS used to have them for $250ish and that they were nice quality. Im looking for one with a passenger side lower and driver side upper. So here are my questions:
1. Who makes a nice radiator at a reasonable price?
2. WHAT makes a radiator nicer than another?
 
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I bought an AFCO aluminum crossflow radiator with the inlet on the passenger side, and outlet on the drivers. I swapped out the water pump too. I agree, I think having the ports on opposite sides helps.
 
Fluidyne and Griffen make good stuff. I have a Fluidyne direct fit in my 65. I have the one for 5.0 swap, but they also have a regular one.

Alot of people seem to like Northern I believe its called. Which I think is Summit's house brand.
 
Summit has cheap radiators by Northern (american) and Jegs has even nicer ones which I think are even a bit cheaper. Not sure where they are made though. If you get on like the griffin link that is a universal, save yourself 100 bucks and get one of the others.
The others are made over seas like the on ebay. And I was impressed with the cooling. Our customer has a fresh engine with AC and the 2 core doesn't do a good job even with a fan shroud.

jegs radiator - JEGS High Performance
 
Ok, I'm not going to be super helpful since I can't comment on AL radiators. However, years ago I was having cooling issues and bought one of the 3-row fancy shmancy replacements from somewhere like Mustangs+ but I could be mistaken (we're talking like 10 yrs ago). Anyhow, I eventually had horrible overheating problems again and thought the radiator was fine. Replaced Tstat, water pump, then took the radiator in to a local shop. They cut it open and found that about 2/3 of the core was corroded and clogged. Granted, there was more going on here, but the 3-row has smaller tubes than stock and made it much easier to get blocked.

In the end, he reused the endtanks and made me a new 2-row (big fat tubes) that he said would be plenty good for 300-350 hp, which I am nowhere near, for about $250. Moral of the story: find a local radiator shop and see what they'll charge to build one. And more rows does not always equal better cooling (in terms of lesser-priced options).

That's my $.02
 
Decurion, that's probably the best question I've heard in months and deserves to be an FAQ. I won't buy a radiator made overseas when there are great options here like Northern/Summit and Griffin, but I too went the Northern route. It's not all together yet, but I see these vast differences in price between a Summit-Northern/Flex-a-Lite setup and, say, a Griffin or a Be Cool, and I have to wonder what the big diff is? The only slight complaint I have about the Northern is that if I look in the lower driver's side outet, I can see a bit of a lip where the tube is welded, inside, but that could be ground off with a drill if it really impedes flow. Tiny lip, maybe a few mm high.
 
...radiators by Northern (american)...

I just talked to someone at Dallasmustang.com and inquired about PN 6474 radiator. He said it was made by Northern, and that it was NOT American made (I asked specifically). He claimed that the only radiators US made are Be Cool and Griffin. I like American made, but Im not going to almost double the cost of a $300 radiator to get it. It still looks like a nice radiator, and far as I can tell is the exact radiator Falconparts.com carries for $30 less. Mustangdepot.com had what appeared to be the same radiator for $300, but Falconparts and Mustangdepot arent open today to inquire. If the M.D. rad is the same Northern brand as D.M. and F.P., Ill get it. Its a little on the spendy side, but I just dont think I want to trust a $120 radiator, or anyone that claims that small of a radiator can cool "850hp".:bs:

http://www.dallasmustang.com/mustan...65-1966-ALUMINUM-AUTOMATIC-TRANSMISSION/12747
 
I wouldn't bet anything on it. But I would certainly call them and ask rather than taking a salesman's word on it from a company trying to sell you something.
But I've bought a lot of radiators from different companies including those 129 ones. They aren't always a bolt in and the welds are hit and miss at best. You would think the welders in china would have better hand eye coordination at age 12 than what shows up in some of those boxes lol

70vert, the price difference between the griffin/becool and the northen/summit stuff is the more expensive ones are a true bolt in. Plus they come with automatic tranny hook ups. The 179 deals have to have brackets made, no auto hookups, and no petcocks.
 
Well these are not the best ever welds but I don't think they are all that bad either.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/sparx21/IMG_0006-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

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Northern has been providing high quality heating and cooling products for over 40 years. At Northern, quality is our way of life and a commitment made by every employee to provide the best.

Our offices, manufacturing facility, and primary distribution facility are located in Willmar, Minnesota. Fast turn around on all your orders is provided by our primary facility with special orders shipped from any of our 14 regional distribution centers scattered throughout the U.S.

The Northern radiators have a 2 1/4" thick core and have 2 rows of 1" tubes with louvered fins. Thats a total of 2" cooling area with only a 2 1/4" thick. That gives you a 1/4" gap between rows.

The Champion radiators have a 3 row 2 1/2" thick core. I dont know how wide each row is but if there are 3 rows with 2 - 1/4" gaps that still leaves you with 2" of cooling area with a thicker radiator to try to pull air through.

Just my 2 cents.
 
The core area is 2 3/8" thick on the Champion I have, the cores are 3/4" wide as best I can measure.


I like the Northern but was not willing to pay $300.00.

sparx
 
Some summit/northern models have auto hookups, petcocks

70vert, the price difference between the griffin/becool and the northen/summit stuff is the more expensive ones are a true bolt in. Plus they come with automatic tranny hook ups. The 179 deals have to have brackets made, no auto hookups, and no petcocks.

No argument on the $179 models, but the one I got for $329 (which I don't officially recommend - yet - since the filler neck may just slightly interfere with the hood and require a notch in the hood support structure or the frame, and def. requires moving the battery) does have a trans cooler hookup and a petcock. But I agree that you're paying for mounting brackets and direct fit when you're paying for the Griffin and Be Cool stuff. I can't speak to the quality of the welds or the long term durability, but it looked like quality product to me.
 
I was looking into Griffin and Be Cool radiators in the past month. I almost purchased a Griffin until I found out that they are bonded rather than welded together. I don't know if that makes much difference but I have heard of more than 1 story of Griffin radiators failing. I ended up going with a custom radiator from Wizardcooling.com. Wasn't the cheapest route but I feel it was the best option for my unusual engine layout, clearances and cooling needs.
Custom Radiators for Show Cars and Specialty Industrial Applications - Wizard Cooling
 
I talked to Griffin radiators directly and was told they are not bonded. They are fully welded and then they pour epoxy on after to eliminate fatigue at the tube ends.
 
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