Well right now my radiator is shot. Its leaking all over. Its the stock one so im not to upset. But what radiator would be the best one to replace it with? As far as installation and Fan shroud installation and cooling abilitys? And im mainly looking at main brands, not offbrand radiators. Only aluminum radiators because i dont want a stock replacement. Im looking at the FRPP Aluminum Radiator for 239.99 but it says "Modification required" anybody have any info on that? Also looking at the fluidyne radiator for 313.00 and its a direct fit. So im kinda leaning towards that one but im not sure yet. Any help would be great! Thanks
Radiator 87 - 93. Best Replacement!
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Unsure how much they are now, but i run a Pep Boys 3-core rad i got for $150.
My car runs stone cold with it
My car runs stone cold with it
I threw in a 3-core brass/copper radiator with Lifetime Warranty from Autozone last year - just lie to the parts counter guy and tell them you have an automatic instead of a manual, otherwise they'll try to sell you the crappy 1-row unit. It's been a HUGE help in keeping my notch cool in 120* summer heat on the highway ... although having a bigger/better electric fan would also help for the times I'm stuck in stop-and-go traffic, but that's not the radiator's fault. (Gotta have air moving over it for the thing to do any good.)
IIRC, mine ran about the same as Mustang5L5's did, somewhere in the ballpark of $150.
I wouldn't bother with a fancy aluminum radiator unless you can get one for about the same price, and only if it doesn't involve a lot of hacking and/or fabrication to make it fit. You really won't need it if you're running a stock H/C/I car and no forced induction or nitrous.
IIRC, mine ran about the same as Mustang5L5's did, somewhere in the ballpark of $150.
I wouldn't bother with a fancy aluminum radiator unless you can get one for about the same price, and only if it doesn't involve a lot of hacking and/or fabrication to make it fit. You really won't need it if you're running a stock H/C/I car and no forced induction or nitrous.
No, all come with a 2-core.
Only the 4-banger Mustangs without A/C come with a 1-core. The A/C models get a 2-core.
No factory Mustang comes with a 3-core i beleive
Only the 4-banger Mustangs without A/C come with a 1-core. The A/C models get a 2-core.
No factory Mustang comes with a 3-core i beleive
onefstsnake
New Member
I have a stock 2 core radiator w/ a taurus fan and its about 1/2" from hitting the water pump pulley. How could I put a 3 core on and the taurus fan on without it hitting the pulley?
The car has A/C
The car has A/C
I have never had a problem with over heating even on 100+ days. I only want a Aluminum one, figure i should do it right the first time. And i have never been a fan of Autozone parts, its always cheaply made junk parts for me. I always go straight to the Ford dealership and buy the motorcraft parts.
7-UP BILL
Founding Member
I have a Griffin Mustang specific rad for about 10 years now. It's a 2 row w/ 1" tubes. FWIW, those 3-4 row radiators don't have enough of the tubes touching the fins to cool the coolant properly. I spoke w/ a NASCAR mechanic (cooling tech) at a Ford convention some years back. He said to me the best radiator has the largest tubes you can fit. "The smaller the tubes the less area that they touch the fins". Plus with more coolant running thru those bigger tubes the heat is being extracted better. BTW 95% of the NASCAR teams use Griffin radiators. Just my $.02.
Nopantz
New Member
craigwhite89gt
New Member
So, since opinions are pretty much all over the board, buy and install whatever you want. 
FWIW, the 3-row versus 2-row (sorry, I remembered it as being a 1-row) thing is just a difference in the parts' house listings, not necessarily what came factory on 'Stangs. I just know that when you specify that you have an automatic (on Autozone's parts lookup system), it lists a 3-row as being a direct replacement. I had to bend the top brackets just a tad and trim some of the rubber out of the top and bottom from them to squeeze the sucker in, but the hose connections are the same. Just leave the tranny cooler line fittings plugged and it's all good.
Everyone dogs on aftermarket parts' quality. Yes, they're cheaper ... hence the price. The way I see it, as long as it's not one of those things that are a major pain to install (like a clutch), I'll sooner take a part with a cheaper price and a lifetime warranty than a part with a higher price and NO warranty, just because it has "Motorcraft" or "Ford" stamped on it somewhere. However, when it's something that is an all-day replacement project, or a very expensive part (rear gears, clutch, engine internals, etc.), then I'll spring for OEM quality or better.
FWIW, I've had my cheap-junk 3-core Autozone radiator for over a year without a problem at all. While I was working for Autozone, we really didn't get many radiators coming back at all for warranty exchanges, especially on the copper/brass units. (The plastic/aluminum junk, however, is garbage no matter where you go.)
I don't buy the "3 cores aren't better because of fins and stuff" concept. Compared to the radiator that was in my notch originally, this thing is friggin' BEEFY. It's got a larger surface area for air to flow over, it's got more area with which to dissapate heat, and measurably, I'm running FAR lower temps in the summer than I was with the original piece of crap. Again, go ahead and throw in a fancy aluminum radiator if you're so inclined, but unless you really NEED that much extra cooling because of the extent of your present mods (18" Cobra rims and Saleen ground effects don't necessitate heavy-duty cooling) or seriously planned future mods, then you're pretty much just throwing money away and buying something just for bragging rights and engine bay eye candy. "Doing it right" is one thing; overkill is another. But that's just my crazy philosophy, I guess.
I could care less what a NAZZZZCAR tech has to say about his theories on what's best for a daily-driven car; his experience involves cars that run 150+ MPH in a circle for 200 to 500 laps, whereas we're just dealing with stop-and-go traffic and/or highway speeds at a max of maybe 65 to 75 MPH. Different performance applications = apples to oranges.
If you're planning on keeping the stock mechanical fan and shroud while installing a big aftermarket aluminum radiator, your options are going to be severely limited. I'd be looking to buy a decent electric fan and DCC controller to go with it, and also take fan-to-pump-pulley clearance into consideration ... plus a 3G alternator upgrade, too, since an electric fan is going to seriously tax an already strained stock 65-amp alternator.
FWIW, the 3-row versus 2-row (sorry, I remembered it as being a 1-row) thing is just a difference in the parts' house listings, not necessarily what came factory on 'Stangs. I just know that when you specify that you have an automatic (on Autozone's parts lookup system), it lists a 3-row as being a direct replacement. I had to bend the top brackets just a tad and trim some of the rubber out of the top and bottom from them to squeeze the sucker in, but the hose connections are the same. Just leave the tranny cooler line fittings plugged and it's all good.
Everyone dogs on aftermarket parts' quality. Yes, they're cheaper ... hence the price. The way I see it, as long as it's not one of those things that are a major pain to install (like a clutch), I'll sooner take a part with a cheaper price and a lifetime warranty than a part with a higher price and NO warranty, just because it has "Motorcraft" or "Ford" stamped on it somewhere. However, when it's something that is an all-day replacement project, or a very expensive part (rear gears, clutch, engine internals, etc.), then I'll spring for OEM quality or better.
FWIW, I've had my cheap-junk 3-core Autozone radiator for over a year without a problem at all. While I was working for Autozone, we really didn't get many radiators coming back at all for warranty exchanges, especially on the copper/brass units. (The plastic/aluminum junk, however, is garbage no matter where you go.)
I don't buy the "3 cores aren't better because of fins and stuff" concept. Compared to the radiator that was in my notch originally, this thing is friggin' BEEFY. It's got a larger surface area for air to flow over, it's got more area with which to dissapate heat, and measurably, I'm running FAR lower temps in the summer than I was with the original piece of crap. Again, go ahead and throw in a fancy aluminum radiator if you're so inclined, but unless you really NEED that much extra cooling because of the extent of your present mods (18" Cobra rims and Saleen ground effects don't necessitate heavy-duty cooling) or seriously planned future mods, then you're pretty much just throwing money away and buying something just for bragging rights and engine bay eye candy. "Doing it right" is one thing; overkill is another. But that's just my crazy philosophy, I guess.
I could care less what a NAZZZZCAR tech has to say about his theories on what's best for a daily-driven car; his experience involves cars that run 150+ MPH in a circle for 200 to 500 laps, whereas we're just dealing with stop-and-go traffic and/or highway speeds at a max of maybe 65 to 75 MPH. Different performance applications = apples to oranges.
If you're planning on keeping the stock mechanical fan and shroud while installing a big aftermarket aluminum radiator, your options are going to be severely limited. I'd be looking to buy a decent electric fan and DCC controller to go with it, and also take fan-to-pump-pulley clearance into consideration ... plus a 3G alternator upgrade, too, since an electric fan is going to seriously tax an already strained stock 65-amp alternator.
Either one of these 2 fit with very little, almost no modification. I have the griffin. The biggest difference is the bottom hose. I just got a universal flex hose. The top hose was factory, just had to lube it up really well to get it on. I even bolted the orginal fan shroud to the radiator and used the factory mounting locations and brackets. Just trimmed the rubber a bit. The 31 inch units basically block the entire core support opening, so you have to worry less about the factory shrouds. If you the get radiator that is the same width as factory, then you will have to fabricate or buy new brackets, because you will be attaching to the tanks, and not the actual core. Hope this makes sense. By the way, the griffen leaves about 3/16 space between the factory fan shroud and a vortech 8" rengade pulley.
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...839040+4294810996+4294891681+115&autoview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...839040+4294810996+4294891681+115&autoview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...839040+4294810996+4294891681+115&autoview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...839040+4294810996+4294891681+115&autoview=sku
Go with the Ford Racing Cobra aluminum radiator and keep your stock shroud, fan and coolant bottle.
I installed one on my '87 last year. The only mods are to the brackets on top - the new rad is much thicker.
You can waste your hard-earned money on a Griffin, an electric fan, and rig up some kind of aftermarket overflow bottle, but they won't work any better. You'll have to hack up your car to get it all to fit. Some will tell you it's worth it, but my experience says otherwise. Spend your money on something that really helps. Ford's engineers know a little bit more than some hacker with tin snips and a big hammer...........
I installed one on my '87 last year. The only mods are to the brackets on top - the new rad is much thicker.
You can waste your hard-earned money on a Griffin, an electric fan, and rig up some kind of aftermarket overflow bottle, but they won't work any better. You'll have to hack up your car to get it all to fit. Some will tell you it's worth it, but my experience says otherwise. Spend your money on something that really helps. Ford's engineers know a little bit more than some hacker with tin snips and a big hammer...........
DMAN302
My mom says thanks for the pearl necklace.
I run the general autostore brand 2 core...have always used the autostore brand rads in every car I've ever owned. I run a h/c/i car and with my taurus fan and DCC unit I have yet to see anything over 190 degrees, even running in 110 plus degree temps stuck in traffic. Nothing wrong with the big names but the product you get from either the dealer or autostore will be of good quality...you'll be surprised. Alum will offer you no real advantage over your brass unit but if you're willing to spend 250 on that rad then definately go for it.
JChalfan
Member
FWIW, I've been happy with my parts-store 3-row replacement. Granted it doesn't get really hot up here in the pacific NW, but it's worked great for me. I've had it about a year, and for $150, I couldn't be happier.
mustanggt5pt0
New Member
I got my 3-row brass radiator replacement from Latemodel Restoration for cheap and it works very well, maybe too well
Honestly I drove 500 Miles straight last summer on a trip to kansas in 98* heat and I could put my hand on the manifold when i stopped for gas after 350 miles. Aluminum is a waste of money IMO.
Honestly I drove 500 Miles straight last summer on a trip to kansas in 98* heat and I could put my hand on the manifold when i stopped for gas after 350 miles. Aluminum is a waste of money IMO.Similar threads
