[lsejlowe]

I blew the left seam on my old radiator over spring break (middle of March) and had to let the car sit until last week as the end of the semester kept me real busy. Finally, last Thursday I got the old cooling system pulled out and last night she was back on the road, cooler than ever!

I opted to save a few bucks and not get the Dewitts radiator. Speedway Motors is based here in Lincoln, so it's a piece of cake to run down there and get lots of race parts.

I can never just replace the one part that needs it, so I pulled out the whole cooling system, painted the support, shroud, fan, pulley, etc. Also pulled the hood, painted the underside and painted that.

larger pics in my gallery, kept these small for those with less bandwidth...

Tru-Kool radiator - $159

fit pretty damn well. Just had to tweak the upper mounts a little to make it all fit right, but I was really happy with how well it went in!

radiator installed

aluminum water pump, chrome flexsteel hose for the upper, polished aluminum for the lower

other side

hood

before:

after:

total costs
aluminum rad - $160
polished alum. water pump - $80
chrome flexsteel hose - $80
polished alum flexsteel hose - $70
paint - $40
SS hardware - $10

total: ~$450 for an entire new cooling system

I tried to get by a little cheaper with some cheap SS braided cover rad hoses for $20, but the lower was too short and the upper was too stiff to clear the alt bracket and belt... The most difficult part of the whole thing were the hoses!

 

[matchframe]

Cool!!

What would a radiator for a Big Block cost?

 

[redvetracr]

I am not a fan of the flexhoses but everything else looks good.
...redvetracr

 

[rjent]

I am not a fan of the flexhoses but everything else looks good.
...redvetracr

Hey bro, I was thinking about using those type of flexhoses, what do you find wrong with them?

That looks great Jason! :thumbsup:

 

[Stingin' 76]

J,

I can't believe how far you've come with that car. It looks awesome!:thumbsup:

 

[Eddie 70]

Sounds like you made out with a nice price. How is it cooling now? Should make for a nice setup. Be sure to let us know how it works out for you.

 

[redvetracr]

Hey bro, I was thinking about using those type of flexhoses, what do you find wrong with them?

wrong?? nothing....I just don`t care for them (every hose on my racer is Aeroquip stainless w/anodized hose ends EXCEPT the radiator hoses)...I like factory style rubber...I do however like the rest of his installation.
...redvetracr

 

[lsejlowe]

Thanks for the compliments guys! It really feels good to have things cleaned up and working right again.

matchframe -
they have lots of different radiators available, mostly just based on dimensions. This was the 31" Tru-Kool. Their website is simply www.speedwaymotors.com, so you can check out what else they have.

I've driven it about 125 miles since it was finished last night and haven't seen the temp gage go over 180 the whole time. I never had an problems with cooling before the old radiator crapped out, and this setup should be more efficient. My only concern is longevity of the radiator. How well will it hold up for under $200? I'll let you guys know if I start having issues...

redvetracr -
I wasn't planning on using the flexsteel hoses at first, but really they were my best option. The old hoses wouldn't fit because the necks on the radiator were in different locations, and the other flexible hoses I tried didn't hold up well enough to clear all the brackets. However, now that I've shelled out the $$, I like the flexsteel hoses. Supposedly they dissipate more heat as well, but that wasn't a motivating factor for me.

 

[Corvette7579]

Lookin Good Baby! I know a guy that has that kinda setup and he ugh put a push pull dual fan and got rid of the conventional one. It looks weird the first time I saw it . But it is electric and gives you more horsepower. Hmmm? :thumbsup: Doing a great job on that first baby. Now, just if I could get back to my old self and do the same. Thanks for the Webby. Cooooll!:smack :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[curtis74]

Great looking set-up! Glad to see it all worked out and you saved some $'s in the process...........:thumbsup:

 

[lsejlowe]

thought I'd update this thread since I got a question on the topic. Last summer (June of '08) I developed a leak on the driver's side of the radiator somewhere inside the core near the top. I called up speedway and they said that because I hadn't been using it for racing they could exchange it for a new one. :thumbsup:

So I got the replacement radiator and decided to modify the necks a bit to make the angles more manageable. Speedway also makes a radiator neck kit for $20. I bought that and started cutting and fitting them up to the new radiator to get good angles. Then I had a buddy weld 'em up as well as put in the bungs for the temp switches for the Taurus electric fan conversion. The draincock was also a welcome addition so I didn't have to pull the lower hose to drain it in the future.

Here are some pics of the finished product. Upper neck:

Lower neck:

Overall:

Installed:

You'll also noticed I ditched the chrome covers for the hose clamps. They were too much of a PITA to deal with and I think it looks fine without 'em. I also recommend Breeze hose clamps if you can find them. Sometimes they're mixed in with the rest of the hose clamps at Ace hardware. The easiest way to spot them is look for crescent shaped slots in the band of the clamp rather than straight slots.

 

[rjent]

Looks good dude!

Did the hoses fit better this time?

That car sounds as good as it looks to! :thumbsup:

 

[lsejlowe]

yeah, the new necks make it a lot easier to get the hoses lined up. Much better :thumbsup:

 

[lswartzi]

Man I love this write up. I went to the speedway website but couldn't find the TRU KOOL raditor. They had a speedway brand but not a TRU KOOL brand. Do you happen to know the part number. I am going to try this same setup on my 80 corvette.

Thanks

 

[lsejlowe]

that part number on the Tru Kool was 917347-31 which is the same as the part number for their Speedway brand radiator. And the price went down to $120!

If your current hoses are still in good shape and you do the neck modification you might be able to re-use the old hoses and save a bunch of cash.

 

[Doug Mariani]

Looks Good:thumbsup:

 

[CFD E59]

Nice job on the install.:thumbsup:

 

[AlwaysWave]

I like it :thumbsup: