The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk New radiator

One of my other post I committed about installing a new radiator in my '37. I was tired of always repairing the old one. It never leaked very much, just a few drops once in while that got sprayed across the engine from the fan.

I purchased a new aluminum radiator
http://www.afabcorp.com/AFCO_Dynate...Code=80147N&Category_Code=hr_rod-rad ,
from this vendor, http://www.carshopinc.com/index.php/cPath/88_90
It was $434 delivered to my door in 3 days. I removed the stock unit and started checking out this new one. Its just a bit thicker but other wise pretty close. I had to add some side rails so it would bolt in OK, the aluminum brackets were a little short. No big deal, it went right in. Weight is like night and day, it takes two people to get the old brass one out, this new one is a one man job!
First thing I notice is the lower hose outlet is facing the oil pan, so now I have to lower the radiator to clear the pan or raise the engine. I lower the radiator. I had a piece of 1 1/2" u-shaped exhaust pipe left over from a header job so I use that to get from the engine to the radiator. It runs under and along the oil pan, loops up over the fuel pump and around the distributor and into the water pump. I bet the lower hose hold 1/2 gallon of coolant just by itself. The whole coolant system holds 1 1/4 more gallons then the old set up!

I set out on a test drive and notice two things, one it runs really hot and two the fan is hitting and high rpm. I had changed to a 180 thermostat from a 160 since the engine runs better hotter. Now the stock gauge is reading 220+ yet the engine and rad show only 180 to 185. With the 160 t-stat the gauge read 180 to 190, I figured the old gauge was just off that much. I install a new gauge I had laying around and it reads just the same. 250's have the gauge hole in the head between #1 and #2 cylinders, I drill and tap the thermostat housing so the sensor is now right under the thermostat, the guage now reads 180. I guess GM new where the hot spot was in the head!
Next I look into the fan hitting, at high rpm the flex fan is pulling forward and hitting the lower tank seam. I conclude the fan I am using is a cheap-o flex fan with little support for each blade. Looking at all that is available and that would fit, I chose a Flex-a-lite http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=400226+300595+115&autoview=sku
low profile 17". I was lucky and found a new one at the local swap meet for $20. Since I am now losing 1" of blade diameter (the old one was 18"), I decide to change out the water pump pulley to a 6" from the 7" it had. It now spins a bit faster, doesn't hit, and cools just fine. I had to drill out the mounting holes in the pulley, it came off some other engine and the bolt holes were off, just more work and one more time I had to pull the water pump!

So heres what I have
radiator $434
hoses $38
coolant $10
rad, cap $4
fan $20
gaskets $7
steel $11
thermostat $6
shorter belt $6
total $536 for a small leak!

Plus, three weeks of on and off working and test drives!


Joe

Ain't it fun??

Its a never ending project and the price always keeps going up! I always laugh a little when I read about someones project is done, they never are! Joe

You could have bought a 37 specific rad from Walker http://www.walkerradiatorworks.com/ and avoided all that. But you would have missed the adventure.

I'm not real sure a 37 specific radiator would have been any better. There are always concessions.

Since I have a 250 Ci engine from a 1970 Chevy, nothing fits as it should. Clearance is a problem along with hight. The water pump sets low on the engine and the engine sets low in the frame. I enjoy this type of fit and finish work, so it was fun project even though it cost a bunch.

Joe

I've had two and both fit like the original.

Joe - I forgot that you are running a 250. Yes, that definitely presents some challanges.
BIG CHEVY 3600 - What brand of radiators did you use on your 37's?
Thanks!

On both my 48 Plymouth and my 29 "A" I used a Walker. In both cases the fit was perfect as original. On my 51 I am running a Walker that is perfect for my application, SBC with auto and air.
I pulled the listing below out of the PDF file from Walker's catalog.


Chevrolet BOTTOM OUTLET RIGHT
Cobra Standard Series
Year Model Part Number Top Inlet Bottom Outlet See Notice Max-Air# Cooling Comp.#
1932 C-512-1 Left Right NDN RS WS-50 CCI-1750
1933 Master C-510-1 Left Right NDN WS-50 CCI-1750
1934 Standard Z-508-1 Left Right NDN ZZ WS-50 CCI-1750
1934 Standard Z-508-1 Left Right NDN ZZ WS-50 CCI-1750
1934 Master C-509-1 Left Right NDN WS-50 CCI-1750
1935 Standard Z-508-1 Left Right NDN ZZ WS-50 CCI-1750
1935 Master/Early C-509-1 Left Right NDN WS-50 CCI-1750
1935 Master/Late C-505-1 Left Right NDN WS-50 CCI-1750
1936 Master C-505-1 Left Right WS-50 CCI-1750
1937 All C-501-1 Left Right WS-50 CCI-1750
1938 All C-502-1 Left Right WS-50 CCI-1750
1939 All C-503-1 Left Right WS-50 CCI-1750
1940 All C-504-1 Left Right WS-50 CCI-1750
1941 All C-504-1 Left Right WS-50 CCI-1750
1946 All C-513-1 Center Right WS-70 CCI-1770
1947 All C-513-1 Center Right WS-70 CCI-1770
1948 All C-513-1 Center Right WS-70 CCI-1770
1949 All C-535-1 Center Right CCI-1740
1950 All C-535-1 Center Right CCI-1740
1951 All C-535-1 Center Right CCI-1740
1952 All C-535-1 Center Right CCI-1740
1953 All C-535-1 Center Right CCI-1740
1954 All C-535-1 Center Right CCI-1740
1955-57 V-8 C-567-1 Center Right V-8 CCI-1740
1955-57 S-6 C-567-1 Center Right S-6 CCI-1740
Notice: V-8 V8 Mounting brackets.
S-6 6 Clylinder mounting brackets.
NDN No dummy neck.
zz Only available in Z-line series.
Order

Well, I have a story to! I was into the radiator thing at the same time Joe was/is.
I bought a Griffin Aluminum "SBC Street Rod" ..I guess you could say "universal" type for $245. Like Joe says, two men to take the old one out but one can put it in....unfortunately for me I did both. When it came it needed the side "brackets" in order to have something to bolt it in. So, I went to Lowe's and bought a 3' piece of 1/8" flat aluminum for $8. Then I took it to a friend that is in our car club and he welded the brackets on the side for free. Next I picked out about a half dozen hoses from Advance and brought them home. Top hose no problem but the bottom hose I liked had no coil wire in it. So, I cut it to length, then pulled the old steel coil out of the old hose and cut it to length and placed it in the new one. Bought a new radiator cap, drilled some holes, (actually made them slots) and bolted it in.

Problems? My V8 sits LOW in the chassis so the fan hits low on the radiator. It cools just fine anytime your moving but five minutes sitting in traffic it will start to heat up some. The Flex fan I "formerly" used was only 14" due to hitting the bottom radiator neck. Thats not a problem now but I still need more fan but it won't help if its at the bottom of the radiator.

Next move is to install an electric fan to help as before but I don't like the ones that fasten through the radiator....... Neighbor to the rescue. He has a practically new 17" puller fan that he gave me the other day. Took it off his 350 blower engine.

So, plans are to pull off the flex and run only the electric.... or if it will "squeeze" in I may use both. It will be tight.

All this to agree with Joe and couple others..... Murphys law does apply and nothing is as simply as it appears.

Oh, my total spent about $275.

EDIT: I ordered my radiator through caparadiator.com out of Bloomington N.Y. They treated me good and also, after about a week, Bill called me back and ask if I was satisfied and how things were working. Haven't had THAT kind of service in a long time.