[Thumper71]

Anyone on here running a dual pass radiator? Am considering getting one for my 72 and was hoping to hear some real world reviews of this type of radiator in vehicles like ours. Found one from Northern Radiators that should work, but dual pass has the inlet and the outlet on the same side so I was hoping someone might have hose routing tips when using this style radiator as well.

 

[veno]

Anyone on here running a dual pass radiator? Am considering getting one for my 72 and was hoping to hear some real world reviews of this type of radiator in vehicles like ours. Found one from Northern Radiators that should work, but dual pass has the inlet and the outlet on the same side so I was hoping someone might have hose routing tips when using this style radiator as well.

WHY are you looking at a dual pass? unless your a roundy round racer driving dirt with a mud shaker up front.. you will not benifit and makes a whole nightmare for your self in hose routing....

just get a 2 row 1.25" tube aluminum radiator.. if you need more than that.... there is something amiss

 

[Thumper71]

I'm curious about them as I was talking to a guy at the car show who was running in a small block nitrous set up and he claimed that he never get's north of 180* anytime/anywhere. In theory they sounded like a pretty good idea and was hoping someone on here might actually be running one in their Nova. The whole conversation with him came up after I explained to him my issue with creeping temps on the highway at sustained RPM around 2800 - 3200 RPMs. I may have some free time this weekend and will be looking to fab up some sort of cheap air dam/deflector for the front to see how that works. I'm running out of ideas on this and the dual pass was a fresh idea that intrigued me.

 

[Burke]

The easy way to route hoses for a dual pass is to convert to an LS motor.

 

[Thumper71]

The easy way to route hoses for a dual pass is to convert to an LS motor.

Yeah, that's not happening.

 

[SMLBLK66]

i run a 2 1" core alluminum radiator with a sbc n2o motor and never get over 185* in traffic and it stays at 175* down the highway anywhere from 3500 to 4000 rpm. order the universal one that fits from summit. i think there like $160.00. its well worth it.

 

[Thumper71]

I have a dual core 1.25" tube aluminum radiator from Griffin. Is it possible that the 1.25" tubes allow the coolant to leave the radiator too quickly before getting fully cooled down? I was just thinking about this last night. It also has an Edelbock water pump on it. I believe I'm also going to switch over to a single SPAL fan that can pull some serious air or I am considering going to a mechanical fan for the street. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[deuceman]

aluminum 2-1 inch core, dual spal 11 inch. One fan on temp switch, other on manual. with both fans running, never goes past 190*, idling in Vegas at 120degrees. Reason for the one manual, cooling when sitting in staging lanes after a run. I let it sit and Idle for over an hour when my thermometer was sitting at 120* in the shade, 185-190* tops. Haven't taken it on the road yet, but with a brand new radiator, thermostat (160*) and hi volumn alum. water pump, I forsee no problems there.

 

[74 hatchback]

I have a dual core 1.25" tube aluminum radiator from Griffin. Is it possible that the 1.25" tubes allow the coolant to leave the radiator too quickly before getting fully cooled down? I was just thinking about this last night. It also has an Edelbock water pump on it. I believe I'm also going to switch over to a single SPAL fan that can pull some serious air or I am considering going to a mechanical fan for the street. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks.

I have the dual 1.25 griffen 31x19 rad and you need airflow, need to work on the fan setup, Had the dual 1" and wasnt working, mine finally works nice with a 18" 7 blade HD stainless flex-o-lite fan and a 20x2 cake pan shroud and a 160 stat and bosch pump with impeller disc added, temps stay at 170 all day with a 454.

 

[Thumper71]

Considering getting this fan as I believe some guys have stated on here that they have it and it works great...
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-180/?image=large

Still considering going to a mechanical flex fan for the street and keeping the electronics hooked up for the fan for trips to the drag strip. I don't know, I'm all over the place on this.

My other thought from a suggestion made by someone in an earlier thread when I started trying to diag my cooling woes is to put a spring inside the lower radiator hose. I grabbed it and it doesn't currently have one in there and someone suggested that at high RPM the hose may be collapsing. Do I just have to cannabalize one out of a fresh hose from the parts store? Something I could find around the ol' Home Depot and stuff in there?

 

[74 hatchback]

31x19x3griffin/HD flexolite/160stat/impellerdisc/20x2cakepan shroud

This is my set up, had cooling issues forever and also thought about the dual pass but i like to keep it simple. the electric pusher is my cruising back up fan but is never used until the dreamcruise.

 

[Thumper71]

I will try to get some pics up of what my cooling set up currently looks like tonight if that will help people to help me keep this bad boy cool. The issue I see with the mechanical fan is that I have to clear a 3" blower belt set up and still get close enough to the radiator to move some air through it. After I switched to a mechanical fan on my 71 I never had any issues with keeping it cool. I also dropped in a bigger radiator out of a BB Camaro that my friend had laying around.

 

[Thumper71]

Cooling System Set Up Pics

Took a while, but finally downloaded the pics. This is what it looks like from the top...

And this is where the trans cooler mounts up on the pass side in front of the radiator.

Seems like a system that plenty of other people run and have no issues with. What am I doing wrong?

 

[e27spd]

Most people don't run around with a roots blower too........

Thing you might try to get your cooling down.

Less timing.

Build a air dam under the radiator core suport, this will help force more air in to the radiator at speeds over 35 or so.

Seal off the top of upper core suport to the hood or the grill so air can not by pass the radiator.

Make some brakets to move the trans cooler farther away from the radiator.

Some fan shrouds can hurt air flow at higher speeds, cut some small square holes in the shroud and cover the holes with a rubber attached to the top of the hole so when the fan comes on the rubber seals to the shroud and at highway speed the rubber lifts alowing air to move past the shroud.

Just some idea's

 

[Thumper71]

I am already talking to Randy (on this site) from SpoliersbyRandy.com to get a front spoiler that looks great. Give the Nova the ol' "chin strap" look and direct some more flow up at the radiator.

The timing right now is about 30* locked out. The car likes it and I'm afraid if I go any lower I'm gonna lose peformance out of it.

How would you go about sealing the top of the core support to the hood? I was actually thinking that the other day, but couldn't really figure something out that would work well.

As for moving the trans cooler I will take a look and see if that is do-able. I think it could be, but it's not something I've looked into yet. Will check that out later this week when I get time off of work.

Thanks for the ideas, now I just got to see if some of these make a difference.

 

[Pro19Nova67]

What's everybody's thoughts on coolant additives like that water wetter stuff? I think I've seen it made by companies such as Red Line, Be Cool and Royal Purple. Supposed to help aid in heat transfer. Does this stuff work or is it just snake oil?

 

[Thumper71]

I have used Red Line Water Wetter before with a about a 80/20 water to coolant mix and had great results. Of course at the same time I put in a slightly larger radiator and a 18" Flex Fan in my old '71 Nova and had great results. Drove it around all summer and the temp never got above 185*. I have also talked to a lot of guys at cruise nights & car shows and most people really do like that stuff. Almost all have seen good results in keeping the car cooler using it.

Am currently debating switching from an electric to a flex fan again for running around on the street. Would still keep everything hooked up for the electric fans for strip use.