[pete66]

I have been trying to decide on one of chevy 2 only's 4row optima core radiators or a Be cool aluminum. I'm not too worried about looks or weight savings, only better cooling.
C2O says brass & copper outperform aluminum radiators, Be Cool says theirs will outperform brass/copper rads. Who is right?
I have a '66 ss, smallblock, maybe 400hp, more cruzing than racing, might see the local 1/8 mile track every now and then.
C2O maybe be a couple hundred dollars cheaper also..
Thanks for any input..

 

[NovatoriusRex]

I used an Optima 4-core and then swapped it to an aluminum one. I made a bunch of changes all at once (new fan, new water pump, new thermostat, and new rad), so I can't blame all of the improvement on just the new rad, but....

Idling in traffic before, it would routinely hit 210+ and saw 230 once before I got it moving again. Now I have problems even getting it to 180 even though I removed the fan shroud, which is good even though I think I got a 165* thermostat by mistake. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the aluminum rad will be far more efficient than any brass/copper rad and is worth investing in, in my humble opinion.

I'm not sure I'd pay BeCool's premium on their rad just so that you can guarantee it's a simple bolt in. A competant aluminum welder than weld tabs onto the sides of a Jegs/Summit unit and it'll bolt right in. That's what I did when I found a local deal on one.

 

[Pauls72]

Here is a comparison:
http://www.usradiator.com/testing.htm

 

[NovatoriusRex]

Here is a comparison:
http://www.usradiator.com/testing.htm

Interesting article, but I'm not sure that they're comparing apples to apples. Is it really valid to compare a 2core-1.25" tube aluminum to a 4core-.5" tube brass rad and expect similar results? Were they comparing the same fin density also?

What if they compared a 2core-1.25" tube aluminum rad to a 2core-1.25" tube brass rad with the same fin count on each?? What would the variance be there?

 

[pete66]

Idling in traffic before, it would routinely hit 210+ and saw 230 once before I got it moving again.


This is my problem now. Stop a a red light and it hits 220-230 pretty quick.
The comparison in the link above should answer my question, but searching through alot of posts, people say they have better luck with aluminum.
Anybody else have or had one of the optima core radiators?
Thanks for the replys so far..

 

[Denis the Menace]

Check out a Griffin at Summit. They are considerly less expencive.

 

[new2novas]

i'd go with one of the universals from jegs or summit, i didn't like the old style of the summit universal aluminum (which i have) but it looks like they changed to rectangular end tanks...150 bucks

 

[lz07rp]

My .02 is that brass/copper have been aruond for awhile and I think that you could get one that would work just fine for your car, as long as your fan and shroud are on either one of them should cool better than stock. But to know the difference in them you would almost have to try them both on your motor. You might want to contact someone with a dyno they might have tried both kinds on a few different engines and can give you a unbyass opinion.

 

[novech]

My understanding is the solder on a brass/copper rad. is what makes it "so" bad. It is actually a better conductor of heat than aluminum if you don't include the solder. With that I'd think if you find a well designed brass/copper it would be as good as aluminum and cheaper.