63 Radiator Recomendations

[Guest Kaber]

Hey Guys, Its Kaber, I've been away from The Riv world for a while. My son was studying in England and I had my own cars to mess with. My computer at work lost the ability to get on this sight for some reason as well?!?

 

I fear my Son's 63 401 Riv may need a replacement radiator. His is green and seepy and it kinda overheated last year. So what have you guys found for replacements? I'm gonna replace the trans cooler lines at the same time with some from Inline Tube. Any help would be great. I was thinking OPGI or a recore. I haven't had much luck with recore's in the past.

 

Thanks!

 

Kaber

 

Edited June 23, 2017 by Kaber (see edit history)

[Seafoam65]

               I would go with US Radiator. They aren't cheap but they are high quality and fit like the originals.

Check them out on their website.

[Black River]

If you don't mind it not being stock, I run one of these HD 2 cores in my car.  It fit great other than the stock cooler lines I had to adapt, but other than that, super happy with it. http://www.jegs.com/c/Cooling-AC-Heating_Radiators/10123/10002/-1?N=1010597&Ns=P_PrimarySecondary|0||P_SalesVolume|1&Tab=SKU&make=4294829225&model=4294829199&year=4294829683&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1  

Here it is in my engine compartment......

[JanZverina]

Hi Kaber,

One of the first things I did when I bought my '63 was to have the core replaced with the high-efficiency kind, which has smaller but more fins, with as fat a core as the original upper and lower tanks would take. I had it done at a radiator rebuilding shop here in San Diego for about $400 all in, IIRC. Looks stock for the most part but I also want reliability in warmer SoCal weather and any traffic congestion.

[rodneybeauchamp]

Hi Kaber,

after some chronic overheating problems in my 63, opted for a recore using a four core replacement from a reputable repair shop as original radiator became a sprinkler when rodded out.

 

Also with new hoses installed, opted for a 180 degree thermostat and FlowKooler water pump. Running a 13 pound standard pressure cap and temperature is fine with extra capacity and less stress on the system.

[ronnie27]

Hi Kaber,

I also had mine re-cored with 4 core unit. I live in south Louisiana, hot, humid and ac a must. 180 degree thermostat, works fine at highway speeds and in heavy traffic. Also around 400 bucks.

[RivNut]

5 hours ago, rodneybeauchamp said:

Hi Kaber,

after some chronic overheating problems in my 63, opted for a recore using a four core replacement from a reputable repair shop as original radiator became a sprinkler when rodded out.

 

Also with new hoses installed, opted for a 180 degree thermostat and FlowKooler water pump. Running a 13 pound standard pressure cap and temperature is fine with extra capacity and less stress on the system.

Good solution.

[telriv]

Lucas,

       What were the size of the tubes??? 1" or 1 1/4"???

 

 

Tom T.

[Black River]

4 hours ago, telriv said:

Lucas,

       What were the size of the tubes??? 1" or 1 1/4"???

 

 

Tom T.

Just 1". Wish it was bigger tubes, but idled for over an hour yesterday and never boiled over in 90 degree heat basically not moving getting into the air/car show after driving 50 miles to Hamilton. It and the 6 blade flex fan are doing a good job this summer.

[telriv]

Thanks for the reply Lucas,

 

  I've looked but don't see where a bigger, 1 1/4" tube is listed. As a matter of fact I don't see tube sizes listed anywhere. Are they available to your knowledge???

 

 

Tom T.

[Black River]

Not a 1 1/4" to my knowledge. The next step up from Champion is 3 rows of 5/8". They're rated for 1000 hp they say, but you and I know that there's more to it than tube size, rows, and cores...... All I know is mine works for what I've got and that's all that matters to me. And it looks good.

[jsgun]

6 hours ago, telriv said:

Thanks for the reply Lucas,

 

  I've looked but don't see where a bigger, 1 1/4" tube is listed. As a matter of fact I don't see tube sizes listed anywhere. Are they available to your knowledge???

 

 

Tom T.

Tom, Griffin Radiator http://www.griffinrad.com/ will do custom builds with 1 1/2" tubes. I got a quote last year, I think it was $750 or so. I wanted one but couldn't justify the expense, so I went with US Radiator's aluminum model with 1" tubes for considerably less.

[telriv]

THANK YOU for all the info guys.

 

 

Tom T.

[RivNut]

I would think that more narrow tunes would cool better than fewer wide one.  More cooling surfaces for the water to make contact with.  Too wide of a tube and some of the water might never come into contact the cooling tube.  ?  Anyone Else?

 

Ed

[steelman]

If you buy an aftermarket aluminum radiator, try to get one that is fully welded. Most aluminum radiators are put together with an epoxy that will not last. May not have a choice IF you can find one for a Riviera, but if you have a choice, look at how they are put together. The larger aftermarket companies use an epoxy glue that does not have a good reputation for durability and service life.

[Black River]

17 hours ago, telriv said:

Thanks for the reply Lucas,

 

  I've looked but don't see where a bigger, 1 1/4" tube is listed. As a matter of fact I don't see tube sizes listed anywhere. Are they available to your knowledge???

 

 

Tom T.

In the "overview" section of the radiators that I posted, it tells you what the tube size is.  The Champions are fully welded and brazed.  No glue or epoxy.

[jsgun]

10 hours ago, RivNut said:

I would think that more narrow tunes would cool better than fewer wide one.  More cooling surfaces for the water to make contact with.  Too wide of a tube and some of the water might never come into contact the cooling tube.  ?  Anyone Else?

 

Ed

It's my understanding is that it allows for a larger volume of coolant to pass through the radiator per minute. The better aluminum radiators are designed to take advantage of that, by using staggered tubes (fore and aft of each other) to keep the number of fins in contact with a tube to the maximum. Copper is more efficient for cooling, but being a soft metal, they have difficulties making larger tubes to move more water. That's were a well designed aluminum radiator can out perform a typical copper/brass unit.

Edited June 27, 2017 by jsgun (see edit history)

[jsgun]

I'm wanting to go with a "waterless" coolant, to prevent corrosion issues. I ignored that on my ford, and electrolytic corrosion ate up a rather nice Griffin radiator. It can be pretty difficult to find someone able and willing to weld or solder aluminum.

[RivNut]

49 minutes ago, jsgun said:

It's my understanding is that it allows for a larger volume of coolant to pass through the radiator per minute. The better aluminum radiators are designed to take advantage of that, by using staggered tubes (fore and aft of each other) to keep the number of fins in contact with a tube to the maximum. Copper is more efficient for cooling, but being mount of fluid a soft metal, they have difficulties making larger tubes to move more water. That's were a well designed aluminum radiator can out perform a typical copper/brass unit.

Is there anything in the descriptions of the different radiators that tells what the rate of flow Is?  If 20 small tubes would flow the same amount of fluid per minute as 10 larger one, then wouldn't the smaller tubes have more contact surface and cool better?  Kind like pouring a Coke over ice.  The same volume of ice that is crushed will cool faster than the same volume of ice in cubes - more surface area equals better cooling.  

[jsgun]

1 hour ago, RivNut said:

Is there anything in the descriptions of the different radiators that tells what the rate of flow Is?  If 20 small tubes would flow the same amount of fluid per minute as 10 larger one, then wouldn't the smaller tubes have more contact surface and cool better?  Kind like pouring a Coke over ice.  The same volume of ice that is crushed will cool faster than the same volume of ice in cubes - more surface area equals better cooling.  

Not that I've noticed. I imagine the race radiator manufactors (nascar, etc) could probably give numbers. It seems to be some established conventional wisdom with radiator design that coolant volume performs better than fin density. Honestly, most of what I know about radiators comes from water cooling high performance computers. Sheer volume of coolant is need to overcome restriction in typical cores. Some guys would run higher pressure to overcome those restrictions, but it seemed to create hot spots in flow. Fins per inch did have an effect on cooling ability (Delta I believe is how efficiency is measured), but it quickly reached a point where fin density became a liability because it became harder to move air through the cores. With computer radiators the conventional wisdom matched the same as automotive... move as much coolant and air as possible through the radiator.

 

I've seen some hard core mathematics from some smart people behind all of it, but it's way out of my league!

[telriv]

Copper/brass is FAR superior than aluminum for heat conductivity. The thing that kills copper/brass is the solder. It conducts very little heat. The tanks, all the tubes & all the fins are soldered to the tubes. Electrolysis also deteriorates the solder. All that white stuff you see on the tubes of copper/brass is called solder bloom. It's the anti-freeze mixture, corrosion inhibitors that eat away at the solder. I have that little thing that's  installed that neutralizes the effects & have no solder bloom problems.  An ALL aluminum radiator in this instance is now better. It's been proven time & time & over & over again. No need to try & re-invent the wheel.

Just my thoughts

[Guest Kaber]

Thank you for all the replies! I , like most here, went with the recore (Using the more efficient core). Total was $375 and I knew it would fit!

 

Again thank you for all the replies! This is a great Resource to the Riviera community!!

 

Kaber