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Three row or two row radiator?


cygnusx1

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My L28ET Z needs a new radiator. I run a 2-row aluminum, ebay, budget unit in my NA 240Z with good results. Do you think I can get enough cooling with a 2-row aluminum unit in my turbo 280Z, or should I spend the extra $100 or so for a 3-row? The one that I have in there now is an old stock radiator, and has never had any trouble shedding heat.

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Never mind...I found a 3-row for $189....can't pass up that deal. I have had two of these before and both had pinholes in a weld line. Easy fix, for that price, I can tolerate it.

 

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-1978-NISSAN-280Z-3-Row-All-Aluminum-Radiator-CC634-/270871275236?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f112fa6e4&vxp=mtr

 

 

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I need a new radiator for my 280z with a stock engine. I'm rebuiding the car and don't want to put the original back in.(I can tell its been repaired at least 3 times!) Can anyone recommend a GOOD aluminum radiator that's not too much money or should I stay with the old style copper and brass one? Thanks guys, Pooky

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  • 7 months later...

Pinhole leaks in Aluminum Radiators?

 

Guys, you DO realize that Volvo and Ford for DECADES put half a tube of ALUMA-SEAL in EVERY production vehicle of the line to minimize nuisance warranty calls for leaks?

 

Works wonders. After every head gasket I do, half a tube goes in... I be 1/4 would be enough.

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Pinhole leaks in Aluminum Radiators?

 

Guys, you DO realize that Volvo and Ford for DECADES put half a tube of ALUMA-SEAL in EVERY production vehicle of the line to minimize nuisance warranty calls for leaks?

 

Works wonders. After every head gasket I do, half a tube goes in... I be 1/4 would be enough.

 

That's scary. You learn something new every day.

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I guess I got lucky with my flee-bay 3 core aluminum radiator. I had to cut some of the flange off the bottom and drill the mounting holes. No leaks on the radiator, however the cap started leaking out the top of the assembley rivit!!!

For me the 3 core is overkill for my turbo 280z here in Washington state. I block off half the entire radiator, on the passenger side of the car, and I still dont get good temps when is 40 deg F or colder.

Edited by 280zex
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Yes. It's the same issue that got Ford buying it in the 55 gallon drum size (if I'd only taken a photo!) to add to the stuff coming off the line!

 

Cygnus, it really wasn't for radiator leaks...they are component pressure tested at the vendor, even back then. It was for gasket seeps and leaks (head gaskets)... Nobody remembers their new-car head retorquing at 500 miles? Probably cause the OEM Aluma-Sealed it and if you didn't come in...at least it held together till it was out of warranty when you could pay the costs of your negligent maintenance and not FoMoCo... LOL

 

TOO MUCH of anything is bad. 1/4 a tube works miracles in terms of nuisance seeps and leaks!

 

For our era cars with conventional gaskets, it's an accepted practice for the stated issues. I'd be more hesitant on newer vehicles like a Honda with O-Ringed joints, or anaerobic sealants. For anything Pre 85 I'd say yes, if the mill was "legacy" that it...designed sometime up to the mid-late 70's. For domestic stuff, that could be up until the mid-late 90's! (Think SBC/BBC!)

 

Truthfully, I carry the 3/4 tube in the glovebox, and on more than one occasion I've given it to someone broken down and they've driven home! I started throwing tubes in the glovebox on everything but the VW and Corvair... If you run out of coolant on them, you're dead. Literally!

Edited by Tony D
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Good to know, I've replaced the headgasket twice on my L24. Not because of combustion chamber getting coolant in it or because of oil mixing with the gas but simply because it seeped out the edges of the gasket during warm up or cooldown. Typically it wouldn't do it while it was running. I'm sold Tony and appreciate the informative reply. I'm going to pick a tube up today to keep on hand.

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Remember it's water-side, if the head is walking that oil will seep.

The way to stop the oil seepage is to put the orifice in an external line and plug both the head and block oil passage at the head surface. We would do that with Chevy Vega Engines all the time in the 70's.

 

I had real good luck when I changed the head on my L26, I bought a stock Nissan Gasket for the engine, and it was actually that graphoil material, with extremely tacky sealant stuff on it---the gasket was in a plastic protective wrap. I put that on the car in 2000 and it's been leak free since, despite pinging like crazy from bad CA gas, overheating it several times, blah blah blah.

 

Probably helped I changed the gasket and then drove 18,000 in the three weeks after the change... literally finished the job at 5PM, finished packing the car at 2AM, and was on the road at 7AM going almost non stop for three weeks!

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