Anyone using a griffin radiator? what else is everyone runni

[Guest TreeCutter260z]

i am still having problems cooling my car. I currently have a single 7/8 core aluminum /plastic radiator out of a 86 fullsize chevy with a 4.3. will my 94 taurus fan on high it stills gets alittle warm and its only 60 degrees outside. I can't imaging if its going to 90+his summer. I was looking at the 24x19 griffin 2 row in summit for 189. Is this radiator going to keep my car cool. i have a 350 with a mild cam and a 5 spd. would hood venting help? what else is everyone running for radiators? i cannot find the good camaro one that JTR talks about. autozone and advance are all to big. any suggestions would help. thanks

matt

[QWKDTSN]

I am using the same Griffin 24x19 radiator. I haven't fired up the car yet so I can't tell you how it will cool but I think it should do nicely. I have a 1spd fan out of a Taurus. The radiator is pretty thick. On the bottom, I shaved down some Chevy mounts and squeezed them in. The radiator almost fits solidly into the JTR mount but I wanted some rubber around it. On top it is supported by the center section from a Camaro V6 fan shroud (I trimmed a few inches off each side of it) and there is a little insulation between the side tanks and the radiator firewall to keep it from rubbing. One thing I suggest is being sure that the sides of the big hole in the radiator firewall are blocked so air is forced through the radiator instead of taking the path of least resistance. This is something I still have to do. it was brought up by a pretty knowledgeable gearhead neighbor. This radiator's not as wide as the JTR spec camaro one, but it is of good quality. I like the Griffin radiator because of its OEM appearance but many like the Howe radiator of the same dimensions because of the squared-off aftermarket side tanks. It costs the same or maybe a bit more - most places sell the Howe radiator for like $205. Check out my homepage for pics of my install (click on the homepage logo above).

[V8ZRACER260Z]

I am using a Griffin and the above post is correct without a shroud the best radiator won't help. I noticed a 20 degree drop after installing mine. The car runs at 170-180 all day long. It does creep up to 185 on very hot days sitting in traffic, but I am working on this by installing two small 10" fans in front of the radiator with a higher thermo switch. But in answer to your question the Griffin is a great buy. Thanks Rick

[Guest TreeCutter260z]

my taurus fan shroud is covering the entire radiator and it pulling alot of air thorugh the entire radiator. the taurus fan i have is pretty snotty. I haven't seen a better fan. I have a 160 thermo in it which is new. mt single core radiator is just not enough i think. How can i obtain a camaro radiator that jtr recommends. how many rows does it have?

thanks

matt

[Guest Anonymous]

When does it overheat, when you're sitting at idle, or when you're driving? I'd think that would give you an idea whether the present radiator is doing the job.

 

If it's overheating at idle or low speed, the electric fan is probably not moving enough air to provide engine cooling.

 

If it's overheating all the time, your radiator is probably inadequate and you need more capacity.

 

Is the present radiator in good shape? It could be gunked up and may not be flowing properly. Try flushing your entire cooling system.

[pparaska]

I have the Camaro rad tha JTR recommends. Got it almost new with custom mounts very cheap, but if I were starting from scratch, I'd get a Griffin, etc. and make sure I rubber mounted it.

 

I agree - you should close off any way for the air to circulate around the radiator, such as closing the edge/sides of the radiator to the core support. I'm useing 4 inch wide aluminum tape (it's actually damping tape - got it from work) to seal off the radiator core to the hole in the core support. If you're running A/C, you should also make sure that all air must pass through the condensor core to the radiator core, and not around the condensor anywhere. Racer tape, closed cell foam, etc. can be used to good effect.

[Guest greimann]

I've got the 26 x 19 Griffin too with the Black Magic fan and no over heating problems either

[Guest TreeCutter260z]

At idle it dips below 160 but when cruising and gunning it in 5 th gear its rises pretty good. All air is moving through radiator. How many row is the camaro radiator that JTR recommends. I try autozone and advanced but they didn't have it. its was to wide.

thanks

matt

[BLKMGK]

Got one - works great. No shroud just a Cobra fan. Temp rises slowly while warming up and doesn't move around much at all with the temp controlled fan. It's an EXCELLENT radiator and pretty cheap too. My WEB site has some pics of the mounts modeled off of Pete's...

[Guest Anonymous]

I use the Howe unit as well, taurus fan, no overheating as of last summer, the test will be when it goes to AZ this summer that'll tell me, but I have no reason to believe it'll overheat at all, both the griffin and howe are excellent units, I bought the howe because the griffin was on backorder. *shrug*

 

Regards,

 

Lone

[Datsun660z]

well this is a great place to find a Brand New Camaro Radiator

Click Here For RADIATOR.com

[Guest Anonymous]

A couple months ago.I spent hours trying to find the Camaro radiator JTR recomends and found aftermarket suppliers like Modine discontinued it recently and the part number seems to change with the seasons.Research my efforts on "Camaro radiator".I found the price went up on these aftermarket 4 cylinder "Camaro" radiators and with shipping these "cheap radiators" are not that much less than the all aluminum Griffin built for a SBC that comes with free shipping (Summit).All aluminum radiators have greatly improved and that plastic/aluminum radiator has a life span of a little over 10 years.I bought the Griffin in the size mentioned above since every place I called on the "Camaro" could just give me a rough estimate on the width.At one time Modine had the "JTR radiator" but I could not locate one from an aftermarket supplier comparable in price to a Griffin($181.95, Part# GRI-1-25202-X ..24x19 inches Phone 1-800-230-3030 // Summit (maybe some one elce can).

[v8260z]

I run a Ron Davis 24" x 19" double pass with a Aerospace Components pump, 16" electric fan (no shroud) with a 3/4" hole flow restrictor instead of a thermostat on 11to1 compression without a problem. The part number is 24193 and is $210 for the single pass version and $260 for the double pass.Their phone# is 623-877-5000 . They will build you whatever you like for a very good price . They told me the double pass is worth about 10-15 degrees cooler water temp. Both are 2- 1" core radiators.

[Guest jwelch]

Hey Lone;

 

When will you be in AZ? I'm in Phoenix and would love to see another Hybrid. I've seen two so far. You are correct the Phoenix Freeways will test your cooling capabilities. A few years ago we had a 123F high. I believe last year we had 15 consecutive days over 117F. Mine does pretty good with a custom 4 core and dual 2500cfm Flex-Lite pulling fan (completely shrouds the Rad.) I'm adding A/C so I expect it to go up a little. Let me know when your in AZ and maybe we can hook up.

Regards,

[Guest Thurem]

Treecutter

Maybe you have another problem than an inadequate radiator. Have you had your system pressuretested? Is your cap good? If you have a small leak you will loose pressure and it is going to overheat. This comes from the fact that the boiling point of a liquid rises with higher pressure, also the same reason why its hard to boil an egg if you live in some high altitude, so if you are loosing pressure the boiling point for your system goes down and it is going to start overheating, ie. the water in your system is boiling and gas does not transfer heat as good as water. If this is not the problem try and use Waterwetter with less coolant, and more water to combat high temps.

Thure

[Modern Motorsports Ltd]

"i am still having problems cooling my car. I currently have a single 7/8 core aluminum /plastic radiator out of a 86 fullsize chevy with a 4.3. "

 

I had that rad as well and my car overheated at a prolonged idle in mild weather. My griffin (24x19, 2x1.25" rows)with no shroud and simple flex-a-lite was/is excellent. No issues with overheating at all now. I will do a shroud up some day as I know it'll only help more but certainly not needed on my daily use or lapping days to date.

[Guest Anonymous]

I am using a brand new griff radiator and have a large 18" electrical fan on it pulling cold air.

The car does not over heat and I bought it for around $200.

Then again I am running a 327 with 10:1's...I am yanking that motor out and putting in a .60 over 350 with 13:1's I have already ordered 3 barrels of racing fuel from VP (which is nicely located in San Antonio)

So I will let you know how that works.

The good thing about the Griff is the long tubes that make up a 2 core, but cools better than a 4 core.

Whatever you do, just remember overheat one good time and your **** is fried! so is it worth it getting a good radiator? yes, is a griff good? Yes.

Whats the diff between a camaro radiator and a griff? The side plastic tanks will blow...the griffs wont.

The side plastic tanks are "clamped down" the griff aint got that problem.

I have even replaced the radiator in my 90' Corvette just because they tend to heat up abnormally than your average car.

Go Griff over the Camaro radiator suggestion.

You won't regret it, but you will when your side tanks go "crackle crackle crackle......boooommm SSSSSsssssssssssssssssss" on the Camaro radiator.

[Guest Anonymous]

No matter what kind of radiator you're running, make sure you have a fan shroud. My car has one, and I think that's the reason it never overheats, except on the hot 100 degree days we sometimes have here in South Texas.

 

Are you running an electric fan, or is it a mechanical type, attached to the front of the engine?

 

If it's mechanical and has a clutch, make sure the clutch is working OK. The blades of the fan are important too. Are they pushing sufficient air flow thru the radiator to enable cooling?

 

Another question, is the car overheating with normal driving, or only at idle? At highway speeds, enough air should be flowing thru the radiator to keep it cool without the fan running. If it's running hot when you're moving, the radiator may be partially clogged with rust and corrosion.

 

Another possible problem could be your water pump. Check to see if it's moving coolant.

 

I assume you've checked the thermostat?

[utvolman99]

Okay, Im confused! The JTR book says not to use an aftermarket aluminum radiator. They talked about people on the internet (I assume they must be talking about us) will try to get you to use aluminum but that they will not last very long on the street? Is this just so JTR can sell more radiators or is there something to it?

[Guest Anonymous]

Well it is safe to say "not all people are the same" just like not all regions are the same.

I live in San Antonio, Texas where it gets hotter than hell down here, so I have yet to drive the Z in the sweltering heat, but I am confident I will not have any problems.

Theres alot of factors to think about when cooling any engine, not just a "JTR Z car"

* location of vehicle-Nice and cold Boston or sweltering hot San Antonio

* Engine correctly configured for cooling I.E. thermostat, coolant, fan.

* Driving habits-If your gonna be punching it light to light for every light, hell yeah its gonna heat up.

 

So you have to use your common sense. JTR is simply making "their" recommendation from what "they" have dealt with. Dealing with "real live" experiences and real life scenarios from people from the internet is the way it goes, hell why else is this forum here?

JTR might have wrote the book on V-8 a 240Z but Im sure the basic mechanical aptitude of cooling a car came way before JTR.

I am going on experience from dealing with Camaro and even Corvette factory radiators...if you heat them up good enough...the plastic tanks will blow, hell just thinking of plastic on a radiator ought to make you not even think twice about getting an aluminum radiator.

Camaro radiators are great for stock Camaros, but screw the JTR recommmendation for Camaro radiator, they wont refund me the mega bucks I spent on my engine because of "a recommendation"

Id rather go on my mechanical aptitude and spend the money for a past and proven aluminum radiator.

If your planning to run a 283 with 8:1's go for the Camaro radiator..if your planning to build a good engine, go with what the real racers go with...aluminum.

If you cannot afford aluminum...go with the Camaro radiator...I personally would not risk my engine on 2nd hand poop!