Guest nosz350 Posted May 26, 2001 Share Posted May 26, 2001 WHAT IS THE BEST RADIATOR AND SIZE FOR THE Z CAR SWAP(I KNOW WHAT THE BOOK SAY I JUST WANT TO HEAR WHAT REALLY WORKS THE BEST). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted May 26, 2001 Share Posted May 26, 2001 I'm running the Griffin aluminum 19X26 and it works fine for me with an electric fan, although I'm working on relocating it 30 degrees forward at the top. Some guys had trouble fitting the 26 inch wide unit from Griffin, but you could get the 24 inch unit and play it safe...BLKMGK just got a Howe Racing or BE COOL unit...maybe he will chime in. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nosz350 Posted May 26, 2001 Share Posted May 26, 2001 WHAT DID YOU DO TO MAKE THE 26 FIT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 26, 2001 Share Posted May 26, 2001 TAKE YOUR CAPS OFF YOU DON'T NEED TO SHOUT IN HERE... Maybe it depends on the car, but I have only like maybe 25 1/4 or 3/8" between the rails, so like Mike said 19x24 would be a safe size that will fit. I just ordered and received (havn't put it in yet) a 19x24 Howe Racing after hearing about them from Blkmgk. Its a good looking unit (in stock too from Summit) of which I'll report more when I install it and get a few pictures. Either Howe or Griffin has them in that size, they're used in stock car racing and even at 19x24 will work just fine. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted May 27, 2001 Share Posted May 27, 2001 Lone, Summt had HOWE radiators?! Wow, never spotted them in the catalog. Mine's not in all the way just yet. I've mounted the lower part and now have a top piece fabbed but it needs to be lower in the car. I'll have to space the JTR lower mount down - I've ordered the S10 radiator rubbers too for top and bottom. As for "making it fit" - it drops right in on the JTR bracket. I spread the little feet just a bit though to make sure it had room. You'll have to fab the top mounts but you MIGHT be able to use the top mounts out of a 84-93 Muntang - worth a shot. I never test fit this but if someone has a burning urge I could try. Trouble with that setup is it wouldn't help mount a fan. Honestly, I think for the price a cirlce track type radiator in the right size is a great cheap idea. $180 for a completely aluminum radiator isn't bad. I've nto yet run mine so I can't say it's "best" but my fan will probably mask any issues with size Mounting the FAN is actually the hardest part of this whole thing I think. I've got some ideas thanks to Pete as to how to do it but it's still not quite there yet. I'll know more tomorrow maybe as I'll be trying to work on it some. What size motor are you trying to cool? How much room between the frame rails on your car? Mikelly got lucky - others have ordered the same radiator he's got and it was wider.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted May 27, 2001 Share Posted May 27, 2001 Jim, summit doesnt always advertise all stock that they carry. I've learned to ask because they do not seem to volunteer such info. Im running 19x24 inch griffith aluminum radiator with Taurus two speed fan also high volume aluminum water pump. Keeps it cool so far. Knock on wood. Mike On that note I did throw my fan belt, munch, munch, munch. This was in part due to my alt. bracket braking as well. Lucky me as a friend was at the local hang out and he took me to the local Auto Zone. Thank goodness for hotrod friends!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 27, 2001 Share Posted May 27, 2001 Blkmgk, Yeah I saw them in the paper catalog and looked online and found them. A tad more expensive I think than what you paid at that other place but due to a weird problem I'm having with one of my cards, Summit seems to have no problems with it, smaller vendors sometimes reject it (even with money in the account.. who knows..). Anyway, I sent a note to Howe asking about the upper and lower support in regards to mounting the fan, they said no problem mounting it off those c chanels on the top and bottom. Also that overflow hole is tapped for 1/8 npt (I asked cause I did'nt want a surprise). The top mount will be tricker because the cap takes up the tank on one side and I believe the upper hose on the other (its in the other room...). Oh well, not insurmountable, we'll figure something out I'm sure . Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted May 27, 2001 Share Posted May 27, 2001 I've got two pieces of thinn(ish) aluminum stock. They're about 3/4inch wide and maybe a 1/4inch thick. End of them is bent 90degrees and I've had a second piece welded to them. Looks like an F Those are my top mounts. They also have holes drilled in the piece that hangs behind the radiator so that I can emulate Pete's mounting idea for the fan. I've got tabs made for the fan but need to lower the radiator and decide how to mount the tabs on the fan. Pop rivets I'm not sure I trust since most of what I have is cheap crap. Epoxy alone also seems to be asking for it. I'm thinking maybe bolts AND epoxy. Tabs were made from a sheet of thin(ish) diamond plate from the hardware store. We'll see how it works out and I'll take pics if it does. Look closely at Pete's mounts below... [ May 27, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 28, 2001 Share Posted May 28, 2001 Jim, the upper left fan mount you see in the picture, I jus used a piece of 18 gage steel and bent it. The piece is epoxied and bolted in place. The other side that you can must barely see is more complicated, a flat piece epoxied and bolted to the fan, and tab welded to it (before putting on the fan ) with two gussets from the tab to the flat piece. Hope that helps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 Pete, Probably a silly question, but that rarely stops me. Is that rubber between the upper radiator channel and your mount? Regards, Lone Ps: Has anyone used the old like chevelle upper mount or are they way to wide (the one I'm refering to was used the late 60's early 70's chevelle's and el camino's. I can get those cheap and chromed already...) [ May 28, 2001: Message edited by: lonehdrider ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 Lone, what you're seeing there is the side of one of those Chevy rubber mounts that are in the radiator brackets in those cars. Not sure what car it came out of, but it's GM. See the little hole in the center, front to back? That's actually the little rubber tit sticking through a hole in the upper mount, holding it from falling out or moving left/right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 JTR mentions a silicone mount from an S10 pickup. 87-93 is th eyear I thnk. I've got four of them on order but have actually got it mounted right now with rubber from the old rear hatch seal Unfortunatly the spacing is tight where the pieces were welded - I should've left more room. We'll see how this works out first before I redo anything. Oh, those silicone pieces aren't very expensive... Took some aluminum stock, bent one end 90degrees, had a friend weld on a short stub, drilled a hole in the "mount" and in the crosmember, bolted it up! I have two tabs made from aluminum diamond plate ready to be drilled and bolted on. The very bottom is what I'm worried most about. Had to cut up this Cobra fan a good bit but it's now just a round housing that fits between the tanks. Ought to move some SERIOUS air when done and sealed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nosz350 Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 Hey guy i would like to say thanks for all the info.Here is another idea for a bracket,it would be off of a chevy diesel truck top radiator bracket.I've got some from the body shop and when my radiator comes in i'll try it to see if it works!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYRON Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 Bobby, I hear you found Max and the 240V8. Congratulations!!. I wanted to race that car BAD but it was never legal when I would drive by... How does it run? did you drive it back to Lufkin?... Did you ever get hold of Jason D??? Myron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted May 30, 2001 Share Posted May 30, 2001 Hey guys - just grabbed the S10 silicone insulators I mentioned. They're a little narrow for th eradiator I've got wbut with a little trimming they work great up top. However down low where I have the tanks sitting on the JTR bracket they're just too small! If you run the JTR specc'ed rediator these might work better but NOT with the wider HOWE radiator I'm running. Up top I had to completely rebend my brackets to fit them. Thankfully the aluminum wasn't hard to work with and it went well. These have the little rubber tit on them like Pete's and a hole to use this was easy to do. I'll have pics up as soon as I have time to download them from the camera Lastly, I may have found a way to mount the bottom of the Cobra fan I've got, maybe the GT style too. On stock Cobras there's a steel clip that grabs a portion of the radiator shroud and a flat spot on the radiator. It looks like my radiator has enough of a flange there to do this! I've not yet got a clip but will be tracking one down ASAP. I think I'll need to do more work to support the bottom but this is a good start. There's also a little rubber tit that prevents the fan from rubbing the radiator that I'll need. Again, this is a stock Ford part! Fun 'n games! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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