radiator question

[dedjr67]

I put a 283 in my 65 in place of the 230 and the radiator even after being recored witha 3 row core just does not seem to be cutting here in Florida. When at a stop light or on the highway going over 65 mph the temp starts to creep up to around 200 then I get nervous and either slow down to 55 or pull over. If I keep it around 55 to 60 never goes over 170 degrees. I am running 185 degree thermostat 2000 cfm electric fan no a/c manual trans. What is a good aluminum rad and what size will fit our trucks.
Thanks Dennis

[MacAttack]

Do you have a fan shroud?

Mac.

[Chevy Fleetside]

The Electric fan is probably not enough, but on the freeway it really should not matter much. You might want to try a aluminum radiator. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-Row...8016QQtcZphoto Or if you want to see others. http://stores.ebay.com/CLASSIC-RADIA...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[MikeN]

Modine makes a 3-row radiator for 64-66 trucks with V8 that cools my 350 just fine. I think I paid about $240 at a local radiator shop for a brand new one. The V8 radiator is wider, and sits on top of the frame rails, as opposed to the I6 radiator that drops down between the rails. All you need in order to install the V8 radiator is to find a V8 upper mount bracket. Your existing lower brackets can simply be moved to accomodate the new location.

[MikeN]

Photo of V8 radiator upper mounting bracket...

[mecwpri]

I put the V-8 Radiator in place of the in-line 6 unit and found many differences, yes you can move the old mounts but the v-8 radiator I got out of the junk yard was much wider and would not fit in the old mounts, took another trip to the junk yard to get the V-8 lower mounts also.

[protrash64]

I dont think 200* is that hot. I wouldnt worry about it too much. Where is your T-stat plumbed? Is your truck running lean? I ve seen mine get up to 220* right when the T-stat opens then drops off quicklyto stay around 190*. It generally runs around that mark in 110* Phoenix heat.

[502tripower]

As protrash said 200* is not a worry. You should have a fan shroud and I prefer a 5-blade clutch fan. Also you can use a 160* thermostat and a 6" water pump pulley.

[MikeN]

Originally Posted by 502tripower

You should have a fan shroud and I prefer a 5-blade clutch fan.

Ditto on the clutch fan. I have a 69 Chevelle, so I pulled the factory clutch and fan blade from it to test-fit into my truck. It fit great, so I left it in there and bought a new clutch & fan for the Chevelle. I think the Chevelle set up is a 7-blade though.

[rickf]

Originally Posted by MikeN

Modine makes a 3-row radiator for 64-66 trucks with V8 that cools my 350 just fine. I think I paid about $240 at a local radiator shop for a brand new one. The V8 radiator is wider, and sits on top of the frame rails, as opposed to the I6 radiator that drops down between the rails. All you need in order to install the V8 radiator is to find a V8 upper mount bracket. Your existing lower brackets can simply be moved to accomodate the new location.

That last sentence is not quite right, about just moving the brackets. (The rest of the description is right on.)

The v8 OEM tanks are wider than the 230L6 tanks, by about 3/4 inch.
I thnk the OEM rads are 3-row to v8/big 6 and 2-row for 230L6.
(My understanding is the 292L6 and V8 used same rad, only 230L6 had the small one.)

When I did the swap I found a donor truck and snagged both upper and lower mounts, as well as the sheetmetal shrouds that do alongside the rad.

The frame was already drilled, punched really. I used stainless carriage bolts to mount the lower brackets, since existing punched holes were square.

I found that getting the correct rubber pads was troublesome. All the "regular" vendors seemed to have only the smaller pads for 230L6 style. They will stretch out and work, but are not correct. I ended up finding the right one from that guy that sells mostly the fancy "billet" dash inserts, Boese Engineering, or something like that. And oddly enough they didn't show on his web page, he happened to have them on Ebay right when I happened to need some.

The pic here is one of the ones that I was sending to "the vendors" support folks after getting my first (wrong) set of pads. That is an OEM lower bracket from a 66 C20. You can see the pad is too small. The 230L6 tank fits that pad just right. You can see from the pic about how much wider the OEM V8/big6 (292) tank is.

[joe231]

good info...
anyone know of a source to get the upper steel mount for the v8 radiator, other than bone-yards, or maybe I'm better off just fabing one?

[MikeN]

Originally Posted by joe231

good info...
anyone know of a source to get the upper steel mount for the v8 radiator, other than bone-yards, or maybe I'm better off just fabing one?

Unfortunately, that is a "swap-meet-only" piece. I stumbled across two of them at a Super Chevy swap meet a couple of years ago, and snagged both. I'm using one, my brother-in-law got the other.

Regarding the lower mounts, it's possible my truck was modified by a previous owner, maybe that's why my lower mounts worked OK.

[MacAttack]

200 degrees setting in the drive-thru lane waiting on your burger isn’t a big deal - moving in traffic or out on the highway - it is.

[rickf]

Originally Posted by MacAttack

200 degrees setting in the drive-thru lane waiting on your burger isn’t a big deal - moving in traffic or out on the highway - it is.

I disagree with that. My 350V8 is from a 71 C20, the local auto parts store tells me the OEM thermostat for it is 192 degrees. WIth 50/50 antifreeze the boiling point os over 250 degrees, add a presurized cap at say 12 or 16 psi and you can get 270 degrees. So getting to 200 or 210 isn't a big deal.

My engine runs in the 195 to 205 range pretty consistently. Getting to 210 or 215 sometimes, not a big deal. If I get to 220 then I'm concerned. Note that 220 is not yet dangerously hot. But it's not normal for my rig, therefore a concern.

I have two temp senders and two gauges. One is the OEM sender and original 64 C10 gauge that just has marks, no temps. The other is aftermarket with degree markings. WHen the aftermarket gauge is reading 200 the OEM gauge needle is still to left of center. From that one might conclude that GM figured 200 is well within acceptable operating range (at least for the 230L6 that was in there from the factory).

Here is a source that says "ideal" running temp is 210 to 215 degrees.
Link to article http://www.vincihiperformance.com/LS...amshaft%20Life!
And the relevant paragraph:

It turns out that coolant (usually a 50/50 mixture of coolant and water) has some fantastic properties that are ideal for use in engines. With a properly pressurized cooling system, coolant will not freeze until –30°F, and it won’t boil until +270°F (new oils don’t start to break down until well over 270°F). With these characteristics, engine designers have decided that engines should operate at approximately 210-215°F. Why, you ask? Well, it has to do with operating the engine at a high enough temperature to boil water out of the oil after the engine is cold started. If you have dew on the grass, it is certain that you have water in your oil, as the crankcase is open to atmospheric pressure! You can either remove the water by draining it out the bottom of the oil pan (remember the oil floats on water) or run the engine long enough and hot enough to boil the water out of the lubrication system. Years ago, coolants weren’t as sophisticated and engines were run at 165-180F, but the oil was changed every 1000 miles or so. That’s why many old timers think engines should run at 165-180F. Have you ever noticed that Ford doesn’t put temperature marks on their gauges? They just mark C for cold and H for hot and write “normal” through the center. If you hook up a scan tool to a GM, you will often find that the gauge reads much lower than the coolant temp sensor. That is because they know most drivers don’t understand how hot an engine should run.

[MacAttack]

Old metal moves. Having to replace head gaskets and resurfacing heads just isn't worth it.

Mac.