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Aluminum Radiators from eBay - opinions/experience?


stevo_gj

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Hi craig just fitted one of the 3 core 56 mm chinese alloy radiator to my car after running a alloy camaro rad (jags that run radiator) old one was single 40mm core

Havent done much driving but car is running cooler and when i ran hillclimb last year i was concerned about how temp went up when i shut car down This year car was cooler every time i went back to it and fan did not even turn on this year when it was on most of day last year

i did fit alloy shroud and biggest capacity fan i could find that would fit

Just hope it keeps car cool for off street drags at powercruise this year So far for me it looks like a good thing

 

mick

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I didnt even consider discussing the importance of the shroud during my last post, your post reminded me.

 

A properly designed shroud that covers the entire surface are of the core, then ducts into the fan, will allow the fan to utilize the entire core, making it as efficient as possible.

If you only have a fan and no shroud, the fan will only draw air through the surface it covers, and a very small area around it (maybe a couple of cm)

In practical application a properly shrouded radiator and small fan can be more efficient at transferring heat than a large fan and no shroud.

as a practical example, look at the radiator of any modern vehicle, the fan is as large as possible for the practical space, but even is that means it only covers half of the radiator, the rest is shrouded and ducted to that fan.

If it didnt make a difference, why would OEM's spend the money in R&D, tooling and production costs on a large volume (hundreds of thousands) application and design.

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I've had one from ebay in my car for maybe 6-8 months paid roughly 190 delivered, at the time i didn't have a thermostat in the car since it stuck and i was feeling a bit dodgy at the time. Replaced my old radiator with the alloy one and it never got off cold so i had to put a thermostat in it that night to make it get up to operating temp.

 

so in my experience they transfer heat exceptionally well, i had to file out the holes to get it to mount, original fan clears without an issue. and if you have an auto like me the original trans cooling lines will bolt in with a little mods (i cannot remember what i had to do to make it work)

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I've had one from ebay in my car for maybe 6-8 months paid roughly 190 delivered, at the time i didn't have a thermostat in the car since it stuck and i was feeling a bit dodgy at the time. Replaced my old radiator with the alloy one and it never got off cold so i had to put a thermostat in it that night to make it get up to operating temp.

 

so in my experience they transfer heat exceptionally well, i had to file out the holes to get it to mount, original fan clears without an issue. and if you have an auto like me the original trans cooling lines will bolt in with a little mods (i cannot remember what i had to do to make it work)

Gee, from February 2008 until now, long time between your first two posts! Did you end up getting a Z, and how did the Zoob SSS project go?

I like to drill a small 5 mm hole in the surrounding flange of a thermostat, just in case they stick, also some thermos come with a little jiggler thingy, its surprising how a tiny bit of crud can block that.

Thete is merit in keeping water flow rate down so that heat from block is more thouroghly transferred into the water, hence the quite small opening of a thermo, and we sometimes think we are smartypants by removing what the manufacturer went to great pains to work out whats best, in most instances.

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Yeah its been a while haha, always been surfing the forum and reading. i bought a 72 240z about 2 years ago just after i bought my house, so all the money i had planned for the SSS went there.

 

I should probably update my profile >.< haha

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  • 1 year later...

Hey guys,

In regards to these radiators, will they mate up with the standard fan shroud? I was wanting to upgrade, but keep the factory fan shroud for a more production look.

Stivva

 

Yes they will. They have the tabs to affix the shroud. I test test fitted my plastic shroud and it fitted right up.

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Got my radiator today and there is no chance the plastic shroud fits up. The tabs are all about 3 inches away frpm where they should be and are turned out from the radiator rather than back in on itself.

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Mine and my brothers ones fitted up no problem. There are about a dozen vendors selling them and i bought the ones that costed a little more. If you have a look through the pictures of different sellers you can see some are different than others in look of finish and bracketry shape etc..so guess you got the wrong one?

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I too am up for a new radiator after mashing the original with the clutch fan yesterday.

There are many on evilbay for under $160 and free postage which is fantastic. I note many people responding to this topic have had minor mounting issues too. Many are adverised as "1970 to 1975 " however mine is a 1977 2+2 auto so is there a difference between a `75 and a `77 which is significant??

Thanks in advance

Mickl

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Further examination of the evilbay aluminium three core radiators going for between $150 and $200 delivered has got me confused.

Most of them look very similar with core size 588x350x56mm, overall size 690x474x80mm. All adverts say up to 1975 year model, however, there are none adverising suitable for 1977 model. One place I emailed actually said their unit would not fit a 1977 car.

Now it seems strange to me that this could be so and none of the earlier posts on this topic have actually said what year model car that they have installed these radiators on. So has anyone put one on a `77 yet and did it fit up easily?

I need to get one soon so thanks in advance

Mickl

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I have asked them for additional dimensions like spacings of mounting holes but they just tell me to look closely at the photos they have put up.

I guess I will just need to take a punt and get one and see if it will fit.

Thanks Mickl

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I'd ask another seller, their attitude leaves a lot to be desired. If anything goes wrong are these the type of people you'd want to deal with.

 

I have a JDM  77 2+2 parts car , I can measure it and then measure my ally rad tomorrow if that helps?

I bought a 'champion cooling' brand.

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Mickl, I have taken some measurements. Radiatior mounting holes are the same spacing width/top to bottom. Chassis rail width is the same at the radiator support. Top of radiator support to bottom of chassis rails is the same.

 

The difference is the lower radiato support on the 77 2+2 drops down making the radiator opening 380mm compared to the 240z which is 330mm. The total fin area on my rad is 350, so if fitted to your 77 2+2 the bottom of the core would be 30mm above the lower radiator support opening. That's about half the bottom tank above the opening if you get my drift.

 

It's kinda hard to explain. From looking at my two cars I can't see why it won't fit, the only difference is the core is 30mm shorter top to bottom than the factory 77 2+2 radiator.

 

My radiator is by 'champion cooling' I can't say if other brands will be the same.

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Thanks for all of your help Gareth, I have ordered one from "Ausparts depot" in Melbourne for only $155 delivered. I think iot will be fine and will post the results once it has been delivered and installed.

The "champion Cooling" rads were in the USA and postage was pretty high.

I also checked with the locals for a recore of the original and it would have been about $550.

Cheers

Mickl

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  • 2 weeks later...

Radiator went in OK but the two bottom automatic gearbox oil pipes are threaded rather than plain hose push-on as the original radiator. I am having some trouble tracking down suitable threaded nuts with flared tubes so that I can reconnect the gearbox rubber pipes. I looked at other radiators on evil bay and they all seem the same. What have others done to solve this problem?

Thanks

Mickl

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Radiator went in OK but the two bottom automatic gearbox oil pipes are threaded rather than plain hose push-on as the original radiator. I am having some trouble tracking down suitable threaded nuts with flared tubes so that I can reconnect the gearbox rubber pipes. I looked at other radiators on evil bay and they all seem the same. What have others done to solve this problem?

Thanks

Mickl

Hi Mickl, I too am in the market for one of these. So did your one bolt up pefectly or did you need minor alterations?  Do you have a shroud fitted and did it fit ok?  I'm not too keen on the look of these rads as I prefer the factory look but the $500 I got quoted for a re-core is a bit unpalatable.

 

cheers, Mike.

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Thanks for the links nizmozed, I will see if I can get hold of a thread guage to measure up the thread size.

I will post up a picture for you and comments on fitting plus thermo fans on Monday Sydney Mike.

Mickl

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