Need Some Advise

[Vegas T]

Ok,
For all you guys that have been helping me out on the radiator iss I have one last decission I need help with, I removed the radiator today and can see where it had a leak so the white substance I found in the antifreeze must have been stop leak so these are my choices:

I can have the copper radiator (which is a 3 core) cleaned at a local shop, repaired back to original condition, or purchase a new aliminum radiator for about 450.00. Either way, I am installing an aluminum shroud and 15 or 16" electric fan and removing the flex fan it has now. I was leaning toward the aluminum originally as I thought I may put a blower on at a later date, but now I don't think I will be doing that, at least not for quite a while. I have a nice crate 350 and that is fine for now so I will be allowed to spend the money in other places. Any thoughts on this would be great as I will be going one direction or the other Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Youngster]

I would take into consideration when the car was built and where it was driven. If your car was in a cooler climate than Vegas, and a 4 or 5 year old build, I would probably try the radiator shop. If it's any older than that or if it looks like it's been cooked a few times, I would spring for the new one. JMO

Ron

 

[tfeverfred]

I'm going to side with Youngster. A redone radiator might be good, but a new one is pretty much guaranteed to be.

 

[Vegas T]

When you say new can I go new copper?

 

[Youngster]

From my experience it dosen't really seem to mater. I've run both and see no difference.

Ron

 

[VegasBruce]

I'm running copper, I think I got all the bugs worked out of my cooling system. So far so good. :lol:

 

[Vegas T]

Great news all,
I stopped by my buddies place today (he builds custom sandrails) here in town and he made an offer I couldn't refuse. I was told today to get the Al radiator, and electric fan, and he will build the polished Al shroud, and polished radiator cover, any and all brackets I need to get it mounted up. What a relief, this guy is a god at fab work, his cars go for 80K+. I will keep you posted when I get all the parts. I didn't tell him but I think while I'm there I will add an Al water pump, trans pan and gasket change. He'll be sorry he offered when I'm done. HAHA

 

[blownt]

water, aluminum, and cast iron don't mix. It will create calcium for electrolisis. If you have an aluminum intake or heads you need to run Demineralized water (can get jugs in the supermarket). If you use straight water you will see the white calcium and eventually see the water ports corrode and eaten away and also the smaller holes and water passages completely blocked.

Before the 2006 Nats I had the heads off and I noticed most of the water passages in the AR aluminum heads and the block were completely caked with the calcium. I cleaned the heads and the block passages and flushed the block as best I could. It did not work. Got to the Nats and it was HOT !!!!!!!!! Every day was over 100 degrees. All the calcium got caught in the radiator and I had bad overheating problems on most of the cruises. Got back home and took the radiator to a shop and had it reversed flushed. You should have seen all the crap that came out of that radiator.

Use Demineralized water from the start and avoid the problems. BTW I use straight water, no antifreeze, and water pump and rust prevention additive. Straight water is best for cooling acording to the Tech pages from Stewart's Components that make waterpumps used in Nascar and high perfomance street vehicles.

"UNEQUIVOCALLY WATER IS THE BEST COOLANT! We recommend using a corrosion inhibitor comparable to Prestone Super Anti-Rust when using pure water. If freezing is a concern, use the minimum amount of antifreeze required for your climate. Stewart Components has extensively tested all of the popular "magic" cooling system additives, and found that none work better than water. In fact, some additives have been found to swell the water pumps seals and contribute to pump failures.

In static cooling situations, such as quenching metal during heat treating, softening agents (sometimes referred to as water wetting agents) will allow the water to cool the quenched part more evenly and quickly. The part will cool quicker, and the water will heat up faster. However, an automotive cooling system is not static. In fact, the velocities inside a cooling system are comparable to a fire hose forcing coolant against the walls of the engine's water jackets. If the softening agents actually aided in cooling the engine, the temperature of the coolant as it exited the engine would have to be higher because it would have absorbed more heat."

http://www.stewartcomponents.com/tech_tips/Tech_Tips_4.htm

 

[Youngster]

Thanks for the tip Blown-T.

Ron

 

[Vegas T]

Blown-T,
So I should use the water, maybe a water wetter, and corosion additive? I thought something like Dexcool had the additive for corosion in it and the coolant had a higher boil point. I am open to what you are saying, just want to be sure I understand it fully.

 

[RPM]

Most all newer cars and trucks run aluminum heads and cast iron blocks with no problems at all. The antifreeze is good for 5 years. They are using the newer red colored antifreeze in them.

 

[blownt]

Vegas T I used water wetter once and it seemed to make no difference. You can use it if ya want to but I don't think it works that much better. Like I said I run straight demineralized water and a rust inhibitor and waterpump lubricant. I don't worry about freezin weather here in Houston.

 

[Vegas T]

Blown-T,
Thanks for the info, I will try your advice once I get her back together...

 

[T-bucket32]

Most all newer cars and trucks run aluminum heads and cast iron blocks with no problems at all. The antifreeze is good for 5 years. They are using the newer red colored antifreeze in them.

Actually they have a lot of issues. The surfaces rot away due to electrolosis <sp>. This is why GM sells and installs those sealant pellets. A lot of money has been made doing intake gaskets on GM 3.1, 3.4, 3.8 4.3 and 5.7 engines. I have done quite a few and there is almost always chunks of metal missing off of both the manifolds and the heads. Proper grounding can eliminate some of these issues.

 

[Keeper]

There is also a class action suit against GM for Dexcool issues. I would not run that stuff in any of my cars.