Alum. Radiator Install/SB 350

[kdink79]

Not seeing it

Want to get the universal rad. , Not great with fabication.
Saw that summit has universal mounts.(sum-380100)
But just can't seem to figure out how it would work?
Just getting a brain freeze on this one. I'm sure it's not tough, but can't seeem to visualize it.

Help?

 

[Adventure Teq]

Hawk,
Does your rad/rad support fit between or over the frame rails?

Above, It's really wide and not too tall or thick.

 

[Fman]

Fman, you talkin to me?

It's a Be-Cool of some measurements I'm not sure of, could measure it if need be. So it may be similar to a stock truck rad but this one's not OEM.

"How does it cool with no shroud?" It's like magic I tell ya.

I also am running the flexalite direct fan on the water pump which seems to help. It had a 3rd fan on it (2nd electrical fan) but it crapped out last fall. Took it out and it has never climbed over 180 or so all winter, we'll see what summer brings and I may put another back on.

I guess that just justifies how effecient these radiators work - with no shroud you are having no cooling issues. Hopefully this thread will help some folks out having cooling problems. Do you recall how much fluid capacity yours takes compared to a stock LC radiator?
Or for that matter does anyone know what the stock LC holding capacity it? I believe my Summit radiator took approx 2 1/2 gallons of coolant.

Fman

 

[FJ40_owner]

Very Nice..

Did the radiator come pre-drilled to accept the bolts that you used to mount the bracket and radiator to? Or how did you attach the bracket and bolts to the radiator.

From your pictures it looks like the fan, bracket and radiator are made for each other. If this is the case I may do the same thing.

Thanks,

Jim

Thought I would post up some pics of my latest project, a 29" x 19" x 3" aluminum crossflow radiator with Extreme BlackMagic fan to cool my SB350. I just got tired of trying to make the stock LC radiator work with unsatisfactory results... the stock LC radiator IMO was NOT designed to cool a SB350, but the straight six LC motor.

I used the stock LC bracket, cut it about 1/2" from frame height and welded some angle iron on the bottom to mount the aluminim radiator. The radiator sits approx 1/4-1/2" off of the frame, I did this to allow body flex on extreme angles. If anybody needs lower mount pictures I can try and post some. The Black Magic fan pulls 3300 CFM and only draws 18 amps. Also has a built in shroud that fits perfectly on this radiator, its a great combination. Summit claims this radiator will cool a 350-400 HP V8 with no problems.

Needless to say, drove it around town last week and she never broke 185 degrees, my old stock LC radiator would run 195-200 around town. I have already noticed a 15 degree drop in temperature! Fan is on an auto thermostat with toggle switch to over ride. I picked the radiator up for $189 from Summit and the fan was $250. Total install price with new hoses/clamps and radiator fluid was $500. This radiator has a much larger fluid capacity than the stock LC radiator.

Just an idea, I know V8 cooling has always been a hot topic. The true test will be the 105 degree day, time will tell.

 

[Adventure Teq]

I guess that just justifies how effecient these radiators work - with no shroud you are having no cooling issues. Hopefully this thread will help some folks out having cooling problems. Do you recall how much fluid capacity yours takes compared to a stock LC radiator?
Or for that matter does anyone know what the stock LC holding capacity it? I believe my Summit radiator took approx 2 1/2 gallons of coolant.

Fman

Yeah around 2 or 2.5 gal I'd say. I think that those who don't run a belt driven fan will probably want the shroud to go with their single electric like shown above.

Yeah it's a great thread for the archives.

 

[atazman]

Be Cool Radiator

Hawk.....you mentioned you had a leak in your radiator and that you fixed it. I'm interested in how you did that, since I'm on my 2nd Be Cool radiator. Without hijacking a nice thread, could you please send me a personal E-Mail... atazman@sbcglobal.net?

 

[Adventure Teq]

How bout a PM instead?

 

[Fman]

Did the radiator come pre-drilled to accept the bolts that you used to mount the bracket and radiator to? Or how did you attach the bracket and bolts to the radiator.

From your pictures it looks like the fan, bracket and radiator are made for each other. If this is the case I may do the same thing.

Thanks,

Jim

The radiator comes with an upper and lower lip approx 1/2-3/4" thick, its not much but enough to attach a bracket to it. The Extreme Black Magic Fan comes with universal brackets, I cut them down and bolted them to the flange on the radiator. For top support, I ran a 1" piece of flat angle from the top of the flange to upper side of frame. There are pre-drilled holes in the upper frame you can tap into. I only ran it one side to allow some flex in the radiator mounts if needed on sharp inclines.

I will try and post some lower mount pictures, the weather is rainy and cold right now so I dont have much motivation to go out in the garage! I do like how some other users made there lower mounts (Bret and Hawkdriver). There are a lot of options.

Good luck! and if you have any other questions, please ask....

 

[WesternCruiser]

Be-Cool Install with custom frame

I realize this is an old thread, but i thought i may add some pictures of a recent Be-Cool install on a 350-equipped '69 40. I have the old setup shown next to the new in the pictures. Essentially I got frustrated with the original mounts not wanting to work well with my Be-Cool--it just didn't fit that well. SO, my friend and I (I can't remember his IH8MUD user name) decided to simply make our own mounting bracket...which took a bit of messing around.

While we expected it, the new frame/radiator did NOT fit under the hood which necessitated a bit of work on the radiator mounts--we lowered the radiator by notching the mounts and welding in angle iron as pictured. We used spare poly suspension bushings for a bit of cushion (we just cut a "washer" out of the bushings) at the lower mounts.

We also installed some "ears" on the top of the mount for 3/8" bar to go through for the upper brace. We notched out a hole for the drain and lastly--because i hated the idea of shoving the Flex-a-Lite probe through the fins of the Be-Cool, we created a bracket bolted off the fan shroud with a piece of the old Flex-A-Lite's gasket on the end for pushing the probe up against the tank; a bit of RTV, we figure, should keep it in place and make it easily removable without any undue harm.

You also have a little roll-over protection for your radiator and a proper drain plug configuration. Granted, a hole-saw to the old frame worked fine for the drain plug, but...we were quite pleased with our "fabrication" of the new system--we have but a modest shop.

I hope this information can help someone in the future--i have pulled WAY more information off these boards than i have offered...this being my first post. I'll work on that.

 

[alex e]

Cool. How about a shot without the radiator in the way on the right? I need to do this for my 350 SBC install and want both a custom mount and shroud........

 

[WesternCruiser]

Unfortunately i don't have a good picture of the completed frame without the radiator installed, but what i do have is a picture of the frame before we tack-welded it for fit, and a picture of either end of it once it was put together.

The picture of it getting ready to be tacked (we really DO have fun with these projects) is a good representation, but is missing the "ears," the drain plug hole, and the mounting provisions for the actual mounting of the radiator. For attaching the radiator all we did was create 1" steel strips the same length as the side mounts on the radiator--with flush-welded mounting studs towards the very edge--and placed the radiator in the frame for fit before finally welding the strips to the frame.

One note, as our truck is configured, is that if you don't hike in the corner right next to the lower tank (driver side), the frame won't be able to sit low enough to close the hood no matter how you change the lower mounts on the actual truck. We were tempted to get away from all of the angles and just 45 degree it like we did the other corners...which i'm glad we didn't. We were limited, in other words, in two ways: we couldn't go much lower because our steering shaft would have hit the new frame (where the tank jogs in), and we couldn't go much higher because then we wouldn't have been able to close the hood. Still, with the steel we used and the placement of our steering shaft, we had about 1" of "play." Just something to keep in mind. Obviously steel used for the frame, steering configurations and space between the radiator and the frame will all effect clearances and should be considered. (We had about 1/4" spacing between radiator and frame.)

Just on top of the "warning" sticker on the shroud you can see the probe mount we made up (probe wasn't under it at the time). All we did was set it up so that the seal was on the same plane as the shroud seal--it's easy to see/inspect, and there is no fear of messing up the fins on the radiator by installing or pulling stuff in the future.

 

[alex e]

I'd pay money for that. Fan fits nicely......

 

[fieldsken1]

heres my fan

 

[alex e]

SLICK!!!! How is your radiator held in?

 

[dgangle]

Looks like the 4+ from MAF
Custom V-8 Radiator 4+Plus Mount

 

[alex e]

a-ha....