Allum Radiator choices

[chicane]

Originally Posted by BBC69Camaro

Hey Chicane -

I was looking at CarlC's pictures of his radiator. I'm sure his setup works wonders. But I don't see a shroud over the radiator. Wouldn't you want a shroud to make sure the air is pulled through more of the radiator instead of just what the fan covers?

Well... no... not necessarily. The fact of the matter is, that you dont need or want a shroud unless the vehicle is standing still.

In fact... covering the radiator with a perpendicular panel, like that shown in the Ron Davis and Prodigy picture's, actually adds restriction to gross flow and may only help you when the vehicle is at a low speed, or stopped. In reality, that specific design really only works when the fan is operating (and only up to a certain speed)... other than that... it only provides a restriction to any naturally occuring flow through air. You also loose a fair amount of surface area with the fan overlapping the tanks as well. And, I bet if you did the math... that the single fan that Carl is running has more active surface area than that of the two fan set ups shown in the Davis and Prodigy pictures.

(4 pi r^2)

Also... not to forget to mention... that the fan that Carl is running... pulls way more air than that of the two Spal fans that the Davis... or... Prodigy set up uses.

Now... if you do a lot of parking lot cruising, car shows and sitting in bumper to bumper traffic... then it may work, albiet probably not all that much better.

C&R cross flow radiator with a 13 plate heat exchanger = $650
18.5" Ford/Lincoln Mark VIII fan = $150 - $200

$850 for a radiator with superior cooling capacity, a built in heat exchanger for *proper* oil cooling and a fan that pulls over 5000 cfm = no brainer.