My Cooling Improvement Project (hopefully)
Chapter 4 - Radiator
Now to the big part of the project.
I ordered a 26" 67 Charger aluminum radiator from Wizard Cooling and had it upgraded to 1 1/4" tubes from the 1" tubes.
I chose to spend my money on an AMERICAN made product even though it cost more. This is a very well made product.
The upper hose is a Gates 20875.
The lower hose is a Gates 20558. I added a spring to the inside of the hose to keep it from collapseing.
When I first built the car, I had a factory 22" 3 core radiator in the car. It did not seem to cool like it should, so I ordered a "26 inch aluminum two 1" tube cross flow" from Summit and installed it.
What I did not realize at the time, the core size was no larger than the factory 22" radiator.
I have now compared the coolant capacity of these two radiators as well as my new replacement radiator.
I capped the lower hose nipple on the radiators and measured and added water until it just ran out of the top hose nipple.
The factory 22" 3 core radiator held right at 5 quarts of water.
The "26 inch aluminum two 1" tube cross flow" held 3 quarts of water.
The new Wizard Cooling 26" two row 1 1/4" tube radiator holds right at 6 quarts of water. Double what I have been trying to cool the engine with.
The new Wizard Cooling radiator also has 70 sq. in. more surface area then the other radiators.
To install the new 26" radiator, the stock core support has to be cut and widened.
Here is the before photo with the lower portion of the core support removed.(more on that later)
After cutting and widening the core support, I welded 1/8" X 1 1/2" steel to the engine side of the core support to reinforce the mounting points.
I then cut an slotted the top of the core support at the top of these reinforcements so that the flange of the new radiator sets on the front side of the core support.
The aluminum mounting flange of the new radiator is right at 1/8" thick and the core support is right at 1/16" thick.
By mounting the radiator this way you gain right at 5/16" addition fan clearance.
Since I was relocating the new radiator, I decided to lower it so that the bottom of the top tank now sets at the same level as the inside lip of the upper core support.
This will expose ALL of the core to air flow.
This is the reason that I had removed the lower core support in the previous photo.
Due to the fact that I lowered the lower core support, the latch support had to be lengthened.
I cut two spare parts at the large hole and welded them to the correct length.
I also lowered the latch to below the surface of the top of the latch support.
This was done so that I could make a block off plate between the top of the grill and upper core support, again to force ALL air flow thru the core.
The addition of this block off plate forced the redesign and relocation of the hood release to the lower portion of the center latch support.
Chapter 4 - Radiator
Now to the big part of the project.
I ordered a 26" 67 Charger aluminum radiator from Wizard Cooling and had it upgraded to 1 1/4" tubes from the 1" tubes.
I chose to spend my money on an AMERICAN made product even though it cost more. This is a very well made product.
The upper hose is a Gates 20875.
The lower hose is a Gates 20558. I added a spring to the inside of the hose to keep it from collapseing.
When I first built the car, I had a factory 22" 3 core radiator in the car. It did not seem to cool like it should, so I ordered a "26 inch aluminum two 1" tube cross flow" from Summit and installed it.
What I did not realize at the time, the core size was no larger than the factory 22" radiator.
I have now compared the coolant capacity of these two radiators as well as my new replacement radiator.
I capped the lower hose nipple on the radiators and measured and added water until it just ran out of the top hose nipple.
The factory 22" 3 core radiator held right at 5 quarts of water.
The "26 inch aluminum two 1" tube cross flow" held 3 quarts of water.
The new Wizard Cooling 26" two row 1 1/4" tube radiator holds right at 6 quarts of water. Double what I have been trying to cool the engine with.
The new Wizard Cooling radiator also has 70 sq. in. more surface area then the other radiators.
To install the new 26" radiator, the stock core support has to be cut and widened.
Here is the before photo with the lower portion of the core support removed.(more on that later)
After cutting and widening the core support, I welded 1/8" X 1 1/2" steel to the engine side of the core support to reinforce the mounting points.
I then cut an slotted the top of the core support at the top of these reinforcements so that the flange of the new radiator sets on the front side of the core support.
The aluminum mounting flange of the new radiator is right at 1/8" thick and the core support is right at 1/16" thick.
By mounting the radiator this way you gain right at 5/16" addition fan clearance.
Since I was relocating the new radiator, I decided to lower it so that the bottom of the top tank now sets at the same level as the inside lip of the upper core support.
This will expose ALL of the core to air flow.
This is the reason that I had removed the lower core support in the previous photo.
Due to the fact that I lowered the lower core support, the latch support had to be lengthened.
I cut two spare parts at the large hole and welded them to the correct length.
I also lowered the latch to below the surface of the top of the latch support.
This was done so that I could make a block off plate between the top of the grill and upper core support, again to force ALL air flow thru the core.
The addition of this block off plate forced the redesign and relocation of the hood release to the lower portion of the center latch support.