cross flow vs. up and down-aluminum radiators

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moparlee

moparlee

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I'm considering an aluminum readiator and was wondering which would be better. Pro's and con's please. The up and down would be great for me cause of the radiator hoses work be easier to deal with, but...........


Thanks for your time.

Lee
 
use what fits.
the coolant has no clue if it travels top, to bottom,
or left to right.

Copper is actually a beter conductor of heat, than aluminum,
for the same size.

Aluminum is cheaper though.

USRadiator makes some good stuff. :)

http://www.usradiator.com/

http://www.usradiator.com/images/drawings/3/35245.gif

35245.gif
 
I got a chibby one in mine from Summit. I think it was <200$ and it's huge and I never had a prob with overheating. It didn't come with brackets so I had a friend tig some on and It's good to go. If you do get one from Jeg's or Summit dont get the ferd one that they tell you to 'cause they're for B|RB engines.
 
Thanks, guys. By the time I get what I'm needing from Promax I'll be out of money again. For now I guess I got to leave well enough alone and see if I can get stuff figured out.

Lee
 
just ordered mine up from FBO. Thanks for this post. i was on the fence about the radiator issue. Aluminum vs Copper. It was cheaper for me to get a new aluminum one from Don than to get another core added to my original rad. The ones from US Radiator are nice but they want almost $500 :sad: I'll be happy with the FBO unit. Don has done me right with everything else I've ordered and he has great pricing. My 2cents
 
Their is a difference between the up&down and the cross flow rads.The difference is the distance the coolant travels!If a rad support is wider than it is tall,you go with a cross flow,due to the longer distance the coolant will be in the rad cores.The up and down system normally is with a very square rad and the surface area is basically sqaure either side to side or up and down.A alley rad will disapaite heat easier and faster than a copper/metal rad that is for sure.But its going to be the core tube size and the amount of tubes thats going to determine the cooling capability of your system.Now you choose if you can do a mod to the rad support,what is the total area side to side and up and down you have to work with,and how thick of a rad can be installed,as some cars/trucks have limited space?The hose location is a simple deal,with some mods to the hoses and a couple of steel tubing extensions and you have back your origanal rad hoses with a bit extra from your local auto parts.If you install, a alley rad,and you drop your temp a good 20-30 pionts,install a HOTTER thermostat,Yes thats right,a hotter thermostat,WHY,as you have now a very good running system and can rid your system of heat,by running a 185 degree themostat,over a 165,you can keep the coolant in the rad longer for more cooling and keep the motor temp at a better operating temp than before and be more consistant than before with a temp that goes all over the board,Mrmopartech
 
Cross flow also distributes the coolant more evenly through all the tubes for better efficiency. To-down flow will tend to have more of a hot spot right under the inlet with progressively less flow/cooling radiating out from there.
 
fyi, they have a new technology for downflow rads. its called double pass and triple pass which means it goes up and down 2 or 3 times before it exits. i tend to disagree that aluminum is more efficient than copper/brass. at the same temp(180) copper/brass has a thermal transfer rate 2 times that of aluminum. for whats known as "steady state heat transfer" which is what a radiator does, copper will always yield a lower temperature. remember, copper is more dense than aluminum, so it will retain more heat for a bit longer, and in a sense take a bit longer to cool down. in my radiator, i moved the tubes from 1/2" on center to 3/8" on center, made it a 3 row and used a core that had the tubes "dimpled". this slowed the water flow down a bit in the radiator. the longer the water is in the rad, the more heat will be pulled(dissipated). a radiator is only as good as the air moving thru it, so a good fan and shroud is a good thing. aluminum is lighter for racing. remember to use a RADCAP!!!! this will stop the electroysis of all the dissimilar metals you are connecting by the water flow(copper, cast iron, aluminum, chrome, steel, etc.) see it at www.radcapproducts.com
 
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